General Chat

i need some ideas of how to get my son to clean up his room without shouting at him(we alway's end up rowing over it )

Wait until he gets a girlfriend. That seems to be the only cure.

Tell him all his christmas prezzies will be going back to Santa if he dont clean his room and make room for all his toys that he has. Father Christmas will be really angry if he dont look after things. How old is he??

he is only 8 i'd be waiting a long time for him to get a girlfriend(or at least i hope)

Bring him into the room ,point to the mess, point to the "bump" -say please? I cant really manage it.. In other words use GUILT. May be sneaky but it does work! Joan xx Not preg. but with a stroppy 14 yr. old.

Get someone you know to phone him pretending to be Father Christmas, my husband does this to our niece when she is being really naughty.

ok i'll try that one not sure it will work tough

just calmly say...next time i see that on the floor its going in the bin.....then do it!! he will soon get the idea! xx

my sons 25 and i still have to shout at him lol my dustbins cleaner and tidier than his bedroom! hubby has even threatened to get the shovel and wheelie bin up there,but still he doesnt listen,lol boys eh? lol susie

I used to do a 'black bag day' not just in my kid's rooms but over the whole house. Given fair warning - everything that wasn't put away tidily and back in it's right place got 'bagged' and nothing came out of it until they had either earned it back or 'bought' it from their pocket money! Gawd I was a wicked mother!! Magsxx

Hi Jo, we've just started a new regime with our two on this, as we (and they) are fed-up with their rooms being an issue. On a school day, when they get home from school, as long as their rooms are reasonably tidy they can watch T.V. until 5 o/c, then they must do their homework. If their rooms are a state, they miss their T.V. 'cos they're tidying their rooms. We just leave it up to them. Not sure what we'll do for the weekends when weather's horrible, but we're trying not to keep on at them. Don't know if it'll work, but heck - we'll try! Good luck, Glenys x (Just read that your son's 8; our two kids are 11 and 14).

What a lot of interesting solutions! I believe my children's bedrooms are theirs - I don't expect the same level of tidiness as the rest of the house which we have to share. BUT I do think that as I vacuum, I shouldn't have to tidy up beforehand. So I tell them and if they don't tidy, I put everything in their wardrobes [quite large] in a heap for them to sort out. With the playroom, when they were younger, I kept lots of stuff bagged up in the garage if they weren't tidy with it. I might get a bag out on a rainy day, but if they hadn't asked for whatever was in it within a few months it went to the charity shop. nell

i wish we had the room for a playroom helen but we dont

A clean room is the least of my worries...I'm trying to get my 14 yr old son to actually like the feeling (and smell!!) of being clean....and to reassure him that NO he won't dissolve in hot soapy water!! Sue xx

I think we must have it easy. My kids would think twice about "rowing " over it. Easy in our house, You do as your asked unless you have a very good reason. Otherwise sit down chat with both parents and withdrawal of TV/Computer etc privaleges. Or not seeing friends, cancel iceskating trip etc. Quick and Very effective.

Joanne, tell him that you are taking lots of photos of his untidy room and posting them to his friends and you will put pictures up in the school letting everyone know how untidy he is, and the Head teacher agreed it would be okay to do so. Or tell him you are inviting all his friends round to see it. Good luck. Mo