spring cleaning

We are a few days into Spring, and I have not Spring cleaned a thing yet. (gasp!)

I take that back, I scrubbed the kitchen floor the other day. It was gloriously clean for an entire day for a hot minute. Then it snowed. Not just a little flurry, but a ridiculous 4 inches of heavy wet SPRING insanity, and it didn’t matter that people took off their shoes. I still had to bring the groceries in the house the day of the SPRING blizzard of 2015 and that made for a messy floor.

So here I am, a queen of domesticity about to tell you 7 Reasons Why Spring Cleaning is a Sham (WOW).

1.) Unpredictable weather: Let’s just call Spring in the Midwest what it is, shall we? Toddler of weather. I want to build a snowman, no wait, I want to pick flowers, no wait, I want to splash in puddles, no wait, I want to fly a kite. I WANT TO RUN IN SPRINKLERSSS!!! GET OUT THE SIDEWALK CHALK! WHERE’S MY SNOW BOOTS! Get in the basement there’s a tornado warning! This is currently the state of my front hall because every day there is a new kind of clothing to be worn, and I refuse to put any of it away until this kid known as weather makes up his damn mind!

2.) School is still in session: When school is going on there is homework, and papers, and activities, and so many more things to keep track of that it just doesn’t seem to be a good time to add in a huge reorganization and cleaning of the entire house. And the papers! The school papers are everywhere. You know that old saying about when you pluck a gray hair and 6 more grow in its place? I’m pretty sure that for every school paper I throw away, a million more multiply.

3.) Spring is busy: My family and I have a lot going on in the Spring and mostly we are just trying to keep afloat. Soccer, ice skating, ballet recital rehearsals, local elections, Listen to Your Mother practices, TAXES, extra writing submissions, CCD, Brian out of town, me out of town, dinners out, and that is in addition to everything else. I refuse to Spring clean. So, I do the only logical thing. I straighten up and hide things in the closet when people are coming over.

4.) When the weather actually is nice: Those first few gorgeous days when the sun is out, and you don’t have to wear a jacket and it is still light out past 4:00 p.m., I really don’t want to spend that time cleaning. I would so much rather take the kids outside (because it might be snowing tomorrow, again). See ya!

5.) Did I mention the papers? I don’t think you guys realize the papers. So, I’ll show you again.

6.) Project time: Since my house looks like a bomb of papers and weather appropriate clothing went off anyway, this is the time of year I usually do some household projects. Then, when I am ready to do a big clean and organizing project, I just clean everything up at one time. This is called not re-inventing the wheel, or something like that.

7.) Spring Break: There are very few people who have the opportunity to spend a week all together as a family. Because my husband is in education, he has an entire week to spend with us and the kids who are also off school the at the same time. We usually spend that week taking day trips to places around town and spending time together. There is no way I am trading scrubbing baseboard and organizing toys for that!

I saving the Spring Cleaning for Summer!

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If you scour
(see what I did there?) Pinterest you can find hundreds of
printables with Spring cleaning schedules, organized lists, and advice for how to
clean and organize your home this time of year. If you follow me on Pinterest, you will see, I am no stranger to obsessively
pinning these types of things. Here is the caveat though, I was finding that
these lists and plans were good in theory but were hardly ever actually put
into practice in my home.

Why?

I discovered many of these lists had few things that made them worthy of my time. Overall, they were missing the mark for what worked for my home and my family. So, I
decided to come up with some SPRING CLEANING TIPS that got our house lemony
fresh just in time for Spring.

1.) Plan a Party: I am the type of person that usually works better with deadlines and
sometimes under some sort of pressure. My family is like that too. Also, whether
the party be big or small, I always invite at least ONE PERSON that a.) it his/her first time to my home or b.) he/she will slightly judge me on the
cleanliness of my home. I realized this is not a time to be having a BBQ with my family
or my best friends who don’t care if there toys strewn about. This helps
up the ante a little bit. Every time I want to give up, I remember so and so is
coming and they haven’t been to our house yet, and I will most definitely
continue on my cleaning journey.

2.) Get the
Family Involved: When I start on my SPRING CLEANING, I try to make a list of
jobs, and figure out who can do a particular job best. For example: who has the best skills for the
job? or Who will complain the least? I also try and figure out who might be
good helpers for a particular job. Like, my husband complains the least
about bathrooms, so he does them. I complain least about deep cleaning the
kitchen so I get that job. The kids are limber and small so they get jobs like
cleaning under the couches and washing baseboards.

3.) Break Up Each Room Into Smaller Tasks: I really needed to stop thinking that I could get all of my SPRING CLEANING done in one day or even one week. With all we have to do as a family, I really needed to break things up. For example, I know I have to sweep floors anyway, so one day, I took a spray bottle full of 2
TBS Mrs. Meyers Clean Day, 1 ½ Cups Distilled Water and while you swept the floor, I sprayed the baseboards in the kitchen with the solution. I, then, and asked the kids (who were playing on the floor anyway) to wipe them down with a rag. Another example: The next time you
empty the dishwasher, set the timer on your phone for 15 minutes and clean out
the junk drawer in your kitchen. Doing one or two of these little tasks every
day really helped go a long way to accomplish each task on our SPRING
CLEANING list.

4.) Reward
Yourself: I am the type of person who is more likely to do something if I know
there is going to be a reward at the end. For me, sleep is the ultimate reward.
I love going to bed early. I know it sounds absolutely lame, but for me if I
can knock a few things off the To Do List, I will go to bed and get an extra
hour of sleep. It is glorious and I love it! Next time you have something to do, hold off on watching your favorite show until you complete a
task on your SPRING CLEAN list. Better yet, check off 5 tasks in a week and
allow yourself a night free from cooking.

5.) Don’t
Get Trapped: When you live in a house with well… anyone, it is easy to get
frustrated and caught up in the clean house trap. I am often catching myself saying things
like, “I just cleaned this place!” or “I’m never cleaning again, what’s the
point?” I have found though, there are a few things that can help in situations
like this: a.) alchohol or chocolate and b.) a little perspective. The alcohol
or chocolate is to calm those nerves and the perspective is to remind yourself
that it is better to be living in a home with people you love that is a little
messy than to be living alone in a house that is immaculately clean.

There you have it! Five practical and (sorta) funny spring cleaning tips!

Tag

Spring Cleaning: What a Sham (WOW)

5 Practical and Funny Spring Cleaning Tips