Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

My daughter is incredibly untidy.
Does being at CH change that at all?

Here's hoping!

They certainly did in my day, though I have to say, Jan says I have slipped back over the years.

I rebelled against excessive tidiness at school by being somewhat casual at home - you may find, Volupturaptor, that I'm not unique in this!

She will have very limited space to be untidy and will be subject to peer pressure not to invade their territory. (Used to be that each pupil had a locker about 20 inches cubed for everything including school books but excluding clothing.)

My son was untidy at home.
He started at CH and was untidy at first (multiple "bed fails"), now after 2 terms he is tidy at school and still just as untidy at home!!!

The children have 'dorm inspection' every day carried out by Matron. Each house has their own system but tidiness is usually individually rewarded by edible treats, there is also a lot of competition within the house to be the winning yeargroup. (more, and usually larger rewards!) I think that it's often the case, my own daughters included, that children soon learn to be tidy at school even if they still can't quite manage it at home! As someone else has mentioned, she will be limited on space so the more she brings to school the harder she'll find it to keep tidy. The best way is really to just keep to the basics, with a few personal bits and pieces to make her space more 'homely'.

It didn't work for me. I am incredibly untidy. My sons are the same though my daughter is fine. MY husband while tidy NEVER throws ANYTHING away, so there is no room for me to be tidy anyway - well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

Though I swear if I moved out and took my stuff no-one would notice any more space.

No 1. son has gone to University and his room there is stuffed full, but it doesn't seem to have made the slightest difference to his room at home.

englishangel wrote: No 1. son has gone to University and his room there is stuffed full, but it doesn't seem to have made the slightest difference to his room at home.

Happened to my older son; you literally couldn't see the floor for dirty clothes, towels, guitars, bits of computer, paper ........... The amount of electronic bits we found is mind-boggling whilst I think there must be a hundredweight of books; his thesis alone was close to a kilo.

Oh well..!

No hope at all. At Hertford I was always in trouble for being untidy. Later my boss complained he could never find anything on my desk, and was astonished when I proved to him that I knew exactly where everythin was. I am still working in a room that looks like a tip, BUT I STILL KNOW WHERE EVERYTHING IS.

midget wrote:No hope at all. At Hertford I was always in trouble for being untidy. Later my boss complained he could never find anything on my desk, and was astonished when I proved to him that I knew exactly where everythin was. I am still working in a room that looks like a tip, BUT I STILL KNOW WHERE EVERYTHING IS.

Thank goodness I am glad that I am not the only one with a desk covered in papers and mess (I do know where everything is - honest). I think that you are probably born with the tidiness gene as opposed to learning the art!

I agree CHDad, unfortunately I got it from my Mum rather than the minimalist one from my Dad.

When working I always had multiple piles on my desk. For my primary function I had "In - New, for allocation", "In - from assistants -to check", "to get round to this or next year" and then a pile for each of my then current trouble-shooting functions. Perhaps 15 piles at any one time and I knew what was in each and their relative urgency.
Here I have a more orderly office - 6 filing drawers, 6 piles* and 3 big mugs of pens and pencils. I know where everything is; apart from her own filing trays SWAMBO doesn't know. At the farm I simply have a large plastic container of files and other papers plus one tiny window sill (10 inches by 6 inches!).
*including one of scrap paper and one of Sainsbury's recipe magazines

One can be orderly but it is too much like hard work and work is the curse of the drinking classes.

Whether you were compelled to be tidy or not at CH, it doesn't seem to have made much difference to many of friends post CH!

My daughter is incredibly untidy.
Does being at CH change that at all?

No! My daughter was tidy before she went and now her room (about half the space she has at CH) is a bomb-site. Sigh.