Do you clean your teen's room?

[mamatojon]

So is this one of those "pick your battles" think with teenagers? I always thought I'd insist on them keeping their room clean to my standards but it seems like most here just shut the door... has me wondering if I should rethink my stance here. I certainly wouldn't clean it for them though.

 

[Philadisney]

What DO they do with those q-tips, anyway? Between the q-tips and the bobby pins, dd's bathroom is impossible to walk through.

Haha my dad used to say that about me and scraps of paper. When I was a teen, I could vacuum my room and then an hour later the floor would be covered with thousands of confetti-sized bits of paper. no one could ever quite figure out where they came from

 

[luvflorida]

Enough talk about used Q-tips. You're activating my gag reflex.

I can pretty much ignore the mess in my daughter's bedroom, but when I can't, I tell her it's time to clean up and pick up her room. The one thing that bugs me more than anything is the way she leaves clothes all over her room. Clean, dirty, it doesn't matter. I don't know why she has a closet or dressers because she certainly doesn't use them! Many times, if she wants to do something, go somewhere, watch a tv show, etc., I'll tell her to pick up her clothes BEFORE she can do whatever it is she wants to do.

I do change the sheets on her bed, and I do vacuum her rug.

I never had this problem with her older brother. He has always been super neat; think Seinfeld.

 

[marciemi]

Wow! What replies! I've never had this many responses to any thread I've started before - must be a hot issue!

So..I'm guessing that all of you who ban food in the room would not be approving of my other teenage son (DS #2 who's 13) having a dorm fridge in his room! One of the main things on his Christmas list is a little mini vending machine that dispenses "fun" size packs of candy. Since it was only $15, I broke down already and bought it for him. Guess this would make the "no food" rule hard to enforce with my 14 year old!

I'm also wondering about the "picking your battles" part of it. DS14 is a good kid, he gets straight A's in advanced classes, plays on several sports teams and has a lot of friends. Guess my original approach of confiscating his clothes that he tossed on he floor (until he ran out of jeans - gasp!) seems too extreme to most of you. He's the only of my kids with a buzz cut still so hair isn't an issue (unless I don't cut it often enough and then he whines that it's "itchy") with him. With my younger 2 I've decided that isn't a battle I want to fight so as long as it's out of their eyes in front, the rest is up to them. Although they both know if they ever get lice (I swear we get too many notes about this from the schools), it's all coming off!

He does wash, dry, fold and iron his own clothes.

WOW! I'm really impressed with this and those of you who've managed to have kids make (with fresh sheets) their own beds by this age! I haven't even taught DH this yet! My kids have no clue on how to operate the washer, dryer, iron (no way!) or to even fold the laundry. And they complain when I make them put the nice piles of folded laundry I place on their (newly made) beds away! And if I ever ask them to put sheets on their beds, they just can't grasp the concept of pulling the corners all the way down so the next day there's always a big pile of sheets/mattress pad in the middle of the bed! Sounds like I'm WAY behind here on general house training of teens 101!

I LOVE the ebay idea - maybe I need to try that instead!

 

[NMAmy]

So is this one of those "pick your battles" think with teenagers? I always thought I'd insist on them keeping their room clean to my standards but it seems like most here just shut the door... has me wondering if I should rethink my stance here. I certainly wouldn't clean it for them though.

Honestly, dd and I argue enough without adding the room cleaning battle in there. She gets good grades, plays sports, and helps me tidy up the rest of the house & do laundry. If I can close the door and ignore it, you bet your bippy that's what I'm gonna do.

It does amaze DH that she can come out of that pigsty looking like a supermodel.

 

[Cantw8]

No, I sure don't. I decided a couple of years ago that this was not the battle I wanted to have. I have two teens, 17 and 15...if they want to live like pigs, have at it When their debris starts spilling out into the hallway, then I have a problem. They have been doing their own laundry for a few years now. I do insist that they change their sheets and wash their comforters every week. What really ticks me off is when they refuse to put their dirty towels in the community laundry hamper I always seem to be out of clean towels despite the hamper being empty Just today, I pulled 25 towels out of my daughter's closet How nasty is that? I think I also saw Jimmy Hoffa in there