Have Your Kids Taken Over Your House?
When my husband and I bought our house almost eight years ago we had plans of having children and making it a family home. And while I fully expected for it to eventually look very well lived in, I never anticipated I’d feel like my kids have taken over the house. There's just stuff everywhere and the majority of it belongs to my son and daughter!
Let me clarify here…I am not complaining about the house being a mess, although for the most part it is, despite efforts to keep it tidy. Having a spotless house with kids around can be a difficult task sometimes. We kind of have an organized chaos going on!
What has been really bugging me is the fact that every room in the house is littered with items belonging to my children. Their bedrooms don't count because, well, it's their rooms. But honestly, every other room has things that belong to them.
It's funny how this hasn't really bothered me until the past few months, and the main thing that irritates me the most is finding toys in our master bedroom or the kids just generally coming in there to play.
When they were younger bringing them into the master bedroom with me while I tried to get ready to go to work made things easier for me, but it's continued for a long time now and has also created the idea in their minds that they can go in our room whenever they want.
Now I realize that I've created this problem and have been trying to find a way to fix it.
I just feel that the master bedroom should be for me and my husband only. I would like for it to be a place that we can see as our sanctuary; a place, just for us, to go relax away from the kids. But lately I feel like our bedroom is like a dorm room. There are always things everywhere and there seems to be four people sharing this room rather than us two.
I am happy to walk through our home and see all the signs of the kids and our family: artwork on the kitchen fridge, a Lego play table in the living room, books, games and dress up toys can be found in our family room and the walls and shelves are where family photos are displayed. And I know that while my husband and I are the ones who bought it, this house is just as much ours children's as it is our own. But is it so wrong for me to have one room in the house that is off limits to the kids? Am I unreasonable to not want to see my kids’ toys or other belongings strewn about my bedroom? I would love to walk in the master bedroom and see a space that resembles an actual adult’s room. Is that too much to ask?
I have spoken to my kids and explained to them that mommy and daddy’s room is not a play room and I am trying to teach them to respect our space and privacy. For the most part they have been listening to the request, but there is the odd time they need to be reminded or that we find a stray toy laying around the room.
Slowly my husband and I will make changes to the room to make it look more like an adult’s space and create a more relaxing atmosphere. It will be nice to walk in there and not trip over a toy. Now if only the same could be said for the rest of the house!
