Spring Cleaning, anyone?

It's that time again. Wash, wash. Scrub, scrub. Clean, clean. Chunk, chunk (as in, the junk).

The first day of spring has officially come, and gone (March 20), and time is swiftly passing. With this realization, I found myself in quandary as to how I might accomplish this year's cleaning. Last year, I did not go into any serious, in-depth cleaning and this year, with the added factor of daily homeschooling, it just isn't realistic to expect to tackle the cleaning and finish it in a week.

But it must be done. We hope to put our house up for sale by mid-summer, and with God's help have it sold by fall (hopeful) or the end of the year (more realistic). With this looming deadline for motivation, combined with a deep need to have things clean and orderly, I have purposed to scour each room from floor to ceiling, wash curtains, and air out mattresses.

At first, the thought seemed impossible and left me with a throbbing headache. How in the world? I already get up between 5:30-6:30 each morning, hit the ground running, and fall into bed by 10:00, on a good night. I have deleted my Facebook account and greatly reduced my blogging (in case you haven't noticed) in order to eliminate "idle" time and make better use of my day. Each minute is precious and we cannot afford to waste any of it. And has anyone else noticed that since the time change time has flown even faster? It feels like it's 4:00 and it's 7:00. Eek!

Back to my point--I knew that if I was to get anything beyond the daily feed-the-kids-clean-the-kitchen-sweep-the-floor-now-it's-time-to-do-it-again mantra done, it must be strategically planned. So I made a plan. I scheduled my spring cleaning.

An hour a day. I don't know about you other busy homeschooling, church-working, child-rearing, husband-pleasing Moms, but that is all this one has to spare. An hour a day for 3 bedrooms, a living room, a den, a laundry room, a kitchen, a foyer, and two bathrooms (one which is still waiting to be remodeled {going on 3 years in progress} and is riddled with sheetrock dust and debris), plus cabinets, closets, and pantries (I have two) adds up to TEN WEEKS of spring cleaning. It will be two weeks into May before I get it done, but you know what, it will be done. Unless any of my super-duper, energetic, hyper-active cleaning machine aunts want to come spend a week in Louisiana and help knock it out (hint, hint).

I broke down each room into a couple of do-able tasks a day, in hopes that it will be finished in 5 days (5 hours).

Week 1: Master Bathroom (I consider this my biggest, baddest dirty job)
*Monday--Pick up debris, sweep, clean out garden tub frame (so said tub can be placed inside frame).

*Tuesday--Clean off vanity (has become a storage place for a variety of tools, nails, and male DIY paraphernalia--or where I come from, para-fer-nail-yer) :)

*Wednesday--Vanity cabinets (also full of para-fer)

*Thursday--Clean toilet and shower (YIKES). I'll check in after so you'll know I'm still alive.

*Friday--wipe down walls, window, and mop

Did I mention that my front porch also needs to be sprayed down, decluttered, and repainted? Come quickly, Lord! :)

If you were to come visit my home--please do, I love company--you would see that I am not a clean-freak, by far. I do believe in keeping things tidy, but at this point in my life, I would rather keep myself available to my too-swiftly-growing children than stressing about the windows being washed. When they are grown and gone, there will be plenty of time to scour the sink and wipe out the fridge.

Is there any certain special way that you manage your spring cleaning? I would love to hear some of your wise advice and tips :).

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