To think that if you leave your stuff right where a toddler can find it, you can't complain when the toddler wrecks it?

[DrSeuss]

DD, aged 7, has been told more times than I can number to put anything she values away rather than, for example, leaving her tablet on an arm chair or her favourite DVD on the floor. She rarely tidies anything away unless forced to by me. DH is just as messy and thinks of my efforts to tidy up and get others to do so as nagging. Today, DD left her homework on the dinner table, with a pen. DS, aged 2, drew on it when I was busy for a few minutes.

DH is furious with DS but not DD. I tell her on a daily basis to but things, especially anything important, away. Now she has learned the hard way. I am cross with both of them as I feel that they are both at fault.

Thoughts?

YADNBU

YANBU sick of the same myself . Occupational hazard of having toddler though..

Nothing is safe from my 2yo twins :( dd1 is 6yo and learning this!

Yanbu I constantly have to pick up my dp on leaving his stuff lying around anything from money to razors within reach of my toddler.
My coffee table has been ruined with a ball point pen by dc because he left it lying. grumbles

YADNBU. Your toddler doesn't do it on purpose. And I speak as someone whose sofa has today been ruined with a biro drawing on the arm.

Anyone know how to get biro out of a sort of distressed leather/suedey sofa arm, please? My usual get-any-stain-out-of-anything fallback of the humble huggies wipe has been ineffective.

YANBU, I still have to tell this to my 9yo dd1. Her homework has also been handed in with extra scribbles courtesy of dd2 more than once.

I'm pretty sure I wrote this. DH always leaves his laptop open on the couch, then gets really irritated when the 2 or 3 yr old gets it. Uh.. duh!!!

Yanbu. I've warned dd daily about this and she still can't insists on leaving stuff out.

It's fair game then as I have things to do, can't follow her round like a lost puppy.

Wait, your DH is furious with a 2 year old for drawing on a piece of paper?

FFS.

No, YANBU. Your DH on the other hand...

A soft scrowing pad and washing up liquid got biro off my brothers cream leather sofa the other day when my dd went at it

Dr Beckmans do an ink remover that works, never tried it on leather though!

I find simple face wipes will strip anything although I would try them on a hidden bit first in case they take all the colour out.

YANBU. Bitter experience has taught us all this!

YANBU, OP. First rule of toddlers.

My 5yo gets this, btw.

Hairspray may work on the sofa.

A 2 year old don't do things out of malice, things need to be out of a 2 year olds reach.

Thanks everyone

Sorry for hijack, OP

My DH left his stupidly, ridiculously expensive camera lense in reach of our 2 yo DNiece (despite having a 3 yo of our own!)... The inevitable happened. Fortunately, DH was only angry with himself.

Now we have another almost 2 yo. And DH STILL doing it (and similar), daily. I'm very worried about our new laptop, but it doesn't sink in.

YANBU, DP leaves stuff around then finds it chewed later by the dogs (kind of the same thing!) not the dogs fault but his for leaving it there knowing they could get to it

How did ds get up on the dinner table?

he is two. not difficult to get up to the dinner table.

yadnbu not at all. how would the two year old be able to tell the difference between homework, important letter and his drawing paper. or in my case mother's recipe book? dd may have scribbled in a few of my books, with red wax crayon

Chinese fireball - try a shoe shop for a proper cleaner for that kind of leather - they also do special types of brushes too.

DD learnt this the hard way, as did DH but in our case it was, respectively a favourite teddy and two new pairs of shoes chewed by a 4 month old puppy.

I refused to punish the dog, because I had told both of them time and time again not to leave stuff on the floor and in DHs case, to take the pup into the garden with him, not leave him bored in the house.

It was frosty, but I wouldn't back down. They both did it again, but from then on picked up and put away the FIRST time I reminded them.

Our other rule is if you only think she can't reach something, put it higher up. Because she can climb like a bloody monkey and the table/windowsill she couldn't reach yesterday is suddenly her favourite place to sit today. Naked.

Learnt the hard way in our house with the dog. The only thing he has ever chewed are sylvanians if you don't want them to end up multiple amputees and set free in the garden you put them away.