Books, a hat, gloves and keys are definitely not the same. A gorgeous looking table is a lovely sight, whether you prefer a highly polished surface or whether you like to see a tablecloth or a runner.

If you can not stop this bad practice by introducing some discipline into the members of your family, maybe you should try another approach.. This sort of clutter is a bad practice because at some time or another, someone has to clear it away and that someone is usually Mum and that sometime is usually just before she wants to set the dining table for a meal, just when she does not have the time to do it. Is your kitchen or dining room table a repository for everything that people can not be bothered to put away. Even when the mess is removed from the dining table, it usually only ends up somewhere else where it should not be.

In between meals does it get heaped up with the letters, books, school bags, hats and shopping simply because people are too idle to put things away.