Thanks for input
Kay Alina
I just want to thank everything for the input in regard to their
feelings, opinions and ideas on cleaning up or not. I will try on
some of what was suggested and see if it fits. Many of the
decisions I have made in my life have come from a place of what if
this was the last day I had on this planet so I can put those
glasses on fairly easily. I was diagnosed with a terminal cancer in
1991 and the wake up call helped. I tried to take a look at the
why's of my behavior. I realize part of the attachment to order is
a safety issue. We have four floors and three flights of stairs. A
couple of weeks ago after I was out the night before at a conference
and the room was not in it's normal order because his dad didn't put
everything back Alexander tripped over a cushion and got a goose egg
on his forehead when it hit the rocker. He has also fallen down the
stairs, tripped over something and chipped his tooth on a metal
railing and done a few other headers. I know kids get injuries. It
is never an easy thing for me to deal with. I think part of that
comes from early childhood when I was responsible for my younger
brother and he was gashing himself regularly with blood squirts and
stitches. Accidents do freak me out. Alexander has had regular
chiropractic treatment because of it. I think part of the
attachment I have to not slipping and falling on stuff and keeping
the floor cleared is that not doing so literally caused injuries. I
also have a 20 year history of being a construction worker and just
being conscious of the danger of an unsafe enviornment. These are
just my own personal issues I will need to work through. I am
keeping an open mind and I want to look at things from a different
perspective. I will probably come by this whole thing slowly. I do
not currently have any unschooling support regarding friends so I am
dependent upon boards like this. I read that there is an OC group
and I would be interested in attending that park day. Thanks again
to all who shared.
Kay
feelings, opinions and ideas on cleaning up or not. I will try on
some of what was suggested and see if it fits. Many of the
decisions I have made in my life have come from a place of what if
this was the last day I had on this planet so I can put those
glasses on fairly easily. I was diagnosed with a terminal cancer in
1991 and the wake up call helped. I tried to take a look at the
why's of my behavior. I realize part of the attachment to order is
a safety issue. We have four floors and three flights of stairs. A
couple of weeks ago after I was out the night before at a conference
and the room was not in it's normal order because his dad didn't put
everything back Alexander tripped over a cushion and got a goose egg
on his forehead when it hit the rocker. He has also fallen down the
stairs, tripped over something and chipped his tooth on a metal
railing and done a few other headers. I know kids get injuries. It
is never an easy thing for me to deal with. I think part of that
comes from early childhood when I was responsible for my younger
brother and he was gashing himself regularly with blood squirts and
stitches. Accidents do freak me out. Alexander has had regular
chiropractic treatment because of it. I think part of the
attachment I have to not slipping and falling on stuff and keeping
the floor cleared is that not doing so literally caused injuries. I
also have a 20 year history of being a construction worker and just
being conscious of the danger of an unsafe enviornment. These are
just my own personal issues I will need to work through. I am
keeping an open mind and I want to look at things from a different
perspective. I will probably come by this whole thing slowly. I do
not currently have any unschooling support regarding friends so I am
dependent upon boards like this. I read that there is an OC group
and I would be interested in attending that park day. Thanks again
to all who shared.
Kay
Ren Allen
"I think part of the
attachment I have to not slipping and falling on stuff and keeping
the floor cleared is that not doing so literally caused injuries. I
also have a 20 year history of being a construction worker and just
being conscious of the danger of an unsafe enviornment. These are
just my own personal issues I will need to work through."
Ah, those personal issues we all have eh?:)
I was thinking, as I read your post, that maybe part of the shift,
might be in how you arrange your home. Maybe there are some things
that could be changed, in order to make it more kid friendly as far
as safety?
I recently realized that I still had a lot of "shoulds" in my head
in regards to my home. Who says a living room has to contain
furniture? Who says I can't have an acrobat bar hanging from the
beam in the middle of the room in a very small house? :)
I've limited myself in terms of how a house should be arranged, and
we're slowly changing that.
My friends think we have a pretty darn kid-friendly house, but I was
still thinking too much of visitors and not realizing the
possibilities.
So we're going with big pillows and beanbags in the living
room...maybe one loveseat for visitors that truly can't sit on the
floor pillows. I want to have a mini-trampoline stashed somewhere
and a bar hanging for the kids to swing on.
I am planning to paint the wall by our teensy dining area, so that
it has a chalk board surface as part of a mural, and framed kid art
all over.
Rather than get upset about my nice furniture getting ruined, we'll
just get rid of it! Instead of fussing at the kids about painting on
the walls, we'll make art walls!
Sometimes the little shifts in thinking can make a big difference.
Perhaps you have an extra bedroom, or dining area that could contain
most of his art/toy stuff, so it doesn't end up on stairs as often?
I don't know your situation of course, but I bet there are some
possible changes that could be made, in order to avoid a lot of the
mess stress.
Ren
attachment I have to not slipping and falling on stuff and keeping
the floor cleared is that not doing so literally caused injuries. I
also have a 20 year history of being a construction worker and just
being conscious of the danger of an unsafe enviornment. These are
just my own personal issues I will need to work through."
Ah, those personal issues we all have eh?:)
I was thinking, as I read your post, that maybe part of the shift,
might be in how you arrange your home. Maybe there are some things
that could be changed, in order to make it more kid friendly as far
as safety?
I recently realized that I still had a lot of "shoulds" in my head
in regards to my home. Who says a living room has to contain
furniture? Who says I can't have an acrobat bar hanging from the
beam in the middle of the room in a very small house? :)
I've limited myself in terms of how a house should be arranged, and
we're slowly changing that.
My friends think we have a pretty darn kid-friendly house, but I was
still thinking too much of visitors and not realizing the
possibilities.
So we're going with big pillows and beanbags in the living
room...maybe one loveseat for visitors that truly can't sit on the
floor pillows. I want to have a mini-trampoline stashed somewhere
and a bar hanging for the kids to swing on.
I am planning to paint the wall by our teensy dining area, so that
it has a chalk board surface as part of a mural, and framed kid art
all over.
Rather than get upset about my nice furniture getting ruined, we'll
just get rid of it! Instead of fussing at the kids about painting on
the walls, we'll make art walls!
Sometimes the little shifts in thinking can make a big difference.
Perhaps you have an extra bedroom, or dining area that could contain
most of his art/toy stuff, so it doesn't end up on stairs as often?
I don't know your situation of course, but I bet there are some
possible changes that could be made, in order to avoid a lot of the
mess stress.
Ren
Michelle
When we got our new, not expensive eating area table, we moved the old one into the garage, that has not had a car in it for years. I also moved the old dresser from my sons room out there, and put down those large alphabet foam squares under it all. Now my son has his own craft area. The dresser is full of everything he wants to work with, with the paint on the top, as I still like to help with those. This way, he can take out and leave out whatever he wants to work on, for as long as he wants to work on it. The foam cleans very easy, and is nice to walk on. It is a little hot there right now, with the summer, but a fan makes it nice. I am planning hanging fishing line or something like that from the ceiling, so we can hang up all his paintings to dry, and have a place to display them all. We are constantly in the garage, as it is the only way to the back yard, where the pool and trampoline is. This way he gets to have his area to play and create, and we still have a place
for dad and I to sit and eat dinner. Son does not like to sit at the table with us, so he is in with the TV for most meals!!
Michelle
Ren Allen <starsuncloud@...> wrote:
Perhaps you have an extra bedroom, or dining area that could contain
most of his art/toy stuff, so it doesn't end up on stairs as often?
Ren
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for dad and I to sit and eat dinner. Son does not like to sit at the table with us, so he is in with the TV for most meals!!
Michelle
Ren Allen <starsuncloud@...> wrote:
Perhaps you have an extra bedroom, or dining area that could contain
most of his art/toy stuff, so it doesn't end up on stairs as often?
Ren
---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail - 50x more storage than other providers!
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]