To expect my 5 and 7 years olds to keep their rooms less like a bombsize and more like a regular kids room?

[NAB3lovelychildren]

I have got to the stage of telling them their floors are a hazard if we needed to get out of the house quickly but I wonder if I expect too much from them, (7.10, 5.5 and 3.7)

get the children to do daily '10 minute tidy ups'. Make sure they have a crate they can sling everything in. Set the timer and off you go.

Dearie dearie me.

Regular kid's room = Bombsite

Bombsite = regular kid's room.

I just used to wait till ds was at school at that age, go in with binbags & stick everything except clothes into binbags & then into the cellar. If he hadn't noticed that stuff had gone missing within 2 weeks, it went to the dump.

Otherwise, I left him to it. His space = his problem.

YABU. All kids will have bedrooms like bombsites if left ot heir own devices.

bombsite

Absolutely Mumblechum

"Regular kid's room = Bombsite

Bombsite = regular kid's room."

We seem to be able to throw binbags of stuff away and still end up with the floor covered after 24hrs.

NAB think you are expecting too much from them. Maybe have one day a week where you all tidy the room up thoroughly and then relax for the rest of the week.

Duly noted

I despair it takes me an age to tidy their rooms so they look fab and seconds for them to wreck them.

I accept it is normal for kids of this age but it is becoming a problem as things are getting lost so games can't be played and things are getting broken so rendering the toy unuseable.

I disagree with this 'kids rooms are supposed to be bombsites' idea.

What does that teach children about valuing their toys and taking care of them?

There is no reason why a childs room has to look like its ben burgled, or any reason why even the youngest can't pitch in to help tidy up.

Of course they shouldn't be shrines to tidyness either, there has to be a happy medium.

But I think you are teaching your child good skills to clear up after themselves and take responsibility for putting back whatever they get out.

Nobody is saying that a child's room should look like a bombsite just commenting that despite the best efforts of parents a lot of children's rooms are like bombsites. Unless you have a naturally tidy child (I've had 2, they do exist ).

I would have thought that most parents show their children how to tidy up even if it's by example. And, of course, reminding them to look after their toys if they don't want them to get broken. But accidents and some carelessness is par for the course ime.

yes and no. i think expecting them to do it without a lot of 'encouragement' is unreasonable, but expecting them to do it is not. Just keep chipping away at it. Very very exhausting - just thinking of the number of times you have to din this into children is horrible. But it's worth it - if you just do it for them, they end up like me, a TOTALLY disorganised person, who has to learn it when they have their own children and following a lot of angst at work.

Now my sister was the opposite. Very untidy at home but as soon as she left home became incredibly house-proud.

I also disagree children's room should be bombsites. I haven't touched my dc's rooms today but they are certainly not bombsites.
Firstly, is there too much in their room?
If yes, then get them a small toybox (we just have a cardboard packing crate each) get them to fill it. Everything else box/bag and put in loft/garage. They can alternate between toys.
Have they got a shelf for books/teddies? Will they fit on the windowsill?
Is there a designated place to get undressed and put dirty clothes? (mine o it in the bathroom at showertime and put dirty clothes straight into the laundry basket)
Do they have enough clothes space? (put away summer stuff)
Do a full declutter and clean then every night before dinner/bed give them ten minutes to tidy up, anything on floor goes in bin.
Every day do a general tidy yourself (i.e. make beds, wipe sides, open curtains, empty bin).
I would say not one of your children is too young for this.

I think I need to supervise more. When I try to I end up having to help and then they just disappear and leave me to it....

Get a timer and make it a race! With prizes!

No room for anymore storage and imo there is sufficient. DS2 and DD have very small rooms but we can't do anything about it. I bought this house thinking I was having 1 child.

They know where to put their washing.

I think putting stuff in the roof to alternate is a good idea. DH wants to but I say they can't play with it up there!

Oh, also for the youngest two maybe a sign on the door would help?
We have one that says 'stop! check!'
I drew it, it has question like 'Is the Tv on?' (They are allowed to watch TV on saturday mornings before we get up)
'Are toys in boxes?' 'Are clothes put away?' 'Is bed made?' 'Is rubbish in bin' and (my favourite) 'Are mum and Dad still in bed?'

NAB we also have a problem with space. It does make things more difficult.

In reality NAB, I doubt they play with half of their stuff for longer than a minute or two. If it is alternated it's less likely to mean everything is in a mess and broken, each toy will be played with more (which can also help aid concentration as they'll learn to stick with it rather than just move on) plus books are much more appealing if you don;t have 1001 toys to choose from. It's one of the best things I ever did with mine.

So how shall I choose what to put in the roof and I am sure there are some things even the three year old has grown out of but still seem to be there. Keeper of everything? Me?

Guilty as charged as I have 2 things from my whole childhood.

You don't. You get a small box/tub and you tell them to fill it with their favourite toys.
Explain everything else will be put away and they can change toys ~(if they want to) once a month.
everything that doesn't fit in the box goes away.
You'll probably have a good hour of, 'Oh, I don't want that to go away' and you saying 'Fine but it doesn't fit in the box so you need to swap it with something' but stay strong and focused, but fair and they'll follow suit.

my dd solves the problem of a messy room, she dumps everything on the landing !!!.good storage is a must ,if there is a home for everything it is easier to keep it tidy. Mine have a playroom which does help massively,but that room is a tip most of the time.My ds1 (17) has the biggest tip, but to be fair he does do a blitz every couple of weeks, where I get all my plates and glsses back and he hoovers and changes his bed. I have always cleared up after him, so it must get to a point where they can't stand the mess either!!

I will set the plan in motion when they get back from school.