Three Cheers for CindyDawg!!
I'm glad to hear that someone else thinks that you should teach kids to leave stuff alone and not wreck everything in the house or force you to put it up. My in-laws seem to feel that anything my great-niece/nephews do is perfectly ok, that it's normal for kids to behave that way and that it's mean to tell them NO. It drives me crazy when they're around. Nothing is safe. They're like little tornadoes on 2 legs. I don't have any kids of my own, but I do know they can behave if the parents will take the time to make it so.
Around my house we have "Grannys toys". They are only allowed to touch them when I let them. The things I have out are not like valuable antiques or anything and I don't really get upset if an accident happens. I just want mine to learn to look and not touch and when they do handle fragile stuff to be careful.
My family knows up front that if you bring your little tornados in and let them go wild, I can and will slap their hands or swat their butts, even if they "have never been spanked". (Those are my favorites :') My rules .My house.