I like to decorate my home when I can afford to do what I like. The thing is, not only do I have budgetary constraints like so many, I also have destructive children. Billions of people have kids, so I know I can't be the only one with kids who like to break stuff, but are the ones who decorate their homes the only ones with children who behave properly? Is there anyone out there who has somehow found the secret to making their home look nice while somehow keeping their darling offspring from ripping things off the walls or breaking them into tiny pieces?
My mom had cool things on the wall and kept curtains or blinds in the windows and I don't recall tearing them down or ever doing something like cutting up my dad's furry llama wall hanging with scissors. (Oh dear... I had a sudden thrill of dread for our trip to California in March... Guys, I swear I'll watch them like hawks for 24 hours every day!) So either my siblings and I were just that well-behaved or I was just too young to retain any memories of ripping curtains and their rails out of the windows.
Anyway, here are some pictures of Nathan and Rylie's bedroom. I really want to fix up the kids' room. Part of me (the delusional part?) feels that if I make it look nicer, maybe the kids will finally take some pride in their belongings and the belongings of others and have some respect for property. That even if they don't actually learn to take care of their things yet, that perhaps they might at least learn to leave them alone...
Below you can see there is nothing on the walls or the window. Rylie and Nathan both did their share of pulling on the window shade I made a while ago, but a few nights ago a couple tugs from Rylie were the straw that broke the camel's back.
Next, you can see where the bookcase used to be. Both the kids kept taking the shelves off, stuffing toys into the back and leaning on the back so it would pull the nails out, then in a fit of rage one day, Nathan somehow managed to pull the bookcase out from the wall, when it had been secured at the top. True, it hadn't been secured to a stud. Otherwise I'd seriously look into getting him a cape or something. Anyway, now it's in the loft, propped up against the spare bed. (Oh, and the scribbles on the wall, but that's run-of-the-mill kid's stuff, right?)
This next pictures shows where the last pictures on the wall that Nathan had left alone for so long used to be. They were the baseball ones Jared drew in high school (I can't find a picture of them, but I think most of you know what they look like), were taken off the wall and used as slides (there was no glass in the frames, just plastic, the kids are okay). The frames are shattered, but fortunately the drawings are still intact. We took out Nathan's dresser since they had climbed on it to get the pictures and also because I was getting a little frustrated with Rylie taking all his clothes out (funny story, one day she decided she was sick of diapers so she put a bunch of his underwear on...).
So, an empty room, with no light cover so we can easily unscrew the lightbulbs at night (they rattle around in their room for over an hour on an average night anyway, but if we let them turn on the lights, it's a lot longer).
I'm also worried about when the baby comes, because then their toys will probably have to go back in their room and I can't see them ever going to sleep in that situation. What is now their playroom is going to be the baby's room in several months (oh yeah, I haven't announced it on the blog because everyone who reads it probably knows, but I'm pregnant). Unless I move all the bookcases from the loft back to Jared's and my bedroom, in which case the loft could be a play area. While that would somehow make our big bedroom pretty crowded, it is a tempting thought.
So... decorating their room (nothing fancy, it is their room, after all, just a curtain for the window and maybe a few cheap, smaller Ikea frames for the kids' artwork, something to cover their lightbulbs a little bit but still make it easy to unscrew the bulbs)... you know, the ones with plastic, not glass, of course!): worth the effort? A waste of time and money? What do you think?
8 comments:
I'm sure I'm not much help. (I should ask my mom what she did... cause I sure don't remember)
I would say that maybe when you go shopping you can direct your kids to things you like and then let them pick out something they think it cool. And reinforce the idea that this is decoration and say excited things like, "Oh you're right! That would look so cute in your room!" And hopefully, like you mentioned they'd take pride in it and be more careful. I don't know, but that's all I've got. :) Good luck!
Emily - that is a good idea, but the kids are always excited by whatever I want to do with their room, and I often let them choose from a few colors and that kind of thing. The last thing I let them pick was their bedding and have locked up all the scissors so they can't destroy that (I hope...) but I feel like they even like to mess up the stuff they love. Is it because they're curious? I don't know. I don't feel like they're malicious in their destruction, but you wouldn't be able to tell from looking at the aftermath.
Sorry I'm not trying to shoot you down, that's a very good suggestion! I do love the idea.
Yeeeeeah...I'm at a loss! Sorry, I have limited experience with kids, and yours are a mystery to me! Maybe Mom will chime in. But I wish you the very best of luck :)
Love, Shannon
Well, I think you ought to have them help you pick out (like Emily said) some simple and inexpensive decorations/accessories for their room. Then if they mess them up, it won't be such a heartbreak for you. But in the meantime you can try and impress upon their tiny minds (once again) that these things are to be taken care of and dire consequences will result if anything happens to them. I wouldn't go to too much trouble, though, not at this time.
Shannon - thanks for the luck. =)
Mom - I was thinking about this again today. I can't remember if I thought of a direct quote from something, but basically my idea was, "what other choice have I but to try again?" Otherwise, I'm sure they'd find something else to destroy. I think I'll put up the sun-blocking material on the cheap curtain rod and see if they leave that alone for a while, and if they do I'll attach the fabric I bought. I'm also going to try hanging up the bulletin board I got a long time ago from DI. If they can handle those things, I'll go from there. If not, I suppose I'll know not to do anything for a few years.
*the bulletin board is for hanging a few of their drawings from primary/nursery and preschool... fyi
I found these vinyl stickers at Target for around $15. You actually get quite a few and they have boy and girl themes. We like them because even if they do get pulled off it doesn't hurt the wall at all. Good luck!
Thanks for the tip, Amanda! I will check those out!
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