Cleaning out a Closet: Should I Be Frightened?

Half of the closet about to be cleaned.

Today is the first day this week we haven't had to be up and getting ready for either tumbling or dance camp so we're taking it easy for a while.  We'll lounge around in our jammies a bit, maybe watch a movie, and get caught up on our summer reading minutes that we skipped all week in favor of dance camp.

Once we've enjoyed a little down time, I'm planning to completely clean the girls' closet.  I'm really good about pulling out clothes that don't fit anymore, and I mostly put out of season clothes in storage (I say mostly because our climate is so unpredictable, you never know when you'll want long pants and a hoodie, even in July).  Still, closets accumulate a lot of flotsam.  It's been a couple of years since I've pulled everything out of their closet and really cleaned out the stuff that has been forgotten in it's corners.  I'm expecting to find some, um, interesting items to say the least. (Last time I pulled everything out I found a formerly beloved blankie had been turned into a cat bed behind Miss E's shoes.  It was so furry I didn't even try to wash it.  Straight to the trash it went.)

I think it will take most of our afternoon, but it will be really nice to start the school year with an organized closet. 

Whoa! What Happened Here?

Part of the playroom.  Wow...

I am not a clean freak.  I am frequently heard saying "that's good enough for now".  In fact, you're more likely to catch me in a cluttered house than not.  Nevertheless, I do have limits on how much mess is acceptable and yesterday we hit those limits.  The girls had friends over for a few hours and when they left we couldn't see the floors in large swaths of the house. 

The other half of the playroom.  Even more Wow.

 It looks like we'll be spending at least a big part of our day correcting this problem.  It's such a disaster I know the kids are going to balk at even starting to clean up, so I'll have to stay with them to keep things rolling smoothly.  It's really amazing how much better their attitude about cleaning is when I'm there with them, even if all I'm doing is bossing them around. 

I'll also employ one of my favorite strategies for breaking a big job like this into less intimidating pieces. 

The girls room.  Wow, wow, wow.

 

Even my little gym room wasn't immune to the mess.

I like to fill medium size plastic tubs with things they need to put away.  Each child gets a tub and when they start to look fatigued, it's easy to tell them "just finish what's in the tub and then you can take a break".  That helps them see the light at the end of the tunnel and power through to a little rest time.  While they're resting, I refill the tub so I'm ready to crack the whip again. 

Another little trick I know I'll use today is threatening them with the vacuum.  Miss E is bad about leaving Barbie shoes and accessories on the floor after she's cleaned up the bigger stuff.  Miss M leaves chunks of moon dough under the craft table.  But if I tell them I'm vacuuming they're much better about picking everything up.  The tiniest beads suddenly find a proper home when they know the vacuum is coming. 

Between my participation, breaking everything up into smaller jobs and holding the vacuum over their heads (figuratively, of course!) I hope to reclaim my floor space with maximum help from my little mess makers.  That's the plan anyway. 

Here's to a fabulous Wednesday!