Being uber-careful of various Chinese superstitions about cleaning before/during/after the New Year, I still had the lofty goal of a clean and organized house before the end of the holiday. I was “mean-mom” by not scheduling an exotic trip, and since the novelty of attending super-crowded festivals in the cold has worn off, the prospect of “fun” was limited. But I tried to make a plan, and for the most part, was pleased with the results.

I have two daughters. One is willing to clean with me during short spurts of time, and she doesn’t hold on to too much. As a matter of fact, sometimes I have to keep things that she is too willing to part with. The other daughter is a hoarder and cannot bear to part with anything.  She loves old school papers, empty candy wrappers, tickets to anything, and she has no inner motivation to do anything about it. I was determined to have the three of us spend time cleaning up our acts, so to speak, and organize our lives.

Needless to say, this idea didn’t initially go over too well. However, I tried to put a plan into place that we’d tackle one goal a day, and then reward ourselves with a treat. Day one, my youngest and I went through her desk area (including floor space, where most things end up), and my oldest would do the same. The former did a pretty good job, if not totally complete; and the latter flopped around on the floor, picked up two things, then wanted to take a lunch break. We did manage to make some progress, and baking together during the afternoon was the reward.

Day two was going through all of the books on everyone’s bookshelves – keep, donate, or save for sentimental reasons. Another big chore, but it got done, and we went out to Decathlon to purchase the oft requested tennis racquet and basketball.

The week went on and both were clearly not as enthusiastic as I was about finishing. Occasionally, the girls would stage a protest and stall on any progress. I told them that was ok; whatever they did not finish by the end of the week, I would do for them. They knew I meant it, so I suddenly got help.

I’m amazed at the number of bags we had for trash or recycling, how many boxes we have for donation, and how much clutter we are clearing out, we are making a commitment with cleaning our house this year, now that we are able to get stanley steemer coupons we will make sure to hire house cleaning services more often.

It’s embarrassing, actually. My hopeful goal of getting to every room in the house was a bit too much, but it’s enough of a start that I am determined to get to the rest on my own, declaring that if-I-don’t-love-it-then-out-it-goes.

We’re beginning to feel spring creep upon us, my favorite season of the year. This jump start on spring cleaning is a wonderful beginning!

Photo by planeta of flickr.

First of all, no, I am not tossing out, leasing, or selling Reina (thanks for the offer). I’m keenly aware that type of behavior is frowned upon, not to mention that I am quite fond of her. Although the advent of twins will necessitate some changes being made to our living situation (lots of changes) and that additional space must be carved out for them in the home, no current member of the family will be displaced as even my own application for extradition was denied and there have even been veiled hints (some not-so-veiled) that this increase in family size is my fault.

I know that many will say babies are small and do not take up much room. This is true, but there is something daunting about twins and the amount of stuff it will take to get them through the first year, let alone the following 17 years or so.

We are still about 7 weeks away from having the twins descend upon our apartment and already we have two double strollers (we gave away the third) given to us by friends. Even when the strollers are closed, they take up a lot of space. Add a couple of cribs, a changing station, clothes, and a mountain of diapers, and that alone will nearly fill a small extra bedroom. And we don’t have a small extra bedroom.

Consequently, it’s spring cleaning season in July. I’ve been eyeing just about everything in our home and asking myself (and occasionally the rightful owner) whether or not we really need the items on the shelves and in the closets – since our family is increasing by 40 percent and our home is not.

I’m conflicted about this, as I am a minimalist packrat. From my point of view, everything could be useful again someday, but am I really going to re-read a book about Alexander Hamilton? So it’s out with the books, beware piles of paper, the days for unused toys are numbered, and if that outfit hasn’t been worn in a year, it’s out of here too.

We simply must make more room in the dresser, as I’ve a sneaking suspicion one of the babies will end up sleeping in it as I cannot for the life of me imagine where we will put a second crib. Come to think of it, that dresser does look a lot like a baby high-rise.

Photo by r0kk via Flickr