Kids

My first question would be why weren't they taught earlier to clean up after themselves? At those ages you are going to get rebellion if they aren't used to doing it. My children have chores they have always had chores they are now 10,9 and 14. I have 3 stepkids who have chores as well. Basically they have to clean their rooms,do dishes(not everyday),wash their laundry,vacuum their rooms. And generally clean up after themselves. They don't get paid they don't get rewarded. These are basic skills that they need once they move out. I don't have any ideas other than if you tell them to do something stick to it. Make sure they do it and don't back down. Their "reward" is for you to tell them they did a good job.

Kids will be kids! And they learn from their Parents. They learn from what they see. Do their Parents keep everything spotless and tidy? Kids ( like their parents,) don't do things without reason. Do they have a reason for keeping their rooms tidy? Is there any remuneration, (besides Candy?)Perhaps you could develop a family Plan? Like- "I'll do this for you, if you do that for me," ... After all Kids are small adults, and deserve to be treated as such.

Instead of giving them rewards like sugary treats, find something else to reward them, like a trip to the library or a movie or a night with friends over. Something they will enjoy and is good for them. And when they don't do what they are supposed to you can give them a penalty. Anything not put away goes into a box and won't be given back until a specified time, we usually returned things on Sunday. When things got really bad for my sister and her five kids, she took the family for counseling. Something he suggested for one of the kids (this is really drastic and would only be used as a last resort) was to take everything away except his mattress. He then had to earn back his furniture, toys, clothes, bedding, etc. Each item he earned had to be properly taken care of or it was taken away again. Like I said that was really drastic for a very out of control child. You might want to modify it by letting the kids have the basics: bed, bedding and clothes. When they can take care of those they can start earning the other things back. Whatever you decide, I would encourage you to sit the kids down and explain the rules, what is expected of them and what the consequences will be if they do or don't do what is expected of them. Good luck. Would love to hear how you are progressing on this.

My mom's attitude was that it was my room and if I wanted it to be a mess it could be. I still had to clean up when company was coming, even if they'd never see my room. Anyway, I'm still a bit of a slob, but I can say that my apartment never gets as bad as my room was when I was in high school.

Is it an organization problem? I know that sometimes it's difficult to keep a room clean if you have more stuff than space.

I totally agree with you, I think about that with my 3 boys, they find it hard to keep their rooms clean, and when I ask them to clean their rooms they moan and stamp their feet, so like you I wonder how they will be when they grow up and move out of home and into there own home, I hope by then they can do there housework.

You could give them something like $5 per week as long as they keep their room tidies, and if you give them pocket money, make it dependant on having tidy rooms

I also have four kids and none of them keep their rooms clean either. I have two boys 17 and 13 and two girls 16 and 15. The only thing that I have found that helps is that if they want to go out with their friends I tell them that they can not go out until room is clean and that usually works but for only one or two days a week. When their friends are on vacation the house is a mess!

For one thing I think you should stop rewarding them. Keeping your room clean is not something to be rewarded for when you are asked to do it. Your kids should know that keeping thier room clean is a priority and that they should not only do it to get a reward. Instead of rewarding them, punish them lightly. You should give them a small chore list and have them clean thier room. Whenever its not done, take the TV, Computer, or something away from them until its done. Whenever it gets messy, take something away. After a while they will get the point that they should keep thier room clean and you want have that problem anymore. If you keep rewarding them everytime they do it, they will only do it when they want something, and once they get older, they won't do it. Its ok to reward them every so often for cleaning. But punish them more so to get the point across. I bet if you were to do that, you won't have the problem with your children keepin thier room clean anymore :P