That Dirty Room

the dirty battle with teens over their rooms...

Why can't they just clean their rooms when we BEG them to? This week there's a new article about 'helping' teens clean their rooms. My teen daughter's room is perpetually a mess. She brings cups and plates up there and leaves them to moldify indefinitely, there are always clothes on the floor, and I am not sure the bed has really ever been made.

Usually, I feel like it is a battle not worth fighting. But sometimes, like when my parents are coming to visit and will be staying in the room next to hers... I just want it to look like a human being lives there. So we go through the routine: ask, beg, demand... and then often, do it myself.

If anyone has any tips or suggestions for making teens clean up their bedrooms without being asked, please start a discussion so we can all learn from your wisdom! In the meantime... thank God for cell phones, ipods, cars and computers or else what would we use to ground them?!