Son is soooo untidy!!

[mycatis]

Please, please help. Does anyone have any ideas as to how I can get my son to keep his room a tidy? He is nine and you cant even see the carpet! I'm gutting it today but I have to do this regularly, it's driving me mad!
It's bad enough that it gets messy but it gets dirty, and smells! Any ideas? Thanks

[loopey]

i so understand my 8 yr old is exactly the same, even his freinds comment on the state of his bedroom, you take your life into your hands when entering.... whereas my 11 yr old makes his bed and is quite tidy, its so frustrating.i've tried not tidying thinking if it got so bad and he ran out of clothes he'd do it but it just doesnt bother him...

[mycatis]

I know what you mean loopey, I tried the "going on strike" approach but I went in this morning and it's vile! He doesn't even have a sheet or duvet cover on his bed!! I keep going in today, nearly crying and coming back out.

[andy hughes]

Tell him he has a week to tidy his room, and after that, everything goes in the bin. On the day after the deadline - when he is out - put every single item in bin bags and hide them somewhere he can't find them. When he returns, advise him that he was warned, and you don;t make idle thtreats - his possessions have gone to the loca tip (explains the absence of said items in your bin).

Let him stew for a few hours, and then return his things - advising that again he has just seven days, and next time, your threat will become a promise.

Either it will work, or you will have a lot less stuff to tidy - result either way!

Does it sound harsh? Home is the place where children learn about the wider word they will live in as adults. Actions have consequences - as do inactions. Time to learn that basic fact.

[mycatis]

I know what you are saying Andy, in fact my mum did this to me when I was little, but she really did throw everything away!! I was gutted! Didn't work though after a while it was just as bad.

[sophieb]

When I was younger my dad asked me to tidy my room for a week then did the black bag trick. Instead of throwing it away though he stood and watched as I trawled through the bags (containing EVERYTHING I owned including clothes)and had to put the stuff away. It took about three hours and after that just the threat of having to do it again made me tidy up!

[blueeyedlass]

have you tidied under his pillow ?????

[mycatis]

PMSL bitch!

[loopey]

what does pmsl mean?

[mycatis]

Er peeing myself laughing, it's ok she deserves it :-)

[Le Chat]

My 9 yr old son is messy too. I have found that the best way for him to tidy his room is for me to stand in the room and give tidying instructions ie, "Those slippers need to go in your wardrobe!" He then does a really good job! Sometimes children can get overwhelmed when taking on a task like this and can't 'get going!' He has now progressed to doing his room on his own, as he has learnt the procedure from my previous instruction sessions. It's worth giving it a go, especially if your son is easily distracted!!

[michellegaz]

if he's got a tv in his room tell him youve had enough and chop the plug off. when he tidys it up he has to keep it tidy for a day until he gets the plug put back on and then threaten him to chop it off again..... I'v been doing it for 1 ear my son;s ten and it works a treat!!!!!

[Hermia]

Just leave it and let him live with it. He'll soon freak out when he realises his friends won't want to come round for fear of catching something. My friend's son is a lazy so-and-so. She put a rota up just to make him do something. He was scheduled to do washing up one day of the week and, of course, he didn't do it. So, she just left it until every piece of crockery/cutlery was used up and there was an enormous pile of washing up. She bought some paper plates for the rest of the family which she hid from her son. A week later he did the washing up when he had nothing to eat his dinner off. It apparantly took him a very long time to get through it all - hee hee!