Last weekend I walked into the girls room and had a mental breakdown. There was so much clutter and crap in the room that I could barely find the kids when it was time to kiss them goodnight. Not that they care or anything (about the room, not the kiss), as I'm convinced that they thrive when surrounded by chaos.
Be that as it may, I do not function well amidst chaos, so something had to give. That something was a complete day dedicated to gutting out their bedroom and removing anything that they haven't touched in awhile, which turned out to be most of it.
After a full day of cleaning and organizing, the room started to look like the kind of room I had imagined a child of mine would have when I was daydreaming about this crap during 12th grade algebra. What happened to that sweet, quiet, pig tailed girl who said "yes Mommy" to everything I asked, that I had imagined in my youth?
And what about that boy who should be practicing his Stradivarius and doing his homework without being hounded thirty times a day? Does that kid upstairs who's playing his Fender at ear splitting decibels even know what a Stradivarius is? Don't even get me started on his room. I'd need a hazmat team to tackle that
But I digress, we are talking about the girls currently. After spending an entire day fixing that disaster area, I lectured them on the importance of keeping the room clean, and how much it would mean to Mommy if they could just keep it that way for awhile. They smiled at me sweetly and pinky swore that they would. And I believed them. Sucker.
The picture above is their room this morning, which I didn't know about until after they got on the bus. Either the animals were on a stuffing bender all night long, or the girls are practicing to become teenagers. Either way, I quit.
If your daughter is quietly reading books and doing what she's told, or if your son is happily playing his violin, let me know. I think the hospital screwed things up. Come bring back my kid.
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15 comments:
Amen!
It would be so awesome to tell you that I can't completely relate to practically every single thing you wrote about in this entry. Unfortunately, it also would be a total lie.
You have said exactly what I have been feeling the last couple of days!! My son has his Lego's all over his floor plus more under his bed, how can he put anything together if they are thrown around!! I have given up on my 12 1/2 yr old daughters room, I simply close her door, now my 9 ye old daughter still lets me go clean her room and make her bed but I'm not teaching her anything by doing that, right? UGGHG...
Just last night I told my husband that going in our girls' room gave me hives. #3 couldn't find clean underwear (because she'd stuffed them in the bottom drawer instead of the top) and I had to go in and retrieve them before her bath. Sweet husband couldn't understand why it frustrated me so much. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who cares about a clean bedroom!
I feel your pain...and the comment about your son's room made me choke on my coffee....I am trying to gather the courage I need to enter my son's room.
That was fun to read! By the way, my boys have that same bunkbed in their room, but for now it's my oldest who sleeps either on the top or bottom bunk according to his will. My younger one is still safely in his crib :).
My boys and I read the Berenstein Bear's book "The messy room" and even though we laughed about the story, I still think they don't want me to turn into angry Mama Bear with a big trash bag ready to dump all of their stuff.
They are still little and do listen to me when I ask them to pick up; maybe this will change, but for now, I'll just keep reading that book with them for as long as it works :)
Mine are rollerblading through the house as I type this. Yes, I am about to pull my hair out.
Mine are yelling at their own kids for messy rooms. Serves them right...lol. My daughter swore she had no panties, and I had just done the wash. I finally went to look for them. She had stuffed them all behind the door. ??? Her powder table had crayons in it and the desk had hair things in it. ??? But, she is gone on and pulls her hair out with her daughter. At least I don't step on Barbie shoes and Match Box cars belonging to my son.
I certainly remember those days. Now my kids rooms are clean and empty. Enjoy the chaos while you can. They are gone and married before you can blink.
Don't even get me started about my son's room! I am certain to have a stroke if I walk into it. As for my daughter, she is messy but I think she got my OCD gene. (snicker) She will let a few things go but then I will find her furiously cleaning. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or if she will need therapy later. Her best friend will actually bring over cleaning products so that they can clean her room (YES!!)
This is a battle I will never win in this house! I agree with everything you wrote! With three daughters I think I am screwed. Two fo them share a room, my middle daughter used to freak out with things all over the place, but now she does it too....augh. Up hill battle...with no downside.
Completely agree with your post and the above comments Melanie. I think the best was to cope is to fight the good fight now and enjoy the chaos of their company now because they do move on too soon. Then the Bill Cosby curse takes over; "When you grow up I hope you have kids just like you!"
I would just throw in the towel if I were you. No sense putting off the inevitable. My son is 21 and is messy. I think my 17 yr old daughter is worse. I avoid their rooms like the plague.
Periodically we need to go into each of our kids' rooms with a contractor size trash bag and purge. One per room. Surprisingly, when the kids come back from school they notice that their room is clean and they like that, but they can never seem to identify anything that is missing!
We are motivated to do this when we go in their room and it smells like something died in there. Unfortunately, it's once a quarter!
That's the cleanest "messy room" I've ever seen.
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