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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

That even if we had room we wouldn't have a playroom

73 replies

yellowflowers · 16/09/2010 10:23

Lots of my friends seems to have playrooms for their toddlers. Our house isn't big enough - we have three bedrooms and a large living room which also has a table and chairs in it but even if we had more rooms it would be an office or a quiet room for our books and piano. Plus I am not sure I want our kids to have that many toys, and I want them and their playing to be part of the general house not confined to one room. Am I the odd one though?

OP posts:

FrameyMcFrame · 17/09/2010 07:52

BeenBeta · 17/09/2010 09:07

I find it surprising that people find it odd that we teach our children to respect their own and our possessions.

They have cheaper and more durable furniture in their rooms and they can do what they like there within reason. In other parts of the house which has expensive and sometimes fragile furniture we just ask them not to take food/drink, jump/run around or play with things that might damage the furniture.

scottishmummy · 17/09/2010 09:23

playroom keeps all the guddle toys in one room.contains it from spreading all round house.if too messy close door and is hidden.genius

ScroobiousPip · 17/09/2010 09:47

Playrooms, yes, great idea.

Not allowing your DCs into some rooms without an adult present.

breadandroses · 17/09/2010 10:16

BeenBeta,

I think your house must be bigger than most of ours

SummerRain · 17/09/2010 10:23

my kids are 5, 4 and 19 months and we're in the process of turning the playroom into a studio/study.

It was necessary to have a playroom up til now as we always had one who wasn't able to go up and down the stairs on their own so for practicality there had to be somewhere for them to play downstairs.

However ds2 is now able to go upstairs with dd and ds1 to play, so that necessity is gone. Furthermore they didn't play in the playroom, they simply made a mess and dragged toys all over the house. Their rooms are more than big enough for all their toys (in fact the boys room looks much better now with all the playroom furniture in it) so it's pointless having a whole room dedicated to storing toys when dp has tonnes of music equipment sprawled all over the house and i'm doing an OU degree and need somewhere quiet to study

BeenBeta · 17/09/2010 10:33

I feel like a freak now.

PinkElephant73 · 17/09/2010 10:34

We never had a playroom but we recently turned our dining room into a study/second living room which is like a big kids' playroom really.

Much more useful than the dining room which never got used as we always eat in the kitchen.

spiritmum · 17/09/2010 10:45

We have a playroom but ony because we inherited a silly 'dining room' that is miles from the kitchen (which you can eat in anyway) and as it's sort of open-plan to teh living room there isn't really a lot else to do with it.

Sometimes the dc play in it but most of the time they bring their stuff up to the living area so it's really a giant store cupboard. When we first moved in I had it organised ike a mini per-school room with a craft table and easel but we soon found we live in the kitchen and do carfts there.

I do not comprehend 'adults only' living rooms and will freely admit to being judgey on that. One womam I know has her tasteful Christmas tree in the adult's room and puts all her dc's handmade decorations on the tree in their playroom out of sight.

girlsyearapart · 17/09/2010 10:53

beenbeta you're not a freak, each to their own. I don't like going to houses where you cannot see any trace that children there but equally don't like kids toys all over the place. It's good for adult sanity to keep some areas relatively child free.

spiritmum · 17/09/2010 10:57

Oh dear, been, just read your posts!

pointydog · 17/09/2010 10:57

This is just a matter of personal options and desires. Why on earth would it make anyone odd if they didn't set up a playroom?

pointydog · 17/09/2010 10:59

Copme on, beta. Surely you realise that most people have neither the space nor the money to have room s of furniture that must be respected.

The insularity of mn still sometimes surprises me.

Rhian82 · 17/09/2010 11:00

Wow, I never thought there would be this many people who actually had a dedicated playroom. DS (23 months) didn't even have a bedroom of his own until he was one as we lived in a one-bedroom flat with no extra rooms.

Most of his toys are in his bedroom, and a selection in the living room so he can play downstairs.

It's strange, I really thought that having a playroom was something only Victorians or very very rich people would do! (not to criticise, just a realisation that most people seem to have more rooms than us!)

FrameyMcFrame · 17/09/2010 13:50

I think it comes down to whether you want to sit in said playroom all the time.

We've got a dining room that could be a playroom that is currently being used for nothing. But it's a dark room and I much prefer sitting in the living room which gets lots of sunlight so all the kids toys are in here.

If I made dining room a playroom I'd never want to sit in there so no playing would get done in there...

SexyDomesticatedDad · 17/09/2010 14:12

Wait till you get teenagers - dark room they can hide out in is perfect. The younger ones (5 & 9) also get on and put out big train tracks and the like - so all in all we find the room is great. The two youngest share a bedroom and at times they need to have their own space.

BeenBeta · 17/09/2010 14:46

pointy - not so very long ago I lived with DW, a baby and a toddler in a very small house with just a small living room, a kitchen and toilet on the ground floor.

That was why we decided when we could afford it that we must get a house with a playroom. We felt we needed at least one room where there were no toys and we could put nicer furniture that is not covered in food and drink and scratches? I dont think that is insular, doesn't everyone want a quiet adult space if they can afford it?

I know not everyone can.

spiritmum · 17/09/2010 15:28

Been, I used to live in a house very much like that. When we moved the sheer joy for the dc of all that space...even their development improved.

Our quiet adult-only space is our bedroom (apart from when dcs are ill - although they can always come and get us) and our work space (we both have a home office, mine in our converted garage and dh's is in the study - but we work from home so this is a necessity.

Otherwise our family home is just that - for our family. We even have some nice things in it.

MilaMae · 17/09/2010 16:55

Up until my dc were 5,5 and 4 we lived in a teeny house that was literally a 2 up 2 down with just a teeny kitchen and lounge,it was hell. My kids couldn't even have a play kitchen and being surrounded by toys got me down.

We moved last year to a bigger house with a lounge,dining room and yep a playroom!!!!! Well actually it's a huge conservatory which has the low Trofast drawer units all the way round,a huge squishy sofa and a craft table.

It's a lovely room, a real sun trap but cosy when it rains,it's part of the whole living space not separate. We still get toys elsewhere but the rule is if you want to leave it out to return to it's in the playroom. I tidy it up daily but have to say pulling the door shut on all toys at the end of the day is a total sanity saver.

My dc are too old now to justify a lovely wooden play kitchen now though .

spiritmum · 17/09/2010 17:24

We do the same thing, Mila. The dc help us to either pack the toys back into the playroom or take them up to their bedrooms so at night the living room is toy-free.

oldraver · 17/09/2010 17:30

I have a playroom of sorts, it is supposed to be a downstairs bedroom but was a study for many years. Then my DB used it as a bedroom but we still kept the bookcases and desk in there. Now he has moved out I have turned it inot a playroom as we were getting inundated with toys in the living room and I just wanted my room back. It is nice it DS being able to have his toys out of my way but not upstairs

MadameCastafiore · 17/09/2010 17:32

We have a plyromm - saves the nice rooms having bloody toys all over them!

BeenBeta · 17/09/2010 18:12

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