A few questions from Deb

Deb L. left this comment full of questions on a blog post a week or two back. I thought that I'd answer her questions and leave this post to publish while we're away camping.

So, Wendy, I've been thinking about you in Japan lately and I've got three questions for you.

Is it easier or harder to keep a small Japanese house tidy? I'm thinking "easier" because it's smaller so there's less to worry about and "harder" because it's smaller so there's less room to find homes for all the stuff a modern family tends to accumulate.

It is probably easier in many respects. My visitor was lamenting her large house and the cleaning and tidying it requires. Because we have a small house most things have a place and we manage pretty well to replace things in their place. 

When the boys were younger they would bring lots of toys downstairs from their bedroom to play in the lounge room. We made it a rule that when going up to bed, the lounge room was tidied (we usually did it all together) and all the toys that belonged upstairs were returned. It was a very manageable rule that didn't take much time to accomplish and kept the lounge looking tidy. I was amazed to hear from Australian friends at that time, how difficult they found getting the kids to tidy up. It was only after I returned to Australia one time that I realised how far toys spread in a large house. Because we have limited space, less toys get out and there is less spread. We also used to limit the number of "large" toys boxes that were opened. For example, if all the trains were out, they had to be packed away before the cooking toys came out. This was only because of our small space.

Another way that a small house makes it easier is that we think carefully about what we buy and also what we keep. We regularly get rid of stuff that we aren't using because we simply don't have room for it. So my kitchen is not full of a bunch of appliances and extra dishes and pots that I rarely use. Only stuff that is regularly used is retained. It also helps that we know we have to store all this "stuff" for a year while we're away on our next year in Australia. That is a great deterrent! As is the knowledge that one day we'll return permanently to Australia and most of the stuff we have here, we'll not be able to take with us. We are not looking to buy stuff that we'll pass on to our grandchildren or furnish our retirement home with!

It's winter here in Melbourne and we are have a had a cold spell over the school holidays that has pushed us inside most of the time. You have such a small space to keep active boys in. Tips? What's worked well for inside spaces?

Tips? Here's a few:

• Go out, even when you don't want to. Even just a short half an hour outside can help. Rug up if it is cold. Take wet weather gear if it is rainy. Take water bottles if it is hot (and seek shade). Take snowy gear if it is snowing and have fun! 
• Ration "out" days. In a long stretch of holidays, take a day at home every second day, sandwiched between "out" days.
• Cold weather won't kill kids. It'll make the adults more uncomfortable first! Two of our sons went to kindergarten here where the uniform, year round, was shorts. It gets down to single figures for a few months. The kids would all want to play after kindergarten for ages. All the parents were huddled and fully dressed and these crazy kids were running around in shorts (granted most had tights underneath).
• Ensure that you have lots of crafty stuff available. Origami, colouring-in, tape, crayons, scissors, water paints, a useful box. Don't assume boys won't like this stuff.
• Invest in toys that absorb kids and foster their creativity like Lego.
• SQUIRT time has kept our sanity intact. I've written about it in other posts. An hour of quiet time (potentially reading) on the bed after lunch is vital for everyone. 
• I keep TV for desperate times. Usually in the hour before lunch and dinner. I've noticed that my kids are a bit crazy straight after the TV goes off, so moving straight to a meal really helps. The 'before tea' one helps with meal preparation too, especially if there are no other adults around.
• Enforce a rule called "using an inside voice". It keeps the noise level down.
• Visit the library regularly. This is a good extreme weather excursion. Plus it provides fresh books in the house for entertainment.

Is that enough?

This has turned into a long post. I'll put my answers to her final questions tomorrow.