It’s challenging to organize your house when you have teenagers. Your priorities and theirs are different. You know you have been a good role model, you put your dishes in the dishwasher and empty it when the dishes are clean, your clothes are not lying on your bedroom floor, your bathroom towels are hung on rods or hooks, and your car keys are always in the same place. Why does your teenager not have the same thought process?
One of the most frustrating areas for parents is your teenagers bedroom. Usually you shut the door and do not look inside. At the holiday time you get a call that your relatives are coming for a visit. Oh no! Maybe you need your teenagers room for the bed, or maybe you just want it to look put together during the visit. Either way here are a few tips which may help you and your teen organize their living space.
Dirty clothes
Make sure you have a laundry hamper and trash can in the room. The laundry hamper should have a large opening without a top to encourage your teenager to toss their dirty clothes in it. They make hampers in many colors to match the room. Here is an example:
Clothes on the floor
Goodbye wire and plastic hangers. Replace them with Huggable hangers. Huggable hangers have a velvety finish so clothes do not slide off. This will keep their clothes hanging and not on the bottom of the closet floor.
Wet towels
Hooks are your friend. When kids share a bathroom there is never enough room for wet towels. Try putting a hook behind their bedroom door. Encourage your teenager to hang wet towels on the hooks to dry. Hooks are also great to hang handbags, jewelry, caps, belts, etc…
Papers/Keepsakes
Clear plastic under bed storage bins are great for papers and keepsakes. If your student knows they have a place to put their papers they will not leave them in piles all over the floor. At the end of every school year, they can review and discard what is no longer necessary. Papers that are important to keep can be kept in a remote location to free up the bin for the new school year.
Most important, as hard as it can be try to be patient. Explain your expectations without getting upset. You may suggest putting on music and a timer for 20 minutes once a week.
Music makes everything more fun, even if it is not music you like listening too! If your teenager knows that once the timer goes off they are done, it may make the clean-up easier.
