I think a lot about my kids and how much or how little they clean. I would love to say that my kids are great at cleaning and keeping things clutter free but that would only be half true. Half of my kids are great at it. They have no problems letting things go. Their bedrooms or homes are kept fairly clean and straightened up. But the other half have, unfortunately, inherited the clutter bug.
One of the older kids in particular has a way of going through the house leaving little messes behind her everywhere she goes. I’m almost positive that she thinks she has cleaning fairies who are constantly there to clean up after her. I’ve told her numerous times that they have quit and are no longer cleaning up after her but she still leaves little messes for them to take care of. She’s not really a kid anymore which is why this is so frustrating.
As you can see in the picture, she left her shoes, a towel, and some cups on the floor but if you tell her that she did, she completely denies it. Trying to get her to clean it up takes much more effort than the two seconds it would take her to clean it up. She left a pair of socks on the bathroom floor. I left them for about 3 days and then guess what… I threw them away. She sees them every time she goes in the bathroom but it never clicks in her head to pick them up. There’s nothing else on the bathroom floor so it’s not like she can’t see them. She needs some sort of organization but she’s not going to find it in my house just yet.
There’s a good story with this one.. A couple months ago, she put some of my stuff on the floor and left it there. I told her to pick it up and she refused. She told me to pick it up because it would only take two minutes. So I said, exactly so pick it up. She still wouldn’t. Then I did what any rational adult who has dealt with this for over 20 years would do, I took all her clothes and threw them on the floor and told her to pick them up. Since she couldn’t possibly clean something up, she moved out instead. 2 months later and now she’s back which is the whole reason I’m cleaning out the storage room 😊
Throwing it away! There’s a good idea!! Of course, the shoes…..
Or pile it all on her bed everyday! That way it will annoy her as much as it did you!! Yup, even the dirty dishes!