My 13 year old son is a complete slob

[AKL_Megs]

I dated my DH in high school, and he was a COMPLETE slob! While you would NEVER know it today (we're now 27), back when we were 16, he would have the cruddiest things all over his room.

Empty soda cans, crusty paper plates, disgusting dirty clothes... the floor would literally be COVERED with a layer of trash and/or dirty clothes over a layer of more trash, and smaller things that fell through the "spaces" of all of the other junk.

I'd pretty much weekly crack a CD by stepping on one.

When his mom redecorated his room when he moved out, I discovered that his tan carpets were actually WHITE! You could clearly make out where his bed and dresser had stood for all of those years!

 

[kirstenb1]

I'm trying to reach a middle ground with our 12 yr old. She can't have food or drink in her room. Also, on Saturdays, I take her laptop and Nintendo until her room is clean. So once a week, for a fleeting moment, you can see the floor!

 

[quasar4legs]

I could solve the problem for you by sending over 'grandma'.

My mum (in her 80's) was so horrified with my son's room a few years back she did the big tidy and made him help her. He didn't dare to say no to her, it took them a full day to sort everything and he was one very grumpy but compliant teenager.
Now my son keeps his room pretty tidy as the thought of grandma's return scares him.

I am sure our grandma would be happy to help, just say the word.

Hugs Quasar

 

[NMAmy]

DD, 19, is a total slob--however, she hates to stay at her dad's house because it's "too messy." I can only imagine what it looks like if she thinks it's too messy.

I had to come back to this thread and eat my words. When I got home tonight, DD had totally cleaned her bedroom AND her bathroom--both are spotless now. DH asked if she was a Stepford child, not that he had a problem with it if she was one.

 

[disfan07]

I'm the messy one in my house. (I'm 20)

it's all clothes, papers, etc. No food and only water bottles.

The thing is...I clean it and organize it, and than of course i need to find something and I can;t remember where I put it so it ends up messy again from me tearing apart my rrom to find it. Yet if my room is not clean, I can always find what i need

Yet my school work (binders, notebooks, notes, etc) are OCD organized.

My mom always says that if my room was as organized as my schoolwork you'd be able to eat off my floor.

 

[Topper]

If they cannot keep their rooms clean, just threaten to take the door off the hinges, so any visitors can see the mess. Trust me, teens/tweens will keep their room clean rather than lose the privacy of the door.

 

[kellyg403]

My teens are slobs too. I used to spend everyday telling them to clean their room, only to have it back to the mess it was in less than 24 hours. Now, if they can't find something I don't sympathize, if something gets broken it does not get replaced and I shut the door. If I find food/cups then they are grounded in their room and they can live in it. Usually a few hours with nothing to do and I have some semblence of clean up in there. The thing that I hate is that while the girls room is a mess, at least its clean clothes on the floor..the expense of washing them again is horrendous and totally pee's me off. The boys, though, it totally smells in their room because they do laundry once a week it seems. I refuse to go in their rooms..totally refuse. Every once in a while dh goes in there, and a few hours cleaning with him and listening to him yell, usually keeps it clean for about a week!

Kelly