in expecting my house to stay clean now my kids are older??

[MiserableMotherFlunker]

Youngest of my 3 is 7 (aged up to 12)and my house is a constant mess when they are home. They drop sweet wrappers, lolly sticks, crumbs, banana skins, apple cores all over the place. When we have dinner, the table and uderneath it is covered in food (despite my constant reminders of 'Eat over your plate') as if 20 people have sat there rather than 5. They leave their drink glasses wherever they happen to be when they've finished it. They leave sticky/dirty handprints on the windows and walls. They run out to the garden with no shoes on and carry mud and grass in on their socks and leave unmentionable messes in the loos .

When will I ever be able to houseproud again? I shout tell them until I am blue in the face to clear up after themselves but it does not get through. Now I know there are more important things to get stressed about but I have always been a bit anal about housework - a tidy house = a tidy mind and all that and I don't mind having their junk toys over the house but I cant stand the dirt and after 12 years of it, I am going insane!!

Well if DH is anything to go by, only when they leave home!
He is guilty of the exact same things as your dcs, MMF! The apple cores and glasses left in random places particularly wind me up

CAT64 do you think they'll change then? I must admit I do not have a teenager yet, eldest is 11.

But I think if they start early it may rub off a bit even if they do become lazy slobs as teenagers?

I think ChippinIn is starting off well at least! Even my 3 y.o gets a cloth out if he makes a mess because he sees the others tidying up after themselves.

My 11 y.o vacuumed downstairs this morning, she was v. proud of herself! it makes me happy to see everyone helping out.

Lots of people get depressed in a messy house but you have to be realistic, I had a bad reaction to my mother's obsessive 'show home' tidiness which is why I think it doesn't have to be perfect.

Just as I'm too much of a feminist to think cleaning is always down to the female!

My dh is better at vacuuming and ironing than me and I'm happy to let him get on with it. It's also good for ds to see men in action too.

Recently I have cracked it, just a little but I have been making them help me get the house straight. We all have a job to do so we can get the house ready for doing something nice after. I'm hoping I can get this to carry on as they get older, eldest is 8 at the mo.

We are about to head out to the garden where we are going to move some old fallen down tree's and mend a hole in the fence, then bit of tele, (got a new copy of Charlie and the cohc factory) then lo is wiping round, bo is hoovering and I am putting a roast in and getting the bath.

Life is so much easier when I get some help! and they take pride in the jobs they do. My house is still not something to be houseproud of, but we are all happier! DH works long hours (like I dont with a full time job, 2 dc and 2 dogs!) but does occasionally chip in (normally with a comment like "what have you being doing all day )

Now, how do I stop my ds8 having tanturms and sulks that rival a 2 yr old?

honie - now your last comment - is a different thread altogether, good luck!!

YABVU I'm afraid. Expect large trainers dumped in doorways (smelling unpleasant), messy loos, plates, crisp packets etc etc dumped wherever, (don't even think about going into their bedrooms). And then there are the repercussions from first attempts with alcohol ...
I could go on and on ... but at some point they go off to university (and come home with all their rubbish) and eventually they may leave home for good.

I love this thread!

My four are aged between 15 and 7 and they are so untidy! It's probably my fault I hate asking them to do anything - I don't know why. I also have to do the loo dash when anyone pops in. I've been embarassed too many times when I've discovered what horrors my guests have encountered!

My teens are the worst offenders. I have to retrieve cups, mugs, plates and empty food wrappers from their bedrooms, as well as their dirty washing. When they do put their washing in the washing bin it is usually inside out, or jeans still have belts on, and socks are in sweaty balls of fabric. Niiiice. I also find yoghurt tubes and chocolate bar wrappers posted behind the computer desk where they've hidden them as they don't want me to know they've stuffed their faces before dinner. As for their bathroom..... I honestly have no idea how they make such a mess so quickly! I think I may have to go on strike

One day I might live in organised domestic bliss.

Nah!

madmental, oh yes, i can sympathise with alot of what you said!

They certainly get worse as they get older!!

I used to have those lovely little children, that some mnetters are talking about...the ones putting laundry away, shoes in the cupboard, loading dishwasher etc., But it all changes when they get older. They live different lives timewise, meaning mealtimes are different and they wear more clothes because of nights out/clubbing etc., I have lost count of the amount of handwash dresses my eldest has bought recently that brings a different dimension to the washing!! Although having said that, they are still in the washing basket since Christmas lol!