Spring Cleaning and Other Adventures

Wow, it's been over a week. There's been a lot of cleaning here, a lot of organizing, and a lot of outside time. We (and I do mean "we") cleaned things that have never been cleaned since we've lived here, almost three years. I dismantled and washed the chandelier, I moved furniture to sweep--some corners are literally cleaner than they were when we moved in. Other spots, not so much, but we're getting there.

And I've had several mundane realizations about the point at which cleaning, organizing, maintaining a home, and having small children all intersect. First off--wow...it really does get easier as they get older. At the risk of sounding like a crazy person, I'll go ahead and say that the spring cleaning with the chicks has actually been fun. I'm sure the fun of which I speak is, to some extent, relative, in the way that it would be more fun to wash windows than it would be to have dental work done; but still, I'll take what I can get.

I've been able to accomplish so much, every day. The chicks are so great at entertaining each other, and it's a whole new world when you can complete more than 90 seconds of a job before stopping to handle a crisis.

And I've also been seeing the payoff of having the kids "help" when their help is not yet quite so useful, something I did with the faith that one day, they would be accomplishing actual cleaning. These photos I'm about to post look a little nuts given that Ninna is not only doing some serious mopping, but she's also wearing a Little House on the Prairie-type apron-covered dress (with intricate smocking, something my mom made me circa 1981!). As if that weren't enough, there's a second apron around her waist for good measure.




It may look like she's doing some sort of penance, but I assure you she was having the time of her life. She had been begging to mop for a week. The best part is that she actually did the job, fully--as in, I didn't have to go over it when she was done. Woohoo!

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While we're cleaning, we're organizing. I've been on a mission to de-clutter and simplify for ages, but I got a slow start, I think in part because we just had so much stuff. I'm finding that the more I de-clutter and organize, the easier the process gets and the more visible the results. But I've also come to realize that with a family whose needs are constantly changing (which is the nature of things when you have small children, of course), our organization and home set-up are never really done because as the chicks grow and their abilities and interests change, the ways we use our "stuff" changes. I've found there's a sort of peace of mind that comes with recognizing and acknowledging that organizing our life is not something that has an endpoint but is rather an ongoing process.

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In other news, this year's Easter baskets have been planted:

Seedlings are coming up:
And we've got some fun spring projects to share soon. Happy Saturday!