How do you get a teenager to clean their room??????
By tiffsmom2007
@tiffsmom2007 (279)
United States
August 27, 2007 7:31am CST
Picture this: My 15 year old has/had 2 rooms that she claimed as hers. One of them is really the old computer room where the desktop and scanner are. I need to scan something Friday so I took the stuff in there, went to plug up the desktop and saw something move out of the corner of my eye. My first thought was "Oh man, it's a rat!" So I start throwing her junk across the room and when I finally found what had moved it wasn't a rat it..was..a..SNAKE!!!! I freaked, screamed, and ran out of the room. Hubby came home, took care of the snake and told her to clean that filthy room up. Did she do it? NO!!! She threw such a fit that we finally sent her to a friends house just to get some quite. How bad was the room? I started cleaning on it at 10:30p.m. and finally got it spotless at 3:00a.m.
I have tried everything to get this child to clean, took away stuff she enjoyed, grounded her, almost anything I can think of and nothing is working. I know we should have just let her throw her little fit Friday night but my nerves just couldn't handle it after dealing with that snake. And now there is a plate in the clean room with chips and stuff on it, but she didn't put it there, her friend did after her friend heard me tell my child NOT to put anything else in that room. I told the friend to pick it up and take it into the kitchen she was all "I will" but it is still there so now I have to put it up.
So, how do you get your teenage child to clean up after themselves?
2 responses
@cipher2004 (1183)
• United States
27 Aug 07
My son used to be like this also.He new that eventually I would't be able to stand it anymore and I would clean it.I don't know if you wash her clothes or not.But what I did was stop washing his clothes.He then couldn't find anything in his room because of the pile of clothes.And eventually started washing them.Which led to his cleaning the room.So after a while when he was doing his cleaning I made a deal with him.I washed his clothes if he would straighten the room.It worked he hated washing clothes.So when his room got messy I would'nt wash his clothes.It worked for me.
@I_LUV_U (2519)
• India
27 Aug 07
Try to explain her that keeping things neat is a symbol of positive outlook. It is not just a chore to sweep everything clean time to time, but also makes her an attractive personality. Neat and disciplined people will always be the topic of discussion, they become the centre of attraction wherever they are present, because they are FEWER IN NUMBER!!
It gives a peace of mind when you see a neat, well maintained surrounding rather than a messy one. Explain things in an interesting way, not as a strict, typical mother.
Just let her close her eyes, imagine a clean and tidy environment in her room for few minutes and tell you what she's experiencing.
I'm sure when she opens the eyes, she'll see the HELL!
To add on, illustrate a simple example to make her understand.
Suppose, there are two guys, "A" and "B".
A is very tidy, disciplined and do things in a neat manner. B is very messy and careless, throws his stuffs wherever he wants. Ask who attracts her more?
She'll say "A", unless she's a special character.
The same A and B logic applies to her as well, she is treated likewise by others depending upon her personality. Mention this point.
If nothing works, try this;-
Just assure her of buying something interesting, but economical as well, if she cleans her room and maintain it well. Anything like games, gadgets OR promise her a weekend movie/picnic/shopping.
Try to get as much work done as possible at a low cost, if you know her likes better, its not a task to motivate her clean her room.
