I’m Raising Messy Marvin

Courtesy of Flickr

Courtesy of Flickr

I make the bed. Even when I am in a hotel. My wife laughs at me.

I grew up in a small house.  Neatness fell through the cracks. I promised myself that my house would be neat.
My wife clears the dishes within five minutes of a meal ending. She can’t sleep knowing there are dishes in the sink.
My wife’s parents were pack rats. She has gone in the opposite direction.
There you have it  – two neat freaks we are. Well, if you want to be technical she is more organized, and I am more neat. There’s a difference. Trust me. Either way, it’s nice to have something you agree on and appreciate in your spouse.
Sure there are many other things we have in common and view similarly. However, this is a big one. I’ve had sloppy roommates in the past. I could not force them to clean and ultimately could not take when the apartment was left messy. The arguments were not pretty.
My wife and I are on the same page in terms of neatness. Cool.
And now that you know the background, maybe you can answer a question I have. How do I deal with my sloppy son?
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8 thoughts on “I’m Raising Messy Marvin

  1. Did you really say that you make your son’s bed? You go in his room and make his bed for him? If I read that right, then dude, you gotta stop that!

    Mr. T has a sloppy room. And, for the most part I allow it – as it is HIS space. He knows that there has to be a path for me to walk and that when I walk in his room and my entire body tenses that it is time to pick it up! It’s mainly dirty clothes… which I don’t get cause the kid has like 3 laundry baskets at his disposal – I’m not sure why dirty clothes end up on the floor… all over the floor… creating a new floor… when his laundry basket is right next to his TV… It’s not hidden, it’s not hard to get to, it’s right there in the open in his room! And it’s an open top!!! All he has to do is lob it and his clothes will fall right in!! 🙂

    Oh, the mysteries of little boys!

    • Listen Ms. I still pick up my teens clothes off the floor – you need to consider your own advice. Stop that!!
      Like you, I am trying to respect his space.
      You are also right – the mysteries of little boys.

      • LOL – touche! I’m actually much, much better about not picking his stuff up, cause I don’t want to be responsible for anything going through the washing machine – if it’s not in his basket, I don’t wash it! (and, I only do his laundry during the school year, he has to do it during the summer!)

        • If I remember correctly, you are also an organized and neat person. It ain’t easy on our types raising these sloppy ones. Well, that should be their biggest issue.

  2. That conversation with your son cracked me up. I’ll tell you how I would approach it – some things are musts, the rest is up to him. I read in my parenting book that one way to ensure that dirty clothes make it into the hamper would be to wash only those that are in the hamper. Then again, I’m sure I would eventually find my breaking point and sneak in to pick up some clothes and maybe even make up the bed 🙂

    • SO glad it made you laugh. I love to make people laugh.
      I’m w/you – pretty much. There are some musts, and I am trying to leave the rest to him.

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