Today’s guest blogger is a new friend of mine, Denise. She writes at According to Denise, a fantastic blog about life! When you get done reading her post here be sure to head over and check out her blog! You can also find her as @acctodenise on Twitter and show her some “like” love on Facebook. Please welcome my bloggy friend, Denise!
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I am so honored to be here on Adrienne’s blog today. We have gotten to know each other pretty well
working as Community Leads at The SITS Girls. She is a fabulous person and kick booty blogger so when
she asked me to write for her, I couldn’t say yes fast enough!
I decided to write about a very literal mess I am dealing with. My daughter’s room. I get antsy when
there is a lot of clutter around though you wouldn’t necessarily know that by looking at any flat surfaces
in my house. But my daughter raises the stakes like no other.
She will spend hours putting away her clothes and organizing her closet. She’s quite the fashionista so
that is important to her. But when it comes to her toys or books or other non-clothing items, she really
doesn’t care much. She will take out something to play with or read and not put it back. So eventually
every item in her room ends up on the floor. I can’t tell you how often I refuse to go in there because I
fear I will trip and break my neck.
She’s OK with no one coming into her room. She’s OK with a layer of books, toys and junk between her
feet and the floor. I wonder if she will be a hoarder when she grows up.
Here is a photo of her room after she and a friend were done playing. She didn’t see any reason to clean
up after.
Denise, I feel your pain!
On one hand I don’t know that cleaning her room is a battle worth fighting. It is her space and I want
to resist being too controlling. On the other hand, I CAN’T STAND IT! She has toys from when she was
a baby in there (which I guess is mostly my fault for not getting rid of them) so they are just a waste of
space.
I am very curious to hear from other folks what they do when it comes to the cleanliness of their
children’s rooms. What do you do?
Denise is a wife, mom, step-mom, software engineer and sarcastic goofball with her heart on her sleeve.
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Be sure to go show Denise some love at her place!
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Thanks so very much for having me!!
Denise recently posted..Calm My Crazy: Bloggy Friends
Twitter: themommymess
says:
Thank you for coming!!
Adrienne recently posted..It’s Not My Mess: According To Denise
A great way to get a kid to clean their room is tell them you hid $20.00. (LoL) Ok. Seriously, many times I have had to just close the door and pretend it doesn’t exist. Sometimes I leave my kids (teens) little notes like “I miss my family, please reunite us in the recycle bin”, signed “Pop can”, or “Homework paper”. Or, “hey, I can’t see you through the dust”. Signed “Mr. Television screen”. (Got lots of these.) They typically laugh and get the hint.
Those are awesome suggestions!
Denise recently posted..Calm My Crazy: Bloggy Friends
Twitter: fiercedivablog
says:
I am so happy to see you over here! I am just like your daughter. if its important to me or a must do to survive, I tend to it. but everything else around that can easily become a mess. Too easily!
ilene recently posted..Getting to the Bottom of It
Too funny. Maybe you can get her to clean it then
.
Denise recently posted..Calm My Crazy: Bloggy Friends
I totally feel your pain! My kids are complete slobs with my daughter being the worst. I just shut the door and when it gets bad enough, I tell her she isn’t doing anything with friends until it is picked up.
AnnMarie recently posted..5 Things That Make a Great Dad
I think I just need to spend a whole day getting rid of stuff. I don’t think she’ll ever clean it
Denise recently posted..Calm My Crazy: Bloggy Friends
Twitter: copilotmom
says:
I can totally relate to this. My son’s room is becoming quite the disaster. I think it is a case of too many toys in a small space for him. Like you, I think I should clean some toys out, maybe it will be easier for him to maintain.
Kim@Co-Pilot Mom recently posted..Captains’ Quotes – Being Human
Yeah it is sad we still have so much from her baby days.
Denise recently posted..Calm My Crazy: Bloggy Friends
My older kids rooms are disaster zones. I honestly don’t care it’s their space. My rule is that as long as they can find their clothes , books, items when they need them and not hold me up looking for them then it is fine. If they start having to look for stuff they must clean. Works for us =)
amber recently posted..@Purex Plux Oxi SweepStakes Win $1000
There have been a few times where we can’t find something we need in her mess. That’s when I get really ma about it.
Denise recently posted..Calm My Crazy: Bloggy Friends
Twitter: ateachablemom
says:
Ohhhh, Denise. How I relate! I also CAN’T stand the mess! I wrote a guest post on this issue for The Joyful Mother (I called it “A Room of Her Own”) a few months back when I was in a good place about my daughter’s messy, future hoarder-worthy room. I go in and out of accepting it as her space and freaking out about the mess and resorting to control. Ugh. Great topic and post!
Mary @ A Teachable Mom recently posted..Hiding In Plain Sight
Good thing to know I am not alone in my inner conflict
. I go back and forth so much!
Denise recently posted..Calm My Crazy: Bloggy Friends
We have 4 kids and cleaning is not my passion, but training the kids to keep their rooms clean is all a part of parenting. At preschool, my 4-year-old has to put the book back that she took out and was looking at. She knows that and does it without complaining. Why should it be any different in my house?
General rules for kids (including the older ones):
No new game until you pick up and put away the last thing you were playing with
No running off to play with friends until your room is clean
These rules have to be monitored. One of my girls will dump everything in the closet and drawers and pretend that her room is “clean” when that is not the case.
Why don’t parents do anything about it? Because it’s exhausting to monitor the kids on all fronts. But it’s your house and you have to live with it too even if they keep the door shut. Do we want our kids to grow up to be pleasant and responsible adults leading healthy and wholesome lives in their own homes? Yes, we do. But, it takes work.
Tina – American mom raising 4 kids in South Africa
Christina Morley recently posted..Make My Saturday Sweet – Blog Hop #12
Sounds like good tips!
Denise recently posted..Calm My Crazy: Bloggy Friends
Twitter: thedosetweets
says:
I am feeling your pain sister! Both of my girls tend to let their rooms get out of control, and I *try* to encourage them to clean it up, but mostly I wind up doing it when I can’t stand it anymore…much the way I handle the rest of my home, honestly! Great post!
thedoseofreality recently posted..Top 10 Firsts…Just the Way We Remember Them
Twitter: AccidentalDesig
says:
I try to encourage my daughters to notice how much pleasanter it feels to occupy their space when it is clean.
The don’t have a choice about cleaning. It’s my job to make sure they have life skills and cleaning and organizing are life skills. We all live in this house. Not just them. It is considerate of other people to make an effort.
I don’t care if it is a sign of a creative mind. Every great artist starts with a blank canvas from time to time.
Maggie S. recently posted..It’s That Time of Year Again
Twitter: thehilljean
says:
So often I just say “screw it” and go in there and clean it up myself. Sometimes I can get my daughter on a roll and really have her doing all the work, but it takes effort just to get her to do it.
Good luck to you, lady. I laughed out loud when you said she might grow up to be a hoarder! haha!
hilljean recently posted..For First Time Ever This Week