All this reminds me of one of the secret reasons we bought a four level "hangs off the side of the mountain" home, when my kids were teens. Nobody has ever admitted to it, but I KNOW part of the appeal was that our kids had an upper level all to themselves, including an open loft area, a shared bathroom, and two bedrooms. I used to tell my kids "I'll be inspecting on Wednesday" (or whatever day was three days from the announcement)and it was always clean when I went up there for inspection. BUT, I also went up there plenty when they weren't aware of it, and oh my gawd, it was a disaster area. I just never allowed my friends to see it, claiming it was the territory of the teens and we had agreed to respect their privacy. I laugh now , because this year my son bought a two-story, where the master and guest rooms are on the main floor, but the kids rooms are upstairs (along with an open family room and individual baths.) I asked him why he bought such a big house and he answered, "Like you don't know!"

Lilac, that seems to be the way it goes. My MIL made her kids pick up after themselves and now they are all slobs!!! My mom used to do all the housework and my bros and I are ALL neat and organized!!! Bizarro world.

I have to laugh at this post because I can't figure it out either.

One of my rules is that I liked the first floor to remain orderly. Their rooms can be a mess, but I wanted the living room, dining room, den, porch (my office), and kitchen to look decent. Every day presents a different definition of decent!

That's what I do, too, Dotsie. The "common areas" (meaning where guests may see!!)need to stay fairly clean and clutter free. The kids' rooms are their territory.
The different definitions of decent depend on who's defining it and how much time we have to deal with it, right?

I raised 3 sons, no girls. They were slobs. Any pity ? But ....my friends with girls say girls may be even worse lol !

My husband is an absolute slob!!! They didn't have a clothes hamper growing up & mine thinks ours is to store things on top of!!!

My old manager was also quite messy!!! We always teased that we were going to call his wife and ask if he's as messy at home!!!

My husband suddenly will need a scrap of paper with the number 2 on it after I throw it out months later!!!!!!!!!

Kay your husband sounds like mine!! He has gotten better over the years (training, ya know!) but the thing with the scrap of paper hit home!! LOL

Slobs...both of my twins now 25 have the most unimaginable living conditions (their rooms)...you need a toxic chemical suit to even enter.
FYI...they were not raised to be the pigs they have grown to be.

They both reside in the basement, so I just shut the downstairs door...and try not to think to hard about it!

Bluebird, exactly!

Yep, I wonder if they would be so sloppy if they had a place of their own...

I often wondered that myself Dotsie. Time will tell.