Do you make your teens clean their room

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unless they have a huge pile of stuff going on no. The cleaning lady straightens up and takes out all water bottles

LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a home cleaner, but they do not clean our teens' rooms. When they started HS, we told them cleaning their room was their responsibility. They are going to have learn how for dorms and apartments.

Why? Won't they just get home cleaners like their lazy ass parents?

Yeah I don’t get this philosophy. I understand not choosing to hire cleaning help, but I don’t understand hiring the help just to deny it to some of the people in the household.

I didn’t do much cleaning as a kid - trust me, it’s easy to learn when you are living in a dorm and later your first apartment. It’s not rocket science or a complicated life skill.

The mechanics of cleaning are not difficult to learn. But the concept of being responsible for your own messes—literal and metaphorical—is good to instill early on.

But a cleaning lady isn’t cleaning your daily messes. She’s doing things like dusting, vacuuming, cleaning the bathrooms. That’s why the parents hired her. You can still have a child clear the table, load the dishwasher, make his bed each day and benefit from a weekly cleaning service too.

+1

The cleaning lady comes to clean the house not to organize their mess.

My boys have to keep their room tidy and clean up after their own mess around the house, specially in the summer when they have plenty time to do it.

[Anonymous]

My 14 year old is a slob and spends a lot of time in her room so it is 6 days out of 7 a hot mess. So we start the every other week cleaning for the cleaners about 4 days ahead of time. and sometimes I won't take her somewhere unless she tidies her bathroom.

[Anonymous]

Yes. But my older teen doesen't have to be told, he keeps his room clean on his own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you make your teens clean their rooms before the maid comes over? According to my DD im the only mom that does this. Is this true? I just don’t want them to clean up over 30 water bottle etc because the kids should do it. It’s their mess

Yes, of course. Everything needs to be off the floor (to vacuum)and everything needs to be cleared off the surfaces (to dust.) We do this for the whole house. Everything is picked up/put away so they can actually clean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No cleaning lady here. I insist that the room hits vacumable status every week or so and also that no food/dishes go up. It is a choose your battles thing for me. It is just not the hugest issue to me and I do not think it will ensure proper cleaning when they are adults.

I have tweens and no cleaners. Seen from here, what you expect from your teen depends entirely on what you've expected of them in earlier years.
Our criteria is also 'vacuumable.' One tween complains that vacuuming kicks up their allergies, so that step is negotiated between the rest of us, traded between siblings for other steps in cleaning, or kicked down the road to the next time I ask them to make their room vacuumable a few days later.

Often, the process leads to most of the non-floor surfaces getting covered in picked up clutter, minus dirty clothes and empty glasses.

The plan for the next couple of years is to get them to also tidy up 'above-ground' without my getting involved pointing things out or tidying them up with them.

Sorry if this sounds off-topic to whatever the dance is getting teens to do basic things.

[Anonymous]

My teens don’t have too many chores. But they are supposed to do these small tasks
DAILY
- make their beds first thing in the morning
- bring cups and dishes down from their rooms
- bring down used towels and clothes from their room
- load their dishes in the dishwasher
- put away their outerwear, bags, shoes etc
- clean hair from tubshroom after they shower
- put kitchen scrapes in the compost pit
- water the outdoors plants
- put out trash and recycling bins on collection days, bring the bins back
- get mail in
- recycle
WEEKLY
- strip their beds and make beds with clean sheets
- vacuum their rooms, dust
- water and wash indoor plants and inspect for pests
- clean all trash from cars, wipe dust away, vacuum, stock with reusable masks and hand sanitizer
- stock toilet paper, soap, toiletries, cleaning supplies
- empty all wastepaper baskets
- order groceries, stock groceries

DH and I do all laundry, cleaning the house, dishes, cooking. We are a non-smoking, no pets, no shoes indoors family so home does not get too dirty, however we cook a lot so kitchen needs cleaning few times a day.

[Anonymous]

We're an ADHD family in a tiny house and our biggest issue is clutter. I do make the kids pick up their rooms. We don't have a housecleaner, so we share cleaning duties. Everyone has vaccumed/dusted/mopped/picked up everyone else's room at some point, and everyone has scrubbed the bathroom and toilet.

[Anonymous]

I do not pay people to clean my home. I clean and the rest of the family cleans. It's a joint effort, like on a ship. Get the crew in line, and give everyone jobs to do. Work builds character. Laziness is unacceptable.

[Anonymous]

Our nanny lives with us and takes care of the kids rooms because she likes to.

[Anonymous]

Heck, we ALL pickup our houses before our cleaners come! I collect the newspapers or magazines and toss them in recycling, I put the dishes in the dishwasher, collect the damn cups that are all over the house (bedrooms, tv room, coffee table), and clean up the cat toys that the cats toss all over the place!

I bet YOU pickup your house, too, before your housecleaner does, so of course your kid should do it for their room.

[Anonymous]

Omg make them clean their rooms! Life skills. Don’t send them off into the world not knowing how to keep their own space clean please. For roommates and spouses everywhere.

[Anonymous]

They have to tidy their rooms, yes. That means no piles of clothes or shoes on the floor so it can be vacuumed, no excessive bottles on surfaces so they can be dusted. If they want their sheets washed, they have to strip their beds that morning. If they want their towels washed, they have to pile them in the bathroom that morning.