Cleaning with (And Around!) Teenagers

There’s every chance that several health hazards may be lurking in your teenagers bedroom, and

when they’re not keen to let you in, and aren’t motivated to keep their personal space clean and

tidy, it can be hard to know how to tackle the problem. Anyone who understands teenagers will

tell you that learning how to keep themselves and their personal spaces clean, is an important and

basic skill that they’ll definitely need as adults and should begin to learn at the earliest stage

possible. Getting them to do it, though, is a whole different kettle of fish!

Here are a few tips for getting your teenager to clean their room:

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Agree On Some Basic Standards:

Before entering into an argument with your teenager over their messy, dirty room, try to have it

clear in your mind, exactly what it is that you want from them. How clean do you want the room

to be? Do you believe it should be spotless, or would you happy if it at least didn’t look like a

bombsite? Decide if having them vacuum and tidy it once a week is enough, or if you want them

to keep it clean and tidy every day.

A little dust and grime never killed anyone, so you might not need to get so upset if your

teenager has some dusty furniture or a couple of used plates lying around. However, if there is

mold growing or a decidedly unhygienic aroma pervading the room, then this would need to be

addressed more urgently.

Yell at your teen and demand that they spend hours on house cleaning or their room, and you’ll

probably come up against a little resistance. However, by deciding what bothers you the most

about their room, you can give targeted instructions and not overwhelm your teen. Accepting that

your teen doesn’t care as much as you do about cleanliness can be tough, but fighting over it

usually isn’t worth it.

Your teenager may never grow up to be as cleanliness conscious as you, but that isn’t necessarily

a bad thing, it just means that their priorities are different to yours. Try to respect your teenager

for the type of person they are, and don’t push your cleanliness standards onto them; you never

know, this could end up backfiring on you later in life!

Alternatively, if your teenager is driving you crazy with their lack of willingness to keep

their space tidy, or is messing up your entire home, then don’t waste any more time waiting

for them to change, simply call in the house cleaning professionals!