To have toys in the living room?

[ColaOlaLa]

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?

I have all toys in the front room, I have 2 kids and think that they are half the household so why should they be confined to a room each? I only allow pens, craft in one room unsupervised but of they all them can most of the time. I do also have be a lovely "drawing" on my front room wall as I left the then almost 4 yr old unattended for 5 mins and she found the only pencil in the room. It's been there for about 2 years now

As others have said, it's your house, so you make the rules. Yes, toys in the living room can look messy, if they aren't tidied away, but even if it does look messy, so what? No-one ever died from looking at a cluttered room. I'd rather have clutter and a happy life than spotlessness that it takes all my life to keep that way! Children always generate a certain amount of mess, anyway. It's best if you can be relaxed about it. It sounds like your mother has an unhealthy obsession with keeping things tidy all the time.

Sorry hit post by mistake but if they ask

My mum hates it, thinks I should be more domesticated, everything has a place etc. I ignore it, it's surface mess and my kids are happy healthy and imaginative.

Keep it up!

It's your children's home not your mother's. They should be able to feel they belong there. As to giving away 'old' toys - my son is nearly 46 and still has his beloved panda which my mum gave him on his 1st birthday. Never would have occurred to me to get rid of it.

I do think it bothers some, which is why new build homes are all putting in enormous kitchens with a family space off to one side. Often in a conservatory. Then you have a separate lounge space.

We have a playroom, but there are still some toys in the living room.

It’s where we all live so how we use the space is up to us. Your home is where you and your kids live so how you use the space is up to you.

Your mother sounds like someone who thinks children should be seen not heard, and encouraged to be grown up very quickly - that’s fine, if she has more children she can do that. Your children are yours so it’s up to you how you all live.

I have one kid and some toys in her bedroom and some in the living room. She has a toy box in both to keep everything in except her toy kitchen which is in the living room.