Beforehand, I'm not looking for solutions, because my life right now is what it is, but I need to blow off some steam before my head explodes. Thanks in advance for listening.
I am living in my mom's basement right now. The basement is BIG, but is completely open and a lot of my nieces' and nephews' toys are down there. Basically there's half finished and half not. The finished space is split (though not into "rooms") between the kids' playroom and my bedroom. The unfinished space is where Holland can go for refuge. Her food, water and litterbox are there, as well as lots of shelves she can jump onto and explore. My mom and I made certain when I moved in that it was safe (i.e. no De-Con, nothing that would fall and hurt her, we covered the crawl space with a screen, etc.).
I knew that when I moved in, I wouldn't have a whole lot of privacy and that the space would be shared. My sister and BIL have also had financial troubles recently, so they're living back home too, with their 3 kids (and their dog). My nieces play downstairs almost every day, I know it, I don't mind it, but we established "ground rules" from the very start - they don't go into the bathroom (the bathroom closet is where I keep most of my stuff), they don't watch the TV unless they have permission, they don't touch Holland's stuff unless I'm there, and they don't touch my stuff. We have gone over this again and again and again.
I got home from work last night to find: 1. Holland's toys scattered around - which would normally not bother me except that someone got wand toys out, and I've explained over and over again that this is dangerous for her; 2. My laptop computer had been moved. I don't think it had been opened, but they are NOT supposed to touch it; 3. I found my Wii remotes out, my Wii guitar on the floor, and my Nintendo DS was turned on and sitting NOT where I keep it.
I'm a great aunt, if I may say so... I let my nieces and nephew play the DS - WITH MY PERMISSION. They KNOW they are not to touch my Wii stuff, and anyway, they have a Wii of their own upstairs. I have asked them REPEATEDLY not to touch ANYTHING that belongs to Holland, unless I am there to supervise.
I asked all 3 of them about it this morning, and my nieces told me it wasn't them. Only thing is, they are fairly well-known for lying when they think they are in trouble. My nephew said it wasn't him, but my sister said he and his friends were the only ones who went downstairs yesterday. I'm torn because my nephew is a very sweet, sensitive kid, and I have NO doubt that it would be difficult for him to tell his friends not to touch certain things. But at the same time, I feel it IS his responsibility to tell his friends when something is against the rules. He's almost 11 years old, so he and his friends are by no means supervised everywhere they go.
I'm just frustrated. The good news is I have a great job, and I hope to be able to move out within the next few months. It's great that I'm able to save money right now, but the lack of privacy and disregard for my things and for Holland's things is getting to me.
Phew. OK, I feel better now.
This post was much longer than I intended, and I don't even care if anyone reads it, it was just nice to get off my chest.
I am living in my mom's basement right now. The basement is BIG, but is completely open and a lot of my nieces' and nephews' toys are down there. Basically there's half finished and half not. The finished space is split (though not into "rooms") between the kids' playroom and my bedroom. The unfinished space is where Holland can go for refuge. Her food, water and litterbox are there, as well as lots of shelves she can jump onto and explore. My mom and I made certain when I moved in that it was safe (i.e. no De-Con, nothing that would fall and hurt her, we covered the crawl space with a screen, etc.).
I knew that when I moved in, I wouldn't have a whole lot of privacy and that the space would be shared. My sister and BIL have also had financial troubles recently, so they're living back home too, with their 3 kids (and their dog). My nieces play downstairs almost every day, I know it, I don't mind it, but we established "ground rules" from the very start - they don't go into the bathroom (the bathroom closet is where I keep most of my stuff), they don't watch the TV unless they have permission, they don't touch Holland's stuff unless I'm there, and they don't touch my stuff. We have gone over this again and again and again.
I got home from work last night to find: 1. Holland's toys scattered around - which would normally not bother me except that someone got wand toys out, and I've explained over and over again that this is dangerous for her; 2. My laptop computer had been moved. I don't think it had been opened, but they are NOT supposed to touch it; 3. I found my Wii remotes out, my Wii guitar on the floor, and my Nintendo DS was turned on and sitting NOT where I keep it.
I'm a great aunt, if I may say so... I let my nieces and nephew play the DS - WITH MY PERMISSION. They KNOW they are not to touch my Wii stuff, and anyway, they have a Wii of their own upstairs. I have asked them REPEATEDLY not to touch ANYTHING that belongs to Holland, unless I am there to supervise.
I asked all 3 of them about it this morning, and my nieces told me it wasn't them. Only thing is, they are fairly well-known for lying when they think they are in trouble. My nephew said it wasn't him, but my sister said he and his friends were the only ones who went downstairs yesterday. I'm torn because my nephew is a very sweet, sensitive kid, and I have NO doubt that it would be difficult for him to tell his friends not to touch certain things. But at the same time, I feel it IS his responsibility to tell his friends when something is against the rules. He's almost 11 years old, so he and his friends are by no means supervised everywhere they go.
I'm just frustrated. The good news is I have a great job, and I hope to be able to move out within the next few months. It's great that I'm able to save money right now, but the lack of privacy and disregard for my things and for Holland's things is getting to me.
Phew. OK, I feel better now.
