You know how you sometimes love the idea of something, but hate the execution so much that you'll put it off until you just can't anymore?
That's me with spring cleaning.
After a long, cold, slushy, gray winter, I love the idea of throwing open all the windows and giving the house a complete freshening. It's a new season, and it's time.
But...ugh. That sounds like a lot of work.
Fortunately we hosted Easter dinner, so I had a solid deadline to make sure that the floors were mopped, the windows were clean, everything was dusted and polished and generally picked up, and we were ready for company. But that doesn't give me the same satisfaction. That's just cleaning for company, it's not spring cleaning. Spring cleaning is more than that.
Since taking a full weekend to deep clean sounded awful, I take my spring cleaning reluctance and focus more on organizing - changing things in our house over from winter to spring.
Changing clothes
We're lucky enough to have attic space to store our out of season clothes, and changing over from cold weather to warm weather forces us to clean out the closets, cull anything outgrown or damaged, and get off to a good start with clean dressers and closets.
Changing out "gear"
Nothing makes me happier than taking the piles of things I'm sick of, putting them away, and bringing out things I'm excited to use. I have a storage bench in our foyer that holds our seasonal "gear", and twice a year we swap snow boots for beach towels, cleaning out any clutter in the process.
Donating
I'm part of a mom's group that does a "swap" event in April. Since we don't have anyone to give us hand me downs, anything I can grab that is big enough for Madison is a win, and I make it a point to get to this event every year. That means I have a deadline to get my baskets of clothes that Reagan has outgrown, along with toys, gear, and anything else, organized and ready to go. And as long as I'm in this "pack up and move out" mode, I can make a donation pile for anything else that doesn't fit the "kids" category, and do a big drop off after the swap.
Outside
I am not an outdoor girl, and our landscaping showed it. So last year we hired out and it was the best financial decision we ever made. I was so happy to call our yard guy this year and tell him we were in for the works again. So. Worth. It.
Car
It's always good to take the change of season and make sure your car is in good shape for the new weather and conditions. I made a full list and I do my best to make sure the mom-mobile is ready!
It's not about cleaning, it's about organizing and getting ourselves a fresh start. And if I chunk it up like this, even a reluctant spring cleaner like me can tackle it.
