Augh, shoot me now.

[ailbhe]

Linnea thinks I am unkind. She's right. Urgh. She says she will be a MUCH nicer mother than I am when she's grown up. I say (meanly) I hope so.

It's going to be ok, of course, because it always is. But I'm pretty frustrated with my inability to keep my temper under control when stepping on expletive deleted plastic toys I asked them to pick up days ago.

They have SO MUCH STUFF. The temptation to bin it all is sometimes very strong. I think we need to really, really get working on proper toy storage, in a planned, dedicated, spending actual money and time on it fashion. That, or get them to enjoy giving things away. I can't see that happening.

Comments

[ailbhe]

The Playmobil is all in the attic...

I am so, so not naturally calm. I wish I were.

[radegund.livejournal.com]

Wow ... I'm reading this thread with a sort of ... slack-jawed yearning.

Our household is so far from this sort of measure being possible.

Tell me, does the paradigm whereby parents can compel their children to pick up toys work even if the parents constantly leave their stuff strewn everywhere?

Because I'm at sea here. We live in utter chaos. A lot of it is the boys' chaos, but equally, a significant portion of it is the adults'. And I haven't worked out in my head how I can address their mess without first addressing mine.

But maybe that's arseways. All I know is, I grew up in a household that got this aspect of life spectacularly wrong. And now my household appears to be replicating that pattern.

Genuinely seeking input, here, if anything occurs!

[ailbhe]

No, I think the adults have to put their stuff away, at least within limits - we don't leave dangerous stuff out, or stuff that might trip people, and we're planning to not allow the children to either. And they're allowed to tell us off if we get it wrong and we own up and apologise.

[radegund.livejournal.com]

See, that's more or less how I feel too. But my motivation to deal with my own mess tends to deflate in the context of everyone else's mess - I tip over into resentment territory very quickly.

[ailbhe]

Talk to the children about it? if someone does a huge tidy, as I did yesterday, and things start from fresh there, with a clear floor in one place and a commitment to maintain it (just the floor, not putting everything away where it belongs, exactly), they might rather like the idea of having a consistently clear space.

Or not, which is another issue entirely.