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When you send a capable child to clean the bathroom do you get more upset over


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The toilet brush in the sink would be what tipped me over the edge. :ack2:

This exactly. If my child was over the age of 10ish, I would say "look, obviously, we need to practice this." And that child would clean the bathroom a LOT of times with me right.there.beside.them.

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What is it with kids and bathrooms? 

 

Me: Go clean the bathroom, please. 

Teen: goes to clean bathroom

Me: You need to clean the toilet, too. That's part of the bathroom. 

Teen: Goes to clean bathroom.

Me: No, not just the top of it, the rim, the bowl, etc

Teen: goes to clean bathroom

Me: No, you have to get a toilet brush, and scrub the inside. And wipe UNDER the lid. 

Teen: Why are you yelling at me??

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What is it with kids and bathrooms? 

 

Me: Go clean the bathroom, please. 

Teen: goes to clean bathroom

Me: You need to clean the toilet, too. That's part of the bathroom. 

Teen: Goes to clean bathroom.

Me: No, not just the top of it, the rim, the bowl, etc

Teen: goes to clean bathroom

Me: No, you have to get a toilet brush, and scrub the inside. And wipe UNDER the lid. 

Teen: Why are you yelling at me??

 

YES!!

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When ds was young, he cleaned the bathroom to surprise me. He used a whole roll of paper towels and half of the Windex. But he was so proud of himself, his expression was priceless. I quickly (in my head) figured, well, about $2 for the paper towels and about $1 for the windex, so.... $3 to get my bathroom cleaned by my loving son. I was good and of course got excited and thanked him.

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Well, I just hired a cleaning lady who came for the first time last week and a sizeable hair ball was left on the inside edge of the bathtub (I'm almost positive I had cleaned out tub trap of hair before she came, because I think it would have been disrespectful not to---at the least there would not have been that much there), stray hairs on the shower tile so high where they've never been before and soft scrub that had to be rinsed off the tub sides before anyone could have taken a bath. All for $40/hr.

 

So, anything a child could give me for free would be impressive. The toilet brush in the sink is a little yucky, though.

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Well, I just hired a cleaning lady who came for the first time last week and a sizeable hair ball was left on the inside edge of the bathtub (I'm almost positive I had cleaned out tub trap of hair before she came, because I think it would have been disrespectful not to---at the least there would not have been that much there), stray hairs on the shower tile so high where they've never been before and soft scrub that had to be rinsed off the tub sides before anyone could have taken a bath. All for $40/hr.

Did you fire her?

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On a bad day, I would throw an adult tantrum when I saw the toilet brush in the sink. (We've never had that pleasure. The worst thing we used to get when they were younger was various inappropriate items in the toilet bowl.)

 

On a better day, I would calmly conclude that this child requires more practice at bathroom cleaning. Starting immediately. Scrub and disinfect the whole room beginning with the sink. I have also been known to almost irritate the kids to death by asking them to recite back to me all the steps required for completing a particular chore. 

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Eh, the half container of cleaning wipes used….

 

I've started handing them out, instead of leaving them in the kids' bathroom.  I'd go broke with cleaning wipes.  Sometimes I wish I had never introduced them, and just had them do it the old fashioned way, with a rag.  But now that grosses them out.

 

Oh, they do use a brush for inside the toilet -- wipes are just for cleaning the other parts of the toilet, or the sink and counter, etc.

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What is it with kids and bathrooms? 

 

Me: Go clean the bathroom, please. 

Teen: goes to clean bathroom

Me: You need to clean the toilet, too. That's part of the bathroom. 

Teen: Goes to clean bathroom.

Me: No, not just the top of it, the rim, the bowl, etc

Teen: goes to clean bathroom

Me: No, you have to get a toilet brush, and scrub the inside. And wipe UNDER the lid. 

Teen: Why are you yelling at me??

 

Getting the teen to clean the boys' bath is torturous for us, the parents.  Sometimes it ends up being a day-long task, with DH and I tag-teaming the follow up.  Maybe, maybe, he's getting a little bit better.  But I'm not certain… 

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Getting the teen to clean the boys' bath is torturous for us, the parents.  Sometimes it ends up being a day-long task, with DH and I tag-teaming the follow up.  Maybe, maybe, he's getting a little bit better.  But I'm not certain… 

 

I have an evil idea.  Oh, darn.  I thought at first read you had more than one boy, but it looks like only one.  For those with more than one child of bathroom capable age, my evil idea was to tell the kids that they will take turns cleaning the bathroom and that the not-cleaning-that-week kid is the supervisor.  The cleaning kid has to clean until the supervising kid says it is clean enough.  When the supervisor kid thinks that the bathroom is cleaned to parental standards, the supervisor kid reports that to a parent.  The parent then inspects.  (This is the evil part)  Any deficiencies found have to be cleaned by the supervising child.   Next time they switch roles.  

 

Then maybe be a kind parent and supply the NASA checklist.  

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I have an evil idea.  Oh, darn.  I thought at first read you had more than one boy, but it looks like only one.  For those with more than one child of bathroom capable age, my evil idea was to tell the kids that they will take turns cleaning the bathroom and that the not-cleaning-that-week kid is the supervisor.  The cleaning kid has to clean until the supervising kid says it is clean enough.  When the supervisor kid thinks that the bathroom is cleaned to parental standards, the supervisor kid reports that to a parent.  The parent then inspects.  (This is the evil part)  Any deficiencies found have to be cleaned by the supervising child.   Next time they switch roles.  

 

Then maybe be a kind parent and supply the NASA checklist.  

 

Tried that.  Problem is, one child is neat, one is sloppy.  So it becomes the age-old hypercriticism of the neat child against the messy.  But I made need to try a variation of that again-----

 

I do often have my neat child report back to me if messy child has not completed certain tasks (get your dirty clothes off floor, clean up this pile of papers, and put those books away.  Child #2, please come tell me if it isn't done in 5 minutes).  Because I get really tired of checking, checking, checking, and neat child likes to "police" his brother.

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Tried that. Problem is, one child is neat, one is sloppy. So it becomes the age-old hypercriticism of the neat child against the messy. But I made need to try a variation of that again-----

 

I do often have my neat child report back to me if messy child has not completed certain tasks (get your dirty clothes off floor, clean up this pile of papers, and put those books away. Child #2, please come tell me if it isn't done in 5 minutes). Because I get really tired of checking, checking, checking, and neat child likes to "police" his brother.

Oh my gosh! You have met my two boys! They are like The Odd Couple. And there is a lot of policing being done by neat child.
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I have an evil idea. Oh, darn. I thought at first read you had more than one boy, but it looks like only one. For those with more than one child of bathroom capable age, my evil idea was to tell the kids that they will take turns cleaning the bathroom and that the not-cleaning-that-week kid is the supervisor. The cleaning kid has to clean until the supervising kid says it is clean enough. When the supervisor kid thinks that the bathroom is cleaned to parental standards, the supervisor kid reports that to a parent. The parent then inspects. (This is the evil part) Any deficiencies found have to be cleaned by the supervising child. Next time they switch roles.

 

Then maybe be a kind parent and supply the NASA checklist.

What evil genius!!!

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