So they have the large Master bedroom and the design motif is that of contemporary American barracks, from what I've seen of barracks. And for the most part it works, they have the Man Cave to overflow into.
The problem for ME is that the room gets teenaged-boy-trashed x 3, and when I ask them to clean "the mess", they can all say, "It's not my mess".
Okay, fine.
I went ahead and took the first step for them. I got all of this stuff off of the communal floor. I've assured them that my days of buying their trash are over.
So it's helped. Now they can better see what needs organizing {sheesh}. Chaco is in there now going at it, Meego and Wolfgang will have their turns. This has me in anticipation mode.
See, a few weeks ago, we were packing up for our road trip. Chaco appeared with a sandwich. He'd found it in his closet.
It was in a container since he'd brought it to school but obviously didn't eat it. At least it wasn't furry and smelly. Rather, it looked fine, but was the consistency of a cinder block - thank you, dry Colorado climate. Note that this was about a month after his school year had ended.
We got back from the road trip and a few days later the fire started. A few days after that, the fire got downright nasty. We each packed a bag and set it by the door just in case we needed to leave in a hurry. Chaco didn't need to pack, though. His road trip bag was still intact since he'd just shoved it to some corner of the barracks. I'll admit that came in handy, but... yeah. Sigh.
Last week, he was going to a LAN party and was packing up a daypack.
Found yet another cinder block sandwich.
You see what I'm up against here?? Note that, not only has he now found 2 long forgotten sandwiches, but no one else had noticed them in the meantime. This occured even though they assure me that they "clean" the room every Sunday. I think they are just making dusting and vacuuming noises, opening and closing a few drawers for effect.
When I was growing up, I had my own bedroom. Yes, it was occassionally trashed and disheveled. I recall one poor plant that died a slow death. Is this slob karma coming back to haunt me?
Anyone else have slob karma?
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14 comments:
Oh it is such a relief to know that other people have kids who do these things. Jake left a container of chocolate milk in his room on a couple of occasions. It wasn't pretty. He does a decent job of making the room appear "cleaned-up." That is, until you look under the bed, dressers or in the closet.
Kacey has the problem of smallest room/most stuff. She was searching for the USB chord for her camera for weeks. She was sure Mark had moved it somewhere while tidying up. (He doesn't care where things go as long as they are out of sight.) In the end, Kacey found the chord in her room, in a little storage box she'd designated for power chords and earbuds and such...
So I guess YES. We DO have slob karma here.
I wasn't the tidiest child either, but surely I wasn't as bad as my kids are. I hold my breath whenever I enter my oldest son's room. Thankfully, once every couple of months he'll do a deep clean and EVERYTHING will come out. My daughter is like Jake. She makes it "look" cleaned up. The other boys... well, they stay in the basement, so outa sight, outa mind. What bothers me the most is that they use the kitchen counter and table as their closet/desk/towel rack. When their rooms start spilling out into the my living space, that's when I get aggravated.
My mom's loving it, I'm sure! :)
I do! Not all people with OCD are neat-freaks--some go in the opposite direction. I go in the opposite direction. This is what happens: I feel that I have to clean every single thing, every single space, everything. I've been this way since I was a child. I cannot clean house (my room as a child), because my thinking is two-valued (all-or-nothing). If I can't clean it completely, I can't clean it at all. I can't start on one room, one space, without feeling that I have to clean everything at once. So, feeling overwhelmed, I don't clean at all. I saw a documentary on OCD once which gave an excellent example of this. In a psychiatric unit of a hospital, there was an OCD patient who couldn't eat his food. The problem was this--when his food was served on a plate (as for everyone else), he couldn't decide which item to eat first. Should he eat the carrots, the beef, the bread, the dessert, or drink the milk first? And since he couldn't decide what to eat first (where to begin), he couldn't eat. That's how I am. I can't decide where to begin, so I end up doing nothing. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is hell.
Ah, another one of the joys of you get with kids. Yes, slob karma does exist down here as well. My son has the same set of gene. No matter how many organizers and stylish containers we provide, his room barely gets really above being declared a disaster area. It improved somewhat when he went off to college and I am curious to see how that will go with his new bride.
That is too funny! We have TONS of containers and bins, and they're labeled even, yet they still can't put things in the right box. It seems so easy.... I'm glad we're not the only ones. :)
I think that the amazing thing is they all three get along sharing a room. Miracle city.
"back home" my daughter had an 11x11 room and a 2 foot wide closet. I took photos of the chaos and clothes...clothes at the bottom of the piles had no chance. AFTER she moved away, I had to shut the door. The chaos was gone and when I finally regained my sanity, I realized that she had no choice, given the hamster sized room and one coat/coat closet.
I also found a plate and a fork under her bed and couldn't get the fork out of whatever the food had once been.
So... you're saying that all the labelling I did while helping was futile?
Yep, that's pretty much why I don't get too picky poo about the state of the room!
OH whew. Good to know since your kids are turning out good despite the neatness "challenges".
Hmmm, maybe that's part of Chaco's thing. Once he got going, he cleaned EVERYTHING. Washed his bedding, washed the walls...
Seriously though, that is some interesting information.
I sometimes charge them a "cleaning lady" fee when they get too much into my space. It works for a couple of days.
So nice to know I'm not alone!
Three teen-bopper slobs at my house, too; although, I am surprised about twice a year when they take pride in their rooms and clean. I will only allow but so much chaos, so it's not as bad as I've seen at the homes of my friends.
Your boys don't seem to be "too" bad. The pile is doable. :) I wonder what would it have been like to have my three girls in the master bedroom? I'll have to boldly ask them... knowing the response I'll get.
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