I have posted about this a few times now and have now concluded that the only solution is to simply lock up the cupboards in our house. Basically, my 5 yr old and the dog from "Marley and Me" seem to be related. Yesterday, I come out and find that someone brought a whole container of Saltine crackers in to the playroom. The crackers are broken up and in the carpet. This is especially awful when mixed with the fact that legos and other toys are strewn everywhere with little to no chance of being cleaned up. I cleaned it all a few days ago, but "someone" dumped everything. The 5 yr old acts incapable of cleaning at all. Since there are 3 other children, simply ridding of everything is not exactly a good option. Even the math manipulatives container was pulled out and dumped. Some were drug around the house so I am finding it all over the house. After spending a couple hours cleaning in the play/media room, I made the horrid mistake of leaving the trash bag I had filled up in there. I came back in to find that dumped. By the time I finished cleaning that up, I came downstairs to find that "someone" had gotten in to my pantry and got whatever and allowed foods to fall to the ground as they climbed the shelves or something. I am sooo beyond fed up!!! Punishments are not helping. Cleaning things is not working as 1 hr spent in a room cleaning not only can be undone in 5 minutes, but is 1 hr of trashing the house in another room. I try to force the 5 yr old to help, but he insists he is not capable. To top it off, my 7 yr old is usually clean and a rule follower, but he is the guilty party in the recent cracker incident. I am sooo frustrated!!! AND, I had a toybox of odds and ends packed up and waiting for the last few months for dh to carry it in to the locked storage. Instead, "someone" dumped chocolate milk in it yesterday. I am soo mad at dh for not moving that box months ago. SO...clearly, I need to lock the cupboards where I store things like board games and math manipulatives. I am considering locking their closet too as I found winter clothes ripped off the hangers today. But I figure I will start with the cupboards in the house. That should cut back the mess by a lot. But what kind of locks do I get that will not damage the cupboard doors and a 5 yr old cannot just get in to? I do not want to look like a prison with locks you can see all over the place. Should I just use the child safety things people put in the cupboards? Thanks in advance for the help.
I would get a drill and some screws and screw them shut. J/K. In all reality I have been in your shoes...in fact it seems almost pointless to clean my house sometimes because what you described is a near daily event for me. I have laundry folded and stacked in baskets on the couch in our family room and the kids come in and sit/climb on them and they get dumped out....all while they are eating some type of food that is either crumbly or mushy that gets mashed into everything. Then I have to rewash everything. I have heard great things about the locks that you have to use a magnet to open, I have never used them, but my friend swears by them. I have tried the regular latches for cabinets and drawers and my kids have all figured out how to open them. So, other than using and drill and some screws you might want to give the magnetic locks a try.
It seems to me that locking cupboards isn't dealing with the problem. The problem is a kid who is trashing the place, and then complaining that he cannot clean it up, and is getting away with it. I don't care if the kid is two or three, if he trashes the room, he does what he is capable of doing to set it right. If that means holding onto the sweeper while you run it, so be it. If it means both of you getting down on hands and knees to pick up the big cracker crumbs, fine. But it does NOT mean trashing another room while you clean up the first!
Is it your 5 yr old son? I seem to recall my children all being difficult at 5 and this is my 5 yr old son. LOL..I wonder if that is why they put the age for kinder at 5 yrs old.
It is mostly done by my 5 yo, but it can also involve my other children as well. I think it has to do with the age, but I do know that when I start to relax on my rules that is when stuff like this happens. *sigh* I just need to learn to be firm all the time instead of just most of the time. It does get better, hang in there.
We have a similar problem here. Both our kids have ADHD & my dd has Bipolar, so it's not entirely something that they can control. So, for us, locks do help. We got a padlock (had to search for one long enough to fit through the both handles) for the pantry. We had to put locks on the fridge, freezer, the big storage cabinet where I store school supplies & manipulatives, our bedroom, and the kids' closet. I actually have a keychain that I have to carry around, just for the locks in the house. They do make long padlocks that can be used on cabinet doors. Just measure the distance between handles & look for a lock a little longer than that. Other that that, you'll have to screw a lock of some kind into the cabinets. Child safety locks may work, but in my experience, they're useless. My ds had figured out how to get past most child safety locks by age 2 & by the time he turned 3, he could get past them all. If he couldn't get through them in the traditional way, he'd figure out a more creative way to get through (which generally ended in a bigger mess). You could also look into alarms. I was at Home Depot or Lowes one day & saw these cool little alarms that you can put on cabinets or doorways. If someone opens the cabinet or door, the alarm goes off. They're supposed to be pretty loud. I can't remember the exact cost, but they were no more than $15. The only reason I haven't tried them yet, is that I'm convinced my kids would quickly figure out how to shut them off & then they'd be useless. It's something to consider, though, and might help with training them to stay out of the cabinets.
I have never beenm a fan of the traditional latches. I have not met a kid that hasn't figured out how they work. We have Tot Locs. They are magnetic and impenetrable! Here's a picture on Amazon, I would look around to find them like ebay etc... I think they are by Safety First. TOys r us and babies r us carries them i think. http://www.amazon.com/Tot-Lok-9-Piece-Loc-Assembly/dp/B00068O28M In the meantime I would work on all the kids. You mess it, you clean it, regardless of age. My 3 yr is having issues lately but we're pushing through it. If necessary, once clean lock the media/toy room and ground 'it' from play for awhile.
