Yeah I vacillate between being an extremely frustrated and then just trying to be Zen and let It go. We do have the ground rule that there needs to be a walking space for me to walk into her room without stepping on something

We make our kids tidy their rooms every 2 weeks, but the girls will usually keep their rooms clean on their own. They like organizing and setting things up. My 13 year old son has the most cluttered room - legos everywhere, clothes everywhere, etc. I let it go until the 2 week period when the floor at least much be clean. And I'll help him organize it about 2-3 times a year.

Anonymous wrote:Total hellscape. Lego all over the floor, weird creations of putty and string and plastic animals, etc. I did not want to spend the time every day on this issue and they both loved making "set-ups" of villages or whatnot that they actually would play with over time. Both are older now and at some point voluntarily started keeping their rooms fairly neat.

Disgusting

Anonymous wrote:We all have ADHD and we all have cluttered bedrooms. Nothing is dirty - there is no food, and dirty clothes always go in hampers. But it's a lot of books and knick-knacks and toys to dust!

+1. Same! Floors are clear, but surfaces are cluttered.

Yes.

Some days it’s tidy and some it’s messy, depending on how much energy I have to follow through on requesting them to clean their room.

We all have ADHD and we all have cluttered bedrooms. Nothing is dirty - there is no food, and dirty clothes always go in hampers. But it's a lot of books and knick-knacks and toys to dust!

Yes. They each have to make their beds in the morning and put dirty clothes in their respective hampers. We have a twice-a-week housecleaner who tidies up and the nanny does their laundry and leaves it folded on their beds for them to put away.

2 boys sharing a room, ages 7 and 5. It’s tidy but only because we don’t keep any “extra stuff” in the room. Dresser, chair, bunk bed. We’ve got the books they are into lately on top of the dresser. No other toys or decorative items.

We do have a playroom in the basement with all the toys and it ranges from somewhat tidy-disaster depending on the day.

OP you have described our kids' rooms to a tee.

It's not my preference, but the amount of effort expended to get them neat and stay neat is just too much. Gotta look for compromises and pick your battles.

My only hard and fast rule is no food or drink. Don't want bugs to start nesting in all that clutter.

Total hellscape. Lego all over the floor, weird creations of putty and string and plastic animals, etc. I did not want to spend the time every day on this issue and they both loved making "set-ups" of villages or whatnot that they actually would play with over time. Both are older now and at some point voluntarily started keeping their rooms fairly neat.

Tidy. Toys and schoolwork happen elsewhere, so it's just clothes and books.

Never leave it a mess. Get rid of the things and clutter til
It’s the amount they can manage. My kids have to keep their rooms clean and do a good job. It’s a battle. But worth it. They are boys, 11 and 8

Leave it a mess - it's their rooms. Either close the door, or don't look when you walk by.

FWIW, I was a messy kid (as in you had to push clothing on the floor out of the way to get from the door of my bedroom to my bed), and I am a neat and tidy adult

Is your kid’s room neat and orderly or a mess? I don’t mean clean as in, do you dust and vacuum.

I’ll go first. I have a boy and a girl, 7 and 9. Both rooms are a cluttered mess with clothes and books everywhere. Too many stuffies, collected stuff, etc. and we’ve purged what they’re willing to give up. Anytime I’ve taken half a day to thoroughly organize and clean its back to this a week later. I just don’t have time to focus on it anymore with doing literally everything else with the house and planning their activities.

They have other chores in the house that to me are more important for our whole family, and not sure they have time for more right now.

Do you just leave it a mess?