Do you allow your 7 year old and his friends to eat and drink outside of the kitchen area?

Question

My wife is constantly cleaning up spills and food messes and our house is becoming a cesspool. I want to limit food and drinks to the kitchen area only. I want to know what other parents do out there.

Answer 1

I try like hell to keep the food and drinks in the kitchen but I have five kids and sometimes they slip past me. Nothing wrong with popcorn in the living room on family movie night, though!

Answer 2

Where I used to live, my son would eat outside of the kitchen. He has Autism so the mess was terrible.

When we moved in Oct. I set new ground rules and we had a nice new carpet. Now he's only allowed food in the kitchen. If he's caught eating elsewhere, he's punished (less TV or computer time) and made to clean up the mess.

The only exception is spill proof bottles,with water only, are allowed in all areas of the house. Movie night is also an exception. I lay down a blanket in the living room, pillows are there too if needed, and the popcorn and drinks (in a spill proof bottle) are allowed, but only on the blanket. IF popcorn gets on the carpet, the people eating the popcorn are required to get it up after the movie.

Answer 3

We eat meals in the dining room, but I do allow my kids to eat in other areas of the house. Not in their bedrooms, I am afraid stuff will get left in there forever and be a mess; but I will let them drink water in the living room (a good way to encourage more water) and sometimes eat a bowl of ice cream or some popcorn. The rule is that all dishes/trash must be brought back into the kitchen immediately after eating.

Answer 4

I don't let our 6- or 11-year-olds eat anywhere other than the kitchen or dining area. Drinks are limited to the same areas unless friends are over and then I use plastic, disposable cups and they drink outside. Spills happen but I'd like to keep things to a minimal area!

Answer 5

The only place my kids are allowed to eat & drink is in the kitchen!! I have 3 kids, 7, 6 and 4. That way, the mess is confined to one area of the house.

Answer 6

I don't even let my 17 and 23 year old eat outside of the kitchen area! If the food is kept in the kitchen there is less damage to the house!

Answer 7

It depends on what they are eating!

I occasionally let them eat popcorn on the sofa to watch a movie (and then have to vacuum it up later). Water in nonspill cups or bottles only. Rarely I might let them have apples or grapes on the sofa. Again, usually related to watching a movie.

No food in the bedrooms, only water (again nonspill)

I sometimes serve them lunch or dinner on the front porch. If they want popsicles or something drippy like that, they can eat it on the front or back steps.

They can have any snacks they want on a blanket in the backyard, as long as they clear it w/me first so I know what they are dragging out of the house.

So on the whole, no the kids rarely are allowed to eat or drink outside the kitchen. You paid good money for your furniture and your wife has better things to do than clean up messes. You already know the right thing to do, so go for it! ;-)

Answer 8

If it's making a mess then don't let them do it. My brother and I were allowed to eat outside of the kitchen probably around middle school, with the assumption that nothing would spill/crumb or we'd have to clean it up. I was very careful not to even drop a crumb.

Answer 9

My son is only 2 and I ALWAYS put him in his booster chair for snacks and meals, or I am constantly cleaning up crumbs and spills. At 7 your child is also old enough to start helping with chores so he will learn to not make a mess if he doesn't want to have to clean it up. The younger you start making them clean the better, and more independant adults they will become. Like I said, my son is 2 and if he throws his food on the floor I make him get out of his booster chair and pick it up and it has already cut down on the throwing.

Answer 10

If the kids make that much mess then yes stay in the kitchen. In my house drinks are left on the kitchen bench. They take a drink and put them back on the bench. Food if it is a biscuit I will let them eat else where(easily vacumed) anything else in the kitchen!