The Pink Room

I am all about taking advice from other mom's. Even though I have been a mother for 7 years & I have 3 kids, I still don't have this "mommy thing" mastered. Does any mom, really? I learn something new everyday, a new trick, a new way of doing things, a new stress. For advice & incite into how other Mom's do things I like to post on cafemom.com. My most recent post asked for advice on how to get my girls to keep their room clean. Some Moms said I was setting my expectations too high while others offered suggestions that were helpful.

Let me first paint a picture of "the pink room" before I get to the point of this post:

We live in a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home. The girls share the pink bedroom while the other room is used as a play room for all 3 kids, since my son sleeps in mine & my husband's room. You literally can not see the color of the carpet in the girls room. The floor is piled with clothes, shoes, books, toys, paper, blankets, trash.... EVERYTHING! Let's talk about the clothes & trash. Clothes; most of the clothes on the floor are clean because my oldest daughter feels the need to hide her dirty laundry in her dresser instead of taking it to the laundry room. Trash; UGH, first of all I do not allow food in any other place besides the dining room table & kitchen, Second of all how hard is it (even for a 4 & 7 year old) to throw trash in the trash can? It's just as much effort as hiding the trash in corners & behind furniture! I can handle the toys being drug out but the filth just drives me bonkers! Sometimes their room smells! I mean literally, smells!! I can always give in & clean it myself but I think it is important for the kids to have a sense of responsibility not only with their living area, but learning to pick up after themselves. After all, I have enough to clean as it is.

I have put so much effort into organizing and coming up with hair-brained schemes to control the mess. Even tried bribing them, I am not ashamed to admit. Everything I thought of worked for a day or 2 at the most or failed miserably on the first attempt. I had given up to ever finding a solution that worked for my 2 little slobs.

So, back to the advice from other Mom's.. Every mom that responded to my post suggested similar or the same ideas that had already failed me. One Mom even suggested making them keep the door closed; out of sight, out of mind! Ha! Then, this Mom, to which I am so thankful for now, had the perfect solution that worked! It actually worked :). This one particular Mom told me the technique she used for her daughter (when she was younger) And encouraged me to try it out. She said " You never know mama, you just might be surprised." Being as desperate for a solution as I was, what could it hurt to try one more thing, right? Let me just say that if I could meet this Mom I would give her a hug & kiss! She may be the very reason for my regained sanity over the pink room issue. This was her suggestion:

• Divide the room into zones (ie: floor, closet, bed, bookshelf) and assign a zone each day Monday-Friday.
• Set a timer for 15 minutes & for that 15 minutes she had to clean up the zone. When the timer went off, she was finished. Whether it got done or not she didn't have to do anymore.

*She explained to me that doing the zones & timer accomplished several things. She pointed out that this gives the kid/s a direction. Instead of looking around at the mess & wondering where in the world to start, it gives them an area to focus on. I never once thought of this before, but it makes perfect sense! Something else I was overlooking was the fact that no matter what my children did do on their own I never praised them for their efforts. I always looked at what didn't get done.

Armed with this new information, I took action! I made a rule chart & hang it on the closet door. Just to remind my kids of what they shouldn't be doing to make the mess in the first place. Let's be honest, they are kids. It's just their nature to be messy. After the list of rules I made a different chart of the zones, days of the week & what girl cleaned what zone on that day. I carefully sit down my girls & explained to them what I expected them to do & explained my new plan for cleaning their room. The first day was a success. The girls were actually excited about their 'job' & finished their zone, entirely! So far so good! But, would this last or was i destined for another failed plan? I am happy to report that today when my oldest daughter got home from school, she asked me if it was time to do her bedroom chores! I about fell over with shock. This was huge! Monumental! I never dreamed I could get my slobs to clean their mess on their own, much less as for permission to do it. The plan is still in action & still working! Hopefully some other Mom can take this information & it work for them like it did for me. Good Luck!