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Siblings sometimes find it difficult to share space in the same house, let alone a single room. These tips don't guarantee a peace agreement, but they can help resolve minor conflicts.
- Best case scenario: both siblings agree on a single theme or look for the room. Realistically, when it comes to dual-personality décor, you can forget about coordination. Even a professional would have a difficult time designing the perfect compromise between a reptile-obsessed twelve-year old and a seventeen-year-old aspiring ballerina. Let them choose a side and make it their own.
- Not only can a room divider help put turf wars to rest, it visually separates two otherwise clashing design themes. A quick fix: Hang a curtain down the center of the room. Attach a clothesline from wall to wall, a few inches below the ceiling. Use clip-on curtain rings to slide the curtain back and forth. You can also use shower curtains and rings for a fast, no-sew solution!
- Kids of any age need time alone in their own space. Get the roomies to agree to a schedule so they each have the room to themselves for 30-60 minutes a day, or every other day.
- If you can, set up separate study and homework areas.
- Get lots of containers and clearly label them with each kid's name so there is no question over whose stuff is whose. Establish community property. What can be shared and what's off limits? Have them make a list, sign it and post it where they both can see it.
- Establish a "you break it, you buy it" policy. If one sibling uses something that belongs to the other without their permission – and damages it – they can work to earn money toward fixing or replacing it. Restitution should be reasonable and age appropriate. The goal is to teach them responsibility, not how many loads of laundry it takes to buy a new Xbox.
- So you have a champion mess-maker and neat freak? The tendency is to force the messy kid to clean up their act but this rarely works. Instead, encourage Sloppy Joe to simply contain their mess. Literally. Provide them with large clear containers so they easily can stash their stuff before it threatens their more civilized counterpart's side of the room. Don't insist that everything be folded and placed just so; encourage any step in the right direction. Of course, it's perfectly reasonable to draw the line at garbage, food, dirty dishes and smelly laundry. But if the mess grows out of control, (jokingly) grant the neater sibling permission to "clean up." That might be all the motivation your messy kid needs.
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