Your Child May Still Be A Mess Maker

Your child may have grown from a little newborn to a sensible student, but chances are likely that he may still be quite messy in his day to day life, especially when it comes to his room. As a parent you wish your child were keeping his room clean and in order. But even after repeated reminders, this is seen as a struggle. Children comply only when it suits them. Parents get into scolding mode, which creates frustration and the whole environment at home gets affected.

What you need to know

One ideal way to deal with the above situation is to keep less stuff in your child's room based on his basic needs, which he can manage. You can make a rule saying," For every new one that goes into the room, something needs to come out. This will ensure new things get their rightful place, old things are given away- thereby your child's room does not get converted into a store room. For instance, if he gets a new toy, an old one has to be passed along. Besides taking care of the room's clutter, this strategy also teaches him to feel good about giving things away. The toy can be donated to an NGO or an orphanage nearby.

What you can do

If the above rule does not fit in your family, every two months you can decide say on a Saturday, when the outgrown, worn out, no more in use, broken items are systematically sorted out and are either given away or thrown out.

As your child gets the sense about why the above exercise is being done, he will be more careful and alert about what things should have a place in his room. Most importantly he will value order, learn to be responsible for his things and not get overwhelmed by his possessions as he is practicing giving away things to the less fortunate.