Reddit Mom's Cry for Help—No One 'Prepared Me' For Stickers All Over the House

Stickers, slime, and glitter driving you crazy? How to balance kids’ creativity with control.

Fact checked by Sarah Scott

Every parent has a pet peeve when it comes to kids’ messy play. For me, it’s slime, and anything similar to slime (Play-Doh, Silly Putty, etc). Slime got ground into my daughter’s clothing one too many times, so I’m out. Sometimes I feel badly because I love seeing kids be kids, but I had to outlaw slime at our house to protect my own sanity.

For another mom on Reddit, stickers have become the bane of her existence. “No one prepared me for the onslaught of stickers,” she laments in a super relatable post. “Good job at school? Stickers! Birthday party goody bag? Stickers! Uneventful trip to the doctor's office? Stickers!”

The list goes on, and this mom has had enough, going on to vent, “THEY ARE EVERYWHERE IN MY HOUSE.” From her car windows to her refrigerator, and furniture—even in her hair, and on floors, and walls, stickers are taking over.

While my home isn’t as overwhelmed by stickers as hers is, her post prompted me to think about other “fun” things my kids love, that I wish could be banned from planet Earth: glitter, candy (the wrappers!), "squishes," and those darn sticky hands that just remind me I need to dust more often.

Commenters to the post also took the opportunity to bemoan kinetic sand, slime, and glitter. “Slime has been banned from our house,” one parent says. “I let down my guard a few weeks ago since I was guilted by a friend. What happened? Slime once again on clothes and hair. Nope. Gone.”

Someone else scoffs, “Wait for the glitter phase in crafts. I had to outlaw glitter from my house. That stuff gets everywhere and is impossible to get rid of.” Word.

Other commenters offer helpful advice for the sticker-bombarded mom. “Get them some sticker albums,” urges one. Another person suggests the mom allow her kids to decorate a specific place in the house, like an old piece of furniture.

Balancing Control with Creativity Around Messy Play

But as one commenter points out, this issue is really about teaching kids boundaries and self-control. Sure, yeah, agree. But how exactly do you control the many icky, sticky, gooey collections that come with the territory when you have kids?

Alyssa Mairanz LMHC, CDBT, therapy practice owner and Director of Empower Your Mind Therapy in New York, is the first to admit that kids will be kids.

“They can be messy and loud and want to play with the grossest things sometimes,” she tells Parents, going on to point out that there are actually many benefits to this kind of play. “In fact, getting messy is actually good for their cognitive development, helping them to figure out problems and how things work on their own.”

Still, to make sure parents don’t lose their minds in the process of supporting these burgeoning skills, Mairanz says that designating a space in your home for messy play is the way to go, as is getting kids to help clean up when they’re done.

As far as outright outlawing messy items at home, she says, “It’s your home and you can create the rules within reason, but remember that playing with Play-Doh or slime is helpful for fine motor skills and building strength in the hands.”

Besides, as Mairanz points out, “Sometimes you just have to accept that even if you don’t purchase these items for your kids, they may still come into your home by way of birthday parties or presents.” The key to not getting overwhelmed by disorganization? “Try to remember that this overuse means kids are interested in and focused on a task that is good for their overall development,” she says.

Meanwhile, Hallee Adelman, PhD, the author of the Great Big Feelings children’s book series says parents shouldn’t feel guilty about being driven to the brink by things like slime or stickers.

“Most parents realize how much of their world is out of control and tend to appreciate order,” she tells Parents. “The explosion of stuff—stickers, glitter, etc.—can serve as a representation of chaos and can sometimes yield great big feelings like anxiety or stress.”

She says there’s value in teaching kids to “play neatly,” and helping them learn important life skills like organization and responsibility, as well as to respect rules and boundaries.

“If we want our children to embody creativity and freely express themselves—parents must also tolerate moments of mess,” Dr. Adelman points out. She does, however, acknowledge that these “moments of mess” may be best suited for outside, or in the garage, if that helps parents manage their own anxiety around kinetic sand and glitter.

Here are more tips from our experts for balancing control and creativity at home:

• Enforce “no zones” like kitchen cabinets or your bedroom where kids absolutely can’t get messy.

• Create squishy bags filled with different textures—like slime—to contain the mess while also encouraging sensory play.

• Allow mess-free sensory exploration via a zipper or lock and tie board.

• Make cookies in the kitchen. It’s a mess, but at least you get to enjoy a treat at the end.

• Allow kids the chance to get messy and have fun in art class or through another outlet outside the home.

In the end, messes are inevitable when you’re a parent. Part of me wonders if, one day when my children are grown, I’ll miss stepping on a half-eaten lollipop in the bathroom, or finding a Spider-Man sticker affixed to my new laptop. Sure, it’s annoying now. But it’s also ever-so-slightly kind of awesome how free-spirited and uninhibited kids are. At least that’s what I’m telling myself the next time I find 58 Starburst wrappers under my daughter’s bed, or a wad of unidentified goo in my son’s jacket pocket.

For more Parents news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on Parents.