Do your kids clean their rooms?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, my sister had one of those rooms as a teenager where you can't get the door open and have to wade through 18 inches of clothing on the floor. It drove my mom beyond nuts and they fought all the time about it.

BUT, said sister is now a mother and her house is SPOTLESS. As a teen, she cared what her clothes/hair/face looked like, but didn't give a crap what her room looked like. As an adult, she cares very much what her house looks like, and it looks incredible. So the folks that say "if they don't learn it now, they never will" aren't always right.

+1. I have the same sister as you! My sister now nags her kids to clean their room but when she was younger, she swore like crazy behind my mom's back. She also had a way of moving things from one place to another without actually cleaning or organizing things. Eg. Messy floor filled with stuff? She just moveS them all into her camping backpack! Or stuffs them in her car trunk! I remember too she only found her project work (which she failed because she couldn't find it on submission day) only to find it 2 years later!!! Or ended up with 4 recorders because she couldn't find them and had to buy another!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My preschoolers do it. I have to remind, check, and sometimes help, but they do a decent job of putting things away and making the beds.

My preschoolers did, too. They LOVED to clean. And one day--seems like it happened so suddenly--they turned 13, and got the memo that they are actually supposed to be tempermental slobs. So enjoy it now while you can! (And maybe, just maybe, you'll be the rare parent whose teenager still does "a decent job of putting things away!")

[Anonymous]

My mom is a totally organized clean freak, so is my brother. I'm not. She used to clean my room when I was out and it drove me crazy to come home and find all of my things in little baskets and put away in places that didn't make sense to me. I like things to be out in the open where I can easily see and access them. It looks like my son is leaning that way also, much to the chagrin of my husband.

[Anonymous]

Yes - my daughter does.

She even goes through periods where she gets rid of items she's outgrown. Last week, she reorganized her furniture.

Keeping her room clean is a chore for which she's paid.

She's 11.

My son, who's 7, just makes a mess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. Having parented four kids (oldest is college sophomore, youngest is rising high school freshman), this is the kind of thing that really.does.not.matter.

You're just a lazy parent.