how to keep brother's kids away from trains.

[Zug]

My brother has announced they he's coming this weekend with his wife and kids. The girl is 7 and the boy is turning 3. I have a good size n-scale loyout I'm trying to protect. Today I installed a door on the train room that will be locked most of the time while they're here, but the 2nd bathroom is off the train room.

I need suggestion for protecting my stuff if/when they get in there, ways to convice them that a $150 Kato is not a toy without starting a major clash.

The girl has nothing to do with me, won't speak to me and that last time I tried taking a photo started wildly kicking at me, the bruses lasted a week. The boy likes to throw and bang stuff.

HELP!

 

[N Gauger]

1) Park all the trains as far away from the "path" to the Bathroom as possible.....

2) Let your Brother know... that the trains are "collectables" not toys (mention this - in as nice a way as possible)

3) Ask (nicely again) if, "when the door to the train room is open" the kids need to be supervised! (collectables! Not toys!!!) --- Just the fact that you are locking the door should let them know that you are serious about the "delicate" parts & scenery in there.

If something does happen (shudder) - does he have the money to replace it??

Also - does the second BR have another door - or is that the only one??? I was wondering if you could turn the lock around on the door "to the train room" so the Train room would be protected.....

Best of luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Vic]

Dang Zug! Have you thought of chains (for the kids) and padlocks (for the train room) Maybe the 2nd bath could be for ADULTS ONLY

Seriously....Brother's kids or not I wouldn't put up with that kind of behavior at my house!!!

Good Luck...Sounds like you'll need it!!!

 

[N Gauger]

Originally posted by Vic
Maybe the 2nd bath could be for ADULTS ONLY

Great idea, Vic!!!! That's one I didn't think of Zug!!

 

[Clerk]

Does your brother know about his kids attitude? Maybe the kids do that stuff when their dad isn't around. If he is around, I would lay the law down to your brother about his kids. After all, It is your home and his responsibility to make his kids mind in your home.

A friend of ours has a 9 year old son. He is small for his age and act more like a 6 year old. When they come over, he takes his son to my train room, holds his hands tight and repeatedly tells him not to touch.

A while back his mother came over with him for a meeting with my wife. I took this boy into my train room, hooked up a couple of cars and caboose with an old engine. Showed him how to operate the train and make it go forward and backward. He knew of one speed only. Wide open. After about 15 minutes of telling him to slow down. I shut the layout down. He looked at me and asked why I did that. I told him of the times I told him to slow down and he didn't. After a short pause, he said "oh". Another short pause he said. "please turn the train back on for me and I will go slow. I saw a tear drop from an eye. It worked. Now when he comes over I don't have to worry about him as he loves running my trains and begs his parents to bring him over.

 

[N Gauger]

Originally posted by Clerk

A while back his mother came over with him for a meeting with my wife. I took this boy into my train room, hooked up a couple of cars and caboose with an old engine. Showed him how to operate the train and make it go forward and backward. He knew of one speed only. Wide open. After about 15 minutes of telling him to slow down. I shut the layout down. He looked at me and asked why I did that. I told him of the times I told him to slow down and he didn't. After a short pause, he said "oh". Another short pause he said. "please turn the train back on for me and I will go slow. I saw a tear drop from an eye. It worked. Now when he comes over I don't have to worry about him as he loves running my trains and begs his parents to bring him over.

Great Story, Clerk! I wonder if he'll get trains of his own in the future? Ya never know!

 

[shaygetz]

As a general rule, I do what Dick does, but the behavior stated by you doesn't warrant that kind of trust. Take a screwdriver and 3 minutes and reverse the knob on the bathroom that goes into the trainroom then lock it. Change it back when the kids are gone. Until they respect you, they will not respect your property.

 

[Drew1125]

Originally posted by Vic
....Brother's kids or not I wouldn't put up with that kind of behavior at my house!!!....

Amen!
I've got four kids, two of whom still live here...For years I've had lots of kids streaming through my house, many time when I'm not even home...I've never locked up my train stuff, & I've had some curiosity seekers go in & check out the layout(s), & I've occasionaly let some take a turn at the throttle, but I've never had anyone put their hands on my models! And I've never really worried too much about it, because my daughters will be the first ones to lay down the law in regards to "Dad's Stuff"!
This is something that's irrelavent to model railroading...it's called respect for other peoples' property . It was something that was instilled into me as a child, & it's something that I've passed on to my children, & I have very little doubt that they will pass it on to theirs.
We all have to have rules to live by, & we have the right to ompose rules in our own homes. You need to make this clear to your brother & his family!

 

[jon-monon]

I have an electric fence charger schematic somewhere that uses an auto ignition coil

My brothers kids are well behaved. My wife is a nurse, works very long night hours and sleeps in the day. We have a small house and she is very, very self conscious about cleanlyness of the house if there are to be guests, and making sure they have plenty to eat and otherwise comfortable arrangements. I politely directed my brother and his family to a hotel and politely explained how $40 a night will make everyone more comfy. After going through this explanation several times, he just goes straight for the hotel.

Another thought, you could try to just have your family use the 2nd bathroom and they use the other. Hopefully you can lock yourself in the trainroom.

Another thought, explain to your brother that he will be expected to pay for whatever is damaged.

I may seem cold towards my brothers, but I live in the low income area so I may support my elderly parents, and I spend a great deal of my spare time doing so. They, on the other hand, are free to follow career paths, live in far away lands, and enjoy much higher incomes from doing so. I don't blame them, that's just how it is.

 

[Vic]

Here's What's Wrong

What it all boils down to these days is...
1. Parents just plain don't give a crap!
2. They are too busy chasing $$$ to raise the kids right!
3. The are afraid of the little monsters..."Oh the children have
rights too..."...Hillary Clinton
4. The schools actually teach this "me,me,me" attitude...."Johnny,
how much is 2 + 2 ?" ... "Its 5 teacher".... "Well Johnny, that's
OK with me if its OK with you." ...Rush Limbaugh

Guess I'm just a grouchy old conservative goat and I was born grown up

 

[TinGoat]

Take everything off the rails and...

put it in to storage for the duration.

Then run household A/C through the rails until they leave.

 

[Vic]

Woooo Haaaa!!!

"I LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN...WHEN COOKED THEY TASTE LIKE CHICKEN"... W. C. FIELDS

 

[ddavidv]

Go to your local home improvement or hardware store (assuming the reverse-knob thing won't work for you). There is a slide-bolt latch you can get in brass that isn't ugly and is easy to install. We had one on our garage entry door. If you mount it all the way at the top of the door, the little urchins won't be able to reach it, but it still allows adult access.

 

[Drew1125]

I think W. C. also said he liked 'em "hard-boiled"!

& btw, Vic, Hilary nor Rush has ever had kids in the public school system, so IMHO, niether is qualified to make the call...

It's simple...if you spend time with your kids, & are involved in their day-to-day lives...(I don't mean in an iron fisted dictatorial sense)...school, church, home, friends, etc..., then your standards & values are going to be known to them, & are going to be important to them...Not to say that they're ALWAYS going to stay within bounds, (c'mon, we've all been teenagers, right? ) but if they do step out of line, they know it , & they know there will be consequences, & that THEY will be the one to take the fall for it!
Don't get me wrong...there's no such thing as an "expert" when it comes to raising kids. I've been doing it for 23 years, & I still feel like I don't know what the %$#@ I'm doing sometimes! But I do know that what I just said works!
Sorry to get so off-topic, I just had to get that off my chest!

Zug,
If your brother, &/or his family can't show you respect in your home, you are perfectly justified in telling them to go elsewhere!

 

[Arlaghan]

I would put the latch on the side of the door in the TRAIN room! Kids are genious in that they will find a way to get to the cookie jar way on top of the cabinets, so forget about a simple latch bolt high up on the door!

 

[jon-monon]

Well said, Vic!

Nothin' a good (_!_) woopin' won't solve either!

 

[jon-monon]

Originally posted by Charlie
I think W. C. also said he liked 'em "hard-boiled"!

absnut has a fantastic jumbaliya recipe that they work in as well!

 

[Zug]

THanks for all the replies.
A couple more details to fill in the blanks. My mother (67) and me (36, 3 weeks away from 37) own the house together, and our two cats. So mostly the visit is with my mother.

The bathroom is only accessable from the train room. There two door to the train room, from the furance/laundry room which dor at both ends. At the point the train room has a new door to the other main" room andthe laundry is getting a house lock later today.

I plan on putting a lot of stuff away, leave box cars and a couple PA-1's. Enough so I can show off ZugDCC a bit But I dont think my brother really has any idea at what level I'm involoved in the hobby/obsession.

This will be the first time they've been to this house (just moved in in Aug) and the last time they visited was over a year ago and it was a 2.5 x 5' layout then, it now has 100' of main and is most of an 18x 16 room)

I plan on emailing his some rules later today about the train room too.

As for the kicking insodent, I said something when it happened, by he really didnt pay attention, my mother brother it up on the phone a couple days later without much reaction either, and never another work to me... As for paying for damages, yes, he can afford to and thn some.

 

[farmer ron]

Zug, put the good stuff away and just leave a few of your older rolling stock out just to make it look okey to a non railroader. You can take one half decent engine( not a good one) out of its put away spot to run while guests are in your train room then when YOU are finished running trains put it away, somewhere where your good ones are not kept and turn the power off. The area that is open via the bathroom, a sheet of plywood will temporarily block this access off, and while your at it buy a door handle set with a key lock on it to put on the door that you just put in and keep the key in your pocket.
I agree with others, bring up the topic of how much you enjoy the hobby and glad you got the things that you did when you did, start commenting on how much individual things on the layout has gone up in price, you do not have to mention how much you paid for it but mention it costs now, even if you have to stretch it to get the point accross of how expensive this hobby can be as well as how much time involved to get your layout to the point that it is now..
Mention that if that kids want to go into the layout room they have to be supervised by an adult and if they do not behave that they will not be allowed into the layout room.
Its your layout, you put the money and time in to enjoy it and some times you may just have to put your foot down and be firm to protect your property..even if it does offend someone..
Good luck..let us know how it turns out..Ron..

 

[brakie]

I had a problem similar to yours with my nieces and nephews(my oldest sisters brats-at that time).I just told them plan out.You 3 heathens want to live? Stay away from my models and you will live to a ripe old age.I guess it was the tone of my voice and looks that kept them away from the layout and work bench.Now as Adults when they come for a visit I show them my models as well as my great nephews and nieces.Funny how well behave their kids are compared to them when they was that young..My youngest nephew Bob(26) still asks me from time to time" Uncle Larry would you have really kill us if we bother your model trains?" I reply "You didn't so we will never know now will we?"