"My 15-year-old routinely leaves towels and clothes on the floor and definitely does not wash out the sink every time she brushes. She will even occasionally forget to flush (I blame the phone permanently attached to her hand). But the tampon on the floor is truly vile and has never been an issue with my kid. Suffice it to say, I think treating this entire spectrum of messiness/disgustingness as the same seems a touch dramatic."
"I maintain a very neat, clean household otherwise and certainly make her clean up the bathroom, but it is a constant effort that has not been improved by (1) being a good example, or, (2) teaching her the value, importance, and how-to of cleaning. Do I hope she'll learn eventually? Yes. Is she a horrible brat because she leaves towels on the floor? No. Am I a terrible parent because my teenager is not yet as tidy as I am in my 40s?"
"Hey Prudence, The kid in the first letter is not irredeemable. Her mom is not necessarily a lazy parent, as the letter writer suggests (and as so many comments seem to endorse, geez!). LW1 needs to understand that there's a lot of daylight between not washing toothpaste out of the sink twice a day and dropping a used tampon on the floor. He may not be suited to living with a preteen/teen."
A 15-year-old leaves towels and clothes on the bathroom floor, sometimes fails to wash the sink after brushing, and occasionally forgets to flush. A used tampon on the floor, however, is identified as distinctly more repulsive and was never an issue here. The household otherwise stays very neat, and the parent requires the teen to clean the bathroom, but repeated instruction and modeling have not produced consistent improvement. ADHD is noted as a likely contributing factor to the behavior. Distinguishing between varying degrees of messiness is important when assigning blame or making living-arrangement decisions.
Read at Slate Magazine
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