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Messy Bedrooms
Ahhhhh. Anyone have any tips or tricks to keep the kids bedroom clean? My
girls have so many "treasures" I can hardly see the floor or the shelves or the beds. Forget about the closet. There's stuffed animals, boxes, dolls parts, necklaces, pieces of who knows what, and paper everywhere. Saturday is straighten up your room day and it turns into such a struggle. I finally stopped folding their clothes (they weren't keeping them organized anyway) and just watched them shove the clothes in their drawers tonight. I am so frustrated and at the end of my rope. I can barely stand to go in there for anything. Being a single parent is rough. -- Erin Morgan and Megan 2-15-97 Evan 5-14-00 |
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When I read the information about 10 year olds this year from the authors
Eng and ?? "Your (5, 6, 7 etc, etc...) year olds they said that even at 10 they have a problem with clothes. Here Kathleen is our little piglet. Chris will actually "clean" his room without being told, when asked to put clothes away he folds them and hangs them. Kathleen, oh, my, gosh, I nag, and nag and threaten. Finally, I got her to put shoes away by threatening to throw away shoes if I found one or two if they weren't put away. That actually seems to work for her, but clothes - wow, here there and everywhere. I do remember that I too was like her and my mom (God rest her soul), never screamed about it but said one day I'd figure out that I needed to that I needed to keep my room clean. It didn't happen until I was probably in 8th grade or so and now, of course as an adult (well old lady), I'm very picky about clean. I guess I should give my daughter the benefit my mom gave me and hope that someday she gets the picture. I do demand that she keeps garbage and food out of her room though and that is a "rule." We did get decorative boxes and baskets to separate things, put extra shelves up to divide things but we still have issues. Good luck Shirley Chris and Kathleen 1/95 "Kender" wrote in message ... Ahhhhh. Anyone have any tips or tricks to keep the kids bedroom clean? My girls have so many "treasures" I can hardly see the floor or the shelves or the beds. Forget about the closet. There's stuffed animals, boxes, dolls parts, necklaces, pieces of who knows what, and paper everywhere. Saturday is straighten up your room day and it turns into such a struggle. I finally stopped folding their clothes (they weren't keeping them organized anyway) and just watched them shove the clothes in their drawers tonight. I am so frustrated and at the end of my rope. I can barely stand to go in there for anything. Being a single parent is rough. -- Erin Morgan and Megan 2-15-97 Evan 5-14-00 |
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Hi Erin. :-)
I'm really a neatnik, and while I don't want to burden my children too much with my own neuroses, ahem ;-), I do think they can benefit from learning what I can teach them about organization. It's a fine line. I don't want them to feel constrained against playing in their rooms, but I do want them to know to pick up their stuff. Bryan (10) made a special request yesterday to be allowed to keep stuff all over his floor because he and his sisters were creating some sort of stuffed animal restaurant. :-D Of *course* I said yes...and of *course* I was all uptight every time I looked in, even though it was so darn cute, lol. Emily (10) actually taped up what looked like a tripwire from the dresser drawer to the bookcase, but I was told it was an entry point for the animals. As far as tips & tricks...for me it boils down to two things: restricting the total mass and creating organized places for everything. My girls have so many "treasures" I can hardly see the floor or the shelves or the beds. Forget about the closet. There's stuffed animals, boxes, dolls parts, necklaces, pieces of who knows what, and paper everywhere. Bryan is the messiest of my kids, because he's a collector of *everything*--wrapping bows, coins, pieces of tissue paper, Pokemon cards, marbles, stuffed animals, Magnetix, etc. Just to concentrate on his setup, I actually redid his room about six months ago and removed some of the larger containers. They ended up being repositories for total junk, and they were just the means to holding onto stuff that really didn't serve any purpose (not even to Bryan). He has the following pieces in his room: bed (underneath is NOT to be used for storage, since it leads to total chaos, but he does keep an extra comforter under there), desk (it has a hutch on it so there are two "top" surfaces, and three drawers), chest of drawers (top is another surface, and five drawers), bookcase (another surface, plus four shelves), one large plastic tub with lid that is wedged between his desk and his bed, and one large plastic tub with no lid for all his stuffed animals. Tim retrofitted his closet with shelving and two heights of clothing bars. In the closet is also a four-drawer plastic container. So, stuff that I cherish and would never throw away--memorabilia that doesn't need daily review (old artwork, photos, Scout newsletters, pipe cleaner creations)--goes into the container in the closet. On the shelves in the closet are his Scouting gear and some out of season clothes. On the floor of the closet, in containers, are Legos. He has large collector card notebooks for his thousands of Pokemon cards. Little items--marbles, Lite Brite pegs, Pokemon coins, Chuck E. Cheese tokens, unusual coins, pebbles--go into various cups/cans on his bookshelf. Bulky items that can't fit elsewhere go in the plastic tub with lid. Desk drawers are for the tissue paper and other art projects. On his desk he has a neat item I bought at Staples, which holds his pens for school, plus his compass, erasers, etc. I will say that he does NOT keep his desk clean. I will periodically resort his items, but he likes to have his things on display on his desk, and I am okay with that. I'm big on the floor surface being clear. Even when his desk is clear, he won't do his homework there. He always does homework on his floor for some reason. :-) As a final note, at least twice a year (pre-birthday in July and pre-Christmas), I do a big sweep. That means I go in alone, lol, with lots of bags. I throw out old toys that are broken or missing pieces, box up toys that he's too old for to give to friends, trash the excess of pebbles and sticks, and generally diminish his overall belongings!! I never remove anything he cherishes, and I always keep the items I've pulled on hold somewhere in the house for at least a week in case I accidentally put something away that he wants returned. You mention: Saturday is straighten up your room day and it turns into such a struggle. It's possible that having a weekly straightening day becomes too overwhelming. I ask that my kids pick up their rooms every night before bedtime. It is more work in the beginning (as in, early ages), making them follow through and having to check that they're picking up, but to me it's always meant that (1) they get used to falling asleep in a clean room, not a messy one; and (2) there's no one day when a LOT of time has to be spent on cleaning. I have a lot to say on this subject, lol, because I just realized that my Katie, who's 6 1/2, has a ton of girly stuff (Polly Pockets, Barbies, My Little Ponies, etc.) and is probably more along the lines of your girls! I bought her this cool thing at Target. Let me see if I can find it online. Okay, it's something like this, only hers is pink & purple: "Keep your files and office utensils safe and neat with this Sterilite 4-drawer cart. It's made of lightweight plastic and has wheels for easy portability. White/clear. Made in USA. Approximate dimensions: 19-1/4Wx22-1/4Lx38-1/4H"." .. Catalog # : 670240 ASIN: B0006O0EE2 All her teeny tiny Polly Pocket items and other assorted teeny tiny toys can be dumped into these drawers! Easy to clean up. Tim's going to be putting up some shelves over her desk in order to have a place for her larger toys that don't fit in the cart. I have a second pink & purple sort of cart in which she keeps barrettes, jewelry, and all that. I think a lot depends on the kid. With Bryan, the more "compartments" and drawers he has, the greater mess he makes, so I have to limit him. With Emily and Katie, they are much more organized, and the compartments and little jewelry boxes and the like provide the perfect place for their things. Sorry this is so long! Obviously it's a subject near & dear to my heart! :-D Jennifer Janna 8/86 Bryan and Emily 7/94 Katie 7/98 |
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