is it possible to stop the kids ruining the furniture and keep and a tidy house...

[mum2samandalex]

anything i buy new seems to be ruined i.e sofa which is covered in stains, dining table again stained and dented, laminate flooring scratched and drawn on, nest of tables drawn on and dented my house never looks clean and tidy even when i have tidied i guess this is the joys children or my children. If i visit anyone else thier house seems spotless its not fair!

Guessing from your username you have boys (although maybe not?). If so you had better give up. Sorry. My house is a tip too, you can come round if you like

yep, me too.

My dh thinks only our house is like this. (I have 3 girls and 2 boys btw)

No. My youngest is 11 and only now am I considering 'nice' furniture.

Agree about other people's houses though - how do they do it?!

but if all our houses are like this, then Who are these other people?

Nope.Have resigned self to keeping old sofa until they are at least 16.Have leather one in dark colour that is relatively wipe-able.

Re table,I find those waterproof pvc fabric jobs are useful to keep off stains.You can get different designs from department stores or places like Dunelm.

I have seen such houses.

I don;t know how they did it

Not possible, no. We moved into current house when DS was 1, so wood floors throughout, apart from red tile in kitchen, all of which needs proper resurfacing. DS has old furniture in his room - bed, wardrobe etc, which I'd been meaning to strip for years. So, at some mythical point in the future when he's over stickers and learnt not to throw/crash/bash, we can get the floors done, I'll sand the bedroom furniture, and we'll suddenly be living in house beautiful. Or not.

sorry i am one of the other people - how do i achieve it? i'm afraid its by nothing good that i've done, my dd(4) favourite programme is how clean is your house, she tidies her room every day muttering what would kim and aggie say!

You will hate me but my house is spotless. I currently have a 2, 3, and 4yr old and study full time at Uni.

It is only like this because of my Mum (no she doesn't come and clean for me) she constantly tells me how she had 7 children at home and it was always spotless etc. I feel guilty with only having 3 so have a quick tidy round, and warn the children about damaging anything

I should thank her for the years of training really.

I console myself with the saying "A clean house is a sign of a wasted life" (JaquelineHyde excepted!)

lol thankyou im feeling better already. I just hate the fact that my furniture is looking so tatty i so want to buy new but is it woth it with am 19mth old. And yes i do have two boys-im surprised my walls havent fallen down with the amount of times they bash into it with their ride ons grrrrrr

Mine is pretty okay, but I only have one and do flip all else but tidy up.

I have 3 boys at home: 2,4, and 6.
My house is a tip.
I know other people who have nice houses, and they have small children. But their children are 'controlled'. They are only allowed to play in their rooms, are not allowed to jump around and are very well behaved.
my boys are all autistic, at various levels on the spectrum. My 6 year old has autism/adhd and very energetic. My 4 year oldis uunable to hold a pencil properly, so when he gets hold of a crayon and scribbles I hate to stop him and try to gently discourage him from drawing on furniture.
Basically I don't care about it all that much, I would rather my kids are happy.

like your attitude Deeeja