Tag: spring

Spring Cleaning Checklist

March 19th, 2013

Having changed dwellings 11 times in the past 15 years, my husband and I have cleaned a lot of houses. We’ve washed baseboards and ovens, shampooed carpets and vacuumed under beds. But we’ve always done it when we move out, when we’re fixing up the place so we can get our deposit back, or making it sparkle to put it on the market.

Every time we deep clean a home, and I look around at how nice it looks when we’re done, I think, we always do this when we leave. We don’t even get to enjoy it.

No more, my friends. With my New Year’s commitment to housekeeping this year, we are not cleaning the house just for guests, or for the next residents. We are keeping it clean for ourselves. And this past weekend, we began our first dedicated spring cleaning.

Because of the enormity of the task – it took all day Sunday to launder sheets, underbedding, and blankets, and I haven’t even gotten to comforters and pillows yet – we are splitting our checklist into two weekends, and we actually marked “Spring Cleaning” on our calendars so that we wouldn’t schedule anything else those days. Thankfully, we took care of some of these tasks, like washing curtains and organizing our files, when we moved in. Last weekend we purged closets, gathered dry cleaning and mending, made lists of spring clothes the kids need, flipped mattresses, washed light fixtures. Next weekend, God help us, we will tackle the rest:

✓ Launder underbedding
✓ Wash blankets/quilts/comforters
✓ Clean and change over seasonal clothing
✓ Give away items
✓ Turn mattresses
✓ Wash knickknacks/glass – candleholders, vases
✓ Clean top of kitchen cupboards and top of refrigerator
✓ Wash light fixtures
Change air filter
Clean oven
Wash pillows
Clean lampshades
Wash windows and screens
Vacuum books
Vacuum refrigerator coils
Clean walls, ceilings, floors
Move and clean under appliances
Shampoo rugs and upholstery
Wash curtains/blinds
Organize household records
Change passwords
Scrub patio
Organize and clean basement shelves

Wow, that’s a daunting list. I’m not even going to pretend like I’m excited to take care of all this. But as my new hero, Cheryl Mendelson writes, “Whether you live alone or with a spouse, parents, and ten children, it is your housekeeping that makes your home alive,” and I am inspired. I think about what our house is going to feel like when we’re done, all clean and sparkly and restorative, warm and airy and fresh like the coming spring, and I am eager to do the work. Or at least, for it to be done.

If you are inspired to keep house and are struggling with how to organize your approach, take a look at Housekeeping schedule: Dailies & Weeklies. I’ve been following this schedule, with a few adjustments, since the beginning of the year. The routine has become habit, making it part of my regular life rather than a neglected chore that that has to be tacked on at the end of the day.

Home Comforts: The Art & Science of Keeping House by Cheryl Mendelson. Mendelson, a homemaker, lawyer, and mother, learned about housekeeping from an early age from her grandmothers, one Appalachian, the other Italian. The two grandmothers taught her that although different ways of keeping house can be appropriate, there are generally smarter, faster, and more creative ways of housekeeping that make it less of a chore and more of an art. (Amazon)
Toes Like Telltale Crocuses

March 18th, 2013

Last weekend, when the sun finally shone bright after weeks behind steel clouds, and the air was warm enough for short sleeves, our daughter and I waited on the front stoop for Grandma and the cousins to arrive. The sun was like warm honey on our skin, and for the first time since October, I peeled my socks off. I wiggled my naked toes in the yellow light and realized, my toes are out!

“Let’s paint our toenails,” I said. “You want to?”

We sat on the concrete steps and clipped and buffed and listened to the clink of glass polish bottles as we explored the bright pink cosmetic bag of color. I found a red like a Corazon rose, propped my right foot beneath me, and painted new life onto my toenails.

Two days later, winter returned. My toes went back into their socks, their electric happiness hidden, like a surprise party waiting for the honoree to arrive. At the end of the week, our guests departed, bundled against the cold.

When Saturday came around again, so did the sun. We opened the house back up to let another day of warmth inside, and the kids asked to take a walk to the duck pond. After telling them, “In a minute” for about an hour, we finally threw on flip flops and told them to grab their ball. We walked out the door to dark grey clouds looming, shrugged our shoulders, and went anyway.

A huge raindrop splatted on my cheek as we arrived at the pond. Five minutes later, the clouds burst, and I ran under the gazebo with my go-cup of wine. The wind blew rain in sheets across the pond, and when thunder boomed, the kids and their dad ran laughing to the shelter. Our teeth chattered as the temperature dropped, and our son said, “Can we go home now?”

“Uhhhh, I’m not leaving in this.” My husband gestured to the torrents of rain coming down. “You can go if you want.”

Our son took his ball and stepped out into the downpour, and a few seconds later, our daughter followed. Soon they disappeared up the hill towards home, while their dad and I shivered under the gazebo, the wind blowing spray onto us despite the roof over our heads. When it finally seemed to let up, I said, “You wanna make a run for it?”

We walked out into the now light shower, hunching our shoulders against the chill. Thunder boomed, a new deluge began, and we ran in the rain, our squeaky flip-flops splashing, our heads down. My red lacquered toes flashed bright against the wet gray sidewalk.

My husband shouted, “I like your toenails!”

And we smiled at their fun color in the spring rain.

Tag: spring

Spring Cleaning Checklist

Toes Like Telltale Crocuses