Standards of cleanliness for teen rooms? (teens, parents, girls, clothes)
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What do other parents expect in terms of teens keeping their rooms (and in our case, their bathrooms) clean?
So far all I've asked is that dirty clothes go into the hamper, and dirty dishes make their way downstairs. Beds go unmade, and bathrooms rival those found at interstate gas stations. I am ok closing the door, but my spouse doesn't agree.
Do you have different standards for girls and boys?
Why would anyone have different standards for boys than for girls (maybe I am misinterpreting?). I always figured as long as there was no food up there and no dirty dishes left up there (except a cup for water in the middle of the night), I was not too concerned with their room. I shut the door. Eventually the mess got too annoying for them and they'd clean it up. My only peeve was if I found stuff in the dirty clothes hamper that was still folded and it was apparent that at some point, it became easier to throw the stuff into the hamper than put it away. That didn't happen all that often though and they both were pretty good at doing their own laundry at least part of the time.
As far as bathrooms...I don't clean teen bathrooms. They do - once a week. If we are having company that would be expected to share their bathroom, I would go in and inspect prior to the guest's arrival....often times my standards and their standards were not exactly the same...
But each family needs to do what works for them. If you spouse is not happy with what is going on, work on some compromises so that he/she is more comforable with the situation.
Last edited by maciesmom; 06-23-2010 at 03:33 PM..
In our house the rule is no food in the bedrooms so that takes care of the dirty dishes part. I want their dirty clothes out of there every evening. When you take a shower you pick up the dirty clothes you took off and put in the laundry room. Hang up the wet towels or laundry room too. Otherwise my kids don't have a private bath so I don't have much of a problem with that. I figure if I can't allow a guest or MY MOTHER to use it/sleep there then it isn't clean enough. Weekly.
I always figured as long as there was no food up there and no dirty dishes left up there (except a cup for water in the middle of the night), I was not too concerned with their room. I shut the door. Eventually the mess got too annoying for them and they'd clean it up. My only peeve was if I found stuff in the dirty clothes hamper that was still folded and it was apparent that at some point, it became easier to throw the stuff into the hamper than put it away. That didn't happen all that often though and they both were pretty good at doing their own laundry at least part of the time.
As far as bathrooms...I don't clean teen bathrooms. They do - once a week. If we are having company that would be expected to share their bathroom, I would go in and inspect prior to the guest's arrival....often times my standards and their standards were not exactly the same...
Exactly how we are. The pile of clean clothes bugs me more than it bugs my son. This morning I did finally tell him that after he mowed the lawn he HAD to put those clothes away. The pile was getting too high. He does put his dirty clothes in the basket and will occasionally do laundry and will even go into our room and get some of ours to make a full load (which I cringe at sometimes because of what he's put in there but he's at least trying).
I had random car parts stacked on my dresser, a few saddles and bridles and random horse/goat/steer/pig/livestock supplies strewn about...but you would NEVER EVER catch even a dirty sock on my floor.
I have a cleaning lady and their rooms have to be picked up enough so that she can clean their rooms. Otherwise I tell them that they can clean them themselves. The cleaning lady does not get paid to pick up after them. She is there to do the heavy cleaning not pick up their dirty clothes.
I have to say my teens are not really slobs. They may have some dirty clothes on the floor for a day but eventually they put them in the hamper. They change their own towels and put the dirty ones in the hamper. They do not eat in their bedrooms so we don't have dirty dishes in the bedrooms. Sometimes I find an empty water bottle that they have carried in from practice. They will usually bring them down, if asked.
I use their bathrooms on occasion. They are clean enough. No toothpaste all over the place. No moldy towels (they are very clean about their bodies). They don't make their beds, but if we are having company they will.
I have to say my kids have got to be the easiest teens in North America. They get good grades. I rarely fight with them. They still speak civilly to my husband and I. They are not overly sloppy. They are my friends on Facebook. They do things with the family without complaint. I am afraid that they are going to change into miserable teens but so far they are really good boys.
My mom stopped trying.
As long as I keep dishes come down from my room she doesn't make too much of a fuss.
It's not too bad right now except all the clothes all over...
Other than that she isn't really allowed in here.
My door stays shut and she'll come into talk for a few minutes but usually the only person in here is me.
My two grown daughters were raised in a tiny 3 bedroom 1 bath house...with 6 of us the last 3 years before we moved to a larger house. They had no choice but to keep their rooms picked up because they had to share with younger siblings. Plus since we had only one bathroom there was no way it could be left messy.
The rule has always been no food in the bedrooms, so there's never been an issue of food or dishes in the room. Drinks were usually ok, but they had to be taken care of before bed.
I've never made it an issue to make beds, even mine, unless we are having company.
Clothes have always been expected to be put away as soon as they are in the room, plain and simple. If they weren't home when the laundry got done, they had to put away their clothes as soon as they got home.
We also don't keep doors closed as a general rule, so the likely hood of me closing it off to hide their unclean rooms would have been next to nil anyway.
I guess I just insisted their rooms always be kept to a minimum of mess and that continued on into the teen years and beyond.
I do have only one boy, who is only 7 at the moment, and he has to keep his room up just like the girls, but I guess we'll see what challenges he presents at that time. lol
My only rules are: 1) no food or dishes in the room; 2) hang up wet towels. That's it. I don't care about anything else.
On their own motivation, they do a pretty good job.
They don't make their beds unless friends are coming over, but there isn't ever trash laying around and clothing isn't ever laying openly on the floor.
The dirty clothes aren't in a hamper, but there seems to be a designated pile in the corner of the closet. LOL
Bathrooms have never been a problem. They have NEVER left clothing in the bathroom.
Even though I don't have many rules, I think the main reason they are relatively organized is because they entertain their friends in their bedrooms.
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