Embarrassed about our small house!

[Mumt02]

We moved into this rental property in 2018 whilst I was pregnant with my first son, it was the only thing we could afford in this area and we wanted to stay on the area. It’s a small 2 bed house. Not much of a garden, and downstairs is completely open plan living room, dining room and kitchen.

my son is in year 1 and has a lovely little group of friends, we haven’t had anyone over yet as we have been round to his friends houses and they are lovely and big, nice big gardens and just alot bigger than ours! So I’ve been a bit reluctant to invite anyone round.

I bit the bullet and said one of his friends can come tonight, he walked in the house and said “ this house is weird, it’s so small”
and honestly I can’t stop thinking about it.

yes our house is small, but it’s clean and tidy! They both had a great time. But I’ve been so worried what he’s going to say to his parents when he gets home! They’ve never been in our home they’ve just knocked on the door but I’m just so embarrassed and I don’t know why!

moving isnt an option at the moment otherwise I’d be out of here like a flash!!!!!

Where has he made a critical remark? He’s five years old. It’s an observation. Who says small is bad?

'Weird' is not an observation, it is a judgement. Small, come to think of it, is also a judgement - 'you have small hands', 'you earn a small amount of money', 'small minded people', 'small change'. However you look at it - small is trivial.

”speak up”?! For saying a house is small? It’s a fact it’s not rude!

I once had an impromptu visit from a girl in DDs class after school who commented about our house being messy. We weren’t expecting guests so had the clothes airer out & younger siblings toys everywhere. It is a moment of embarrassment which clearly stays with you as I remember it! However, we have a bigger house now and have overheard ‘your house is like a hotel’ from one of the DCs friends. It’s just the circumstances you are in at the time, it doesn’t make you a better or worse person. The main thing is to cultivate and enjoy friendships. I think you would have a trickier issue if you had a sprawling mansion but a child who couldn’t make friends /enjoy playing together. Try not to worry @Mumt02 as long as you have a happy household that’s what counts 💐

Well.exactly.

A very small child says that a small house is small...endless MN ers screech about how rude he is and badly raised!!
Bonkers.

He’s just a kid, to him anything different to what he’s used to will seem weird.
What’s important is how welcoming you are, not the size of your house. Don’t deny your son having friends round to play, otherwise he will feel isolated and that would be such a shame.

Love grows best in little houses

In Y1 my son had a new friend for playdate, from the front, our house looks pretty similar to his but his has a big rear extension. Anyway, we walk into the dining room at the back and he says "Where's the rest of your house?" I didn't think he was rude but I must admit I felt embarrassed.

I remember years ago living in one room (with own bathroom and kitchen) My brother was very puzzled looking for the other rooms!!!