To be sick of my toddler trashing my house?

[gchali]

Quite honestly I can't cope with the daily mess. Any sort of untidiness just gives me the worst anxiety and I don't know how to deal with it at the moment his favourite thing to do at the moment is to pull all of the cushions off the sofa and pile them all up in the middle of the room!

How can I stop him from doing this? Or am I resigned to the fact that he's a toddler and this is just how it's going to be? Arghh!

hi gchali - look at this as a happy toddler using cushions to build with - sounds like you're winning at constructive playing!

Schools are having to run forest schools because kids just don’t play in the mud anymore

Schools run forest school sessions because it's a great way for children to learn!

Schools run forest school sessions because it's a great way for children to learn!

Pity more parents don’t see that

Pity more parents don’t see that

@BluebellsGreenbells pretty much all the parents I know do and most of my DDs' classmates were very accustomed to playing in the outdoors. The school ran the forest school sessions because they wanted to provide good quality learning opportunities, not to make up for deficiencies in parenting.

The implication that forest school sessions only happen because children don't play in mud enough is unpleasant and unhelpful parent blaming.

DS did this today, after getting out all of his drawing stuff, then puzzles, then Duplo, music box... We'd been to the park for a few hours this morning, but he's got so much energy, he 'helps' tidy up at the end of the day, but me or DH do a proper clean up while the other bathes him. Today after his whirlwind and then a fort building session in the living room, he looked around and said ' ohhh, messy' and looked at me like I'd done it!! He'll be two before Christmas, I assume he'll grow out of it at some point before he's 25....

Excellent post pippin Jay.

Op would it help to do as she said and think instead about all the valuable and precious things he is learning and needs to learn to help fuse his brain 🧠?

Children need flow when they play to develope.
It's your sons home and he must have space and time to be in that space as he wants.
As pp said its for you to work on your issues to allow him to do what he needs.

Perhaps think... X hours are his... X hours are mine...

Op the other thing you're overlooking is... He's entertaining himself!! Big, big plus.

OP it is going to be like this for a while, so you need to learn to live with it, and tidy up after he has finished his play.
You xan try to encourage him to tidy up himself by making a game out of it.
So when he gets all his toys out of the box, try saying "let's see who is faster at putting them back!"
But no all toddlers are interested in this. It depends on your luck.
Do you have anyone that you can bubble with? Is it allowed at the moment?
I love toddler playing. Whenever I could I would play with my friend's toddler so they could have a tea and a biscuit in peace. It was my favourite time with my DD. The playing together, not so much what happened when I turn my back for a minute......

My DS is 16 months and discovered the cushions on the sofa the other week. He loves taking them all off. He also pulls every single toy out but when he naps I put them away ready for round 2 . Once he's in bed they go back again.
I have anxiety too but toys doesn't bother me. Toys are a clean mess.

1. it's not "my house". It's as much the kid's as your husband's
2. what the hell did you expect?
3. There must be something fundamentally wrong* with you if losing control of surroundings will cause anxiety at this level.

*not in a judgemental, negative way, but in a: have a think of why this freaks you out, talk to a psychologist, whoever. sort it out. And don't take it out on your kid.

There's a line between making a mess for the sake of it/never putting things back and wanting to have fun and rearranging stuff for that purpose.

Op, seriously, your anxiety is your problem and you really shouldn't be making it your toddler's problem. That does not bode well.
Parenthood is hard. I am relatively strict with my kids and I expect reasonable behaviour but they are teens now. I wouldn't have batted an eyelid at them pulling the cushions off the sofa. It's a home not a show house. Tidy up at the end of the day, when your child is old enough, get them to help too. We loved the tidying game when mine were young.
You need to deal with your anxiety now before it impacts on your child. I'm sorry but you chose to have a child, now you are going to have to adapt.

first world problems kid makes a mess

Your anxiety is your problem, not your child.
You need to seek help.
A lot of bereaved parents would give anything to have their healthy child playing with the cushions. Consider that.