For the past few years, Alex and Emma were sharing a room. We thought that putting Alex in with Emma was the best option since, at the time, both he and Hannah had a hard time going to sleep at bedtime. There was way too much playing and jumping on beds and it just wasn’t worth the nightly battles.
The problem with the sharing of the room though is that both kids were very messy. It was rare that the carpet could be seen thanks to all of the toys, laundry, etc. on the floor. Despite our repeated attempts to get the kids to keep their room clean, it was always a mess. Even when the floor was clean, it was still a mess thanks to a lot of clutter on the shelves. Holly and I both hated it but figured that once Emma moved downstairs things would probably get better since things wouldn’t be so crowded.
Shortly after moving Emma into her new bedroom, Holly and Alex decided to start cleaning his bedroom. After rearranging some furniture, putting things in shelves and drawers, and cleaning out the closet, Alex’s room was spotless. He was so pleased with himself for getting things so clean that he insisted that I see it as soon as I arrived home from work that day.
Holly and Hannah also spent a few hours cleaning Hannah’s bedroom that day too. Like Alex’s, it was amazingly spotless when I came home. Normally, it is the most messy room in the house. Between toys, books, laundry, both dirty and clean, shoes, and whatever else Hannah can manage to fit on her floor, her bedroom is definitely not conducive to neat freaks.
Ever since that day, Alex has managed to keep his room very clean. If he gets out toys, he puts them away when he’s done playing. If Hannah gets out his toys, he yells at her about making messes in his room and then puts them away. He won’t even sleep under his covers for fear of messing up his bed. Every time he sees somebody that he knows, or if anybody comes over to the house, he tells them that they need to see his room. He is so proud of his cleanliness. It’s really quite funny but it’s also very cool.
Hannah, on the other hand, has to be one of the most messy children I’ve every seen in my life. Either that or I just don’t get out enough. Hardly a day goes by that Holly or I don’t get after her for having a messy room and hardly a day goes by that it’s not messy within minutes of having it clean.
It’s fascinating to me to see how different these two children are: Alex has turned into a neat freak while Hannah has become the anti-clean. I’m hoping that she’ll grow out of it soon because the daily battles to get her to clean her room are starting to get old. In the meantime though, not having to worry about Alex keeping his room clean will have to be enough.
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Alex, I am so proud of you for keeping your room clean. Let’s hope the girls can learn from you.