For the love of god…..

[FreewomaninParis]

How do I help my 10yr old with keeping her room tidy? She’ll do it when asked, but obviously doesn’t want to, and she’s also not very efficient at it. She’s been doing it ages and it’s not very tidy. Then she gets grumpy and sad.

I’m torn between just leaving it a mess and doing it myself. My parents left me to live in a squalor until I decided to tidy jt but she also hates her a messy room (i never cared). Any tips?

Get a hanging rail and lots of hangers . She hangs it all up. Only knicks and socks in the drawer

Stacking boxes for toys. No need to sort things, just put them in and close the lid!

She doesn’t have toys anymore really. It’s more ‘bits’ like earrings or lipglosses or teddies or crafty stuff. I just don’t know why it takes her so long! I did her room in 10 mins the other day

My 12 yo is terrible at keeping it tidy, if its too messy. She can manage if its only a little bit to do, but seems to get overwhelmed if it's more than that.

We did a huge sort out and tidy just before redecorating her room. We bought lots of pots and containers to store her bits, so lip glosses in one, nail bits in the other etc. We did it together so she knew and decided what went where. Every few days I prompt her to tidy when I notice it getting to a level that I know she struggles with and she puts stuff away where it lives.

Could that prehaps work for you?

Do with her. Or sit on the bed and chat while she does it so that you DO know why it takes her so long and work from there.

She's obviously having a problem somewhere but it's impossible to help without knowing what exactly the issue is. Does she get distracted? Overwhelmed? Is storage to complicated or not sufficient? Watch and see where she's going wrong.

Does she know what you mean when you say tidy? Could you give her maybe three discrete tasks to complete one at a time?
My mum was always cross about the state of my room but never showed me what she wanted me to do, so she kept returning while I did whatever I assumed she wanted, more exasperated every time. Neither one of us ever learned to be very organised.

I have done it with her many times before - but she does get overwhelmed. Might write her a list