One thing we've never really done before is a project in one of our (count 'em twelve) kids' bedrooms. Of course, many of our projects benefit our kids (arguably all of them do since they make their mamas happy), but, today it would directly benefit my son Luke, whose closet desperately needed tending.
It was crammed and cluttered and with the recent addition of several toys that contain seventyhundredjillion pieces, everything was just stock-piling and it was one of those things in the Stuff to Get to Someday area of my brain.
While considering cleaning out and reorganizing Luke's closet, I realized that this project would also help me remedy one of those minor hassles of Cleaning Club that Shannon so eloquently described in her last post, namely: the cleaning up after having a house full of kids thing (or as Shannon described it, the "post-cleaning club apocalypse." But, she's prone to hyperbole. A rhetorical device I would never in a million years consider using!)
Because of the aforementioned seventyhundredgazillion piece toy fetish Luke has, his room is often ground zero for the mess- making. This is true not only of times we host Cleaning Club, but when we host parties or friends with younger kids. So, in cleaning out Luke's closet, we were able to free up space to stash most of those containers of toys up high, AND I pulled out several things that he doesn't play with anymore to put in the hall closet so we can pull those things out for our littlest visitors to play with in the main living area of the house. Perfect!
Michael oversaw the efforts, and only once mentioned an OSHA violation.
Also, lucky for us we had not one but two superheroes on the premises (just in case).
We started by taking off the doors of the closet. This allowed us to move over the dresser in there to free up more floor space on one side and makes for easier access all around. Then we took every thing out of the closet and piled it all up around Michael, like some kind of offering, and we vacuumed the rug in there.
We sorted everything--trash, recycling, donate, send home with another Cleaning Clubber, and move to another part of the house--and then put back a few things and added more containers of toys that had been on the ground. And the Spilling Over Effect I mentioned in my last post happened again when we ended up sorting and dusting Luke's shelves while we were at it (thanks to Shannon taking the initiative). After lunch we cleared out everything that was leaving the room and delivered it to its rightful place (including Jennifer taking away my donations piles, which I so appreciate her always offering to do).
The effects were immediately evident as Luke was thrilled to see his new closet, the little kids had a great time with all the stuff now set aside for them, and the clean up was quick and done before everyone left. And later that night, when two other younger kids came over to visit, the room stayed clean easily, too.
I loved the way Cleaning Club worked today. It was a high I rode for the rest of the day and brought with it a solution that will help in the future, too.
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It was crammed and cluttered and with the recent addition of several toys that contain seventyhundredjillion pieces, everything was just stock-piling and it was one of those things in the Stuff to Get to Someday area of my brain.
While considering cleaning out and reorganizing Luke's closet, I realized that this project would also help me remedy one of those minor hassles of Cleaning Club that Shannon so eloquently described in her last post, namely: the cleaning up after having a house full of kids thing (or as Shannon described it, the "post-cleaning club apocalypse." But, she's prone to hyperbole. A rhetorical device I would never in a million years consider using!)
Because of the aforementioned seventyhundredgazillion piece toy fetish Luke has, his room is often ground zero for the mess- making. This is true not only of times we host Cleaning Club, but when we host parties or friends with younger kids. So, in cleaning out Luke's closet, we were able to free up space to stash most of those containers of toys up high, AND I pulled out several things that he doesn't play with anymore to put in the hall closet so we can pull those things out for our littlest visitors to play with in the main living area of the house. Perfect!
Michael oversaw the efforts, and only once mentioned an OSHA violation.
Also, lucky for us we had not one but two superheroes on the premises (just in case).
We started by taking off the doors of the closet. This allowed us to move over the dresser in there to free up more floor space on one side and makes for easier access all around. Then we took every thing out of the closet and piled it all up around Michael, like some kind of offering, and we vacuumed the rug in there.
We sorted everything--trash, recycling, donate, send home with another Cleaning Clubber, and move to another part of the house--and then put back a few things and added more containers of toys that had been on the ground. And the Spilling Over Effect I mentioned in my last post happened again when we ended up sorting and dusting Luke's shelves while we were at it (thanks to Shannon taking the initiative). After lunch we cleared out everything that was leaving the room and delivered it to its rightful place (including Jennifer taking away my donations piles, which I so appreciate her always offering to do).
The effects were immediately evident as Luke was thrilled to see his new closet, the little kids had a great time with all the stuff now set aside for them, and the clean up was quick and done before everyone left. And later that night, when two other younger kids came over to visit, the room stayed clean easily, too.
I loved the way Cleaning Club worked today. It was a high I rode for the rest of the day and brought with it a solution that will help in the future, too.
