Out with the old, in with the new.

I don’t know about you, but with the appearance of that big yellow thing in the sky and the lighter nights, I have more energy. That is, once I got over the loss of the hour following the clock changes (when did that start to be a problem anway?). It feels like a great time for some spring cleaning – chucking out some of the old crap that’s been accumulating in cupboards and drawers and letting those dark corners of the room see the vaccuum cleaner and duster.

It’s strange, like I’ve been nesting or something (and I’m definitely not pregnant by the way), but I cleaned the bi-fold doors (that’s a lot of glass you know) and the leather sofa all in one evening. It might have had something to do with the fact the light shining through the bi-folds highlighted just how dirty they were and I couldn’t ignore it any longer, plus the dog jumps all over the sofa leaving his mark (it’s cream leather as well). Something had to be done.

The three places I will not touch are the children’s bedrooms.

So full of crap are they, it is impossible to dust the surfaces on a regular basis, so all that gets done are the floors. Every school holiday, much to their disgust, it’s their job to pull everything off the tops and dust them down. One tin of polish later and we have three pungent smelling, but clean rooms, until the next time.

I’m not sure how children manage it, but they do accumulate a lot of unecessary stuff and this process of spring cleaning actually helps them to scale it down. This holiday was a big one, in terms of cleaning, oh yes it was. It took my son a whole week to get through his room and let me tell you, it looks immaculate and was well worth his time.

Learning the value of their possessions.

Though half of this time was spent ‘arranging’ his things into strategic positions, my son has learned how to value his room and his possessions. Instead of everything being piled high, stuffed into drawers and storage bins and hardly played with, suddenly, he has a new found appreciation of what he has. It’s the same for the girls too, although my eldest already looks after her room and her things in this way. She’s a neat freak when it comes to her room (a bit like her mum really).

Spring is finally here.

Thanks to the feeling of the sun warming my skin and giving me renewed energy, I feel re-vitalised after the dark days of winter. The children have been out bouncing on the trampoline every day, even the dog has been enjoying exploring the garden, instead of curled up in a warm corner somewhere. We really do need this spring sunshine after those long months don’t we?

There are a few more things I need to do to pull the house out of it’s winter slumber, then it will be ready to face the summer months just as we are. How are you feeling this spring?