I have four kids, and I like my house to be tidy. But I just want to get this out of the way upfront: Messes give me anxiety, and I’m definitely that mom who sometimes rage-cleans. However, it’s high time that parents learn that our kids’ bedrooms don’t need to be themed and spotless.
Social media has us believing that the best kids’ rooms are those that are white, white, and more white. Their rooms basically look like snowy wonderlands.
However, let’s think about how ridiculous this is
Yes, these rooms with plush, ivory bedding and pearl walls look absolutely stunning and sparkling clean, but they are not actually serving the purpose they are meant for.
Instead, they are for show.
I love a themed bedroom as much as the next parent
In fact, each of my kids has a room that is color-coordinated and themed — to their liking. I do have some standards, like when my oldest was 6 and wanted her room to be construction-cone orange. I told her absolutely not, and that I’d get her an orange accessory instead.
Of course, she wasn’t happy with me, but her "I need an orange room" urgency went away within a few months — and I was thrilled not to have to paint over blinding walls.
Our kids’ rooms are meant to be enjoyed — for playing and resting
Making sure our kids’ rooms are aesthetically pleasing to an adult eye is simply ridiculous. In fact, it sets us up for irritation when our kids make messes, rearrange their rooms, or voice their displeasure when the room décor isn’t to their taste. There’s got to be some (err — a lot of) compromise.
I used to make my kids pick up their rooms every night, because walking in with Legos and dirty laundry on the floor annoyed me to no end. How hard is it to put a dirty shirt into the laundry hamper? How could they find the items they needed when they were scattered on shelving and under the bed?
This is when I realized that I was demanding far too much from my kids
As long as their rooms weren’t full of filth, picking up their rooms every night was just a waste of time. We use that time now to focus on connection: reading a bedtime story or talking about their day.
Our compromise was that they had to pick up their rooms twice a week. For some of my kids, this is a much bigger chore than others, depending on how tidy they are each day. I don’t stress about it.
Each of them is now old enough to handle the task on their own. If they don’t want to keep their rooms picked up in between clean-up days, that’s their issue to deal with.
I don’t know when kids’ bedroom decor became some sort of competition between parents
I’m guessing with the rise of social media and sites like Pinterest, we get to see what’s deemed as pretty and perfect. We want that. But experienced parents know that once your child is mobile, all bets are off. Bedrooms are meant to be lived in and enjoyed — not perfected.
Despite what the pictures show us — where the children look like they’ve stepped off the family yacht and are quietly lounging (playing with wooden toys or reading books) on light-colored beanbag chairs — this isn’t the reality.
Most kids are loud and messy
They play imaginatively and actively. And truly, they don’t care if their bedding, art, furniture, and rug are on-trend.
Let’s let kids be kids. Adults set the tone for this. Children’s bedrooms can be cute and functional — but please, don’t leave out the functional part.
