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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To have toys in the living room?

82 replies

ColaOlaLa · 02/06/2021 12:20

I have 4 children so we have a lot of toys, they are mainly in the living room as the kids don’t play upstairs, my mum thinks it’s awful to have toys in the living room and says it makes the house look messy and toys should be kept to bedrooms. I don’t mind it and we are not lucky enough to have a play room, does anyone else have them in the living room?

OP posts:
Nix32 · 02/06/2021 12:22

Yes, we had loads. But we also had decent storage which meant we could put everything away at the end of each day. Is that an option?

MyFloorIsLava · 02/06/2021 12:22

Does your mum live with your or pay for your house? If not then she doesn't get an opinion. I don't have a playroom so toys are in the living room. Where else would they go? DS is too young to play upstairs unsupervised.

TimeForTeaAndG · 02/06/2021 12:22

All DDs toys were downstairs when she was young because we had a large toybox they went in once she was in bed that didn't fit in her room.

Cheeeeislifenow · 02/06/2021 12:23

Depends on the age, it also does not last forever. I think good storage is key so that at the end of the day they can be fired in for a quick tidy.
I also find it wierd to have a show home where only the adults are represented in the different rooms.

FadedRed · 02/06/2021 12:23

Isn’t this the place for the MN response of “Your house, your rules?”
Maybe this little bit of domestic magic would help.

To have toys in the living room?
Nuggetnugget · 02/06/2021 12:24

Your house is a home and your children sound happy.
I have a room off our sitting room so I swing them in their (literally throw them Grin)
It's not really up to your mum how you chose to live as a grown woman and mother to four children.

Nuggetnugget · 02/06/2021 12:24

There

RipplesBips · 02/06/2021 12:24

My mum was like that - she didn't allow any sign of us anywhere in the house. You could've looked through the entire house (apart from our bedrooms) and you'd have no idea a kid lived there. It was honestly horrible - we weren't even allowed to play anywhere other than our bedrooms. Unfortunately, it means I have inherited from her that the "look" of the main parts of the house should be very adult and sophisticated (and toys do ruin that). We just have them craftily stored away all over the house and they're put away when they're not being played with. We build a bay window seat in our front room and a bench with storage around our kitchen table - the toys are in there and no one would know from looking.
Having said that, if it doesn't bother you then that's up to you - it's your house, not hers. You do you.

JellyTumble · 02/06/2021 12:25

It’s not unreasonable to have toys in the living room, but you should keep it tidy and make sure your kids put toys away when they are done with them.

Toys shouldn’t just be strewn about everywhere.

Buzlightyear1 · 02/06/2021 12:25

I live in a bungalow and my son is 4 he has managed to take over my home🤣 honestly toys in the front room he’s set up his pretend kitty and food in my kitchen to cook at the same time. Some toys in his room and some in mine but they are mostly ones I will be getting ride of soon as they are more baby toys and he’s not played with in ages. If your mum doesn’t live with you it doesn’t really matter. I just try and make sure they are all put away by the morning.

MyFloorIsLava · 02/06/2021 12:26

FWIW my MIL tells me she really regrets spending her sons' childhoods running round in a frenzy tidying up. She says now "what was the point?" And wishes she'd just enjoyed them more.

Original poster
ColaOlaLa · 02/06/2021 12:26

Glad it’s not just me then, she said we never had them in the living room growing up which was true actually apart from one small box and when I say small I mean small, but mine have massive toys like dolls houses, rocking horses (mini trampoline 🤦‍♀️) the smaller ones can be packed away but not the larger toys

OP posts:
MangoM · 02/06/2021 12:26

Yanbu, although I guess it depends on how they're stored when they're not being played with and whether it's taking up the majority of your floor space.

Have you got good storage so they can be tidied up and put out of the way when the toys aren't being played with

fashionablefennel · 02/06/2021 12:27

YOUR house, YOUR children, YOUR choice.

No toy stored in the living room here, but the kids can play wherever they want, they just have to tidy when they are done and always before bathtime.

Checkingout811 · 02/06/2021 12:27

I personally don’t have toys in the living room as I don’t like looking at them but we have a playroom and a large open plan kitchen & “family room” so have toys there.

I don’t have toys in bedrooms. Bedrooms are for sleeping and my DC wouldn’t sleep if they had toys in there 😂

PegPeople · 02/06/2021 12:27

I keep about half of DSs toys in the living room as that is often where he will be playing. I'd much rather that than have to always go and sit in his room whilst he played as he's too little to be upstairs independently.

Plus it's his house too. I would hate to think he wasn't welcome to play in the living room as he got older because that was a space for only grown ups to enjoy. It hardly sounds like the making of a great childhood to banish him to his room every time he wants to play.

Hsjdb7483939 · 02/06/2021 12:28

Yes we do; when we first moved into our house I said that the living room wasn’t going to have toys in it but then got fed up with carrying them up and down the stairs all day. My DC are under 5 so play in the living room. If I had a play room downstairs then I’d keep them all in there but I don’t so it’s the only option. I tidy them all away at the end of the say but the bigger things like toy kitchens are out

GreenOwl · 02/06/2021 12:29

I keep the toys where they get played with. I don't want to have to go and get a new toy each time my child changes their mind.

It's your house so you can put the toys where ever you like.

SingingWaffleDoggy · 02/06/2021 12:29

We have a big kallax unit in the sitting room. Having them kept in their bedrooms wouldn’t work for us when they spend all their day time downstairs. This way they can get out a box at a time and pack it away themselves (who am I kidding?!) and I certainly wouldn’t trust a toddler upstairs alone for long periods while I potter in the kitchen, doing laundry etc.
Plus, it’s not like it forever. One day I’ll reclaim my house!

Original poster
ColaOlaLa · 02/06/2021 12:29

Mine are old enough to play alone but just don’t want to, they prefer to be downstairs during the day, I do have 4 though which is what she doesn’t take into consideration that it’s 4x the toys, she thinks the older ones shouldn’t have any toys at all.

OP posts:
Stompythedinosaur · 02/06/2021 12:30

Our house stays tidier if toys are stored close to where they are used. Which is mainly the loving room.

I don't think it is terrible for the house to look like kids live here - they do!

blahblahblah321 · 02/06/2021 12:31

It's your choice!

Personally if I had my time again with young children, I wouldn't have toys stored in the lounge. I really appreciate the fact those days are long gone Grin!

Embracelife · 02/06/2021 12:32

It s a living room
Your dc live in your house

Smile and suggest she buy you a bigger house with more rooms

cookiecreampie · 02/06/2021 12:32

Yes I have toys in the living room. With 4 kids it's just something you have to do unless you have a massive house with multiple downstairs rooms.

Lemonlemon88 · 02/06/2021 12:33

Yes we do. We have shelving unit with all the toys set out so they are visible but tidy. It works really well for us as the kids are taught at preschool to put things away in their place and this encourages them to do it at home too.

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