How to make this work without a disaster

[LynnS6]

OK, so a friend came over today and helped me clean out ds' room so it's ready to paint. I've been promising ds to paint his room for, oh, about 6 months. So, we went and bought the paint (yellow and hot pink - his choices!)

Now, I realize that I am going to be painting a room with the 'help' of a 2 year old and a 5 year old. I had originally thought I'd do it while they were gone, but it's pretty clear that they fully expect to help me. And in principle, I'm OK with that, I think.

In practice, I'm terrified. How am I going to get that to work????? I have visions of paint EVERYWHERE on EVERYTHING and EVERYONE in the house.

Any suggestions?

[nausicaamom]

Lots and lots of drop cloths, gate the door to keep them in the room, and wear the 2 year-old on your back if you can. That's the only way I can see it working. Best of luck!

[4evermom]

Fortunately, my ds had a short lived interest in helping me paint. He would run in and help for 10 minutes, then go back to doing computer games with dh. I had the floor completely covered and let him help roll with a smaller roller. I had to go over his rolling to even out the thick spots. Of course, you will need to dress the kids in old clothes and strip them down before they leave the room. Make sure there is nothing on the bottom of their feet before they leave, as well. I strongly recommend having another adult in the house in case a dc needs to be carried to the tub. Their interest in helping might be shorter if that other adult is doing something else very interesting. Maybe the kids could be in charge of painting things to go in the room, but do the actual painting outside.

[LynnS6]

OK, so I'm going to buy more drop cloths tomorrow. Maybe a dozen.
Alas, there is no way that dd would STAY on my back. We were washing the walls tonight and she was right up there with me. "I wanna do it. I wanna do it MYSELF." is her mantra. I've already thought that I would strip her naked.

And I think I'm going to tape a trail of newspapers onto the carpet so that if they leave, they won't track it out.

Good tip about the feet -- I hadn't thought of that. I'm going to put a wet towel outside the door for them to wipe their feet on.

Dh will be home (he works from home), but will be much less interesting than me, I'm sure. Basically, whereever I am, I have two little shadows.

Other ideas? We won't be painting until the afternoon....

[ewe+lamb]

I repainted our whole flat when dd was coming up for 3 and had to help - lots of large cloths, gave her a paint brush and an old t-shirt and pants, I showed her exactly what to do and she did it - she had her little paint brush and a little pot of her own, it was a bit messy but in general she managed remarkably well, I just went over it a little bit to clear it up, it was great fun and a super bonding thing before the wee one arrived.

[ameliabedelia]

I've already thought that I would strip her naked.

Actually, I would do the opposite of that. Old clothes (long pants and long shirts), an old hat covering hair, old socks, old gloves. Cover them up as much as possible. We did some painting over a month ago and dd1 STILL has paint in her hair. Honestly, it is HARD to get paint off skin, and even harder to get it out of hair. You have to really scrub, and sometimes use alcohol or paint thinner, not something really good for skin. I'ld much rather have the paint be on old clothes than hang around on hair or skin for several weeks because it doesn't wash off easily, and little kids may not want to be scrubbed.

[HomeBirthMommy]

Both of my kids always get excited about painting, but lose interest really quickly. We leave an unpainted square at their level they can paint if they want to. I totally agree with covering them up as much as possible. Scrubbing paint off a child really stinks!
My younger child likes to "paint" with water. I give her a small cup of water and a clean brush and she will paint the hall or door or something beside the room we're actually painting. She will do that for hours.

[Elyra]

I am another for total coverage for the children helping. That way you can strip them down before they leave the room and not have any paint rub off them on the walls or sofa or anything.

I am going to be paint very soon with 2 children under 3 helping me. The only way I can see it being workable is to give them a few boxes to paint on the wall. I think one will stay the whole time, but the other will be losing interest very quickly. I am thinking of putting a large tub in the middle of the room with a small washing bucket in it for them to climb in and play in. Tons of drop cloths and I like your idea of taping a newspaper walk way. Good luck. I am sure everyone will have fun.

[lindberg99]

Originally Posted by HomeBirthMommy

Both of my kids always get excited about painting, but lose interest really quickly.

Hey, that's how I feel about painting too!

[fierymyst]

give the 2yr old water to paint with instead of actual paint, will be wet walls but better then paint everywhere

[annethcz]

I had good luck with taping HUGE pieces of paper on the wall and letting the kids use their regular paints to "paint the wall" while I painted another wall. But honestly, I mostly paint at night while the kids are asleep.