Things you'll never hear a non-pagan kid say...

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[catja6]

When I throw the "crap" out, I'm typically thinking that if it were something really important to her, it wouldn't be on the floor in the first place.

I said this in the other thread, but thought I'd address it here, too. 

I leave things on the floor, because that's the best and easiest place for me to find them.  I'm an academic, and typically have several projects going at once.  It is 100% counterproductive for me to put back my working set of books and articles into their spaces on the shelves; they often come from different bookcases (I organize by subject), and I need to see them all together to help me think and remember my thoughts, and I need to be able to reach them. 

I am messy, but am very systematic about my messes.  I mentioned my books and articles above; I also leave clothes like pajamas and lying-around-the-house clothes on the floor by the side of my bed, so I can roll out of bed and put them on in the mornings.  I have specific piles for clothes to be worn again; dirty clothes go in the hamper. 

I always leave room to move, but I see no reason to not use part of the perfectly good storage space that is the floor.

[Darkhawk]

So, with that said, for those of you who are carrying baggage because of the situation...can I ask what do you think would have worked to get you to clean the room?  Or was it just that your parent's expectations were just too high for a child?

Part of it was expectations.  My mother is, on top of her other issues, a white glove housekeeper.  White glove housekeeping is not something you're gonna get out of a seven-year-old, and it was a source of perpetual rage for her that that was the case.  (A compounding issue for me was the ongoing sense of violation.  I've always been high on the introversion scale, and my childood situation was fairly high-stress, so I wanted to spend a lot of time somewhere safe and quiet to recharge and protect myself.  But I was pretty much subject to any-moment-you-must-answer-for-your-sins dressing-downs on the subject of my room.  Which would be invaded at a moment's notice, no recourse, possibly dreadful consequences.)

I think the most critical thing is to keep the cleaning unemotional.  If the tidiness is something for perpetual fighting over, then positions will get entrenched even if nobody wants them to.  Or you wind up in a state where the only way the kid feels any space is theirs is by defiance (I'm pretty sure that's in my life-scarring).

Make sure there's enough storage available.  We managed to improve the tidiness levels here amazingly with a shelf unit of three cheap plastic bins.  I could probably have done much better even with my mother if I'd had a box into which I could put toys and the like where it didn't all have to be lined up alphabetically by height.

Make there be a reason.  "I need to be able to get to your drawers, closet, and bed safely" is a reason.  If it doesn't serve the reason ... I'd suggest letting it go.  (The reason also includes stuff like "Grandma and Grandpa are coming to visit so you should have a tidy room for that" or "It's time for a holiday party" and similar.)

[Marilyn (ABSENTMINDED)]

   
I always leave room to move, but I see no reason to not use part of the perfectly good storage space that is the floor.

My husband thanks you. 

Absent

[sailor_tech]

I always leave room to move, but I see no reason to not use part of the perfectly good storage space that is the floor.

But what does the rest of the house look like?  

I came home from 7 months at sea to find a bunch of my engineering books in the basement, under the spare futon covered mold. It's like, why were a $1,000 worth of text / reference books taken out of the book case and then scattered under a mattress?

I'd come home and literally the first thing I had to do was clean the house to find all the bills, papers, etc that had been randomly stuffed in furniture, under things, behind book cases, etc. Then I could start paying the over due bills from the previous 6 months.

[catja6]

I am talking about my own spaces, not the house as a whole.

[Mandi]

But what does the rest of the house look like?  

I came home from 7 months at sea to find a bunch of my engineering books in the basement, under the spare futon covered mold. It's like, why were a $1,000 worth of text / reference books taken out of the book case and then scattered under a mattress?

I'd come home and literally the first thing I had to do was clean the house to find all the bills, papers, etc that had been randomly stuffed in furniture, under things, behind book cases, etc. Then I could start paying the over due bills from the previous 6 months.

This is an endless source of irritation between the hubbs and I.  We have a household.  There is no space that is not shared space.

If I'm going to be responsible to help you find the papers that you stored in a stack on the counter, or that I'll need to find the lease paperwork that you used the back of as a notebook and left on a counter and it magically disappeared and we're having issues because of its disappearance, then we're not going to use the counter, floor and chairs as storage space and when you do I'm going to put it where we KNOW for sure where it will be and I will mention this as soon as you start to walk away after leaving it in the space that I prep dinner in.

He ends up perpetually irritated that he doesn't have any "me space" and it's like if you want "me space" use a shelf in the closet, put a table in the garage.  "You space" should not require others to step over it or have to move it to cook a meal to prevent things from spilling on it.

If everyone in our family roped off a corner as 'me space' there'd be no room left for family space.

[nyx190]

Today my five year old says "Mommy, can we smudge?"   So we went to the drawer to get the smudging sticks.  She couldn't find the one she wanted...I pulled out several...no, not that one, not that one.  Finally she says...YES, that's it...the sweetgrass...that's the best one. 

this is too cute!

my 2 1/2 year old came in my room today while i was doing a tarot card reading and asked me what i was doing when i told her she kept asking why till she some what knew what i was talking about i cant wait till she wants to do more things with me like this

[Dark Midnight]

I have a friend, back in the States, who's strictly Catholic but had questions about my path when I went back for a visit a few months ago. I was talking to her about the Celtic gods, and she got a little snotty--"Come on, you know as well as I do that there's only one god." Her little boy, who's about 7, told her, "Don't say that--you'll hurt the other gods' feelings!"

My daughter is like this. After being asked in school if her parents are good Catholics (to which her answer was a fit of giggles and the respone of 'No! My daddy doesn't believe in god and my mummy's a witch, which is so much more fun!), she was learning about Greek Gods. When they told her that Hades was a Death God, she got really annoyed, stood up and gave a 5 minute lecture on the nature and aspects of Hades! I got called into school by the teacher to explain where this outburst had come from-can you just imagine the look I got when I told them that I wasn't suprised as He is my Patron Deity and Elizabeth is very fond of helping  me celebrate the fact? I wouldn't mind, but at 8 she knows more than her teacher on the subject of Deities!

[nyx190]

My daughter is like this. After being asked in school if her parents are good Catholics (to which her answer was a fit of giggles and the respone of 'No! My daddy doesn't believe in god and my mummy's a witch, which is so much more fun!), she was learning about Greek Gods. When they told her that Hades was a Death God, she got really annoyed, stood up and gave a 5 minute lecture on the nature and aspects of Hades! I got called into school by the teacher to explain where this outburst had come from-can you just imagine the look I got when I told them that I wasn't suprised as He is my Patron Deity and Elizabeth is very fond of helping  me celebrate the fact? I wouldn't mind, but at 8 she knows more than her teacher on the subject of Deities!

that is the most awesome thing i have ever heard

[Vella Malachite]

...that is quite awesome.  And adorable.  But mostly awesome.  Most of the kid stories have made me smile so far.

[Taliesin]

My daughter is like this. After being asked in school if her parents are good Catholics (to which her answer was a fit of giggles and the respone of 'No! My daddy doesn't believe in god and my mummy's a witch, which is so much more fun!), she was learning about Greek Gods. When they told her that Hades was a Death God, she got really annoyed, stood up and gave a 5 minute lecture on the nature and aspects of Hades! I got called into school by the teacher to explain where this outburst had come from-can you just imagine the look I got when I told them that I wasn't suprised as He is my Patron Deity and Elizabeth is very fond of helping  me celebrate the fact? I wouldn't mind, but at 8 she knows more than her teacher on the subject of Deities!

AWW. I want one. I really, really want one.

[Tyto]

I have a friend, back in the States, who's strictly Catholic but had questions about my path when I went back for a visit a few months ago. I was talking to her about the Celtic gods, and she got a little snotty--"Come on, you know as well as I do that there's only one god." Her little boy, who's about 7, told her, "Don't say that--you'll hurt the other gods' feelings!"

A friend of mine recently killed her 5-year-old's betta fish (it was an accident!) so they had to have a little funeral for it.  They're Christian, but the kid said that the fish couldn't go to heaven with the Christian god, he had to go to the water god.  So for the prayer every "our father" was replaced with "Neptune" and "art in heaven" was replaced with "under water."

[Satsekhem]

My daughter is like this. After being asked in school if her parents are good Catholics (to which her answer was a fit of giggles and the respone of 'No! My daddy doesn't believe in god and my mummy's a witch, which is so much more fun!), she was learning about Greek Gods. When they told her that Hades was a Death God, she got really annoyed, stood up and gave a 5 minute lecture on the nature and aspects of Hades! I got called into school by the teacher to explain where this outburst had come from-can you just imagine the look I got when I told them that I wasn't suprised as He is my Patron Deity and Elizabeth is very fond of helping  me celebrate the fact? I wouldn't mind, but at 8 she knows more than her teacher on the subject of Deities!

I'm intrigued to find out what will happen when Rowan goes to school. His auntie is a Hellenic Reconstructionist and I am a Kemetic. He's all set for Greek and Egyptian learning. I can only imagine what kind of discussions he will have when Christianity comes up.

Today, Rowan and I went into my room to awake the goddesses and give them their breakfasts. He sat down on my lap and said, "Awake in peace. Awake in peace. O, awake in peace." Giggling, I woke up Sekhmet and he pointed to her at the end and said, "Awake in peace." Then, I moved on to Hwt-Hrw and did her spiel. At the end of it, he pointed to her and said, "Awake in peace." Gods, he loves helping me. I can't wait until I find the right table for his own altar!

[nyx190]

I'm intrigued to find out what will happen when Rowan goes to school. His auntie is a Hellenic Reconstructionist and I am a Kemetic. He's all set for Greek and Egyptian learning. I can only imagine what kind of discussions he will have when Christianity comes up.

Today, Rowan and I went into my room to awake the goddesses and give them their breakfasts. He sat down on my lap and said, "Awake in peace. Awake in peace. O, awake in peace." Giggling, I woke up Sekhmet and he pointed to her at the end and said, "Awake in peace." Then, I moved on to Hwt-Hrw and did her spiel. At the end of it, he pointed to her and said, "Awake in peace." Gods, he loves helping me. I can't wait until I find the right table for his own altar!

that is so awesome

[sparrow125]

I'm intrigued to find out what will happen when Rowan goes to school. His auntie is a Hellenic Reconstructionist and I am a Kemetic. He's all set for Greek and Egyptian learning. I can only imagine what kind of discussions he will have when Christianity comes up.

Today, Rowan and I went into my room to awake the goddesses and give them their breakfasts. He sat down on my lap and said, "Awake in peace. Awake in peace. O, awake in peace." Giggling, I woke up Sekhmet and he pointed to her at the end and said, "Awake in peace." Then, I moved on to Hwt-Hrw and did her spiel. At the end of it, he pointed to her and said, "Awake in peace." Gods, he loves helping me. I can't wait until I find the right table for his own altar!

Do you have to wake them up everyday? What about if you're on vacation? Do you just say, "ok guys, I'm gonna be gone for a few days, so you're on your own"?  Sorry, I know that's a really random question, but I was just too curious not to ask. 

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