Is it weird to lock your playroom closet

amother

Tue, Dec 24 2019, 3:14 pm

My playroom is off my kitchen. I made a "one toy at a time" rule and while my kids (5 y.o and 3 y.o) generally keep to the rule, the adults in my life tend to have a hard time with it. When my sisters come over with their kids my playroom gets turned over. My inlaws buy my kids a lot of toys and I spend a lot of time and energy keeping it organized and making sure everything stays in good condition... I find it frustrating that others are careless with my stuff. I mentioned this to a friend and she said to put a lock on the closet. I dont want to offend anyone but it does seem like it'll solve my problem to have a lock. What do you think?

amother

Aubergine

Tue, Dec 24 2019, 3:17 pm

Yes, for sure you should do it.

No need to label the closet "toys," which might be weird, but there should be zero issues with locking a closet in your home for ANY reason.

Don't hesitate a minute.

amother

Puce

Tue, Dec 24 2019, 3:23 pm

Sure it makes sense! Growing up our toys closets always had locks on them. My mom still keeps the toys locked.
I keep all games in a locked closet.

thunderstorm

Tue, Dec 24 2019, 3:54 pm

Ours is under lock and key and the day my son helps himself to the key and unlocks it the playroom turns into a disaster zone. So yeah lock it up!

chipmunks

Tue, Dec 24 2019, 4:02 pm

Oh. my. goodness. If I leave that thing unlocked it's like a mabul of toys takes over my children's entire room. Even if it was perfectly organized, even if they stick to the one toy rule, even if they only play for five minutes and it's all of them with just one game, even if whatever. The one toy rule doesn't prevent the oldest from "organizing" his books or the youngest from knocking eeevvveerryything else over as she reaches for a toy, even if that toy is on the bottom shelf and not near anything else.

I mean, I wouldn't tell the adults it's for them or even mention it at all. But yeah, I thank Hashem wholeheartedly for giving us locks and a key on that particular piece of furniture.

octopus

Tue, Dec 24 2019, 5:45 pm

Do what you need to do. But I don't advocate it. Yes, my kids make big messes, and I would be embarrassed if you knocked on my door. But my kids are incredibly creative in general and that I believe was nurtured through their creative play. Playing with one thing at a time is a great rule for keeping things clean. Not great for creative play.

zaq

Tue, Dec 24 2019, 5:51 pm

Who cares if folks think it’s weird? Your house, your rules, your methods of enforcement. Take out a few playthings ahead of time, lock the closet, and tell everyone that’s where you keep the bodies.

amother

Forestgreen

Tue, Dec 24 2019, 6:04 pm

amother [ Aqua ] wrote:

If I could only have 1 lock in my possession,
it would go on the toy closet, and not my front door.

amother

Cerulean

Tue, Dec 24 2019, 9:56 pm

Wow I didn’t know so many ppl did this. I thought I was terrible for wanting a lock on toy closet and not being able to handle the mess my kids make.

Don’t mean to barge in here, but we have regular double doors on toy closet - his would we put a lock on it? Do we need to completely change the doors?

amother

Turquoise

Tue, Dec 24 2019, 10:02 pm

octopus wrote:

I agree with this for my own kids, but like op, I find that other parents don't necessarily stay on top of things when their kids are playing in my house. So in those cases I absolutely lock things up. I also find that in general my kids have a pretty good system for playing and cleaning up, but when they have friends over I need to oversee things more than usual. Otherwise we end up with lots more toys out and it becomes too overwhelming to deal with cleaning up properly.

avrahamama

Tue, Dec 24 2019, 10:25 pm

If I had a playroom and a closet I would lock it. Then I'd let them have a day or two a month where they can go wild. Instead of now the constant mess

amother

Green

Tue, Dec 24 2019, 11:19 pm

sorry to hijack, OP.

my play room is topsy turvy an hour after a perfect cleanup. each kid takes out two toys, they don't clean up right away and since it's not on my main floor I'm not very on top of their clean up. while a lock may solve this issue, I would be lazy to go up every time to
unlock the closet, and once it's unlocked do I supervise while they pick out their toys and then lock back up? I don't want to be that mother that even toys are managed but the mess is not okay.
what to do?

amother

Jetblack

Tue, Dec 24 2019, 11:29 pm

amother [ Cerulean ] wrote:

No while I don't have a lock on my Toy closet, (but dh is dying for one on there, since he keeps on being the one to organize it and reorganize it and clean it up)I do have one on my computer closet, which is really a regular closet that I just built a computer desk into.

I have something like this.

Prime-Line U 9951 Keyed Hasp Lock - Twist Knob Keyed Locking Hasp for Small Doors, Cabinets and More, 4" x 1-5/8", Steel, Chrome Plated, Chrome|Metallics https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000.....R2N6F

chanatron1000

Tue, Dec 24 2019, 11:31 pm

Most toys don't absolutely have to be locked up, but if you have board games in a house with little kids, a lock is needed in order to keep them from becoming a pile of loose shreds of cardboard, loose dice, and unidentifiable plastic pieces.

groisamomma

Tue, Dec 24 2019, 11:37 pm

Definitely a lock. My own kids clean after themselves but for some reason after my friend's kids and my nieces play at our house the playroom is a flying wreck. Even if they do straighten up the toys are all jumbled and pieces of games are misplaced. I finally organized it head to toe and when my friend comes over I take out one thing they can all enjoy like the dollhouse and furniture or kitchen set and dishes and then I block the door.