Whew...I tackled THAT room

Okay, so I swore I wouldn't do it, yet I did, again. I have argued and threatened until I am blue in the face and it does no good. Tonight, I broke down and did it myself... I tackled my son's room.

I know this doesn't sound like much of a feat, but I assure you it is. The process of cleaning up his room usually just comes short of a trip to the hardware store to pick up supplies such as a mask, gloves, extra tough garbage bags and Lysol.

He will be fourteen next month and I swear I think I found birthday cake in there that was left over from his thirteenth party. I have no idea how he prefers to live like that but he does. I didn't even get a thank you.

It all got drudged up tonight when I went in there to put away his laundry. Usually, I just reach inside the door and stick his clean clothes on the edge of his bed and expect him to pick them up. Tonight, I made the mistake of flipping the light on since he was upstairs watching American Idol. (Yes, we put his room in the basement so it is safely tucked away from visitors.) Oh man, was I ticked. See, I had asked him to clean it yesterday, before I agreed to let him go to the varsity basketball game. He assured me he would and for some reason, I believed he did. I mean, my kids have been out of school since lunchtime last Thursday due to snow, until they went back today.

Anyway, I was pretty furious. I stomped upstairs and grabbed a couple of large garbage bags and told myself that I was going to throw everything in the floor away. The problem is, once I started digging in, I found all sorts of stuff that money from mine and my husband's pockets had bought. I would pick up an item and remember how much it costed, felt sick, and then proceed to put it where it went.

I ended up filling one garbage bag and you guessed it- it was all garbage. (I am weak, what can I say?) The most irritating thing about the whole process was my teen son knew I was in his room cleaning and he just kept yelling for me to hold off until American Idol went off and he would help. Get real! Did he really believe I could just forget the scene I witnessed when I opened his door?

Well, it is done so I am exhausted. I threatened him and told him if it ever got to looking like that again, I would take his cell phone, video games and he wouldn't set foot out of the house until it was clean. We shall see if he believes me.

By the way, his carpet is green. Hmmm, it had been so long, I had forgotten. Now, I remember what color his curtains are supposed to be, maybe I will tackle them tomorrow.