Mom Shares Her Best Tips for Living With a Messy Person

The coronavirus pandemic has certainly put the world on hold. Many people have lost their jobs or have to work at home while taking care of their kids. No matter the situation you’re in, it’s likely less than ideal.

While essential workers have to go to work, of course, many of us are quarantined in the confines of our home. The positives to that? More family time. The negatives to that? More family time.

We love being at home with our whole family, of course—don’t get us wrong. But if you live with a particularly messy someone, then being on top of them 24/7 can feel a bit overwhelming.

Whether it’s your spouse leaving his dirty clothes everywhere more than usual or your toddler making a mess of their toys before it even hits 8 a.m., it can drive someone who’s already stressed mad.

You don’t want to hurt the person’s feelings, so you might grin and bear it. But inside, you’re screaming. So what are you to do?

Luckily, YouTube star and mom Brittany Vasseur has some helpful tips if you find yourself living with a messy person, which she shared in an awesome new video of hers.

One of her first tips is holding a meeting with whoever you live with. Not an aggressive meeting to blame the messy house on them, but a constructive one where you divide up tasks that your roommates actually want to do.

To avoid them picking a task that requires a small amount of effort, Vasseur recommends already having a list of tasks that are divided by small, medium and most effort, so that chores can be divided up in an even manner (e.g., you’re not sanitizing the entire bathroom while your husband just merely gets to take the trash out!).

Another great tip from Vasseur, which works great for people who like to leave their messes everywhere, is designating a spot in the house specifically for messes.

Now, you might be wondering why anyone would want to actually encourage a mess in their house, but it makes sense: Just throw a bin in the spot that racks up the most mess, and let your roommate know that that’s their designated messy zone—or “DMZ,” as Vasseur calls it. That way, they feel like they can be messy, and you have the satisfaction of the rest of your house staying clean.

Vasseur has tons of other tips for dealing with a messy family member or friend, but you’ll have to check out her video below to hear the rest!

Are you living with someone who’s messy? How do you get them to control their mess—or do you just try to ignore it?