The perennial issue of getting children to keep their room clean is a challenge for every parent. This is a guide to getting kids to keep their rooms clean.
During their high school years, our now 40+ year old sons seemed to have a problem keeping their room clean and neat. My wife threatened to clean the room and throw out everything that wasn't put away properly - clothing, books, etc. She carried out the threat one day. and the kids came home to a sparkling clean rooms.
They thought this was pretty cool until they started searching for such things such as homework (left on the floor), school books piled on the beds, etc.
"Mom, where's my English homework? I have to turn it in tomorrow, and my trig book?" She said, "Oh, that? It's in the trash. I thought you didn't want it, so I threw it out." Of course, she didn't really throw it out, but there were a couple of scared teenagers in the house.
Another time, she told our youngest that he had to change the sheets on his bed. He kept putting it off, so my wife finally did it.
When he came home and saw that the sheets had been changed, he asked in a trembling voice, "Did you find anything in my room?" She replied, "You mean the Playboy magazines under your mattress?" No more problems with a messy room! To this day, both are neat freaks.
By Grey Knight from Columbus, OH
When my boys were teenagers, I would give them a date when the room had to be cleaned up by. That gave them the option to do it within their own time frame. But then I would smile widely and say if it was not done by then, I would have the freedom to go into their rooms and find and read all the love notes from the gals at school or church. Of, course this was pre-computers. Boy, that always did it!
By Pat from Traverse City, MI
When my oldest daughter was in grade school I couldn't get her to keep her room cleaned. One day when she was in school I taped a notice on her bedroom door that said "Condemned by the Health Department". When she got home from school that day, she had her best friend with her. You should have heard them laughing, but they both got busy and got the room cleaned. She did much better after that.
By Shirley from Arkansas City, KS
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