Inappropriate?

[alotofyarn]

SIL, BIL, and nieces (10 and 7) stayed with us for a night last weekend. In the guest room, I have a shelf with assorted knitting supplies (yarn, blocking mats) and other crafts (crayons, scrapbook paper, photo albums). The girls spent time in there off and on, occasionally unsupervised, supposedly playing with the cat, who stayed in its crate. I went in there after they left, and they had pulled all of my blocking mats off of the top shelf, and they were on the floor. They also pulled out my crayons and colored on some of the scrapbook paper. Some of the yarn looks a little unwound, but I admit I haven't been there in a while and don't 100% know what condition it was in beforehand. None of it is really valuable, I was just surprised they would play with anything without asking (other than the obvious toys in the living room and E's room). Is that weird of me to assume? I didn't mention it to SIL, so I don't really know if they did it while she was in there or not. I guess I shouldn't really be surprised, since SIL has a habit of not disciplining her kids, just yelling at and medicating them.

[Chrisada]

Meh, I wouldn't be surprised that kids would color with crayons without asking first.


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[alison]

I wouldn't be surprised either. Next time, explicitly tell them what they can and can't play with. .

[Ladybug]

I would talk to them directly next time they are playing about it. Remind them to ask for permission before playing with anything. It's a learning lesson.

[niener]

Meh, I wouldn't be surprised that kids would color with crayons without asking first.

Me either. I probably wouldn't think of crayons and crafts items as "off limits" as a kid unless expressly told. If you're not comfortable with them playing with your crafts stuff I'd just tell them next time they come, like Alison said. If SIL is routinely disengaged she probably won't set the limits for them so I'd just be firm that it's your house, your rules.

[MrsC]

Me either. I probably wouldn't think of crayons and crafts items as "off limits" as a kid unless expressly told. If you're not comfortable with them playing with your crafts stuff I'd just tell them next time they come, like Alison said. If SIL is routinely disengaged she probably won't set the limits for them so I'd just be firm that it's your house, your rules.

This was my thought too.
I would buy them their own coloring book and crayons for when they visit

[spotty_dog]

My kids (5 and 7) would have asked, at least to make sure they were coloring on paper that was okay. At ten I would really hope they'd be even more respectful of stuff! But in many families I could totally see that being a "ask forgiveness rather than permission" expectation. Like if you left it in the room, of course it's not super valuable? So I agree, it's a learning experience for you for next time!

[alotofyarn]

Thanks for the feedback! I guess because when I was that age, I never would have just assumed I could play with whatever I found, especially if it was put away on a shelf, it didn't dawn on me that they would have gone through the stuff for themselves. I didn't care that they did it, I was just really surprised by it. I don't scrapbook anymore, I just have the paper still. I honestly don't think they'll be at the house anytime in the foreseeable future, since they're moving to Washington and we hadn't seen them in several years before this visit, so it's not likely to be an issue again.

[alison]

Kids these days...
I know my dd would ask, and yours will too, when she's older the occasion arises.

[alotofyarn]

So, things just got more interesting. I didn't say anything to SIL, just let it go. She texted me this today. Apparently the 10yo decided to take some souvenirs.

[spotty_dog]

Holy frick. Well, I hope kiddo gets the pleasure of doing extra chores to cover the postage, I'm thinking Medium Flat Rate box at least?!

[HouseofWool]

Holy cow. What did SIL say? Did she make the kids apologize?

[lovelight]

Wow!!! At least SIL knows now!


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[niener]

Whaaaaaa?!?! Ok that's nuts. I too am curious what SIL said/made the girls say (hopefully she at least made her apologize...)

[alotofyarn]

SIL said she was in for it, she apologized on her behalf, and said she'd mail it out. I didn't ask for more details, so we'll see. If it was my kid, she'd be doing chores for the cost of postage, and she'd be writing an apology letter on top of whatever punishment we felt was appropriate.