To want to know when the house trashing stops?

[Tonimacaroni80]

As in what age do kids start to play with their toys as opposed to taking boxes of tissues & shredding them, emptying cupboards & drawers and generally just trashing the house??

What ages are your kids?

12-24 months usually

Urm never. DD is 14 and her crap ends up everywhere. DS 16 is very tidy so hopefully you'll end up with DC like him so age 11 ish

I dont know if there is a specific age, or if it is personality & experience dependent.

My 9 year old is generally quite respectful of our home, though I do need to remind her of putting tissues in the bin etc.
Ds, 6 is much less inclined to tidy up after himself.

Teens are well reputed for their awful bedrooms! Some adults are just really messy.

I think boundaries from a young age are important- you can't get this toy out, until that one is put away.
I'm hoovering in 5 mins, anything left out will be hoovered up.
When mine were tiny I played them a 'tidy up' song when it was time to put stuff away.

My house isn't immaculate btw by I do aim to in still a sense of pride in caring for belongings & our home. Incentives are good, such as giving pocket money for tidying.

I have found that it can depend on the child, to an extent. Some enjoy properly playing with toys, others seem to be more outdoorsy or can't settle to play but just whizz about creating chaos and mess.

My top tip is to try to keep the amount of toys down to begin with, otherwise it builds up over the years and it becomes overwhelming the amount of stuff in the house

Some children- never, others respond well to - you put this away and then get that out to play with it.

They all push back in some was as they grow and develop their personality, it’s a need to know where the boundaries are.

Depending on the age of your DC start with explaining/showing that X toy/box goes in X place before they move onto the next toy. Or whatever is age appropriate/relevant.

Usually when they move out - I have 2 older teen DDs and the mess they still make when they are here.....

Watching with interest (hope and desperation......)

My eldest was never like that but my youngest is exactly like that X 10. I'm pinning my hopes on him stopping at 3 years.

About 2? Then it progresses to bigger stuff like sofa cushions and cook books in my experience.

Sorry.

My husband is in his mid 50's and hasn't got to that stage yet, I keep telling him that window sills are not shelves so stop filling them with his shit, that doing that is not tidying (even the outdoor sills have tools placed on them, when I asked why he said it was so the dogs didn't take the tools, he's got a huge shed to keep his stuff but just doesn't clean up as he goes), I've started hiding all the bits he leaves lying around, he hasn't noticed!! Hope your children mature faster than he has.

If you have an autistic child, never. 😅

I don’t think it ever stops. Don’t underestimate the ability to trash a house with toys...especially any art supplies. I’ve stepped on and hoovered enough random Lego pieces to last a lifetime.

Depends on the kids. Neither of mine ever did this really. My cousins are 7 and 9 and still do it sometimes.

My 4yo will play with his toys, but also chucks them around (and gets a stern response!). He still likes a kitchen drawer or cupboard to empty but will (try to) put everything back afterwards. He only puts away toys when prompted, but we do tidy time before dinner to try to get him to take responsibility. He'll also clean the kitchen floor for me with some spray and a cloth and really enjoys that (obviously not the bleach ).

There's still a fair amount of mindless destruction which he seems to do without thinking - unwinding loo rolls, cutting things with scissors, shredding paper, tearing tissues and napkins. We're working on not doing those things and I'm working on not completely losing my rag over them. Having a 'cutting station' (basically a box with some paper he can cut up, tear and glue when he likes) helps. But when he does things like kick the shoes in the hall to 'see how far they will go' or drops stuff over the bannister just for the sake of it, I put my head in my hands and pray for patience.

When they move out . My teens are dreadful for the crap in their bedroom and the attitude if I ask them to tidy it . It's more annoying because one is obsessed with being clean/tidy in herself (clothes, hair, etc) and the other is almost ocd with some stuff (the way toilet rolls are stored, the place things go in the fridge, cutlery drawer, etc)