Sick of my messy kids !!
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Sick of my messy kids !!
| Sun, 10-01-2006 - 6:38pm |
My twins are 10. I am a SAHM, not a neat freak, and my kids are ridiculously normal. But....they are seriously negligent about putting their things away and leaving garbage around the house. They have a playroom (biggest mess), their own bedrooms with total 3 giant closets (disaster areas), and routinely move furniture and forget their dishes, wrappers, socks, shoes,toys and whatever in the family room. The backpacks are deposited in the middle of the floor after school, the shoe area in the mudroom is not used because, hey, why not just kick them off in the hall? I do not expect perfection, but I have tried EVERYTHING, short of stuffing the mess in garbage bags! My husband and I have tried incentives, checklists, reminding them to clean up, stern talks, admonitions, warnings, hollering and (from me) tears. It might work for a few hours but then it's back to popcorn bags on the floor and dirty socks under the kitchen table. They're good kids, and I would be thrilled with any LASTING improvement. Ideas??? Anyone else in this same (messy) boat?? THANK YOU

Pretty much the same here. But I only have one. LOL I find her socks everywhere, packback wherever she drops it, eats something and just drops the wrapper. I just hound her. I assume some day it will all sink in and she'll "get" it. Today she actually brought a container of glue she was using back into the kitchen and put it on the counter. I nearly fell over because I expected it to be still in the middle of the floor where she was using it hours later. So I think they are listening but its just not filtering down into action.
So sorry no great advice, but know you aren't alone.
Well, what do you do about it all?
LOL---ok not funny I know, but.........my tween is an unorganized mess as well.
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I guess this is epidemic! Just this past weekend we found old glasses and plates in the basement...but the final straw was finding a handfull of chips wrapped up in a cloth napkin crammed under the couch in the living room! Now kids are no longer allowed to carry food any further than the dining room table. No snacking in the basement family room OR living room.
SOCKS are the other item constantly found EVERYWHERE. Dad says he's going to start pinning them around their necks and making them wear them the rest of the day! HAHA!!! I'll let ya know how that goes.
My kids think I'm personally atttacking them by insisting they carry their bookbags UP the stairs to at least the study loft..they feel they belong on the kitchen counter and that I should just fix dinner around them!
It's actually pretty satisfying (I don't tell him) to start nagging my son..he gets all upset but I literally walk behind him and NAG NAG NAG to pick up THIS, NOW pick up THIS...Are you gonna leave THIS??? After a good nag session he's usually pretty good for a couple of days. He'll keep telling me rather loudly...you can STOP, I GET IT..OKAY!!!! I'll just shrug and say "If you'd pick your stuff up, I wouldn't have to do this"...and keep going! HEHE! I figure if I have to make him pick it up, it will be as unpleasant of an experience as I can make it so he'll remember NEXT time!
Denise
Yep, one time of me picking up & then chucking stuff on the floor into the garbage & now the girls know *I* mean it when I say I want it off the floor.
-- Ang
Well, as a start I showed my kids that I posted this message to the board. They were really surprised!! Tonight I will read them your responses. I think this is a good plan because it shows them that they're not the only ones on the planet doing this BUT most of your posts show some degree of "tough love." Before I do the garbage bag thing (can't wait -- get rid of that crapola) I want them to think about your posts for a night -- let 'em stew about it a little bit.
Question: are your mates supportive of this? Frankly my husband isn't terrific. He doesnt want me throwing things away, but he doesn't like the mess either. I clean up after them (and him) too much, but certainly not all the time. It's a catch-22 --- no one cleans up, I clean up, my kids clean up with excessive whining, or my husband cleans up his way which is, well, INFERIOR. I think he has selective blindness like the kids and only perceives 50% of the mess. However, I'm a lot tougher than he is and look forward to rocking the house with some new rules. Moms Gone Wild!
Has anyone seen a Lifetime movie called "Moms On Strike"? A mother starts a movement boycotting her mom-work until her family shapes up, helps out and appreciates her!