Time for Spring Cleaning!

Spring is officially here and for most, so is the big job of spring cleaning around the house. With the sun shining in and the windows open you may be starting to notice the dust in the corners and the clutter that has accumulated over the winter months. There's nothing like nice weather to point out all the cleaning that has been neglected over the last few months!

 

Growing up I remember dreading when my mother would mention spring cleaning. The list of chores seemed so overwhelming and could sometimes take a couple days of non stop cleaning to complete them all. From washing the walls with buckets of hot, soapy water to pulling everything out of the cupboards to clean the farthest corners of shelves, spring cleaning may as well have been a prison sentence as a kid. As an adult I still do not look forward to spring cleaning but the thought of not doing any of it is even worse. I do go about it quite differently than my mother did and still does, but it all gets done. For me, I like to make a list and spread the work out over a few days or weeks depending on just how bad I've let everything get rather than doing it all at once until completely exhausted. I find that I don't dread waking up and starting my day if I set more realistic goals for myself and home.

 

Start by taking a walk through of your home. Jot down all the things you see that have been neglected. Remember to look up at your ceiling for cobwebs, dirty light fixtures and overly dusty ceiling fans. If you're like me, these can be areas easily forgotten since they fall into the "out of sight, out of mind" category. Look behind your major appliances such as your fridge, stove washer and dryer and if you're an indoor smoker during the winter months, add your walls, windows and blinds to the list as well. You're list may be growing quite long but remember, you don't have to do it all in one day. Once you have a list of everything that needs to be done break it down into two separate lists. All the big, time consuming jobs go on one, like cleaning or painting walls and all the easier ones like dusting and windows go on the other. Divide the jobs up amongst family members; one