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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to give away "his" bedroom?

63 replies

waffilyversati1e · 22/04/2015 14:11

We are having an extension put on our house giving us another bedroom. We have a 9yr old girl, a 14yr old boy and a baby. Daughter is in a double room so shes staying put but the plan was to move my teenager out of the boxroom and into the new large bedroom. I have spent weeks telling him to clean his room ready to pack his things to move to his new room when its ready (this week) and have just been in there to see that not only is it not tidy it is GROSS. stuff everywhere, can barely see the floor (again) and it stinks of manky boy smell. socks? sandwiches? who knows..

AIBU to just put the baby in the lovely new room and leave my ungrateful teenager where he is?

OP posts:

SuburbanRhonda · 22/04/2015 17:58

You sound like you don't like him very much, the way you go on about "the smell" and how ungrateful he is. He's 14, fgs. Of course he doesn't care about "stuff".

Original poster

waffilyversati1e · 22/04/2015 18:02

oh fgs of course I like him. I don't like his aversion to deodorant but please don't make me out to be some sort of bully.

Tissues. Oh dear god.

OP posts:

hoobypickypicky · 22/04/2015 18:05

I wouldn't bother saying another word to him about it. He had the opportunity, he's done nothing about it so I'd just put the baby in the new room without further discussion.

Blondeshavemorefun · 22/04/2015 18:25

Crusty socks or even worse if soggy socks

Mrsstarlord · 22/04/2015 18:42

Curtains

DH says w*ing sock - the hardest substance known to man.

Sorry for putting these thoughts in your head op

Pyjamaramadrama · 22/04/2015 18:54

I just don't get how giving the baby the room is some kind of justification for his messy room. When the baby will be just the same soon. The room should be given on need surely, I'd probably give priority to a teenager as they're likely to want a double bed, friends in their room and generally spend more time in there.

Hands up here who's kids keep their rooms tidy?

Ds is 6 and his gets terrible, I really want to get him into the habit of tidying it, I've just had him in there with a list of specific things he had to do, make bed, pick up clothes, take out toys shoved under drawers etc, it was more hard work getting him to do it than doing it myself.

Bit mean to suggest the op doesn't like her son, I know exactly what teenage boy room smell she's on about.

Model5 · 22/04/2015 19:02

TBH, I'd put off packing up and cleaning my bedroom for as long as I could get away with it too and mine is relatively clean and uncluttered.

It's a big daunting job. He's 14 with all that entails. I think you need to help him, or at least break it down for him and say pack you books up tonight, clear out under the bed tomorrow etc.

corgiology · 22/04/2015 19:16

Putting baby in there is one way to cause sibling rivalry!

Casimir · 22/04/2015 19:22

Agreed Squinkies, in logistics this is called double handling. Serious resource waste. Packing is unnecessary, he just moves.

Redglitter · 22/04/2015 19:27

I remember how horrendous the task of clearing out my fitted wardrobe/dumping ground was at that age. The thought of moving everything to another room would have been a nightmare.

Does he definitely want to move rooms maybe he's happy where he is - mess and all.

Could you maybe suggest a few areas for him to tackle then help him with the rest.

alternatively give him an ultimatum. Clear up by x day or the baby gets the new room

AmyElliotDunne · 22/04/2015 19:46

I'd say that younger ones need more space generally. My 3 have rotated in the small room over the years depending on who has the most stuff to accommodate.

DD (the youngest) is terribly messy and can't cope with the biggest room as she just lets it get out of hand, but my eldest who is 15, got the smallest room when he emptied out all his toy drawers as he just didn't need the storage space any more.

Once they get rid of toys and everything is done on x-box/laptop/phone, they only really need a bed/wardrobe and a desk if there isn't a quiet area elsewhere for homework.

Little ones have all that massive plastic tat and spend way more time actually sprawled out on the floor in their room, so I tend to let that govern who has which room.

SpinDoctorOfAethelred · 22/04/2015 19:51

Small spaces are harder to keep tidy and become overwhelmingly untidy.

The tissues are probably not what you're thinking. He flushes those ones. I got through a hell of a lot of tissues as a 14 year old girl! Hayfever, colds, sniffles, drying my sweaty hands when my grip on the game controller slipped...

SuburbanRhonda · 22/04/2015 19:56

It probably was a bit mean, pyjama, but it was how it sounded to me.

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