To think leaving stuff on the stairs is a bit dangerous

[BlueCanary]

What is it with people who have piles of stuff on their stairs.

I'd say that about half of the houses I visit (friends, ILs, family, play dates etc) have stuff on their stairs. Maybe a pair of slippers on bottom step, some magazines on next step up, maybe a few toys on the next one, and then some washing/coats/cardys halfway up.

Why?

AIBU to think this is unsafe, and someone could go flying, and really hurt themselves.

Stair baskets can be found at tesco direct £14. I have had them for a week all kids laundry goes in and all the detritus. It's worked ish so far

It's probably crazy dangerous, and yet I constantly have tons of crap there.

Every so often I go into a mad rage about how dangerous it is and rattle garbage bags in a threatening manner until DS cleans it up.

Eh? I thought the stairs were a house's main storage area?

I put stuff on the left hand side, neatly I might add, for the dc to take up with them.

None of us have ever slipped or tripped down the stairs. My dc are nearly 11 and 8.

proundnscary I used to put everything on the left side to! Mainly folded clothes to be taken up when the next person was going up. I now live in a single story house!

You mean my 14 shelves?

On a serious note we had a habit of doing this. I'd put a bottle of shampoo on there after a late night shop, forgot about it when going to bed, and my DH slipped on it coming down in the morning and dropped DD who was 15 months at the time. She ended up in hospital overnight with concussion.

DH has ever forgiven himself. Clear stairs are now a rule in our house.

never forgiven himself!

We have things on the lower stairs waiting to go up and a chair on the landing for things to go down. It's a system that works until Mother (88)comes to stay when we have to be careful so try not to do it.

I'm quite excessively clumsy.

I wish my family would adhere to my 'nothing on the stairs' rule. The amount of times I've slipped down the stairs is too many to count. Also magazines on the bathroom floor at night are a recipe for disaster and I have the scars to prove it!

Yes it is dangerous.

Dh slipped on a phone directory when he was coming down the stairs with a pile of washing and broke his arm.

I will also alert everyone to keep an eye out for small stabby dinosaurs tucked into the overhang part of the stair especially when you are just awake and barefoot.

You should NEVER leave anything on the stairs when you go up to bed (i move my stair basket!) If there's a fire it could make the difference between life and death, seriously.
I also know someone who broke her back slipping on a newspaper :(

Sorry to be harbinger of doom!

I don;t leave anything there and DH hasn't since the week asfter DS was born and he found me crying on the stairs because I couldn't get around some slippery paper he'd dropped there (due to stitches).

yep, it's dangerous, but I do it anyway in the vain hope that someone other than me will remove their clean washing/discarded dressing gowns/slippers/books etc

I am constantly disappointed

I fell down the stairs when I was heavily pg once. The stairs were clear, I slipped off a step whilst running for the phone and landed on my arse at the bottom.

carpet/socks interface: deadly

it is a danger, like other things.

i sort things out on the stairs and take them up as and when i go up.

I view it in the same way councils view road humps....slows the traffic and increases stair road safety.

I have decorative candles, on the bannister side, once in a blue moon I hoover all the cat fluff off the stairs and light them (they are battery tealights before anyone accuses me of arsonist tendencies)

On the wall side it is stuff to be taken upstairs, and it very much becomes a battle of wits as to who can ignore it the longest.

On the top flight of stair my craft stuff tends to creep up the stairs as I need to finish/tidy stuff.

And besides, no one ever races downstairs here, cos if you do you are just bound to squelch a freshly vomitted furball right between your toes. Stairs seem to be the cats preferred place to leave stuff like that.

yanbu.

I might sometimes have a small pile of clean pants / socks on the bottom step ready to be taken up but that's all.

The children are forbidden from leaving toys on the stairs. It's the only tidy part of my house .

and what alanmoore said about fire safety. If you are tearing out of your house in the dark in a fire then you do not want crap on your stairs.

Ok, it's not likely to happen but I'd rather not take the risk.

We did this all through my childhood, was normal then although I was conscious that our house was never tidy..
As an adult I just don't understand why you wouldn't just take whatever it was upstairs instead of leaving it at the bottom. Unless you have mobility issues it takes no time to nip upstairs and put whatever it is in the right room.

I have carpet on my stairs - sometimes a bit of dust and occaisionally the cat who likes to commandeer the bottom step. I do however have hand trail marks up both sides as no-one (no 2 son especially) seems to be able to go up and down without running their hands on the walls - there is a handrail.

the boys are 12 and 11 btw so not little toddlers who like the extra comfort of a hand on the wall.

WhatDIKA I think that depends on just how many random things you collect from downstairs that ought to be upstairs .
When you live with 4 massively untidy people like I do, that would be miles and miles of running up and downstairs all day. No doubt good for my figure, but not really a good use of my time.

I take your point BackforGood, my mum would have said the same. I may be being simplistic but we have never tolerated stuff left on the stairs and the DC know to carry up their stuff so it's never been an issue. I'm pretty sure this would not have worked with my brothers though.

No YANBU.

DW sometimes puts stuff there to remind me to take it up.
Evidently my brain parses it as "Obstacle, avoid", so I ten to step over/round it.