gutting my sons bedroom in 30 minutes...

[AmIAWeed]

I have been asking my teenage son to change his bed for for too long, this morning I thought enough is enough - I'll do it myself, ok its his room, his privacy but if he can't keep it clean then he looses the right to privacy in his room
Except now, I want to be sick.
I lifted duvet to find a mix of clothes I cleaned this weekend and dirty stuff, I can't tell the difference. I opened his wardrobe, he contents fell out, I look behind the door - there's more clothes
His windows sealed shut, I assume forever as there is an eco system of mould and dust
Mixed into clothes are sweet wrappers
socks - hard socks, lonely socks

I have a conference call in 2 minutes, after that, i'm donning rubber gloves and gutting the entire room before he gets back from school at 6. I am aware as well as encountering all sorts, I'll have a civil war break out when he gets home.
Wish me luck

I don't let ds's get into this state. I regularly tell them no x box and I make them strip bed, get sweet wrappers from down the side of the bed etc. I tell them that this is not ok!!

This has made me chuckle - another option is to put all of his clothes in your room and give him a choice of two to choose from each day, laid out on his bed each morning...mismatched of course!

My godson was like this...until he got a girlfriend

ChishandFips - brilliant idea.
Right now my room is in a state of chaos as after living in our home 18 months were yet to decorate ours and I'm living with stripped wallpaper (from when we started) you know, cos we stupidly focused on giving the kids nice bedrooms/bathroom before anything for us but if the little womble does this again I'd love to bring his clothes out one by one. I'm tempted to issue him socks on a daily basis, check them in and check them out. New, clean socks issued daily only on delivery on the previous day's socks!!!
I really wish he had some mates closer to come round and encourage him to keep his room clean, although it doesn't work with my daughter who is messy but clean. She has friends round every week and they all comment on how messy she is. I couldn't even shame her into tidying it when I uploaded daily photos of her room and tagged her in!!

Op I just wanted to say thankyou for posting this thread - my DS is 17 - his room is like this - l need to do the same but I’m overwhelmed with other stuff currently.

I had been feeling as though I was failing, failing because my DS was not able to keep his room tidy, feeling that maybe I was putting too much shite on him, just failing, failing, failing!

But you have made me realise that maybe this is just normal - yes I would like his room tidy and both I and Dd have helped him blitz in the past but then it becomes messy again. He said he was going to tidy it yesterday, then freely admitted he was procrastinating then went out and left it as it was. In the past I would have got angry but right now I really can’t be bothered with it all - too much other shite going on - but actually does it matter - he is dealing with a level mocks after Xmas - he’s just been applying for uni - maybe none of us can keep on top of everything and if we do we are in danger of burning ourselves out striving for perfection all the time!

He’ ll do it when he’s ready!

If it helps, I was a terribly messy child and teenager who could rarely see the floor or bed in my room and my mum regularly despaired - but as soon as I went to uni and had only a limited amount of space I kept it immaculately tidy and I'm still a neat freak now. So he might improve eventually.

Like MintGreen I was a slob at home and now like to keep a home that's always visitor ready, all can change! And I do still remember mum's tidying lessons too

My DH on the other hand never got taught by his parents so he does try but has never really got the hang of tidying as he goes along... Your DS's future partner will thank you for your efforts to teach him!

Do not beat yourself up Green I have lots of parent friends who do EVERYTHING still for their kids, but they aren't teaching them any life skills.
I went in, I gutted and cleaned BUT he had to sort through all his clothes and look through his stuff and decide what to keep. I simply forced him into action by dumping his stuff on his bed and clothes in the bathroom - which meant he couldn't pee mwhahahaha

I draw the line at mould but I am actually pleased I did it now and before the Christmas tat arrives.

Mint he has a box room - tis not all that big to begin with!!

I have twins, one neat freak and one slob.

Both know how to clean a room etc. The slob is improving slowly. She had to clean her room when a friend from overseas visited. It was too embarrassing even for her.