Do you expect your child/children to keep a clean room?

[my3peanuts]

My girls(5 & 7) share a room and neither of them would ever clean it if I didn't ask them to. So, do you expect your children to keep their rooms clean or do you figure it's their space and they can do what they want with it?

[lovesdaffodils]

I expect a clean room. DS has to pick up his room every night before bed.

[SoulCakes]

My daughter's five, and no, I don't expect her to clean it without me asking. I DO, however, expect her to help me tidy her room. Usually it's fairly clean anyway because she just isn't that messy of a kid (or rather, she keeps the mess to the living room!), but on some days she just empties her closet and it's too overwhelming for her to put it all back alone. So I do help her, but she has to work, too.

[omelette]

My son is 4 and I don't expect him to take the initiative to clean his room. He doesn't play in there much but his books are always all over the floor.

I've just started something new - I set the timer for 5 minutes and that is his time to clean the room and then when the timer dings I'll come and help clean up the rest. So far it's working, the other day he came out and asked me to set the timer again for 6 minutes.

[One_Girl]

Originally Posted by lovesdaffodils

I expect a clean room. DS has to pick up his room every night before bed.

This is what I expect my dd to do also. I help her some days and some days she cleans it up on her own. She needs less reminders and enjoys having a clean living space more the older she gets.

[hillymum]

My 5 yr old hardly plays in his room so it is normally clean anyway, but if it does need cleaning then I help him and give him directions. My 9 yr old suddenly has started keeping his room tidier but his version is to hide trash rather than collect it and dispose of it. Guess he is heading in the right dirrection though. My 10 yr old doesn't do anything unless told and then checked on. I do get frustrated with him about it, but he has quite a few issues we are working on and that is low down on the list of concerns.

[luv-my-boys]

I dont expect my kids to take the initiative on their own to keep their playroom (the only room toys are allowed) clean on its own. I used to clean it up but really they are all at an age where they certainly get the concept of putting things back where they belong plus now that im pg I really dont have the patience or strength to pick up the billionith toy on the floor.

We started doing a general clean up at night before we settle the boys down. I have one child in particular who is a *dumper* meaning he loves to dump out all the toys play for a minute and move on to another bin. This has certainly nipped that in the bud realy quick once he figured that he was the one who was going to have to put it all away and in a sense peer pressure from the kids on each other to put toys back when done has also helped.

[mom2grrls]

I expect them to have the floor and their desk clean daily. On Saturday they do a big clean up in their room and I don't have a problem helping with that b/c they do help me also.

[Llyra]

Mine are still young, and I direct them to clean up their stuff every day after lunch and at bedtime.

My plan for their room as they get older is the same as what my mom expected: that they keep it moderately under control, so that there are no actual health and safety hazards, and that otherwise I'll leave them be.

I may find myself actually having to be a little more strict than my mom was, because they share the room, so there are issues of respect for one's siblings. I had my own room as a kid, so nobody else was really affected by the mess but me. I was allowed to have as much clutter as I wanted, so long as there was no food or anything gross in there, nothing that was genuinely dangerous, and nothing that prevented the door from opening freely (in case of fire.) And I had plenty of clutter.

My mom always told me when she thought it was getting out of control-- like if there was food in there, or something like that-- and then I'd be confined to the room (outside of school or meal times) until I had it clean to a standard she could live with, even if I missed out on some fun activity. I will likely handle it the same way.

What I won't do is clean it for them. While they're little, I do the actual CLEANING like vacuuming etc., but once they're older, that will be on them. Even now (they're 3, 3, and 5) cleaning up toys and getting dirty laundry into the hamper is their job, not mine.

[praisehimau]

I expect a clean room. I encourage pickup in the evening before bed and beds made in the morning...
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[mamazee]

I like her room to be clean, as does she, so we came up with an idea together. Every night as part of her bedtime routine, she sets a timer to 10 minutes and tidies up her room. Since she does it every night, it rarely actually takes the whole 10 minutes. But if it does, when the timer goes off, I help her finish up.

[annethcz]

I do expect their rooms to be somewhat clean. My standards aren't terribly high, but I'm not cool with crap all over the floors. I ask them to clean their rooms periodically during the week, and Saturday morning is room cleaning time as well.

[RLWS]

No. I prefer it to be clean, but I don't expect it. My son is 6, and he will play in his room for an hour at a time a few times a day--and he has very elaborate things set up in there. Right now he has a "junk yard" which is a big pile of playmobile stuff, surrounded by the building that he made from lincoln logs. There's also a plane crash site, and a corn harvest/field area. All of these games are ongoing and important to him. I would hate to make him put those toys away when he isn't finished with the game. That said, he is required to put dirty laundry in his hamper, any trash in his trash can, and any dishes or food (rarely happens) to the kitchen. I also like to have the space from the door to his bed clear, so that I can get to him in the night if I need to. But generally I just let him keep it how he wants. A couple of times he has cleaned it up all on his own, as his own idea, and that was really neat.

[my3peanuts]

Oh, I'm not expecting them to take initiative! I know that would never happen! lol

I'm just wondering if most parents require their children to keep their rooms cleaned up!

I've realized I need to be very specific and not expect that "clean up your room" is a clear request.

[sunnysandiegan]

I expect a tidy room. Perfection is not required. My criteria:

~ Bed is straightened up. Pillow in place, sheet and blanket (summer) or comforter (winter) pulled up.

~ Floor is clear.

~ Clothes are either in drawers or the closet, if clean, and in the sorter, if dirty. In-between clothing belongs on her hooks in the closet.

I do the actual cleaning, such as dusting and vacuuming, and she helps and is learning.

[laurata]

I dont mind messy. Its their room. But it has to meet a minimum standard of clean- no food or trash left to rot, laundry taken downstairs routinely, the floor tidy enough that I can come in for goodnight snuggles without injuring myself.

[34me]

I expect to be able to walk in the room to get dirty clothes without killing myself. I expect the dogs to be able to lay down in all rooms. Oh, and I expect it not to smell or grow things.

[ledzepplon]

Originally Posted by lovesdaffodils

I expect a clean room. DS has to pick up his room every night before bed.

Same rules at our house.

[stormborn]

In theory it's her (8.5 y.o.) space to keep as she wants. In reality, I end up getting her to clean it because when it gets messy she can't find anything and tries to drag me into what should be her problem.

[LynnS6]

Right now, our kids' rooms are cleaner than mine .