How to Live with a Messy Child

1)To get your child to clean their room make a game of it. Time them to see how fast they can put away their books in their bookcase and/or how long it takes to put their dirty clothes in the hamper. If you have more than one child have a timed competition. But make it a win-win situation for both kids, like both get 15 minutes extra on the computer or they can make cookies with you.

2)If you have two kids who share a room and one is driving the other batty with their mess you can divide things in half in the room. Each child can have their own shelf on the bookcase. Their own area in the closet and their own drawers. With the top of a dresser do not divide it in half by using masking tape. My cousin did this with me and it ruined the antique dresser. Use a string or ribbon on top.

3)It is hard to get teenagers to clean their room. If they are basically well behaved and that is their only problem you might not want to make a big issue of it. But this is what you can do: Close the door so you do not have to look at the mess. Then set ground rules like, no food can be left on the floor for the ants to get; glasses or liquids also can not be on the floor in case they to tip over; there needs to have a clear path to the closet, window, dresser, and door; dirty clothes piled on the ground will not cleaned; they need to open the window for fresh air sometimes or they need a plugged in air freshener, especially if they have an animal in the room (Caged animals need to have their cages cleaned once a week. The smell of a stinky cage can drive you out of a room. Also, the smell can drift out in the hallway if there is a crack under the door.)

4)Remember just because your child is messy as a kid or teenager does not mean they will be messy as an adult. I was messy as a kid and I am not anymore. I also had a teenage brother who lived in room that looked like he lived in disaster area, plus, his room smelled to high heaven. In his twenties when he got married his wife would have none of that.