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Community Corner

MOMents

Let the Cleaning Begin

It’s always a pleasure to gaze into my children’s bedrooms. Every piece of clothing is in its place. The bed is always made.

Did I fool anyone?

There must be some bedrooms that look like this, but I have not seen too many in my own house or the many houses I have been in over the years. More often than not, clothes are strewn about, school work is all over the place and worse.

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Who knows what lurks under the beds? And, what’s with the clothing tags, tissues, crumpled up rough drafts and even money on the floor?

So I ask the question, does it matter? For those wanting a firm answer or solution, no need to read on. I don’t have one.

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With February vacation upon us, it is time for what I call the “school vacation” thorough cleaning of the bedrooms and drawers. This is simply one strategy and it usually looks great for a day or so afterwards.

I have friends who do all the work for their children. They go in daily and make the bed, straighten up, dust and vacuum. When they do laundry, they put each item away, neatly in the drawers.

They say this maintains the standard of their household as well as providing an opportunity to snoop. They believe their children will be unable to live in a slovenly room and will eventually do this work themselves. Time will tell.

I know others who go in the opposite direction. They say the bedroom is the child’s domain. The child is responsible for the upkeep and can choose to live as they wish in there, even if the occasional old lunch rots under the bed. If it bothers anyone else, just shut the door.

These are the lucky people because they know where they stand. I probably fall into some category in the middle. I’m a bit wishy-washy on the standard of upkeep. I do not put their laundry away for them or make their beds and the results are mixed. Some days are okay, most days are not.

I fear that if I always clean their rooms, they will not learn responsibility for their own space. But, I also worry that they will acclimate to the mess and learn to live with it.

Without answers, we tend to be school vacation cleaners in our house. So, let the cleaning begin and probably the whining as well. At least we will find all the missing socks. 

 

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