tasks by nagging or delivering the lecture, “The Seven Reasons Why
It’s Easier on Me for You to Have a Clean Room.” Counting isn’t so
helpful either here, because it doesn’t provide the long-term
motivation needed to complete chores.
Instead, you have several options for your kids who are four, five,
and older. Here are some good ones.
Strategies for Dealing with Messy Bedrooms
Your stomach churns with disgust when you view the destruction and
chaos that is your daughter’s bedroom. Things are thrown all over.
You’ve forgotten what color the carpet was. The cat was last seen in
there three weeks ago. Here a couple of simple routines.
Close the Door and Don’t Look
Having a clean room is not a life-or-death matter. We know of no
research indicating that kids who didn’t keep their rooms neat grow
up to be violent or more likely to divorce. Besides, whose room is it?
You don’t have to live in it, so why not just ask the child to keep the
door closed so you don’t have to deal with the aggravation?
Most parents don’t like this idea, but before you dismiss the close-
the-door-and-don’t-look method, ask yourself one question: Do you
have a child with behavioral or emotional problems, such as ADHD,
learning disability, anxiety, or depression? If you have a handicapped
child or one who’s very difficult to begin with, why add another set of
difficulties to your problems?
Imagine that your daughter hates school, hates homework, has no
friends, feels lousy most of the time, and fights with her brother
constantly. Should you also get after her about the stuff lying around
on her bedroom floor? You need to straighten out your priorities,
because you have bigger fish to fry. Option 1 sure beats yelling and