‘Living room families’ embrace the mess to stay close to their kids. But is it a trend or a guilt trip? [Video]

If you:

• Have stepped on so many Lego pieces over the years that you’ve become immune to the pain and perhaps grown a thick, leather-like skin on your heels as a form of protection;
• Routinely sweep aside a heap of board books, Elsa dolls in various states of undress, a broken Slinky, a discarded birthday party loot bag, and a so-beloved-it-must-remain-indoors stick collection just to sit down;
• Eat dinner in view of an overstuffed Ikea storage shelf that is packed so full of Hot Wheels and train tracks the drawers don’t close;
• Have said “the couch is NOT a jungle gym, oh, fine, just don’t come crying to me when you bonk your bean,” hundreds of times, and then soothed the small human who comes crying to you when they do, in fact, bonk their bean…

Then you might be a modern parent… and, you know, a touch of a mess. But take heed, …