2 Year Old Is Tearing Apart My House

less toys make for less clean up. Maybe limit what she has in her room. Its not too early to start showing her how to clean up. Just make is fun. If it seems like a chore or a punishment , she won't want to do it. Just like everything else, its a learning process. Gook luck!!

To a small degree. Keep in mind that a big mess can be quite overwhelming to a young child, so you have to break it up and help out, too. I do something like, "OK, it's time to pick up all of the dolls on the floor ... I'll get the ones over here, you get the ones near the TV." Keep it simple, starting with one object or area, before moving to another.

Good luck!

This isn't exactly "cleaning up" but when my son wants to create yet another mess, I try to use it to get him to put something else away. For example, "we can't dump out your blocks until we put all the crayons away." Then as soon as he gets his hands on the crayons, he decides he wants to color and forgets about the blocks. So the crayons don't get put away, but another mess was prevented! You can tweak this to just about any situation. Good luck!

It's a natural stage at that age to be a "dumper," IE if I turn this box of toys upside down, what happens? Best solution is to limit what's in their reach to avoid the big mess. Here's a blog with info on child's play at different ages, what to expect, etc.
http://blogs.goddardsystems.com/Cedar-Park-TX/wp-admin/po...

You can certainly teach her although it will take some time. I wish I had of known this with my first. I didn't think he was capable of cleaning up at such a young age. With my second, I started when she was very young! Now all I have to do is ask. After he/she pulls something out, tell her she may not pull out another toy until the first one has been put away. She will fight and scream about it but stick to your guns. It will eventually work. I have had to do this for my sanity because once you have more than one child, you literally cannot keep up with the mess.

I am having the same issues with my 2-1/2 yr old daughter. I keep all her toy sets with smaller pcs up on a shelf and let her play with one "messy" toy a day. I also have put child safety latches on all the cupboards she is not to play in. I do get down with her and make her help me pick up the toys. She seems to get in a mood at certain times where she goes mad and drags out and dumps everything.....I could waste my breathe scolding her, but it seems to do no good. I find the best thing is to take time out and spend a few minutes playing with her. (building with blocks, setting up a farm etc. ) it seems to change her mood and divert her attention from her destruction mood...... Good luck!

I started keeping half my daughter's toys in bins in the closet and rotating them out weekly, so there is less to clean. I also organized her room with cubby shelves (Target) and a seperate toy or basket on each shelf. It helps her start to learn to clean up.

It is possible to teach your two year old to clean up. They learn by example. Also, they pick things up with you "helping" them complete the job. They are not to the stage to just be told and they pick up toys. At this age, they learn by taking things out, opening things up and exploring. You can help keep some parts of the house picked up and clean by limiting their access to certain areas. You may need to put latches on toy cabinets, knob guards on closets, or gates. I remember my daughter taking all my shoes out of my closet everyday while I got ready for work. She would try them on, take them out, babble about them, and make a big mess every morning. I liked the fact she was occupied, but I had a heap of shoes to pick up everyday. I put a knob cover on my closet door and gave her a toy basket with books and such. She learned to put these few things back with ease.

Honey, I'm right there with you!
This is one of the things that make the twos terrible. The path of destruction they can leave is terrifying. I've got two kids--4 and 2--and am experiencing the tearing apart the house for the second time now. Peg's advice was dead on.
You have to make it enjoyable and do little bits as they go. It's a total pain, but it will be worth it in the end. And like Limabean suggested, make her clean up as she goes. It means you're right there with her a lot, but it will be worth it. I didn't do enough of it with my first and I've been better about it with my second. Now my two year old is almost as good as my four year is at picking up. It's less of a struggle. So basically, start teaching good habits now and you'll be rewarded!

Toddlers are new little people with very little experience of life. They simply don't see a mess with the same critical eyes we do. But they do quite naturally try to imitate everything they see. Including attitudes. You won't be able to "make" a child this young do the work herself without starting a lifetime of struggle over who's in control, and loads of resentment on both sides of the struggle.

But she will eagerly imitate anything she sees you doing. If you initiate cleanup in a happy spirit, she'll participate in the same happy spirit. Attitude is everything (and not only for children, but for grownups, too.) So model happy cleanup procedures. I still do this with my 4yo grandboy, and we make cleanup fun for us both. He's just now getting to where he will clean up a mess when asked, and he still seems (often) to enjoy the process. Hooray!

Yup, you're crazy busy and have other tasks to attend to. You'll still be shooting yourself in the foot to make this a major issue now. You might try loosening your idea of what an organized home needs to look like for a few years.