i'm with you on this issue, Momof4 and artsand! It's amazing how even very young children can be transformed in a very short time to know that it is unacceptable to purposely throw food on the floor, or spill water on the table. accidents happen, of course, but my pet peeve is sippy cups being banged upside down on the table to make puddles to "play" in! i always have to sweep the floor after lunch, but it's never anything major...not even with rice. the key to cleaning up rice, (my son and i have it fairly often), is to let it dry a little then sweep it. trying to sweep while it's still 'wet' is a disaster! probably works the same with noodles, but they would definitely take longer to 'dry'.