MaBarks

Motherhood, middle-age and marriage. Insights, stories, tips, and musings on the joys and challenges of motherhood and marriage in middle age. Experience and reflections of a career woman with two teenage kids and a loving husband.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Clean your Room!

OMG! I can't believe it. Yes, I feel like I am constantly barking "clean your room". Actually I changed it to straighten your room or organize your room cause my daughter once gave me the argument that she is really not "cleaning" her room, that would be different like doing the floors or something. I have tried almost every logical and illogical discussion to get her to "straighten her room". So far, nothing has worked really well.

I tried - you will be able to find your things. She is always losing or misplacing things.
I tried - it is respectful. You have to respect your things.
I tried - we all have some responsibility and this is your responsibility.
I tried - bribing.
I came really close with what I call the "You want, I want" mantra. Basically, when she says that she wants something, I say I want something too. You want an iPod, I want you to straighten your room. And so on. It is difficult to argue with this logic but it only works sometimes and her room is still a mess.

She says things like - it's my room and I should be able to have it the way I like it. I like it this way -- all the things that ....gulp...I said too!!

One time, my parents were going out and my dad told me to clean up my room and he expected me to do it by the time he came back. When they came back, I was already sleeping. My dad came into my room and saw that...uh...I hadn't cleaned my room. Well, he lifted me out of the bed and dropped me to the floor and told me to clean my room. I never forgot that but I don't think it really helped to motivate me to clean my room!

It's amazing though how we as parents even in this generation and time still have the same issues with our kids that our parents had with us. Isn't it time we figured this stuff out? What is it with kids of any and every generation with cleaning or, uh, straightening their rooms....

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