My DSS was living in our basement from age 18-22, and just moved out last month. He took what he wanted and left the rest. About 90% of it stayed, so DH and I had the honor and privilege of sorting threw the filth. 
: For the record, DH did most of the cleanup. DH filled the car and went to the dump four times, with huge garbage bags filled with clothes, cans/bottles, broken bits of anything you could imagine, old computes/monitors, stray hardware parts, boxes of papers, books....
I am annoyed about the amount of mess he left behind for us to deal with. But I am SHOCKED about the absolute filth. Beyond nasty, downright unsanitary. Like a lot of moist clothes that had been balled up in various shelves for so many years that it had moulded. Broken glass, decomposed food, spider webs and dead insects everywhere - like even the spider webs were covered in heavy dust, dried turds in 2 areas (like 50 or 100! A rat or mouse?)
OK, I was a teenager once. I was a slob. I am not the neatest person in the world, so I am not phased by clutter, or even a mess. When a room gets dirty or overwhelmingly cluttered, I clean. But this seems really extreme. I wonder how he could have even been comfortable, walking around and living in such filth?
I have a 20mo and a nearly 4 yo and I think "I'm never going to let them get this out of hand." But you know, pre-kids I used to say "My kids are never going to do XYZ" and of course I was talking out of my rear end and had no clue. So maybe I am doing this again? Are teenagers naturally, and normally, this messy? Unrelated to DSS, but two summers ago I went in SIL's teenage daughter's room, and she also had dried food on plates as well as used, open maxi pads, just hanging out on the bookshelf. I was appalled, but now I am thinking this is somehow normal?
: For the record, DH did most of the cleanup. DH filled the car and went to the dump four times, with huge garbage bags filled with clothes, cans/bottles, broken bits of anything you could imagine, old computes/monitors, stray hardware parts, boxes of papers, books....I am annoyed about the amount of mess he left behind for us to deal with. But I am SHOCKED about the absolute filth. Beyond nasty, downright unsanitary. Like a lot of moist clothes that had been balled up in various shelves for so many years that it had moulded. Broken glass, decomposed food, spider webs and dead insects everywhere - like even the spider webs were covered in heavy dust, dried turds in 2 areas (like 50 or 100! A rat or mouse?)
OK, I was a teenager once. I was a slob. I am not the neatest person in the world, so I am not phased by clutter, or even a mess. When a room gets dirty or overwhelmingly cluttered, I clean. But this seems really extreme. I wonder how he could have even been comfortable, walking around and living in such filth?
I have a 20mo and a nearly 4 yo and I think "I'm never going to let them get this out of hand." But you know, pre-kids I used to say "My kids are never going to do XYZ" and of course I was talking out of my rear end and had no clue. So maybe I am doing this again? Are teenagers naturally, and normally, this messy? Unrelated to DSS, but two summers ago I went in SIL's teenage daughter's room, and she also had dried food on plates as well as used, open maxi pads, just hanging out on the bookshelf. I was appalled, but now I am thinking this is somehow normal?
