We were fighting again (surprise, surprise) and I was telling my son how he needed to quit eating in his room if he was going to let things mold in the bowls–and lose all my good silverware at the same time. The fight wasn’t important, though. What was important was the epiphany I had. Like a lightbulb slammed-on over my head in some cheesey-cartoon-way, I realized Why Your Teen’s Room is a Mess {and Why You Should Care Beyond Just Getting It Clean}. Love these mom-epiphanies. The stuff good blog posts are made of. Heh.
Why Your Teen’s Room is a Mess {and Why You Should Care Beyond Just Getting It Clean}
- Anger. Yep. Some crazy things have been done by teens to “show” their parents that they’re angry. For me, it was getting crappy grades in math. That’s what I used to “show” my parents that I was angry. But, I think my son is choosing to express himself through a filthy room.
- Low Self-Esteem. Seriously, if a person doesn’t feel like they deserve to have a clean house, they won’t. It’s that simple. And so many teens deal with a low self-esteem, as we all know, and I think it translates into their room. Because your stuff is only as valuable to you as you are to yourself. If that makes sense.
- Depressed. I can tell you this from personal experience, too. I went through a period in high school where I was quite depressed. And my room was a wreck. But, when I came out of that funk and wasn’t so depressed–my room was magically cleaner, bit by bit, until it was finally so clean, it was awesome.
- Clueless. Um, this one is what I fear my son will face as he gets older because he’s so resistant to guidance. Maybe your kid just doesn’t know how to clean–like even where to start. It can be hard and daunting and some people don’t just pop-out of the womb knowing how to pick-up. So, unless it’s going to start a 3-day tantrum (like it would in our house), you might try just teaching them by doing the cleaning with them a time or two.
Basically, I feel like the state of a person’s personal space (wow, I’m a nut) is a direct reflection of how they feel and, specifically, how they feel about themselves. So, you need to care about how messy (or just downright disgusting) your teen’s room is getting. Because there might be a deeper issue there. And just yelling at them to get it clean may not work to solve anything in the long-term.
So, what do you think about Why Your Teen’s Room is a Mess? Am I way off base here? I feel like I’ve either nailed this on the head or I’m a nutter. Let me know. It’s simple, just drop a comment below or find me on Facebook. Thanks, my lovelies, for stopping by!