bangersgrl78 asked:
I have had an argument with a lot of parents about this. I believe that Children have a place for their belongings…. its call their bedroom. My children are not allowed to have to have their toys in the livingroom and know this. Are there other parents who have stepped on one to many matchbox cars or tripped over one to many tonka trucks and have now banned toys to the rooms of their owners?
Sherwood
I have had an argument with a lot of parents about this. I believe that Children have a place for their belongings…. its call their bedroom. My children are not allowed to have to have their toys in the livingroom and know this. Are there other parents who have stepped on one to many matchbox cars or tripped over one to many tonka trucks and have now banned toys to the rooms of their owners?
Sherwood
April 28th, 2007 - 6:14 pm
My daughter is 15 months old. We have a little toy box in the living room. She knows how to pick them up and has been for a while. It doesn’t bother me for the toys to be everywhere for a short period of time. She needs that to grow. I do make her pick them up and that teachers her not to get so many out next time. I guess you would get a lot of opinions on this kinda question. A lot of mothers have different opinions and that is okay.
May 1st, 2007 - 4:24 pm
Geez. Lighten up. They are only young once. I would rather have my kids around me when they are playing than alone and couped up in their bedrooms. PLus, I just keep a large bucket in the family room and it takes 30 seconds to put the toys away.
My friends and family know I have little ones so the clutter doesnt embarrass us.
I would rather have my kids love me and want to be around me and the rest of my family and have a little clutter than have my kids grow up in a sterile house where the mom was always yelling about keeping it clean.
May 1st, 2007 - 11:13 pm
I have two young boys. They always have their toys out. My rule is to play with one thing and when they are done t put it back. I believe they need to learn how to be responsible for their things.
May 3rd, 2007 - 7:25 am
I live in such a small house it is hard to keep the toys anywhere. Yes I **** it when they are everywhere. I pick them up and 2 seconds later they are all over again. Matchbox cars don’t feel good to my feet. I allow my child to bring his toys in the living room but they are not kept in the living room and I do make him help me pick them up.
May 5th, 2007 - 6:39 pm
I agree. My daughters are allowed to play board games in the kitchen or living room and it’s put away when they’re done. Other wise their toys stay in their room. My ten month old has a playpen and walker in the living room.
It’s not for punishment or my own impatience. It’s to teach them that these areas are a shared space and their room is there own, for their things!
May 7th, 2007 - 7:04 pm
yes it makes sense to have some rooms off limits but perhaps identifying another space where they can be kids would help. We have a basement room where they can roughhouse and be less diligent about cleaning up. It makes that much easier to say “not in this room” in other areas of the house.
May 8th, 2007 - 11:18 am
I have a huge gigantic bin full of legos. My grandkids are older but when they come over they always play with them, and theypick them up when they are done. They will miss some, so they get ****** up in the vacuum, and some time I step on then with my bare feet, OUCH!!!
May 9th, 2007 - 3:51 pm
It does annoy me when children’s toys are all over the house. With my children, I’ve taught them that toys have a place, and should be kept in that place unless they are being played with. When my children are quite young (say…to about three) they have a collection of toys in a box in the lounge room, because that is where I like them to play so I can supervise and keep an eye on them, but they are still expected to clean up after themselves and put one toy back before they get the other out. Once they are older, they are expected to keep their inside toys in their room, and their outside toys in their places also. That means no bikes laying in the driveway, otherwise they get put away for a week. No balls sitting around just waiting for me to step on them and break my neck on my way to the closeline. No bats lying hidden in the grass for me to stub my toes on…and so forth.
May 11th, 2007 - 11:41 pm
Yes! But actually my children aren’t allowed to have any toys in their bedroom (they’d get up and start playing with them! Only books and stuffed animals allowed). All their toys are downstairs in the basement and before we had that, it was in the the dining room before we had a table. I can’t stand walking around me house seeing toys all around the place. It makes it look messy, not that I’m a cleaning nut, and when I do things like vaccuum, I don’t want one of my kids to come running to me, crying because they can’t find some little piece to something because I ****** it up by accident.
My boys have their basement filled with toys and they can go wild. I go down there once a month to clean it with them. No stepping on matchbox cars, no vacuuming up small pieces, no messy rooms!
Best Wishes =]
May 12th, 2007 - 8:43 am
I have been called “The Monica From Friends” when it comes to housecleaning, so anything being out of place does bother me, however my son’s toy room and bedroom are on the upstairs level and most of my time is spent on the main level (cooking, paying bills, doing things on the computer, cleaning- most of the square footage of our house is the main level) My son usually plays downstairs on the main level because that is where I am. And although it annoys me to no end to have things out of place and to have those little Matchbox/Hotwheels cars EVERYWHERE in the room that I am- it’s nice to know that he’s near me and not getting into something else upstairs. My son definitely tends to get into things and needs to have a close eye kept on him, so it’s nice that he likes to bring his toys down and play near me on the main level, because there’s not much for me to do on the upstairs level except clean.
I can understand how you’re tired of finding toys of his everywhere in your house or how you’re tired of stepping on them. My son chooses to play mainly (well all the time actually) with matchbox cars and little hotwheels cars, and picking up 100 of those is definitely harder than picking up one or two “larger sized toys” It’s annoying- but before I get too upset about it I just try to remember that there’s people out there who either never could have children or who had a child that died and would do anything to have matchbox cars everywhere to slip and fall on.
The only thing that really annoys me about his not wanting to play in his playroom upstairs is the fact that I just recently finished decorating it and it took alot of time and effort not to mention expense on my part- and since he doesn’t actually play in there much- it’s basically just a big beautiful storage area for toys that’s been tastefully decorated rather than a playroom that gets alot of use- LOL
May 14th, 2007 - 12:21 pm
Oh go get banged! Kids and their toys are all over my house. Its toys not trash. I like to watch my kids play with their toys. If they don’t get picked up so what. I make sure their toys are just out the way. That’s your job. If they pick them up[ that is great Mine do but not all the time and I am not going to punish them for it.
May 16th, 2007 - 4:33 am
It does annoy me when I step on something and it hurts my foot. But toys are everywhere also. We have toys in the family room and then we turned the dinning room into a playroom and it is filled with toys, but they get dragged from one room to the other. Which I don’t care as long as they are cleaned up at the end of the day! The only toys my children have in their room our stuffed animals.
May 19th, 2007 - 8:58 am
kids need to also have a central room they can play in - like a Family room..
kids are not solitary animals.. they dont want to play only in their rooms - they want to be out where every one else is..
puzzles on the kitchen table are quite normal (eat in the dinning room for a few nights or visa versa - have the puzzle in dining room)…
I dont think I ever stepped on a toy.. I generally look where I am going..
too many toys out at a time isnt good either.. but if you dont like toys.. dont have kids…
parents should be quite at home playing with kids toys too.. Lego is great…Kids are part of the family.. and should be treated as such..
May 20th, 2007 - 6:48 am
Why would you argue with other parents about it?
Do what you like at your house and let them worry about their house.
My kids can bring their toys anywhere in our house but before they can get out another one they have to put that one away and before they leave that room to play somewhere else they put all the toys away, problem solved.
I have no problem with people that have their kids keep their toys in their rooms, just don’t see it as a big reason to argue, you do what works for you and I do what works for me and my family. I don’t believe my kids should always be in their rooms to play.
May 23rd, 2007 - 12:08 pm
Not that much. Our house is fun to live in. We have places in every room for toys to be put away when it’s time. Being a kid should be fun with structure. While I agree that total chaos isn’t a good thing, total structure isn’t either. Somewhere in there exists a happy medium. Children learn through play. It makes them curious and keeps their little minds occupied.
I have no problem tripping over a toy or stepping on a matchbox in the middle of the night. It’s a reminder that I have four healthy, happy children in the house. There will come a time when our kids leave home, we can have a clean house free of toys when that happens. While we have kids, this house belongs to them and it will remain a fun, relaxing, encouraging environment.
If you are really stressing about this, I suggest a visit to a local hospitals children cancer ward. There are many parents there wishing that they had healthy kids at home to leave toys around. It will change your life.
May 26th, 2007 - 3:32 pm
yes oh yes I broke my big toe over a toy!!!!!!!My step son left on the steps and lost a month of work not to mention it hurt. So now I an like ur stuff in ur rooms, Shoes clothes toys or I will throw it away!!!!!!
May 27th, 2007 - 5:18 pm
There are some people that should never have children.
You need to teach children not cover up for the lack of.
Children should be taught to put their toys away when told and when finished playing with them.
This is a good way to teach your child to be responsible.
I have 4 boys from 12 down to age 5 and all pick up and put toys away after play.
To put a child away in a bed room is like putting the child in a box. There is no bonding in families that do that.
True old saying. Families that work together, play together, stay together. These are the families that do not have problems in the teen years.
( Connie Mom of 4 and 5th. grade teacher )
May 28th, 2007 - 12:14 am
Your kids are employed…. They are to be kids.. Its their job…Your really are not a parent until you stumble over a bunch of crap on he floor from your self employed children…. Relax this goes on untill they move away to university…
Be a cool mom and don’t force the little angel to have a lot of respondibility..
It is his job to be a kid…. … .
May 29th, 2007 - 7:13 am
it bugs me but they are kids you cant keep them in one place…unfortunatly kids toys are going to be around they are appart of our homes. my son has toys in the living room hallway bedroom too. he is 13 months and helps me put them away and as far as im concerned as long as he is helping me they can be where ever he wants them to be.
May 31st, 2007 - 8:47 am
I have never stepped on a hotwheels or other toy. My son has buckets of them, I just look where I’m walking. I let mine be kids. It’s hard for them to play in their rooms because they both have platform swings that take up space. If I’m taking a shower, someone has toys in there, if I’m cooking, there are always toys right behind me, and since my son gets up before me (doesn’t matter what time I set my alarm) there are always lots of toys right beside my bed. He lines up his cars across any flat surface, and my daughter is obsessed with her toy animals so they’re always around. If I have people over, they are well aware that there are 2 children living here. My house is clean, but there are always toys somewhere. It’s a part of having kids. And it makes it easier for me to play with them, because there is always a toy near by.
I **** watching suppernanny for this reason; They have these big, georgous, spotless (for the most part) houses, and out of control kids. Maybe if the kids were allowed to play with all those toys they buy them, they would be a little happier.
June 2nd, 2007 - 9:07 pm
Nope. It just goes to show that they’re having fun in multiple areas rather than be confined to a specific area. As it gets closer to 4 P.M. I’ll have them pick up their toys but other than that I’m okay with it.
June 4th, 2007 - 2:04 am
Noah’s only 9mths but we have certain rooms that we play in…and we have places that our toys go at the end of the night. So, the play area is a mess most of the time…but, I’m OK w/ it.