to wonder if anyone with children ever actually has a house that looks like they don't?

[CheerfulYank]

I have a friend who has no children but has always said that when she does, she will have a home that looks like children don't live there.

She was at a mutual friend's the other day. Mutual friend has a four year old and a newborn, and she had just received a new swing from her ILs.

Childless friend said that she would be "so irritated" with gifts like that because sue doesn't want junk all over her house. Friend with the newborn said "well kids do have stuff." Childless friend said "well there will be a high chair in the corner of course."

I think she's in for a massive shock. I do try to keep my kids' things fairly tidied away in baskets and stuff, but you can definitely tell children live very here!

But then I thought, she is very organized and only wants one, so it is possible.

Anyone actually have a house that looks pristine with kids?

I think if you only have one kid and you're very tidy then it is possible, yes -- and not necessarily in a scary way! It just means you don't have much stuff and have good storage and tidy every day, and keep most of it in their room.

I think there's a difference between 'kids live here' and 'kids have taken over here' and possibly your friend just means the latter?

Or maybe she read French Kids Don't Throw Food.... :)

I feel sorry for her future child.

When choosing a CM for DD I saw one whose house was pristine & tidy, like a showroom. It put me right off. I want my kids to have fun.

At the minute our house has kid stuff littered everywhere. Sometimes I crack up badly, I feel like there us no room anywhere!!

Then I remember we are moving to a bigger house next year & the lounge is going to be designated toy room.
Of course what they are using will be in the main living area but we plan to chuck everything into the toy room at the end of the day.....

Time will tell!!

It's not immediately obvious that there are small children in my house - it's big and there is plenty of DC only and (predominantly) adult only space.

There's barely any DC stuff in the main living spaces but the playroom and kids den can get a bit messy

I have 4 dc's and you can tell before you even get inside! They have stuff everywhere, we have a large storage unit in the lounge stuffed with toys, a big net in the bathroom for toys plus potty's. the fridge is covered in magnets that are securing pictures with squiggly line art.
There are slides and a trampoline outside and all the usual stuff upstairs.

I've plenty of time to have a minimalist house in the future (although strongly suspect I will have toys etc for dgc when they come along.)

Stuff is cleared away when dt's go to bed so it's not in your face but it's there.

I watched a decoratey program once where the 'mother' wanted a 'child free home'.

Her kids had a room each but were banned from downstairs. Felt desperately sorry for them.

My mum always wanted a 'child free home'. I never felt welcome. Had everything I needed in my room - no need to ever leave.

A friend when I was growing up lived in a house like this. I started going there when we were about 11, and there was no trace of her or her sister in any of the downstairs rooms. Forget toys etc, there was no artwork on the noticeboard or stuck to the fridge as apparently her father thought it looked messy . I hated the place, it felt so cold and unfriendly.

I have a one bedroom flat so no chance. If DD had her own room I would def have a less cluttered living room. It does drive me a bit insane and never really looks tidy no matter how much I clean and tidy up!

I don't think you've have known we had a baby apart from photos and a high chair, and it's the same now ds is older too. I'm not sure you'd have a clue who lived here tbh.

Oh hello Yanky, just realised you're the OP

The future DC is also going to sleep through the night as a tiny infant and eat everything it's given. I've gently tried to suggest that some of this is possible (for example mutual friend's kids are great sleepers but picky eaters, mine are absolute bottomless pits as far as eating goes but DD did not sleep longer than a three hour stretch until she was almost a year old) but hitting the jackpot in all areas may be a bit high of an expectation.

It's funny because she's actually great with children! She is; mine love her. But I think she's in for a shock at it actually living with them.

Hi Dame!

I was a bit like this before I had first DC. I said his stuff would stay in his bedroom, we'd bring two toys into the room for him to sit and play with and when he was bored of them would take them back and choose two more etc until he was old enough to play alone in his room. Wanted the pram and high chair in the kitchen but that's it.

Fast forward to now, three DC later. Toys everywhere. Every room has some sign that children live here, their toys seem to manage to creep into every single room in the house including DH and I's bedroom . There's a big fucking frog in the bathroom with their bath toys in, living room is littered all day long with toys- sometimes I think it's a health and safety hazard in fact . Bookcase is 99% kids books, shoe rack in the doorway is 80% their shoes. There's a rocking horse in our living room ffs . Nappies on a clothes horse in the kitchen...

Because children do live here. They're just as much a part of this family as DH and I are. Tbh I think they have more stuff than DH and I put together! I think it gives the house 'character' anyway . They tidy their toys and books away before bed so it looks pretty tidy when they're asleep at least...

who would want to have a house that looked like children didn't live there?

When my children were little, the whole house looked like an explosion in toys r us that had been vomited on by the early learning centre.

My sons are now teenagers. You can tell they live here by

1. the pile of trainers chucked under the stairs instead of paired neatly in the shoe rack which is, erm - under the stairs right next to the trainer mountain!!

2. the smell emanating from their bedroom. I do not ask because I do not wish to know. I think it is important for my emotional wellbeing that I die in ignorance

3. the fact I haven't held the remote control in 18 months

4. the permanently empty fridge, even ten minutes after the shopping arrives. I am beginning to believe that there is a portal to another dimension located at the back of my fridge and all my food gets sucked in there.

5. the great big bear hugs that I find myself randomly and without warning enveloped in by people who inexplicably went from being tiny babies to a clear foot taller than me in about 3 weeks.

Why? You've got dcs be out and proud. embrass the shit tip that my your house may be come.

I have 4 dcs, from first seeing my house, you can tell i have dcs. The rollerskates abondoned on the doorstep, the overflowing basket of shoes in the hallway, nappy bin in downstairs toilet, loads of pictures adorn the walls of kitchen etc etc

actually, our house has never been over run with children's stuff. We don't have a playroom, most toys are in their rooms, we have two toy boxes downstairs, and an art/homework storage thing in the breakfast room.

You can tell that children live here, but it doesn't scream at you.

I new someone else with a child who wasn't allowed any toys downstairs.

He was maybe 18 moths old.

His parents would give him keys, a phone or their watch to play with. Then shout at him when he broke them. Poor little mite.

I'd totally forgotten about that until this thread.

I do.
Between 14.50 and 15.30 every week day in term time, after the last mess is tidied away and the house is clean again.
But then the kids come home from school.
It's a magical, lovely time, worthy of photos such a shame it never lasts.

I spent most of my childhood years in my (admittedly big) bedroom. All my toys and stuff were there. The rest of the house was grown up - you'd have never known a child existed. Now I live in a lovely house, 1 DC. There is not one room (except perhaps a bathroom) that you are not aware of the DC's existence! In fact they've taken over! And I am happy. Their bedroom is small, bed and a few toys and books. They play in the lounge WITH US. Long may it remain that way. Admittedly lounge/dining room look more like play rooms/art galleries - but who cares. I love it.

I'm somewhere in between - My living room is toy free - just DD2's footy trophies on one unit

Kitchen/diner has DD3's toy kitchen in it but everything is tidied up at night - down stairs loo and hall way are clutter free

Upstairs looks like a toy/make up/ knicker bomb went off - except for my room which is my sanctuary

I tidy everything away every night though so it looks nice when they are asleep or at their dads

My lovely SIL is super organised and uber tidy, but there are still clear signs that there are children in the house, I just wish I could borrow even a little bit of her tidiness!

Umm...my house does not look like kids live there until you get to their bedrooms. We have a cupboard in the living room/dining room that houses buckets with some toys, books, puzzles etc. And we have a highchair in the corner. The bulk of their junk toys are in their rooms.

Once they go to bed at night, our living space is completely child free. Am I weird?

no Annie you are me

storage is the answer to everything

Thinking about it now, and I never realised before, but growing up my house was like this. All my toys were in my room upstairs. I was really into art and all my art and craft stuff was inside a cupboard downstairs which I would put back immediately after using. Apart from a couple of photos on the mantlepiece, it wasn't obvious there were kids in the house if you only looked around downstairs.

Now their living room has a massive toy box for DS, childrens cutlery and plates on the kitchen worktop, booster seat on the dining room chair. And DS only ever goes there once in a blue moon!

I have 3 dc's and you can definitely tell children live here, Infact it looks like 20 children live here. I always think that people with more than one child and an immaculate home are probably spending too much time cleaning and not enough time playing with/enjoying time with dc's.