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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

Original poster

When do they take over the cleaning.

21 replies

Springermum1350 · 08/07/2016 22:13

Just need some input as to when you get your children to polish and Hoover their own bedrooms.

My son is 12. I make him tidy his room but at the moment I clean and Hoover it.

I am not a fussy house proud person so that is not an issue for me.
At what point did you hand their room over to them?

OP posts:
UnicornMadeOfPinkGlitter · 08/07/2016 22:15

Never if you want it clean and tidy. They tidy to a point but I still have to go in and finish the job properly. Mine are 19, 14 and 10.

I'm now waiting for all the other mums to tell me what a bad mum I am and theirs have been keeping rooms immaculate since the age of 6 months old. Wink

BackforGood · 08/07/2016 22:18

After they've been living on their own for a while and been responsible for their own homes

Peebles1 · 09/07/2016 07:27

Never voluntarily! But yeah, at that age I got them to do it. As PP said, it won't be to your standard so every now and then I'd blitz it.

Sofabitch · 09/07/2016 07:30

Mine at 14 and 15 and ive given up even entering its vile.

About once a year i go in and do it.

Chasingsquirrels · 09/07/2016 07:34

Mine are 10 and 13 and I've been getting them to do it this year.
Tidy, vacuum and wipe down surfaces every couple of weeks.
They also have to vacuum the rest of the house - one does upstairs, the other downstairs.
My standards aren't massively high, they probably don't do it as well as I would, but if I font have to do it that's fine!

ApostrophesMatter · 09/07/2016 07:46

Mine took over when they were 12. They weren't allowed friends in their rooms if they weren't cleanish and tidyish. Seemed to work.

Savagebeauty · 09/07/2016 07:48

When did went to university she came back Little Miss Neat.

Thomasisintraining · 09/07/2016 07:53

Dd1 is 11 and she has just started doing this, dd2 is 7 and she tidies her room to perfection every morning but no hoovering and polishing. Ds has ASD so independent tasks are beyond him at the moment but I am building up to him doing some of the tasks so he will be able to do it too, he is 4.5.

Lolimax · 09/07/2016 07:57

18 and I'm still waiting. I think the trick is to get them to move out. DD 19 has (student nurse) and her little house (unlike her bedroom at home when she lived here) is immaculate.

PeaceNotPieces · 09/07/2016 08:07

I change the bed sheets and dust. Clean the windows and put the washing away.

DC hoovers, tidies, takes any dishes downstairs and puts washing in the wash basket. DC is 9. But, I have to say, he hates hoovering and he likes everything tidy so I'm lucky atm. Can't imagine him staying that way

GoblinLittleOwl · 09/07/2016 08:21

When they have left home and live elsewhere. My grown-up daughter cleans the kitchen when she arrives for Sunday lunch and usually takes over the cooking as well. It's lovely!

LynetteScavo · 09/07/2016 08:31

My 13yo has started cleaning his room and making his bed every morning. He even hoovers the stairs up to his bedroom every Saturday morning. His older brother tells me it's because of some vlogger.

I need to find out more. It's a bit weird.

Liz09 · 09/07/2016 08:38

I've always been more obsessively clean and tidy than my own mother, but I'll admit that I was a weird kid. I would say I really started cleaning on my own at about the age of 14... That is, doing your own washing, keeping your bathroom (if they have one of their own) clean, keeping your room clean (this was never much of a problem for me because I spent almost no time in my bedroom), vacuuming the house when you can see it needs doing (every second day at least), cleaning up after yourself in the kitchen etc. Nothing too strenuous.

My mum's philosophy was that I could allow my room and bathroom to be as awful as I liked, as long as the doors were kept shut and she couldn't see it. But the rest of the house, as it was shared, had to be acceptable. I did go through a bit of a feral phase, probably at around the age of 14-16, and my room was a bomb site, but I grew out of that by my last couple of years in school as I very quickly realised that a tidy life = a tidy mind. Grin

OhTheRoses · 09/07/2016 08:38

When you see pink pigs flying past your house.

Dutchcourage · 09/07/2016 08:40

When do they take over the cleaning

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NapQueen · 09/07/2016 08:44

Gosh I don't even own polish!

I'd expect to be able to run the vacuum over once a week so a clear floor for that. They can do their own beds once a fortnight. I'd want them to open their windows every morning (to let the fart stench out).

insancerre · 09/07/2016 08:44

When they need money

Notwhatiexpected · 09/07/2016 08:48

Who is this vlogger who gets kids to want to clean?!?! This is need to know information. My DS is obsessed with Dan TDM, this could work for me.

ellaballoo · 09/07/2016 09:10

I want to know who the vlogger is too . Looking for a miracle.

Original poster
Springermum1350 · 09/07/2016 09:47

I knew I would get such a mixed response. But Dutchcourage ur response was best. When do they start thinking their rooms are private and don't want u in their cleaning as its 'private '

OP posts:
littlemissneela · 09/07/2016 09:47

My DS is 17 and his room in the past 6 months has gone from a pit of hell to being cleaned once a week! The reason? He has a girl, who is just a friend, who comes over after school.
My YD is 16 and her room has gone from knee deep in stuff to being able to walk across it to open the blinds without fear of breaking ones neck.

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