Spring Cleaning
Summer is almost here and I've been hit (late I'll admit) with the spring cleaning bug. Last year I was heavily pregnant, yes it did seem like it lasted all year, and for the vast majority of it "heavy" was the best word for me. So cleaning up the house hardly featured on my list of things to do (okay, it still doesn't and this year my excuse has been sleep deprivation and a new baby). My husband through sheer desperation last December spent a full day (and we're talking 12 hours with a fifteen minute break) cleaning up our kids' rooms. I knew it was going to be a bad day when about 20 minutes in to the BIG cleanup he came outside and announced in an appalled voice that he'd moved the beds and found four rotting sandwiches. After that he stopped speaking. For some situations there are no words.
Anyway, this week I attacked the kids rooms and with the exception of two rotting apples found festering behind the bookcase, it wasn't as bad as I'd feared. I bundled up the clothes that no longer fit and divided them in to stuff I could give away to friends and relatives, and stuff (still wearable) I could take to the op shop. Wow, finally I could get the cupboard doors to shut.
Similarly with toys I was pleased to discover some new unopened toys that I'll be able to give to Kmart's wishing tree appeal http://wishingtree.kmart.com.au/ It's a great cause. I binned the broken stuff and will op shop some of the good used toys that they've grown out of or tired of. I'm always amazed how a quick clean out also encourages a rediscovery of toys they may have forgotten about. Sometimes using your toys on a rotational basis is just as good as buying new ones!
I then did a cull of their bookshelves and any good quality books that are no longer being read I'm going to take to a local book exchange who may accept them (I get credit for this which means I can choose 'new' books from there at no cost) and the remainder can again go to the op shop.
Lastly, I rearranged some of the furniture because I find that nothing inspires me to clean more than the chance to change things around and find new exciting ways to live. Sometimes it only takes changing the bed from one side of the room to the other to open up whole new possibilities for displaying pictures or making a new play space. It keeps life interesting, and that's not such a bad thing (even if it does involve some cleaning).
Anyway, this week I attacked the kids rooms and with the exception of two rotting apples found festering behind the bookcase, it wasn't as bad as I'd feared. I bundled up the clothes that no longer fit and divided them in to stuff I could give away to friends and relatives, and stuff (still wearable) I could take to the op shop. Wow, finally I could get the cupboard doors to shut.
Similarly with toys I was pleased to discover some new unopened toys that I'll be able to give to Kmart's wishing tree appeal http://wishingtree.kmart.com.au/ It's a great cause. I binned the broken stuff and will op shop some of the good used toys that they've grown out of or tired of. I'm always amazed how a quick clean out also encourages a rediscovery of toys they may have forgotten about. Sometimes using your toys on a rotational basis is just as good as buying new ones!
I then did a cull of their bookshelves and any good quality books that are no longer being read I'm going to take to a local book exchange who may accept them (I get credit for this which means I can choose 'new' books from there at no cost) and the remainder can again go to the op shop.
Lastly, I rearranged some of the furniture because I find that nothing inspires me to clean more than the chance to change things around and find new exciting ways to live. Sometimes it only takes changing the bed from one side of the room to the other to open up whole new possibilities for displaying pictures or making a new play space. It keeps life interesting, and that's not such a bad thing (even if it does involve some cleaning).
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Hilarious! I could imagine the voice over the rotting sandwiches... ha ha. I actually did a small-scale clean-up yesterday. Feels good, doesn't it? Just in time to load up on more 'stuff' in a few weeks' time!
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