Do you allow running in your home?

[WindyCityMom]

Do you allow running in your home?  I feel like I'm always reminding DD1 (4) not to run... but she always does it, always forgets, so my efforts in talking to he about it aren't working.

I'm wondering if I should just give up on it- maybe it's not that serious.

However.. we live on the second floor of a 2-flat, my landlady lives downstairs, just her and her cats.  I know that when I'm coming up the stairs in the hall I can hear (and feel!) my kids' running.  Our floors are pretty poorly insulated.. we do have carpet, but I can totally hear my kids stomping clearly when I walk past her door.

I have already reminded DD twice about it while typing this.  It's driving me nuts... my landlady tells us about "oh I can hardly hear you guys, you're so quiet!", but she once told me she hears our cats chasing each other.. and my 48lb 4yo is surely much nosier than my 20lb cat (yeah, he's a chunker  we're working on him).

What do you think?

What rules do you enforce in your home?

Now DD is walking past me, *walking*, but jamming her heel into the carpet loudly with each step she takes.  I probably can't win this one!

ETA: and how about my 2yo?  She just ran past me, and I asked her not to, and she continued running telling me "Noooo"

Off to talk to these kids about it..

[AllyRae]

I do, but we don't share a home.  When we had to be in an apartment for 6 months (while our house was being built), I did not allow it out of respect for the other tenants.  It was hard...I felt like I was always nagging them to be more quiet.  We spent lots of time outdoors and in parks so that they could run and scream.

[WindyCityMom]

Thanks.  They do get plenty of outside time, even when it's cold out.  I wish that were the solution :(  I feel bad for my landlady.

[Imakcerka]

I use guilt on this one.  We have an old dog and he gets easily confused and overwhelmed with quick movements.  So I tell them how horrible it is for him and you can see them start to run but catch a glimpse of the old dog and slow down.  This has been working for 2 yrs.  I almost need him to stay alive just a tad longer for the sake of no running.  Though I think he's one his way to dog heaven soon. 

[fiddlefern]

Absolutely!  Two boys (7 and 5) in 750 square feet with no backyard.  We allow running, jumping ON the bed, jumping OFF the couch, dancing, and all other forms of movement (one exception: meals are sit-down affairs, calm and quiet or leave the table till your wiggles are out).  We live in a 2nd story apartment, and I'm sure it's heard below.  Whenever we have new neighbors downstairs (about once every 2 years or so, so we're not driving them away :) ) we always introduce ourselves and ask them to please let us know if the noise ever bothers them.  No one ever has, even though I've gone downstairs to ask them to please cover their heating vents if they're going to smoke pot.  So you'd think they'd also feel the ability to be pro-active in talking to us about things that bother them.

[crunchy_mommy]

Yes we allow running. And jumping on the furniture and all sorts of fun things.

But we don't share a building... maybe with a shared building I might feel differently. It sounds like your landlady doesn't mind though?? Maybe she figures there's bound to be some running around with little kids living up there, and as long as it's not at 2am, she just doesn't even notice it? I know I only notice my neighbor's dog barking when I'm trying to sleep -- even though he barks the rest of the day too, I usually don't notice or care. I might ask her to let you know if the kids' running around is bothering her, and just leave it at that.

[MariesMama]

We don't allow it, and DD is pretty good about it due to a couple of falls.  I didn't want to have a set of home rules and a set of "other people's house" rules, so we don't run indoors, climb on furniture, or anything.  I guess I'm a meanie.

[Bokonon]

Yes, I definitely allow running in the house, but wouldn't if we lived above someone.  I know that's not easy to enforce though!  My kids both have a cough right now and I am trying to limit their running so they don't aggravate the coughing, but kids just like to run!

[Polliwog]

Nope. We live in a tiny (about 850 square foot) townhouse. There's absolutely no place to run and even if there was, I wouldn't allow it. Running is for outside. A good friend has a gigantic house (seriously) and the kids can run there. But, it's soooo big, you barely notice it.

[MrsSlocombe]

Running only bothers me if there is a reason for it to bother me, e.g. disturbing others such as your landlady.  I don't plan to have a rule against it, but I would implement one if necessary.

I think it's really important that kids don't get in the habit of ignoring house rules.  Since you've made the rule, I would enforce it strictly until you decide to change it.  Even if running is not a big deal (and that's up to you), the habit of not enforcing tends not to stay isolated to just one rule.  I would use whatever consequence you normally use for misbehavior (e.g., time out), and then, if you decide to allow running, make the announcement later. 

[NYCVeg]

We don't, for a few reasons:

1) We live in an apartment and have downstairs neighbors

2) We have very slick, hardwood floors and dd has slipped a few times

3) The apartment is small, so there's a real risk of crashing into things

A significant amount of ballet dancing still happens though. :) 

[onlyzombiecat]

When dd was small I don't think I had a particular rule about running indoors. We didn't really have to be quiet because of downstairs neighbors though.

In our house now I don't want dd running by the top of the stairs/window or in the kitchen because of safety. She's almost 12 though so she just doesn't go running around the house like a tiny kid anyway.

I think it is good to continue to remind your kids to be considerate of the people living around them even if they do not complain. It is hard to stay silent but they can try to be more aware. Maybe redirecting them to a new place or activity would be good.

[cristeen]

I do allow it.  There is no way that I could enforce a no-running rule.  He's also allowed to jump on his bed (floor mattress), and climb on the couch.  I draw the line at standing on the tables, although he is allowed to sit on them. 

[MamaInTheDesert]

We don't do running in the house or standing/jumping on furniture. If DD wants to dance, practice gymnastics, or jump then she must do so on the carpet in the middle of the living room where she can't hurt herself, other people, or objects in the home.

[Peony]

Sure, why not? We have a larger house, nice long, wide hallways to run in and minimal furniture. The kids make a circle through the house, chasing each other or riding their cars. If I had a shared space like a townhouse, apartment then it would be different. We lived in a town house for a couple months once with the 2 girls when we had to travel for medical care, it was torture. I felt like I had to keep them quiet, I am so happy that I don't have to police them at our own house. Furniture jumping doesn't bother me either. 

[mamazee]

I have no problem with running in the house.

[chenchen]

Originally Posted by AllyRae 

I do, but we don't share a home.  When we had to be in an apartment for 6 months (while our house was being built), I did not allow it out of respect for the other tenants.  It was hard...I felt like I was always nagging them to be more quiet.  We spent lots of time outdoors and in parks so that they could run and scream.

This is how I feel too.  We don't share a home with others, but my husband does work from home.  During the weekends I have no problem with it, but during the week out of consideration to her father, she needs to make an effort to keep the noise level down.

I think an appropriate way to handle it would be that every time you hear her running, she has to go back to where she started and walk to where she wanted to go.  I might even make it that she had to repeat the process two or three times in each instance.  The idea being that once running becomes less convenient than walking, she'll slow down in the first place.

I disagree with the PP who thought it was no biggie since the downstairs neighbor doesn't seem to mind.  I tend to think that she's being polite in brushing away your concerns, but even if she's in earnest, it still teaches your children to be considerate of others.

[csekywithlove]

We allow running and jumping but we have a 2,400 sq. foot house that DSS has a lot of room to roam in. The only time we tell him to be careful is if there is a baby cousin here who is stationary or if there is a friend over and they might accidentally end up hurting one another. Even without running, DSS got a basketball to the face the other day. When it is time to eat, we do take our meals at the table and turn the tv off. I'm very lenient in winter because of the simple fact that we can't go outside. I actually do a lot of running in the house with DSS. Playing chase is always fun. 

[nwatt]

I have no problem with "controlled" running, jumping, furniture climbing, and other active behaviors.  If things are getting out of control, then I make things settle down, but as long as I feel that everyone is safe then a lot activity is allowed. 

[WindyCityMom]

I mean.. I'm cool with noisemaking.  The kids are "sledding" in the living room with some old boxes and a couch cushion mountain.. making big thuds when they get to the bottom.  But running everywhere instead of walking is just  sometimes, yk?