When do little kids stop making a massive mess all the time?
My three year old is driving me nuts with getting into things and dumping everything. We keep hand soap in the bathroom like most normal people but he’ll dump all of it. Any food item will get dumped. We had to lock up the vacuum because he’ll take it apart and dump all the dirt. He had a little potty for potty training and we had to get rid of it because he would pee in it and then dump the pee on the floor.
As you may be able to tell my patience is wearing thin. I’ve heard many times online that you have to make kids clean up the messes they make, which has never worked for me since he only makes the mess significantly worse. Yesterday he managed to dump a few cups of sugar when I left the cupboard unlocked, and when I tried to make him assist with the cleanup he just started hitting it in every direction with the broom while giggling like crazy.
As of a few hours ago I took away all but five of his toys and told him he can earn a toy back every day by cleaning up after himself if he makes a mess. We shall see if it works. I’m just wondering when kids usually grow out of this? I need a light at the end of the tunnel.