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donnahay0
22-05-2008, 08:24 PM
Is it just me or does anybody else get really stressed out when the children play in the sand pit?

Obviously there has to be rules about sharing and not throwing sand. I hate it when the children just take the sand out and empty it out all over the garden. It's not that I don't want sand on the grass but more the fact that the bags are so heavy and if they are just gonna tip it out I feel like not bothering.

It's a really silly petty thing to get so stressed out over I know but I can't seem to help it. I want them to have sand as I know how much they love it. I'm going to REALLY make a big effort to grin and bear it. :D :angry: :(

Does anybody else have anything like this that really annoys them whether it be sand or whatever?

Wendy Woo
22-05-2008, 08:29 PM
B***dy stones. Well gravel really is my bug bear :angry: :angry: we have it all round the edge of our house thanx to the builders and all the kids do is dig in it and kick it around. Now i dont mind diggin in it but wen they kick it and throw it and put it all over the grasss i feel myself boiling as its me that has to clear it so it doesnt mess up the lawn mower!!!!!
No matter how many times u tell em they just kweep goin back to it.
One mindee picked some up and threw it at his dad 2nite I didnt no where to put myself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:o

Spangles
22-05-2008, 08:30 PM
I do! I've put a thread on before about how stressed I get during arts and crafts and play dough!

I just can't relax and feel like I nag all the time because I don't want a mess - especially a mess that can't be put right! I get really stressed out!

I can totally sympathise!

Jinx
22-05-2008, 08:42 PM
Now, if the sun was shining, I was floating in the pool with a nice cold malibu and orange and getting an even tan, then I wouldn't care what the mindees did with the sand!
But, what usually happens is... we dash outside whilst its not pouring with rain, the kids tip the sand all over the patio, grass, rabbit and dog, eat some of it, then we go inside and I spend the rest of the day shaking the stuff out of socks, nappies dog fur and cleaning the floor!

Sand is stressful....unless you're p:censored: ed
:laughing:
Jinx x

sarah707
22-05-2008, 08:45 PM
I'm not good with paint... especially hand painting when they decide to get it on my walls / floor / chairs etc...

Sand... I just have a very small sand tray (cat litter size) and if they start to mess about it goes away :D

mum22
22-05-2008, 08:47 PM
i quite like sand pits but hate it when i find insects in it - even after its been covered - think they hide in there in day to annoy me.:laughing:

helen

donnahay0
22-05-2008, 08:49 PM
Well I was wondering if it was just me - but obviously not.

Jinx I love the idea of floating in the pool with a malibu and orange - can it be somewhere a million miles away, preferably with a nice fit waiter serving the drink - and NO sand in sight.

jo f
22-05-2008, 08:50 PM
I mostly have my sandpit inside on our cream carpet (not so cream now after painting, play dough etc!)
Parents think I'm mad, hubby turns a blind eye. I'm like one of the kids!!!!!:laughing:

donnahay0
22-05-2008, 08:50 PM
Thats sorted then Helen - my mindees are coming straight round to yours - i'll be in the pool with Jinx drinking.

crazybones
22-05-2008, 08:51 PM
My big sand pit only gets used by the older ones during the school holidays and I have had them all long enough for them to know I cant be doing with it all over the place and the lid goes on straight away. The little ones have Sarah's idea of a cat litter tray in the garden table which I stole from her (she should patent that idea :laughing: ) and so there is not too much to clear but it still gets everywhere. William took a huge mouthful from a spade the other day - why do they do that :panic: He was crunching sand for ages after.

miffy
22-05-2008, 08:53 PM
I mostly have my sandpit inside on our cream carpet (not so cream now after painting, play dough etc!)
Parents think I'm mad, hubby turns a blind eye. I'm like one of the kids!!!!!:laughing:
:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Inside? On a cream carpet????

I can only just manage outside - on the patio

miffy xx

miffy
22-05-2008, 08:54 PM
Sand... I just have a very small sand tray (cat litter size) and if they start to mess about it goes away :D

:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

miffy xx

ajs
22-05-2008, 08:57 PM
Is it just me or does anybody else get really stressed out when the children play in the sand pit?

Obviously there has to be rules about sharing and not throwing sand. I hate it when the children just take the sand out and empty it out all over the garden. It's not that I don't want sand on the grass but more the fact that the bags are so heavy and if they are just gonna tip it out I feel like not bothering.

It's a really silly petty thing to get so stressed out over I know but I can't seem to help it. I want them to have sand as I know how much they love it. I'm going to REALLY make a big effort to grin and bear it. :D :angry: :(

Does anybody else have anything like this that really annoys them whether it be sand or whatever?


it's definately notjust you i hate it when they pour it onto the garden or fill the legs of the sandpit up.

i made 2 loads of rainbow rice to put into the dry water table half an hour later my garden was littered with blue and red rice and there was none left in the table

donnahay0
22-05-2008, 09:00 PM
I sorted out the problem of kids filling the legs up with sand. Got hubbie to cover the holes - he simply cut out some card circles and placed them inside the hold then filled it with silicone sealant - worked a treat.

Don't know why they had to have holes in the legs - stupid idea if you ask me.

ajs
22-05-2008, 11:03 PM
I sorted out the problem of kids filling the legs up with sand. Got hubbie to cover the holes - he simply cut out some card circles and placed them inside the hold then filled it with silicone sealant - worked a treat.

Don't know why they had to have holes in the legs - stupid idea if you ask me.

thanks i don't know why i didn't think of that
i am off to buy some sealant tomorrow as well as new sand

Rach30
23-05-2008, 08:24 AM
I had a big tray of oats and another one of rainbow rice and i reall had to bite my tongue when they started to mix them together :laughing: I had to say to myself "stop being so preciuos about the rainbow rice , they are having fun mixing it " lol . But the rice was sooooo pretty ......:D

polobear1970
23-05-2008, 09:04 AM
I know this will be a silly question but what is rainbow rice :blush:

sarah707
23-05-2008, 09:19 AM
I know this will be a silly question but what is rainbow rice :blush:

Put a handful of rice in 4 or 5 containers (ones you can throw away)...

Add a few drops of food colouring and enough water to mix it to each...

When dry, you have different coloured rice... rainbow rice!

My lot love mixing the colours up and making swirly pictures :D

fionamal
23-05-2008, 09:28 AM
Ive taken my sandpit away as I was fed up with it being trailed all through the house everyday and also the amount of beasties that seem to live in it gave me the heeby jeebies.

Must say that the kids dont really miss it and least theres no more sand fights

tortoise
23-05-2008, 09:38 AM
I have had two sand pits since I started minding, one plastic with a lid, on the patio but I got stressed out having to keep brushing it up. Then I decided it would be a great idea to turn one of my flower beds into a sand pit. Bad idea I think the whole insect kingdom decided to visit so no one would use it:( . Just recently bought a sand/water table from Agros for £15, my little ones love playing with the water but I haven't gotten round to buying more sand!!!

disney
23-05-2008, 10:09 AM
oh no i have just got a sand table for the kids in the schools holls :panic: oh i was really looking forward to it x

Wendy Woo
23-05-2008, 11:18 AM
it's definately notjust you i hate it when they pour it onto the garden or fill the legs of the sandpit up.

i made 2 loads of rainbow rice to put into the dry water table half an hour later my garden was littered with blue and red rice and there was none left in the table

Interestimg how do u make rainbow rice? sounds fun:D

Alibali
23-05-2008, 05:50 PM
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I HATE SAND.

Ali x

Chimps Childminding
23-05-2008, 06:07 PM
I can do sand - at a push!!!!!!

I can do water - not a problem!!!

I CANNOT do sand and water together!!!!!!!!!!:eeeek:

flora
23-05-2008, 06:15 PM
Reading this I beggining to think I am abnormal :laughing:

I don't mind mess, sand, sand + water, glue , paint, kinda anything goes really.

Can't mind sand as we have 3tonnes of the stuff being delivered next week to top up the sand pit :eek:

I think it is cos I don't have a nice new house. Everything is very old and alot is inherited from the last owners. So won't buy new until kids leave home. :D

Only go to get it to last another 18yrs :laughing: I can but hope :D

cherryt
23-05-2008, 06:50 PM
I love to see the kids playing with the sand, but get so stressed when they start dropping it all over the patio area. It is just so :censored:

I just sweep it up now and again and stick it back in the pit, but over the 2 week period we have had the sand out the level has gone down by more than Half.

Painting, play dough and stuff like that is reserved for playgroup and pre school, because as soon as we get it out they paint themselves, their clothes, my work surfaces and tread it into the kitchen tiles. Then is time to put it away, i now leave it for someone else to get stressed about (at group ;) )

manjay
23-05-2008, 07:35 PM
it's definately notjust you i hate it when they pour it onto the garden or fill the legs of the sandpit up.



My ds has posted my outdoor chalks down the legs of mine:panic: I now have to wait until it is empty of sand to get the chalks out.

On the whole I like sand BUT I do not like trying to wipe ds's botty after he has been playing in it. How do they manage to get so much sand down there?

amanda xx

ajs
23-05-2008, 08:09 PM
Put a handful of rice in 4 or 5 containers (ones you can throw away)...

Add a few drops of food colouring and enough water to mix it to each...

When dry, you have different coloured rice... rainbow rice!

My lot love mixing the colours up and making swirly pictures :D

i don't add water to it and it dries much quicker,

merry
24-05-2008, 06:52 AM
I've never had sand, I can't bear it at the coast, I'm not having it at my house:laughing: Painting is done rarely, has to be done at my dining room table and the room is carpeted so I'm always on edge, and the prep and clean up always seems to take 10 times as long as the actual painting.

:)

gemmcd
24-05-2008, 08:26 AM
My husband has forbidden me to have sand! He has a sand phobia and if it gets in the house he goes beserk as says you can never really clean it up! We had one in our old house but when we moved he would not take the sand pit with us! I must agree with him slightly it is a lot less stressful without - esp as our youngest used to throw it at the others constantly!

I bought the sand water table for £15 from Argos but only use it for water - still find myself filling it up constantly as my son (it's always your own rather than the mindees!) keeps tipping it over! At least it doesn't end up in the house though!

MissTinkerbell
24-05-2008, 01:35 PM
I moan about sand too. We have one on the patio and I'm constantly sweeping it up. Why do they insist on tipping it on the floor?

As for wiping it off bottoms (or any other parts) - sprinkle with talcolm powder first and it comes off really easily

Love the idea of rainbow rice - must give that a try - bet it makes great pictures! That will fit in nicely with both my colours and food themes.

Michelle M
26-05-2008, 07:50 PM
I’m glad its not just me then! I have just brought a sand table like the ones they have at School, the 2 year olds just get the sand and put it on the floor or on the bark, when I ask them to keep it in the sand tray they look at me like I am from another planet.

3 bags I have put in over the past few weeks, well no more, I told them when its gone that’s it, its amazing how little sand they can actually play with :laughing: :laughing:

Tily Bud
26-05-2008, 08:33 PM
I used to have a sand pit a couple of years ago but i got so sick of clearing it up i chucked it !!

Just bought the sand/water table from argos well the little ones played lovely with it but as soon as the older ones came home from school they started mixing it with grass, stone and water :eek: so ive decided not to replace the sand again x