The phrase ‘put your things away’ is repeated by millions of parents every day - a new survey reveals – as they endure nearly 1500 organization battles with their children every year.
New research into the trials and tribulations of America’s parents examined the frequency of battles to keep the home in order and found the average parent has to tidy up after their child 28 times a week -1456 times a year.
Home storage and closet organization leader, ClosetMaid, polled 1,000 American parents and revealed a frustrated four out of five reported even when an item is put away by their child, it’s often somewhere it isn’t supposed to be in the first place.
One in four have found a toy in a dirty clothes hamper, 12 percent found one in their own purse or briefcase while others report finding them in the toilet, bath and even the dishwasher.
Parents tell their kids to pick up toys an average of five times per week, they ask them to pick up their clothes and shoes an additional five times per week and remind them to make their bed at least three times per week.
Tidy kids are few and far between it seems, as 92 percent would describe their children as messy or disorganized.
More than 80 percent of parents give their kids chores, with picking up toys being the most common task – assigned to 85 percent of kids – followed by making beds and taking out the trash.
However, half of parents admit to doing their child’s chores for them for fear they would do a bad job. It’s no surprise things can get a bit messy sometimes, as American parents report their kids have an average of 59 toys – with 63 percent of parents admitting they have too many.
More than two thirds of parents say their children’s messiness can leave them in a bad mood, yet almost the same amount (64 percent) claim they know a bit of organizational help, such as a chore list or labeled boxes, would greatly reduce this stress.
Scott Davis, vice president of product development and marketing of ClosetMaid said: “Parents live busy lives and any extra work will only add frustration.”
“Our research showed most storage products on the market classified as Juvenile/Kids were general items like bookcases and soft storage, so we wanted to take it a step further to offer something more to consumers.”
“We understand kids can be a bit messy and that’s why we’ve created a new line called KidSpace where children can conveniently store all of their belongings and have an easily accessible and organized room.”
“Considering $22 billion is spent annually on toys in the USA, KidSpace was designed to help keep them all organized.”
Around three quarters of parents have secretly gotten rid of one of their child’s toys behind their back. The most common reason for this was that the item was broken or damaged (74 percent), the child outgrew the toy (57 percent) or it was simply too old (42 percent).
Around 17 percent claim they were forced to remove and throw away a toy because it was dangerous.
The children discovered the deception over 44 percent of the time, but luckily most were understanding.
And the toys aren’t always dangerous just to the kids, with 71 percent of parents saying they have been injured or hurt by stepping on a toy.
Thirty-eight percent say a toy even caused them to trip and fall. When it comes to toy-based injuries, Lego is the number one perpetrator, followed by toy cars like Hot Wheels and dolls/action figures.
Based on those statistics, it seems parenthood can be full of injury risks – with an average of six trips
and five stubbed toes over strewn playthings - and it isn’t just from misadventures with toys.
Parents are forced to endure eight back pain and stress-related headaches every year, suffer from two accidental whacks to the crotch and five hits to the face every year thanks to precocious little ones.
NUMBER OF TIMES PARENTS HAVE TO PICK UP AFTER THEIR KIDS…
A WEEK A YEAR
Toys = 5 260
Clothes/shoes = 5 260
School supplies (crayon, pencils, etc.) = 3 156
Plates/cups = 4 208
Food/drinks = 4 208
Make their bed = 3 156
Garbage (paper, candy wrappers, etc.) = 4 208
28 1456
TOP TEN ODD PLACES PARENT(S) HAVE FOUND THEIR KID’S BELONGINGS
Dirty clothes hamper
Their bag (purse, briefcase)
Their closet
Toilet
Their underwear drawer
Bathtub
Under their pillow
Under the kitchen sink
In their home office
In the oven
***This random double-opt-in survey was conducted by OnePoll, a market research company and corporate member of ESOMAR and adheres to the MRS code of conduct. For more information about OnePoll’s research in the media, navigate to their portfolio here: http://www.onepoll.com/in-the-media/. This survey of 1000 US parents with children between the ages of 3 and 16 was conducted between April 21, 2017, and April 27, 2017, by Market Researchers OnePoll and commissioned by ClosetMaid.
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