Can you keep my kid clean?

[mickyc]

Well I guess I have a confession to make lol! I am the clean daycare!! Lol. I don't do sand! Nope no way! I rarely get out the paint and if I do it is very limited. I rarely do play dough either.

If the kids get dirty outside no big deal however I don't let them dig holes in the dirt, we don't make mud pies etc. water play is in the afternoon and then they go home wet (or they change out of their bathing suit if we did the pool).

I have heard comments from parents the odd time - "don't get your hair so messy", "don't scuff up your new boots". I have railway ties by my house and sometimes the kids sit on them. One mom was not happy her son got tar on his jeans.

My daughters teacher told me that they will get messy. She already came home with paint on her clothes. It doesn't bother me at all.

Bottom line is I don't care if the kids get dirty, I just don't want it tracked all over my home!! Lol.

[Lee-Bee]

Well I guess I have a confession to make lol! I am the clean daycare!! Lol. I don't do sand! Nope no way! I rarely get out the paint and if I do it is very limited. I rarely do play dough either.

If the kids get dirty outside no big deal however I don't let them dig holes in the dirt, we don't make mud pies etc. water play is in the afternoon and then they go home wet (or they change out of their bathing suit if we did the pool).

I have heard comments from parents the odd time - "don't get your hair so messy", "don't scuff up your new boots". I have railway ties by my house and sometimes the kids sit on them. One mom was not happy her son got tar on his jeans.

My daughters teacher told me that they will get messy. She already came home with paint on her clothes. It doesn't bother me at all.

Bottom line is I don't care if the kids get dirty, I just don't want it tracked all over my home!! Lol.

My husband is some what of a neat freak. Our house is very clean. But the kids get filthy. I strip them down at the door before the come in for new clothes. All art is done at the table with big smocks on and it is completely cleaned when we finish. When we play at the park shoes come off before the kids get in the car. I shake the sand out so it doesn't come home with us.

I also still make the kids use a bib for every meal, even dry snacks. Full body bibs with arms lol. I have no problem with mess but take the proper measures to contain the mess. I'd rather make 2 and 3yr olds wear bibs that stay completely clean than to have them not wear bibs and get food all over their clothes.

A perfectly clean house doesn't mean kids don't get to have fun and get messy...just means thought and care is put in the contain the messes to the proper places :-)

[Artsand crafts]

Bottom line is I don't care if the kids get dirty, I just don't want it tracked all over my home!! Lol.

That's me. I don't like my house to get all dirty and keep cleaning it, but I let them play outside in the wet grass, with mud, sand, etc. Mainly during fall/winter kids pants get all muddy and that is the only time I change them (when they feel wet) if there is only dried sand I just dust them and clean up shoes before getting in the house.

Everybody uses large bibs for meal times and for messy sensory play and painting they use long sleeved smocks.

Usually kids get home with some dirt stains, even my crawling baby pants are all stained from the knees even after washing, but I don't even bother to use the stain remover since I know she will get them all stained again and again. No complains so far from families since they have acknowledged in the contract that this would happen. I think if I ever do, I would politely tell them that I cannot accommodate their request due to the nature of my program and it would be their decision whether to stay with me or look for something that better suits them. The only way to avoid kids getting stained here would be to have them restrained during outdoor time and I won't change their clothes unless they are wet or uncomfortable.

[kindertime]

I have railway ties by my house and sometimes the kids sit on them. One mom was not happy her son got tar on his jeans.

Do you mean actual railway ties? From and old railroad? If I was that parent, I would be upset too because railroad ties contain all kinds of cancer causing chemicals like creosote. And you said they have tar on them... yikes. I just bought a new dryer last week and was reading the "instructions." And it says not to put any oil stained clothes in it. No oil, in any small quantity not even cooking oil. So I can't imagine tar would be safe in there.

As for the rest of it, bring on the messes! Kids generally love dirt and playing in the mud so more power to them. I'm not a clean freek so when I find the little bits of broken leaves and twigs from someone's pocket on the playroom floor... I bring out the vaccuum.

Lee-Bee: Years ago I was a Girl Guide leader with the 5&6 yr olds. There was a mom that had a 5yr old in my group (and an 8yr old brother) the house rule was the kids couldn't bring paper home. All art work was tossed in the trash can as they left our meetings. Same for school art work. It all went in the trash immediately as mom didn't like paper cluttering the house.

At age 5 this girl had already learned to not put any effort or enjoyment into our art projects because it was thrown out. It was sad.

That's not just sad, it's pathetic. Keeping a few prized pieces of art work isn't cluttering and if she was going to throw them out, she didn't have to be so blatant about it. I drove my mom crazy with all the "little bits of paper" all over the house when I was a kid. I was always doing some project or another. She certainly didn't keep every picture I ever drew, but two years ago when my parents moved, they cleaned house, so to speak. The whole family gathered around to go through the old cards, school projects and pictures that my brother and I did that she saved. We were in fits of laughter. It is one of my favorite family memories. And all of those things are now thrown out but it's okay, cuz I know they were appreciated at the time.

torontokids: I wonder if the mom is more concerned about the amount of laundry more than the stains? She recently went back to school and is finding the adjustment overwhelming. I wonder if the 2 outfits a day is getting to be too much? (one outfit from the morning and when she picks her up she is normally already wet/sandy).

Could be. If the outfit from the morning is just wet and sandy, can't you keep it at your house and hang it to dry? When dry, the sand will come off easily. You don't have to launder it every day, but use it for the week as her dirty clothes and send it home on Friday. I have been doing this with socks for the past week or so. The kids come in crocs with socks. The grass is so wet with dew, the socks get wet but I just rinse in the sink and hang to dry till tomorrow. If I send them home every day, they don't come back.