To think this is a normal rule..

[Butterflykissess]

that children are not allowed to eat food in bedrooms or on sofas?! Does anyone allow their children to do this? as much as I tell my children they are not allowed food upstairs or on the sofa they ignore me and do it anyway. Aib u in thinking this is normal and most parents don't allow it.

I guess it is up to the individual. My SIL was very condescending when mine were little, saying that hers were never allowed to eat anything unless it was at the table. To her, I was making an unnecessary rod for my own back. Personally I think life's too short to worry about things like that. How many times would I have had to nag to reinforce it and how much stress would that have caused all of us over the years with me telling them off and/or them complaining? I reckon I've added a couple of years back to my life not stressing over food on sofas!!

Growing up we had a no food in bedrooms policy- no messy plates gathering mould- it's a good idea!

It was normal for me growing up but we had a huge dining table...

With my own kids now, we generally have dinner in the garden in the summer or on the sofa as we just don't have the space for a dining table.
I thought sofa eating was fairly common tbh.

Totally agree about no food in bedrooms though.

I have similar rule (enforced most of the time! We have exceptions for movie nights etc). If people leave crumbs around the house.we get mice as it's an old house.

All food at the table in our house, with the exception of Friday dinner (Friday is my no-cook day, so it's usually fish fingers and chips) which they are allowed to eat on the sofa. I will sometimes turn a blind eye to the odd banana or rice cake snack eaten on the sofa. Snacks are allowed when watching a film at the weekend. Eating in their room is pretty much absolutely banned, although I might give them a plate of fruit or something in there if they are doing a homework assignment with a friend. Middle one still eats sweets in there illicitly, though if I catch him at it there's trouble.

Teen, preteen, toddler.

We just used a throw on the sofa when kids were small.

When DC was young then all meals at kitchen table. At some point during primary school we moved to eating in front of TV . DS now teenager and we tend to do our own thing - meals can be eaten upstairs, outside, wherever as long as dirty plates returned to dishwasher.
I do insist on plates for cakes/ biscuits
I can see with 4 young DC you want to keep some kind of organisation BUT be wary of too many rules as if there is a rule in place you need to stick to it and if the rule's over something which is not hugely important in the grand scheme of things this can lead to constant tension. So for example as they get s little older maybe snacks/ sandwiches on the sofa as long as they sit quietly with a plate.

I was brought up like this at that age. The sofa rule was relaxed as we got older, but to this day I don't eat in my bedroom. I don't think it has occurred to my kids that eating is something they might do upstairs, they are creatures of habit!

My mum had rules like this, lots and lots of rules. All it did was give her something to be upset about because we could never live up to her cleanliness/tidiness standards.

Agree that the issue is that your children will not listen to you.

FWIW, I also have the rule of no food outside the kitchen which the kids seems to follow so far. The reason why I have this rule is that we seem to have voracious ants in the neighbourhood, and anytime the rule is broken, I have to ultra hoover and fumigate areas - that is the story I tell the children and seems to be enough for them to follow the rule.

YANBU

It pisses me off beyond measure

Hi op. Single mum of 3 here so and to you, especially because of your dc's ages! My youngest is 4 and oldest 13 so not as wee as yours.

I have 1 fabric sofa and 1 leather, which is known as the "eating sofa" as it's wipe clean and I don't mind as much if crumbs get on it :) Plus a small handheld Dyson which is brilliant for quick tidy ups. When there's just one adult and multiple children I have found it helps to lower my expectations hugely! But teaching them where they can eat and where they can't is just a case of being strict I think. It's easy to be permissive when there's only one adult but I found to my peril that its no good for them or me in the long run!

Good luck x

Absolutely, no food on the sofa and no food upstairs. My DC learnt this early and didn’t push it except when cousins and friends came and trashed my rules comprehensively when their parents were hovering to make sure they were not told off. Grr! Liberal parenting!

We do no food on the sofa or TV on during dinner time expect Saturday when we have pizza. All other times we eat at the table and TV is off. Don't know how it will be when they are teens. Probably will have to allow for bedroom snacks with some rules for cleaning up. I remember always eating when I've was revising in my room.

Occasional dinner on the sofa as we only have on television which is in the living room and there’s sometimes something we want to watch which coincides with when dinner is ready.

Crisps/fruit get eaten in room by teens whilst they study but they are very good and do always bring wrappers down to the bin.

The thing is i would never give my child a rule I wouldn't want to follow myself and the thought of if I want a chocolate bar I need to sit at the table would not be homely at all for me or comforting. Sometimes I want to lay on the sofa and eat chocolate. Not sit at the table all formal.

I find it odd so many people live like that and won't eat on their sofas.

Your house your rules. You'll have to have consequences OP. I also had a 'bottoms must be sitting down whilst eating' rule. No walking around whilst eating / drinking.

I don't personally have a problem with either because we live in a small bungalow so we tend to eat sat on sofa with fold out tables. As for food in room, DS often prefers to eat while he is "Lego building" and also like to take his brew in with him. I don't mind so long as plates are returned to kitchen when he is finished.

I have the same rule. Food only in the kitchen or at the kitchen table. Not on sofas or any other room, except when there is a sleepover and the kids have pizzas and they are allowed to eat it in front of TV
Kids are 11 and 14 and even when they are home alone, they won't eat in the kitchen - leaving a mess behind, so that's how I know.

They usually bring a book to the table when they are having a snack.
Only liquid allowed in rooms is water.

My only rule was "be neat." Eat healthy, try not to spill. We had t.v. trays.

Too many rules and they are unhappy and leave. But as long as they were careful, I didn't care where they ate. It's their home too.

I'm curious though. All the folks with these rules, you never have any of you just slob out on the sofa, watching tv, and eating some random crap? They aren't allowed to drink either? You all go sit at the table for a snack or lean over the sink to drink? No cups of tea and biscuits on the sofa permitted?

Was that rhe rules when you were young?

Depends on age.

We adults only drink on the sofa, and occasionally food if ill. So no different from the DC. Once the DC can be relied upon not to rub cheese or jam into the sofa fabric then we would loosen up.

As a child we always ate at the dining table or kitchen table. Only drinks and at most nibbles - nuts etc - would be taken on the sofa or in the sitting room at all.

Bluntness100
Well, we don't snack between meals so no we don't eat random crap.
I don't usually lean over the sink to drink my coffee, I have it while seating on on the kitchen stool usually.

I grew up in a large house in the US and food was only allowed in the kitchen/family room and dining room. The kitchen/family room had a large tv/games console and food was allowed as it was part of the kitchen. No food in the other reception rooms or upstairs. We had a games room with a mini bar and kitchenette and food was allowed there.

My house here is nowhere near the size of the home, so no slobbing around with drinks and food in the room with the large take, but we have a smaller one in the kitchen so the children usually watch things there.

Adults sometimes slob out on sofa when children asleep! Sometimes children popcorn on sofa, but once/fortnight kind of thing. Nothing sticky.

No my parents didn’t really feed us snacks and we rarely watched TV until secondary school age. We did a lot of computer games but were not allowed to eat or drink at the computer for good reason. We were outside a lot!