Spring is a time to start afresh. It's the time to look behind your kids' dresser drawers and under their beds to find just what they have been smelling for the past few months. Oh, that dirty old sock. Make it a game. Who can find the most money? Who can find the most items? Who can find the most food items? Better yet, who can guess what that food item was supposed to be?
This can be a chore or it can be fun, depending on how it's announced to your kids. Laughing about it and helping them along the way brings you not only closer as a family laughing the whole time, but it can make your kids realize that Spring cleaning isn't so bad!
Next on the agenda is going through the closets to see what doesn't fit or what can be stored for next year that will still fit if properly stored. My kids love getting the box down from last year and seeing just what they wanted to save and what doesn't fit any longer no matter how hard they try to squeeze their twice-grown bodies into it. Funny, the clothes didn't look this small when we put them away last year. My daughter lamented about not being able to wear her favorite shorts outfit, but when the zipper finally burst she realized they weren't going to work.
I'm a clean freak, but I'd rather live like that than live in a dirty house. Yes, I do let my children clutter the house up and we have toys all around, but each toy and each book has its place at the end of the day. Make it a game for them. How many items can they each pick up and not drop? Sometimes if I'm desperate at getting things cleaned up, I'll bribe with money. For each item bigger than their hand they will get a quarter. I have to be careful on that one - once my son went to his room and grabbed toys out of his toybox. I had to gently tell him that wasn't what how to play the game. Make it fun and make it a game. Let them have fun with it.
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