I know the whole messy room is a pretty standard parent vs. child issue, but what gets me the most about it is the level of commitment my kids will put into some things. They will put every last ounce of energy into one specific area and yet they have a complete disregard for keeping their rooms even semi clean. They are not typical lazy bum teens, they don't shy away from hard work or lack focus. They are dedicated hard workers in terms of their chosen passion, yet their rooms are constant disasters despite 2 out of 3 of them having amazing closet systems.
Don't get me wrong, it's not "dirty" in an unhealthy way. We are not talking about the dirty old food wrappers and the other moldy garbage all over sort of thing you see on that show "Hoarders". I can testify to the fact that our dog can enter their rooms without being at risk of being swallowed up for good. This is more of a messy and cluttered with clothes all over the place type situation. Meanwhile, their drawers are half open and half empty. We don't need "Dr. Phil", but the "Clean Sweep" team might come in handy.
They will clean if they know they have a friend coming over who will likely be in their room, but that "cleaning" tends to involve shoving it all in the closet into what quickly becomes a 2 ft. mound of apparel. twice a year I go in there and help them find an exact spot for everything. I help them clear out clothing that no longer fits. I show them what it's like to have it all organized and hope that by starting them off on that clean slate, they will maintain it. Despite my efforts, it ultimately goes back to it's messy state.
Of course, none of this silliness about the state of their rooms matters to them. They aren't home that much anyway. They are typically off working on that one true passion of theirs. Meanwhile, I'm likely cleaning their messy rooms, cooking their dinner, and writing a random blog post about them.
Enjoy those one-track minds while you can kids, because the very adult world of multi-tasking comes next!