We are back!
I hope
you had a good half-time week!
I know
some of you took a well deserved break while I know others of you used this
week to catch up.
Either way, I hope it
was a week to do something that made you smile!
I also know for a fact that we have some new friends joining us.
If this is you, or if you just need a
reminder of why you jumped on this crazy train with us, I would encourage you
to go back and read
THIS POST!
I will wait here while you catch up!
And so where do we go from here? Back to the bedroom. So here's the deal. For the next two assignments you are getting
an advance notice. We will spend TWO weeks, this one included, on bedrooms.
(The Master Bedroom was done in week 15 if you need to catch up!) Children's, guest, whatever. Therefore, if you have more than 2 bedrooms
left you will need to pair some up. In
our case, you will see the two rooms together and then a week for three more. The basics will be the same!
Your assignment then, is BEDROOMS.
The Basics-
- Strip the beds and
wash ALL of the linens. Replace any torn
or stained sheets or such. Rotate your mattress if you think it needs it.
- Take everything
off all flat surfaces and move it out!
Some children are not naturally neat people! So thankful that only one of my kiddos is
still in this stage and let's just say, it is NOT one of the girls! ;)
- Dust all surfaces,
sides and all!
- While stuff is
still off, move furniture away from walls so you can wipe down baseboards and
vacuum around all edges.
- Replace furniture
or rearrange while you have the chance! ;)
See a trend here? I am the queen
of changing furniture around, just ask my friends. Luckily for the family we haven’t been in
this house quite a year yet, so I haven’t tried rearranging bedrooms yet.
- Wipe down light
switches, door knobs, and door frames, inside and out. Look up, again, and clean off ceiling fans
and light fixtures.
- Clean window
frames and windows. Once again, mini
blinds and curtains are on the list.
Sorry!
- Put things back,
but try to eliminate half. Remember, we
are on a quest to declutter as well as clean.
Does your child need it? Do they
use it? Could someone else get better
use of it? Make a pile and move it out! See notes at the bottom!
- Time to tackle the
drawers. Again, take it ALL out, decide
what you need to keep and then put only those things back, neatly. Now is a good time to get rid of clothes that
are too small, not in good shape, or your child hates. We were able to pass on
a huge bag of clothes from my youngest who has shot up in height recently. Now, teach your children how to keep it
clean. Even a young child can be taught
to put things away neatly.
- Vacuum the floor
and you are done. Mostly!
Let's just take a moment to talk about toys, since I KNOW
this is an ongoing challenge for many of you. (I still have a
"little" and I get it!)
-Stop buying
them! We have a pretty strict rule about
no buying toys unless it is birthday or Christmas. Best thing we ever did. Of course, when a child has saved up their
own money we make exceptions, but we want our children to learn early that just
because we WANT something does not mean we NEED it. Ok, yes, we do break the rules for an
occasional special treat, but I mean special and oh, did I say small!? Happiness is not built on toys alone and it
is time kids today were taught that.
-Stick to a few
themes. Our children do not need one of
everything. Really, they don't. Pick a few things they like and stick with
them. The themes around here tend to be
Legos, nerf guns, and audio books. Find
what your child likes and plays with, and don't get carried away. In my
experience, it is parents that get caught up in collections, not kids. Let's not teach them our bad habits!
-
Containerize and
rotate toys. (I made that first word up)
Trust me, it helps and it works.
I did
another decluttering post a while back that you can check out that shows one
way to containerize easily.
We tend to
use baskets and when the kids were really little we rotated those baskets in
and out every few weeks, a few at a time.
You would be surprised at how excited they get about toys they haven't
seen in a few weeks.
- Special items! Yes,
even my kids like to hang on to things, despite my natural tendency to dump
stuff in the trash. You know, important
things like rocks, paperclips, old art projects. There are two ways we have helped with that
problem. One - a small plastic tackle
box. The rule is if you can fit it in there, it can stay. If not, something else has to go. And two - a simple folder with pockets. If
there are papers you just cannot let go of, put them in your folder. Again, if there is no more room, it is time
to weed out what you do not want anymore.
Let's face it, every child's room is going to be a little
different. I would love for my boys'
rooms to look like the ones in the Pottery Barn catalog. I would REALLY like that. But for now that is not reality for us, OK,
that is probably NEVER going to be reality for us. So we do our best. When we have lived in
houses that have playspace areas we tried to make bedrooms just a place to
sleep. I love that! But that does not always happen. So sleep and play must co-exist. And sanity must reign, so I try to make it as
easy as I can for them to maintain a reasonably clean room and ignore accept
the rest.
Clean up, declutter, and embrace the space you have!
So, about that Half Time week, how'd you do?
What area did you catch up on?
I want to see.
I spent ALL week working on scrapbooking and
am happy to report I am slowly making progress.
See?
Yes, that is FOUR books
done.
I may actually be caught up in a
few weeks.
I will keep you posted.
Until next week, happy cleaning!
Blessings,
Welcome! Follow our family of 6 on our military moving, God loving, homeschool adventure! We are honored you have joined us and look forward to hearing from you.
