Skip to main content

how to clean your room

i was discussing this sort of thing w/ my MIL recently and she said there were some books she had when the boys were young that explained things to kids that adults often tell them to do w/out giving them explicit instructions. so i thought about it and decided to write my own.  i mean, really, if i expect shane to clean his room, i ought to tell him HOW i want him to clean it, so he knows what i expect.  so i wrote them out.  keep in mind, these are 9 year old instructions. they would have to be adjusted accordingly.  i actually don’t expect him to do much less than i would expect of myself.  (bummer for him!)

How to clean your room:

  1. strip your bed.
  2. put all dirty clothes in the laundry basket
  3. put all clean clothes in the closet or dresser
  4. put all shoes in the rack on the door.
  5. pick up everything off the floor and put it on your bed to sort.
  6. start by throwing away anything that’s trash.
  7. return anything that doesn’t belong in your room to where it does belong.
  8. put anything remaining on your bed away
  9. dresser: put away or throw away anything that doesn’t belong; run yellow duster over lamp and dresser surface.
  10. desk: put away or throw away anything that doesn’t belong; run yellow duster over surface and computer.
  11. shelves: put away or throw away anything that doesn’t belong, straighten up books/toys.
  12. under your bed: remove anything that doesn’t belong and put/throw it away.
  13. behind your door: put/throw away anything that is there.
  14. closet: make sure all clothes are on hangers and the floor is clean.
  15. pick clean sheets to put on your bed.
  16. empty garbage can
  17. vacuum floor.
  18. return vacuum and duster to their homes.

Comments

  1. twinmommyMay 5, 2009 at 8:14 AM

    I might have to print this off for future reference... somehow I'm pretty sure we'll be having those same conversations here in a few years.

    A great reminder that we need to set clear, explicit expectations for our kids!

    ReplyDelete
  2. RachelMay 5, 2009 at 11:57 AM

    So...I have printed off these directions. Not to give to my son as he has my genes and is a neat/tidy freak...TG! (very proud ;D) BUT for the girls! Thanks Rachel...and good luck with this. I told my David about this and he laughed and said 'good luck with that one...it'll never work'
    We will see huh?!?! SMILES!

    ReplyDelete
  3. BrendaMay 7, 2009 at 7:31 AM

    A couple questions, does he have to remake his bed, because it doesn't say so. And do your duster and vacuum really have a home?

    ReplyDelete
  4. rachelMay 7, 2009 at 7:34 AM

    haha! yes they have a home! the duster lives under the bathroom counter in the 'cleaning supplies bin' and the vacuum must be docked (behind a livingroom chair) so it will charge. that's it's home. ;) no, shane doesn't have to remake his bed. dave is the bed maker in our family. shane's bed is a bunk bed and the way the mattresses fit into the frame it is VERY hard to get the sheets on. i can barely do it... which is how dave wound up w/ the job. it's the bed his dad made for him and his brother when they were kids. i figure he's been making that bed a good share of his life, so he's got lots of experience!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

all comments are moderated. unkind comments will be deleted.

you may like...

christmas eve

christmas eve is probably my favorite church service of the year. our sanctuary is gorgeous with the trees and the poinsettias, with ALL 4 advent candles lit AND the christ candle in the middle… it probably helps that this is the church I grew up in and I remember waiting for all that stuff as the season progressed, and how exciting it always was when it FINALLY got there. And then there is the music. growing up as the kid of the organist, who did christmas eve “right”, I have high standards. we MUST start with “oh come, all ye faithful”, and we MUST end with “joy to the world”. the church is always packed, so the organ is played at full blast, with all the extra bells and whistles. it is unbelievably awesome. deanna, our new organist, does not disappoint. the music is always wonderful. near the end (right before ‘joy to the world’), we always turn the lights down and sing “silent night” by candlelight. I don’t know what it is, but I have NEVER made it through that without tearing up. ...
1 comment
read more »

Piano Concerto #2 In C Minor, Op. 18 - Adagio

I got tagged by Mary so here it is. Let's see what your music has to say about you... Here are the rules: 1. Put your iTunes on shuffle. 2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer 3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS 1) IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY? My Dreydel - Raffi 2) WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY? Slip Away - The Commitments 3) WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL? Sweet Talkin' Woman - Five Iron Frenzy 4) HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY? Nocturne #20 in C sharp minor - Chopin 5) WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE? Haru Ga Kita - Raffi 6) WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO? My Style - Black Eyed Peas 7) WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU? Swinging on a Star - Frank Sinatra 8) WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN? Undignified - David Crowder Band 9) WHAT IS 2+2? Shake My Sillies Out - Raffi 10) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND? Five Little Pumpkins - Raffi 11) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE P...
2 comments
read more »

random diaper musings

do you ever feel at odds with yourself? i constantly feel like i'm a big wad of contradictions. and being the living-in-my-head, overthinking type i can spend years, i mean hours pondering things. it can really get me down. example: diapers. one would think that this was a relatively easy thing to handle. i've got 3 kids. i'm pretty familiar with diapers. it seems so simple; your baby needs a change so you take the old diaper off and put a new one on. done. right? no. i have this constant dilemma going on. cloth or disposable. i have 25 perfectly good fitted cloth diapers that i paid a lot of money for when i decided a couple years ago that i was done filling up landfills. so micah wears them a good share of the time. but it bugs me that they're so bulky, especially with the covers on and clothes fit funny and that totally drives me nuts. so at home, he just wears the diaper w/ no cover and when we leave the house, i put a disposable on him. not usually...
6 comments
read more »

revisiting the 2010 bucket list

a month or so ago, i posted the beginnings of my ‘to-do’ list for 2010. i’m totally stealing this from kate and debbie, but it’s a good idea.  i had a good start of 6 items… but i know there’s way more i want to add to it. spin my own yarn spend more time in nature. read all of jane austen’s books. can my own veggies/fruits acquire a sewing machine re-learn to play the piano exercise regularly (more days of the week than not – really!) finish reading the entire bible make an effort to spend time individually with each of my children mellow out philosophically (if you don’t know what that means, just read a few of my posts and you’ll likely find some crazed post where i’m ranting about my strong disagreement about something generally accepted by the status quo) beat myself up less (again, just read a few posts) take better care of the dog. she’s 13 now and i need to make the most of the years i have left with her. (okay, this one i...
1 comment
read more »

first day of school

so, we started school today. this is a big deal because it is OUR first day of official homeschooling. you know, here. at home. most everyone reading this is already aware of the fact that shane has been homeschooled since first grade, but that he has spent the majority of that ‘school’ time, with my mother as his ‘teacher’. this was a fine arrangement, she was willing and more than qualified, and he was learning. but for a variety of reasons, not the least of which being my mother’s current cancer issues, it had become clear that it was time for me to take over. AND,with layla being 4 now, i really wanted to do a little bit more preschool stuff with her. being a little bit of a chicken flake, i (with much urging from my loving husband) decided the best route to go would be with a packaged curriculum. i figured it would be the most time-effective way to cover what we needed to cover, and be somewhat dummy-proof, but at the same time, having the option to supplement with as much ...
3 comments
read more »