According to Direct Line Home Response, one in ten parents claim that their under-fives have reduced the value of their home by up to £2,000 through such activities as spillages, scribblings and breakages. We asked babyworld members what damage their toddlers had done at home.
Smeared banana on walls and furniture
‘Joe is the main culprit – throwing his cup at the wall so it’s always
covered in splashes, peeling the wallpaper off the wall is a favourite,
smearing banana over the walls and furniture… Nothing too bad yet!’
Broken bead curtains
‘My daughter is still a baby but has caused some sort of damage. She’s
broken a printer, picture frames have been smashed, she’s scratched a
leather sofa quite badly, smashed a lamp, broken a beaded curtain… I
have however moved a lot of things and have had no breakages for a while.’
sarah
Stab wounds on the dining room table
‘My kids haven’t really done anything awful. There is a small bit of
air-drying clay in the corner of the dining room carpet which has now
air-dried into the carpet. The stairgates have left a rip in the hallway
wallpaper. Oh and the dining room table has probably got the biggest battering
- it has stab wounds from knife banging and has a bit of paint on it that
just won’t come off.’ ludds123
Breaking the Freeview remote
‘I will list the various things we have had done in our home by our children
but would like to point out my children are generally very well behaved
and this was all done when under the age of 3.5 years old, so is to be
expected in my opinion. They’ve:
- peeled off wallpaper
- drawing on walls in pen/crayon/pencil
- hand print on wall in ink
- food on sofa
- drawing on radiator
- breaking the freeview remote
- scratching new television
- food/paint spilled on carpet
- scuffed skirting/walls from toys/ride ons etc
- constantly smearing glass with dirty hands
I would only say it makes your house look bad or devalues it if you leave
these problems unsorted – but obviously most people fix it or paint over
it so its not really an issue. We have found that general wear and tear
of decor is speeded up when you have children.’ Datura
Glitter and glue on a laminate floor
A bit of a sore subject! Alex, aged 2, has drawn all over the walls upstairs
with a crayon, many times. His crowning glory was the time he got into
his sister’s room when I was breastfeeding my new baby and used glue and
glitter on the floor, which is laminated, so she now has a pink glittery
floor.
He also loves ripping wallpaper to the point that we are now redecorating
again, going back to the bare walls and not using any paper, as to be
quite honest I think he would just do it again. Callum, my 6-year-old,
played Spiderman, climbing on his bedroom doorframe, ripping the door
off its hinges, and also managed to put a dent in the bathroom door, which
now will need replacing. Also in moving his bed around the room he managed
to smash a socket cover.
My life consists mainly of fixing their demolition attempts at the moment…
and yes I am uncomfortable with having people over until I know them well.
I do insist on having very few toys in my lounge though, so I have one
room that can be presentable and adult. But it’s only material isn’t it,
and I will have a ‘don’t touch my precious things’ style showhome in my
40′s!’ Rach
Colouring on the floors
‘With my eldest son, my house escaped unharmed; he never drew on anything,
ripped any wallpaper or dented the wall. My other son has trashed it:
he drew on walls, he would smash things into the walls, he would colour
on the floors… the list is endless.
I have to admit though that the house is full of clutter (mainly papers)
and sometimes it can overtake the place, for which I fully blame my husband
as he always dumps everything and leaves it for Muggins here to pick it
up.’ Anna
Flooding bathrooms and shorting kitchen lights
‘Over the years, they’ve done all sorts. They’ve drawn on walls and beds,
ripped wall paper, broken radiators -which caused leaks through the ceiling
- smashed countless plates, glasses etc, tipped paint on the hall carpet,
broke lamps, flooded the bathroom, which resulted in shorting the lights
in the kitchen.
I’m sure they’ve done more than £2k’s worth of damage between them over
the years.’ Sandra
Fake tan and Sudocrem in the carpet
‘Isobel is our home wrecker! She has broken countless ornaments, pulled
off wallpaper, drawn on walls, thrown TV controls in the bin, rubbed fake
tan, Sudocrem and lots of other stuff into various carpets.
She is like a whirlwind and she’s not getting any better.’
Wendy
Cutting holes in cashmere
‘Joseph since we moved had drawn on the walls, rubbed playdough and mud
into the carpet and sofa, as well as drawing on his bedroom carpet in
lip gloss and Creme de la Mer eye cream. He cut a hole in the sleeve of
a cashmere jersey with a pair of scissors too.
Both children have peed on the carpet, and my second son has squirted
poo on the floor too. I did more expensive damage in one go when I poured
half a pint of water over my laptop last week, which promptly blew up.
Actually come to think of it, Joseph broke my old computer, so that makes
us equal.’
Fredi
Pulling towel rails off walls
‘On the whole my two haven’t been too bad. However, shortly after moving
into our brand new house, Ben decided he would use the towel rail in the
bathroom to get to the bathroom cupboard above it. The towel rail pulled
off the wall bringing two huge chunks of plaster with it leaving two big
holes. The reason he gave was he was looking for his snorkel which he
thought must be in the bathroom cabinet!
The following week he dropped a penny down the gap between the carpet
and skirting board and managed to rip up the carpet from the gripper and
pull it back by a few inches. Other than that they’ve both scribbled on
the walls but it’s washed off fairly easily and they’ve both flooded the
downstairs toilet but putting in the plug and turning the taps on without
me knowing (Hannah did this a few weeks ago and Ben did it about the same
age a few years earlier!).
My cats are definitely worse than the children. They’ve left lovely yellow
piddle stains in nearly every corner of our house (nice pale beige carpet)
and ripped the carpet off the bottom stair as well as in nearly every
doorway.’
Bev
Sick and poo stains
‘The usual:-
- Drawn on leather settee in biro.
- Drawn on walls with biro and crayons.
- Painty handprints on newly decorated bedroom wall.
- Make-up stains on carpet.
- Food and drink stains on carpet.
- Sick and poo on carpet!
- Trashed one double pushchair.
- Trashed stairgate by swinging on it.
The one thing I am finding difficult at the moment is that I would love
to redecorate the house and get some new furniture and ornaments but I
know that I can’t because it my lovely new things would get trashed in
five seconds flat!’
jokerorwhat1
Where to next?
- Toddler clangers – the things our little darlings say to embarrass us!
- Who are you looking at? The (bonkers) things
people say to mothers of twins. - Health visitors often get bad press. We invited one to fight her corner.
- You gotta’ laugh – enjoy more cringe-worth moments from parents!
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