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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To feel like screaming until I'm sick then throwing myself on the floor?

26 replies

listsandbudgets · 28/09/2014 18:02

I probably am but right now it may be therapeutic.

This morning I stripped all 3 beds washed the sheets, got them dry on the line and put them all back on the bed again.

Just went upstairs to investigate noise and found that dd and ds both with muddy shoes on have been bouncing on the beds - all 3 of them.

DS is 2. DD who is 8 had volunteered to take him upstairs to play for 15 minutes to let me iron some shirts should have known better (ds likes nothing better than pulling at cables). All the sheets are going to need changing again before bed :(#

AIBU if I just throw a tantrum instead?

OP posts:
Bowlersarm · 28/09/2014 18:05

Very, very annoying. Take a step back. Breathe.

Mine are teens now, OP. Those things are unimportant in the long run, but so, so annoying when you are caught up in the chaotic exhausting world which is young children.

It gets better Smile

Bulbasaur · 28/09/2014 18:08

Ah yes. I have a very clear memory of giving my little brother a ton of water to play with and it got all over the carpet. My mother just about killed me. In my logic, I didn't understand why I was in trouble (5yrs) and he wasn't (2yrs). He was playing with the water more than me after all and he knew the rules too. Grin

FunkyBoldRibena · 28/09/2014 18:10

Don't throw a tantrum. Get her to change the sheets, put the dirty ones in the wash, put the new ones on and then she gets a lovely lesson in ironing tomorrow.

MelanieCheeks · 28/09/2014 18:12

It's OK. Nothing's broken, or requires a hospital visit, or is going to cost megabucks. It's a normal part of parenting.

Have you just the one set of bedding, or is there a spare set that could be used?

Original poster
listsandbudgets · 28/09/2014 18:16

Thank you. I know its normal and I'm over reacting. Getting dd to change some sheets is a good plan. She can do her's and DS's and I'll do our king size (don't think her little arms would manage.

We've got loads of sheets etc. luckily.

Back to work Grin

OP posts:
ithoughtofitfirst · 28/09/2014 18:22

This happened to me really recently! I feel your pain. Ds did a musical beds and vommed in all 3 just after i'd changed them all. Bless him. I was gutted.

Janethegirl · 28/09/2014 19:20

I'd let the little darlings sleep in the muddy sheets until you'd normally change them. It won't hurt them and it'll save you loads of aggro and it may make them understand your pov. Wine

Annarose2014 · 28/09/2014 19:22

Yeah, I'd let them sleep in them too!

Bulbasaur · 28/09/2014 19:33

What? You can't make kids sleep in muddy sheets. Children have the right to a clean living environment, a warm meal, and clothes that fit. Hmm

Making your children sleep in dirty sheets will teach them nothing but it's ok to be lazy and sleep in your own filth.

mrscog · 28/09/2014 19:43

If the mud is only on the top I'd brush it off and just change them in my own time (sooner than normal but not tonight) a bit of dried mud never harmed anyone!

Original poster
listsandbudgets · 28/09/2014 20:42

Beds changed, sheets etc. hanging up again. They'd managed to muck up duvet covers and bottom sheets by pulling duvets off play fighting on them on floor then bouncing on bed.

Poor DD said "but I was only trying to help". She did change the sheets though but I had to help her get duvet covers on. Good learning experience for her normally I only get her to strip her bed not make it up

OP posts:
minkah · 28/09/2014 21:19

I think our children teach us, all the time, not to be too attached to our plans, or envisaged outcomes.

I sympathise, listsandbudgets!

Janethegirl · 28/09/2014 21:20

No way would I have changed the sheets!!

clam · 28/09/2014 21:28

"You can't make kids sleep in muddy sheets. Children have the right to a clean living environment, a warm meal, and clothes that fit."

Er, yes, maybe as a general rule, but I think you might be taking that a bit too literally. As long as those things are the norm, then one night in a bed that is grubby because the kids were naughty (and an 8 year old jolly well should know that jumping on beds in muddy shoes is naughty, regardless of whether the sheets had just been changed) won't kill them.

kelpeed · 28/09/2014 22:05

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Bulbasaur · 28/09/2014 23:14

Er, yes, maybe as a general rule, but I think you might be taking that a bit too literally. As long as those things are the norm, then one night in a bed that is grubby because the kids were naughty (and an 8 year old jolly well should know that jumping on beds in muddy shoes is naughty, regardless of whether the sheets had just been changed) won't kill them.

Lots of things that suck won't kill you. Doesn't mean all of them are teaching moments either.

I think a child would learn more by cleaning up their own mess and understanding the work that goes into maintaining their living space. If you as an adult spilled coffee on your bed, you wouldn't sleep in it, you'd probably change the sheets. It's a good life skill to teach kids basic hygiene and living space etiquette. I remember throwing clean clothes in my hamper because I didn't want to put them away. Instead of making me just wear dirty clothes all week, she taught me how to do laundry and made me do all of it so I understood how much work it was.

They're not really learning anything by sleeping in muddy blankets. Not to mention the longer you leave dirt, the more likely it is to stain, especially if they're rubbing the dirt into the blankets as they sleep at night. So even from a practical standpoint it's not really a good punishment. Now you have dirty pajamas and have to block out extra time in the morning for a bath instead of doing it the night before.

EndoplasmicReticulum · 28/09/2014 23:19

Please don't make them sleep in the muddy ones. My mum made me sleep in wet sheets once ( not wee, spillage from hot water bottle but she thought I'd done it on purpose) it was not fun.

MrsWinnibago · 28/09/2014 23:26

Don't you have spare sets? I agree that shoes off is the only way forward. My not-very-housetrained kids know that is the ONLY thing I am very strict about.

ChippingInLatteLover · 29/09/2014 12:41

Endo had you bothered to read the thread - all 17 posts of it - you would know that the Op has already changed the sheets and your tale of woe was unnecessary - not to mention, not the same thing at all.

MrsW The OP has already said she has lots of other sheets and that she has changed the sheets and the others are hanging up.

Why don't people read threads anymore - it's only a few posts?? Confused

ChippingInLatteLover · 29/09/2014 12:44

Lists I think you were a bit soft on DD. She's 8 (presumably NT as you didn't mention otherwise) - eight and you haven't torn strips off of her for jumping on the beds, for pulling them all about & doing it with muddy shoes on??

'I was trying to help' - you've fallen for that? Really?

Original poster
listsandbudgets · 29/09/2014 12:49

Chippingin she got a good telling off don't worry. That was just what her response was!!

OP posts:
EndoplasmicReticulum · 29/09/2014 19:29

Chipping I had read the thread, thanks. I had seen that the OP had changed the sheets. I was really replying to those who suggested that it would be a useful learning experience to make them sleep in the muddy ones. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

Viviennemary · 29/09/2014 19:31

I'd let them dry brush of the dried mud and turn them over. A bit of mud never hurt anyone.

wingsandstrings · 29/09/2014 19:41

I feel your pain. I spent the morning on my hands and knees cleaning the floor . . . . only for my DC to go out to the very muddy yard then tread it back through most of the house. The thing is, it was slightly my fault, as they were un-naturally quiet for about 40 minutes and I was enjoying a rare moment on the sofa with a cup of tea, and I thought to myself 'this is probably worth the trauma that doubtless awaits me'. :) I kind of knew they were very unlikely to be quietly playing chess together.

Janethegirl · 29/09/2014 22:35

Mud doesn't hurt and it may teach them a lesson. I clean my kitchen floors once a week, if it gets dirty after I have cleaned it, tough shit....it has to wait for a week before I think of cleaning it again!! All other culprits may clean it if they wish but it ain't gonna be me!!