Personally I think this is a great name for an initiative that sees teens get involved in keeping their space clean. Of course any time is a good time to get your kids to clean up their room, but with school, hockey, homework and more it can be hard to fit it in year round. Take some time in the spring to make sure you take care of some real health hazards that may be lurking in your teenager’s room, and make sure to have them pitch in so they learn good cleaning habits. Not only do many environmental allergies make their debut in spring, but after a winter of being cooped up together and ignoring the growing pile of outgrown clothes make for a perfect storm of mold, dust mites and other allergens to gather.
Start at the bottom and work your way up. What’s stuffed in the corner of the closet? In a mystery pile by their bedside table? These are perfect breeding grounds for mold and mildew if the clothes or towels were wet when dropped to the floor. Make sure the kids have a convenient laundry basket for dirty clothes and towels, and put a box in their closet for them to easily discard clothes that no longer fit or they just don’t wear.
Ah, the bed. Washing and changing sheets on a bed can be a big chore, but it’s not too big for even a young child to take on. Get them into the habit of pulling their sheets off at least once every two weeks and putting them in the wash themselves. Make sure you have a mattress cover on the bed (that also gets wash occasionally) and pillow covers are being used as well. You might want to consider a hypoallergenic mattress like one from Endy Sleep, which is conveniently sold online, at a great price, and shipped directly to your front door. My teenage son loves his twin Endy mattress, which he placed on top of his double mattress, to create the perfect set up for both sleeping and a couch for gaming; pretty much the two top activities for teenage boys.
Endy Sleep mattresses also come in double, queen and king size, so you can find the exact fit for your needs and those of your teens. All of them come with a 100 day free trial period. Additionally, each mattress sold will see a bednet donated to malaria-stricken areas in Africa through Nothing But Nets. These mattresses are made in Canada and priced for Canada.
If only one household member is taking on the responsibility of cleaning, it can be overwhelming. Get the kids involved by keeping their own rooms free of dust and allergen hazards. Picking up wet towels, not leaving dirty clothes on the floor, food growing mold on their bedside table are obvious preventative measures. But also look at washing their stuffed animals, and if they have a huge number of trophies (what kid doesn’t, today?) consider moving them out of the bedroom where they are literally gathering dust, and into a box, after taking a picture of them to hang up instead.
Getting your teens involved not only lessens the workload for busy parents, it also teaches them how to clean and tidy to ensure their eventual college dorm rooms also don’t become a hotbed for bed-riddled allergens.
This post is sponsored by Endy Sleep.