The little brutes have made toy soup for the last time. Talk me down, before I take my irritation out on Baby Alive....

[jaynehater]

I'm seconds from meltdown. They've only been home since half three, and they've been outside most of that. I'm tempted to take photos and post them so you can see quite how BAD a mess they've made......

I feel like kicking the living daylights out of every over-accessorised chunk of pink, dolly or pony related tat that's currently stirred up into the devil's own broth on their bedroom floor.

Why do they DO this. If I have to sort the lego from the polly pocket from the zoo animals from the baby doll bits and pieces one more time, I'm going to, well, come back here and cry.

Rant over. Just had to do something with my hands so I didn't rip Love Cub limb from limb in sheer temper.

Can't you just shovel equal amounts into boxes and let it be their problem next time they want to play with it. Are they old enough to realise if you did that?

Turn it into a race - sorting different toys into different boxes. Winner gets something nice.

Nah,winner gets to keep their limbs

They're five and seven.

I wouldn't mind, mess comes with the territory, I've gotten used to it, but I just cleaned their room yesterday, and I gave my self an enormous pat on the shoulders for clearing up the beginnings of My Little Pony Armageddon this morning: you know the score "If I keep on top of it, it won't get so bad.....".

Oh yes it can get as bad, if not worse.

I think I'm nearly calm enough to discuss this with them - nearly.

Don't bother, leave it where it is, close the door, go downstairs have a glass of wine and chill .
When they get up in the night and tread on lego with bare feet, they will remember to tidy up next time

wine.

that could be the answer.

Proves how over-wrought I am, that I didn't think of that myself

Leave it where it is. What's the big deal when it's in their room?
(NB I am a total housework refusenik so never bother to pick up toys unless it's time for the monthly hoover or something)

LOL at 'devil's own broth'. Now I know what to call it! We spent a day last week sorting the playmobil from all the other bits of plastic cr*p, which got left overmight on the bedroom floor. There were fireworks when i discovered they'd tipped the playmobil back onto the carpet in the morning...At least the polly pocket with the dodgy magnets is going back to Mattel

Mine are 4 and 6 and I make them tidy up their own mess. "You're not watching a video/going swimming/having an ice-cream unless yopu clear up first". They know the rules by now and they are pretty good about it. Wish I could just shut the door and leave the mess, but that's my problem!

Madamez, if I didn't know they have no internet access, I'd swear my daughters are paying you to fight their corner....

Genuine query here - why is it such a big deal if there are toys all over the floor in DCs own room? OK, admittedly there is stuff all over the floor in most rooms in my house, but most of it's mine. I can't see the point of making a fuss about tidiness or doing housework more than about once a week. There are surely far more important/interesting/enjoyable things to do.

My main issue with it is that toys that they 'love' get trodden on and broken, or generally abused - I want them to have fun with their toys, but I also want them to respect the blooming hard work that goes into paying for them - I know what you mean, in the grand scheme of things it's no biggie, and I do have a fairly non-fascist attitude to their room day to day - but I don't think it furthers their enjoyment of their life any more than mine when looked for items things turn up piecemeal or broken.

It just boiled over this afternoon when I'd spent so long making everything orderly and accessible and they souped it.

maybe the carpet is too soft to stand on now

If I 'direct' them, I end up frothing at the mouth, and beating myself repeatedly round the head with primary coloured plastic things.

They are 'free spirits' (DH's warped genetics, natch) - every time I 'direct' I turn round and one of them's dressed as a princess and the others doing headstands on a leaning tower of sticklebricks.

Madamez, for me the point of tidying up is that I will always know where to find things. I'd rather spend a little time tidying than wasting loads of time finding things. With kids' toys, it's also a case of teaching them to respect and care for their belongings. I don't want them to get into the mentality that belongings can be trashed and simply replaced. That's why I insist that all jigsaw pieces are in the right boxes, etc. Mine are encouraged to help keep things tidy (not always successfully but they are only 3 and 4) but we've had cases of 'toy soup' before, the worst being the one that took me five hours to sort out, so, Jaynehater, you have my sympathy.

This is the story of my life to,Jaynehater.DD's are 4 & 2 & if they were older,I'd be tempted to just leave it,but dd2 still wakes in the night & the last thing I want to do is go stumbling in half asleep & step on a plastic dinosaur.

It drives me mad when dd1 nags me to find one of her numerous ponies or zoo animals,because she can't find it,so I spent ages last week sorting & putting in drawstring bags,zoo animals,farm animals,insects,dinosaurs,ponies.A few hours later they were all over again,accompanied by doll shoes,hairbrushes & attendant pink crap.

I've started to be strict now-nothing else comes out until the first thing has been put away.Works well downstairs,but when they get into their room & play there,we are back to square one again.

My mum used to threaten to bin any toys left on the floor if they weren't picked up.I've started to do the same.Time will tell if it works.