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...

for my not-so-american friends

i didn't have an actual roll w/ the green plaid on it, but i found a refill and an empty roll in my junk drawer (yeah, i know, that should tell me something).  but even the empty one says 'scotch' on it.  there you go!  SCOTCH TAPE!
8 comments
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 »

does home ec even exist anymore?

my last post got me thinking about how i somehow missed 'learning' all of those things which are essential in running a successful home. i'm wondering who dropped the ball on this (because, i can't possibly take responsibility for my own shortcomings here). i guess traditionally, one learns these things from their parents. i suppose i did learn a lot of my domestic skills at home. for example, the husband is supposed to eat the leftovers in the fridge. when making a bed, the 'top' of the top sheet goes down so that when you fold the edge over the blanket, the 'top' side is then up. why this matters when you are just going to cover the whole thing with a pillow and comforter is totally beyond me. but that's how you do it. so yes, my mother taught me how to iron, do laundry, clean a toilet, etc. my dad taught me how to plant a garden, mow a lawn, appreciate baseball, etc. and then there's home ec. do people still take home ec? i took it
4 comments
read more »

junk drawer challenge 2008!

if you're anything like me, you have one of these: yeah, that WAS my junk drawer.  it's ridiculous.  it was getting to the point where you couldn't even close it.  instead of the "junk drawer" i think it should really be called the "don't know what to do with it or too lazy to put it where it really goes drawer".  so i decided to document exactly how ridiculous it really was. this is all the stuff laid out on the kitchen counter: so what is all this stuff?     here we have a dozen or so rubber bands and used twisty ties, a stamp pad from a hand/foot print kit we got when micah was born, 4 used birthday candles, and a pack of spare buttons from some pants.   a bunch of batteries and a bunch of cord-type things. instruction booklets and a bunch of writing utensils... although upon closer examination, the red one in the middle is actually a tinker toy! a bunch of the little packages of 'hardware' that comes with stuff - notice th
2 comments
read more »

project life 2014 week 3

monday: every time I get out of the shower, this cat is waiting for me, so he can get in and lick up the water off the floor of the shower. it’s his favorite way to get a drink. cats are weird. tuesday: this cracked me up. had micah at the grocery store with me and he spots the produce scale. so of course, he wanted to weigh something. he went for his little donkey kong lego toy that he had with him. tuesday: this is my parents’ cat, beatrice. she is small and feisty, and has the prettiest eyes ever. she’s not so fond of it when I come over to make up beds, and usually finds herself made into one because she refuses to move. wednesday: layla has been very interested in all things domestic lately, and really wants to learn how to cook. so I told her she could start helping me make dinner. this night, it was homemade, cheesy mac & cheese with ham and peas & carrots. she did almost all of it herself. from boiling the noodles, to cutting the cheese (yes, I did just say that), mi
Post a Comment
read more »