I'm going on STRIKE!!!!

[always quiet]

Before I start ranting here, please know I love my family and wouldn't trade them for anything BUT.....why in the world do they have to be so sloppy!!!! Like, when you walk into the house and take your shoes off, do they belong by the front door or back in their rooms?!! By the door, of course!! When you have a drink and are finished, does it belong in the sink or on the end table next to the chair you were sitting in??? When you take clothes off the hangers to wear, you're supposed to just drop the hanger on the floor, right?

Some days, it just gets so frustrating!! It just doesn't stop. I really want to resign from adulthood! I'm tired of kids rolling their eyes at me and mumbling under their breath as they walk away, tired of being the only way who fills the empty sugar bowl, tired of finding clean laundry in piles on the floor, tired of bills and medical problems.....................

That's it...I'm not going on strike..................I QUIT ADULTHOOD!!!!

PS For any men out there who are not yet married (and even if you are and haven't figured this little jewel out!!), when your wife is in a mood like this, DO NOT ask her if it is "that time" again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Chattyaholic]

My kids used to do that too, I think they're programmed that way or something...
But, they do grow up and leave home someday and it really will happen sooner than you think. My DS has been out of the house almost 10 years already, and over 3 years for DD. And you know what? Sometimes I actually miss the messes they made!!

 

[Tiggeroo]

Oh sweetie, I can so relate. I have three teens, and a dh who is no better. My 19yo college dd lives at home and she is no better then the rest. I didn't have work today and it is ten o'clock and I still haven't gone out in the kitchen. The reason is, I know there will be milk and cereal on the counter, all of the dishes from this morning and dh's late night snack, someone will have needed a shirt from the dryer so they will have pulled all the clothes out to find it and left all the rest on the floor. I've already seen the clothes and towels on the bathroom floor and just closed the kids bedroom doors. Aaargh.
And I won't leave this mess till everybody gets home and they'll all look at me like i'm crazy if I tell them about this mess. And if they were here I'd have to supervise each step of the clean up, have eyes rolled, hear mumbling under the breath, and since it still won't be done right have to go back behind them and finish it up. There are really times when I don't want to be the mom anymore. And my twin sons are going thru a punky, my parents embarrass me phase, therefore the rewards are few and far between. I know nothing and can comment on nothing. And one of my sons is dragging his butt with his schoolwork, so all of the above behaviors apply as I am on him to get his homework done.

 

[grinningghost]

My MIL actually DID go on strike years ago. She told me she couldn't stand everyone slopping up the house and she just stopped doing housework. She let the laundry pile up to the ceiling (except her own clothes ), let the dishes sit, let everything just go. She said after a week, they got the hint and started helping out. Of course it didn't last, but at least it worked temporarily.

Here's my take on it. My DH does collision work. When he finishes a car and paints it and it looks great, he would have an absolute fit if someone put a ding in it before the customer got the car. My housework is the same thing. I scrub the bathroom for 2 hours and then DD and DH come in and just trash it immediately. But I can't throw a fit about it, because then I'm a naggy wife. It's simply not fair.

 

[Jillpie]

Tiggeroo, I just laughed right out loud with the "taking the laundry out just to find what they want and leaving it on the floor"!! ok, so WHO is supposed to pick it all up?? I have 3 young boys (oldest is 15), and do you think anybody can pick up their wet towels off the bathroom floor and their pajamas after a shower?? lol. This is so funny, but not funny and I know you all know what I mean.
Always quiet, hang in there. Have another cup of coffee and hang right here with us and understand that everything else will be there for us. This is OUR time, dangit! My boys are the best...picking up their clothes? Not the best, but it sure does feel good tucking them in at night.

 

[CRB#33]

I have the same problem. One of the tricks I've tried is to take everything they've left around the house and make a pile in the middle of their floor, or bed. I tell them, no TV, no nothing until the pile is gone and everything is in the proper space. And then I try and ignore the grumbles. If I get a fight, they lose something from the pile that I choose.

They still do it though

PS For any men out there who are not yet married (and even if you are and haven't figured this little jewel out!!), when your wife is in a mood like this, DO NOT ask her if it is "that time" again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's unbelievable isn't it???? Like us being irritated with cleaning up after their sloppiness is hormonal. That just gives them an excuse to ignore. Which is what they want to do in the first place, regardless of our hormones.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Originally posted by CRB#33
One of the tricks I've tried is to take everything they've left around the house and make a pile in the middle of their floor, or bed. I tell them, no TV, no nothing until the pile is gone and everything is in the proper space. And then I try and ignore the grumbles.

I kinda do the same thing, in fact I do it alot except I pile it at the bottom of the stairs. (We have a 2-story)
Did it last night, in fact. Works like a charm in getting them to put the stuff away.

Now you think that they would STOP leaving there stuff all over the house...oh no .

 

[Pin Wizard]

LOL! Sorry it's getting to you right now, Always Quiet. It's like that every day here as a single parent. The little things are the things that really bug me! Can you get a little time to yourself?

 

[sharbear]

Wait, you're describing my life!!!! I love it when they take a shower and take the towel in their rooms, never to come out again. And why can't my DH look at the towel rack to see if there is a towel in the bathroom BEFORE his shower instead of after when he has to yell at me to get him a towel!!!!

 

[always quiet]

My kids are "nice" enough to leave the wet towels OUTSIDE the bathroom door in a pile!! It's my oldest DD who yells out from inside the shower that she has forgotten a towel!! DH remembers the towel....he just forgets the dirty clothes he has left on the bedroom floor (we DO have a hamper in our bedroom!!)

 

[grinningghost]

I love when my DD takes her wet towels into her room and throws them on her bed. I, being way too kind, remove them so when she gets into bed she won't get wet - I think I need to stop doing that for her.

 

[Tiggeroo]

I think I can top the towel mess. I had a pile of towels on a shelf folded in the bathroom. Apparently somebody went in there. They liked the bottome towel because it was the biggest. Pulled it out knocking some towels down and unfolding the rest.

I live across from the football field and tomorrow is homecoming. Some of the girls on the court want to come here and get changed. So I need to get everything clean today and don't have time to wait for everybody to get home and deal with their messes. My kids haven't been spoiled. They've always had chores and have been taught to clean up. But it seems hopeless. My 19yo dd has a had the same boyfriend for several years. He comes from a very Italian, very neatnick home. God help her if they marry. She and her MIL will have battles I think. She really sees no reason for cleaning up, not even if you have company coming. She does it cause mom makes her, but can think she cleaned a room while there are still piles of junk all over the place. And they all think I worry too much about this. What will they do when they move out.

 

[crazyforgoofy]

Jeff, my youngest son, was the 'mess king' at our house while growing up. He lived in squalor - his room was really a pig sty - and didn't mind it at all. During his late teen years I sprayed Lysol while standing in the doorway, I wouldn't even enter the room. If he wanted me to do his laundry he had to put it down the chute. He lived at home and worked after high school for a while before leaving for college, his room was a health hazzard with fast food remains etc. Then guess what happened? He became the neatnik! He hated picking up after his messy roommate and best friend, he complained about it to me tons of time - I could only smile and surpress a laugh. Now he's married and is superneat! Go figure. My advice is to set a few rules that have to be followed ('your mess in your room only' or for younger kids 'if I have to pick it up it becomes mine and you have to do chores to get it back'). Learning to like order comes later for some kids than others and for a few it never comes but you don't have to be a slave.

I have a friend who puts everything that belongs to each person in his/her own personal laundry basket - it could be clean clothes or the backpack and jacket left in the hall. If its not emptied and put away properly by the time she goes to bed she makes it disappear for a while. Some things have to be 'bought' back. She said it only took her husband a few days to put his own cell phone on its charger and hang up his own coat and tie, the kids took a while longer. She made a point of not being drawn into a discussion, she remained matter of fact 'the house has to be tidier, it takes too much time for one person to to do it all.' She's the same woman who gave each family member their 'own towels and washcloths' They're in charge of putting them in the laundry, folding them and putting them away if they want clean ones, if they don't they can use the dirty ones!

 

[Otto's Doll]

This is the one that gets to me: If you have just taken a shower (therefore you have a clean body) and you have used a clean towel to dry off the clean body with, why can't that towel be hung up and used again when it dries? Is there any reason that it must be left on the floor all wadded up to get moldy? I think NOT!

Also, the shoes.. why not at least near the door, not all over the floor? The same with the socks!

 

[ChibiJones]

Jeff, my youngest son, was the 'mess king' at our house while growing up. He lived in squalor - his room was really a pig sty - and didn't mind it at all. During his late teen years I sprayed Lysol while standing in the doorway, I wouldn't even enter the room. If he wanted me to do his laundry he had to put it down the chute. He lived at home and worked after high school for a while before leaving for college, his room was a health hazzard with fast food remains etc.

Sounds like my brother in his younger days. He'd have old, moldy dishes, sunflower seed husks, never emptied his trash can, etc.

The Marine drill sargents cured him of those habits though

 

[Pin Wizard]

Originally posted by ChibiJones
The Marine drill sargents cured him of those habits though

LOL! Isn't that the truth!!

 

[Tiggeroo]

you guys just made my day. I've been having one of those heaven help me, my kids are driving me to drink weeks.
I have one son who is the #1-2 runner on his hs cross country team, with a pulled muscle so he can't run. And it is also stopping him from doing his favorite thing, surfing. To top it all off, he has been planning on going on a camping/surfing trip for a year, only to find out this week that it is on PSAT weekend. He is so mad at me for not letting him skip PSAT's to go on this trip. So he is down about not being able to run or surf, mad at mom for screwing up his trip, and in the house much more then usual for the same reasons. And being a slob while there. And I have to spend time in the car with him carting him to the dr's and pt.