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

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

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