Ok for those of you who have kids or work witht them I need advice!!!

I am going crazy here.My kids are slobs,whats can I do to show my kids that I am tired of picking up after them and that they should do it all the time themselves.Because like yesterday I spent a lot of time cleaning up my house and them came home after thier after school events and with in a hour my house was trashed yet again with them and thier friends coming in and out all the time grabbing something to eat or drink or just to mess around.So before I could go to bed I had to clean up the house again,I feel like I am just going to explode. I am sick and tired of doing this everyday!Now my son is 13 and my daughter is 8 and they are both capable of doing things for themselves.Now what can I do to make them believe me and show them that I am serious!!!Advice needed please!!! Candi

Start throwing, That is what I do. Take away. I mean truly no friends the next day ect. Start now or you are headed for a world of bigger mess with the 13 year old...Just My Opinnion

I would lay down the law. Do not let them go to extra activities, no friends in the house etc. I have a 5, 13 and 15 yr old and I understand the issue with not picking up after themselves 100%. I have started to actually throw out things in the trash when they don't pick them up. I would also suggest that you leave the dirty clothes lay around and when they run out of clean clothes they might think twice about not putting them where they belong. They are testing you and only you can put your foot down and make the changes. Good luck!

Candi: I have a son (17) and a daughter (15) and I understand completely. I will tell you that when they were younger, around the ages of your children, I stopped yelling a fussing and started a new way of parenting. I would give them a 1 rule a week and then seriously enforce it! Example: "If you two don't pick up your toys and put them away neatly in your room where they belong...I am going to start throwing them away. I meant it...period. So, for that week I said nothing and if toys were not picked up and put away...I threw them away. They would ask where are my toys, and I would simply remind them of my rule and that they were now gone. They learned really quickly (one week at a time) that there were household rules and if they didn't do as told there were consequences. Now they now if I say they better listen and comply...MOST of the time it works but teenager will try you every minute of the day LOL.Basically I believe that what ever method you choose...the single most important thing is BE CONSISTANT!!!! Don't say something and not follow through...if you say it do it. Otherwise they NOT respect you OR your rules. Good Luck

Candi, I had this exact same problem with mine. They are now 11, 13, & 15. This is how I solved it. Every night I would go around with a trash bag. Anything that was left in the living area and not in their bedroom got put into the trash bag. The trash bag was then put into the attic. If it was dirty dishes or stuff - I put that stuff in their bedrooms. Now, any room that is a public area is always clean and I don't have to throw a fit. I didn't not give back anything in the bags until they started catching on and picking up after themselves for a month. I then gave it all back and said if I see anything else left out, it may never be returned. At first they started letting their bedrooms become pigstys and wouldn't do anything about the dirty dishes I put in there. When the dishes started stinking - I grounded them to their rooms until they were clean. I told them you can either be grounded for a day or a year - it's entirely up to you - however long it takes you to clean your room. One of them was grounded from television and friends for over a month. Everytime she asked to do something I told her nope - your still grounded. Now I don't have a bit of problem. I was tired of being the family maid when I'm also the breadwinner of the house! Candy

My daughter is only 6 and will not clean up after herself. Ive tried throwing away things she wont pick up, leaving her room the way she leaves it, just to see if maybe it will get bad enough for her to clean up. Nope. When there is something of hers downstairs I set it on the steps for her to carry up, it sits there for weeks until finally I take it up. Nothing I tried work. If its this way now I can only imagine what its gonna be like when shes a teenager.