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Dawn
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| Posted: March 08 2007 at 2:19pm | IP Logged
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I'm working on a little project, and would love to know your thoughts on the subject ...
Do you spring clean, and if so, when?
What chores do you include (inside and/or out)?
Do you do any special cleaning during Holy Week (Mon-Wed)?
Looking forward to your responses! 
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Dawn, mum to 3 boys 
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chicken lady
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| Posted: March 08 2007 at 2:55pm | IP Logged
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I do MAJOR spring cleaning during Holy week. Wall washing the whole nine yards!!! Because for me as I have already admitted, cleaning is not my "thing"
I think it is soooooo appropriate to do during Holy week to prepare for the biggest feast day of the year!! I find it really cements the importance of Easter for my dc. We need to be "prepared" for Our Lord's resurrection.
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mary
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| Posted: March 08 2007 at 3:02pm | IP Logged
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we spring clean the month of march.
chores - everything from window washing, wall washing, thorough dusting (including those baseboards i never seem to get to)
we don't clean holy week because we have guests that week and are preping for an easter party.
this year it's a little hectic with a baby who doesn't want to be put down and a besement in the midst of being remodeled. for the first time, i'm thinking of hiring some help.
are you making a list dawn?
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Angel
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| Posted: March 08 2007 at 4:05pm | IP Logged
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I would like to do a real spring cleaning -- we definitely need to, especially since the house has been shut up for a long time (and probably another month or so to go before I can open the windows) -- but it's hard for me to commit to that much time and effort.
Let me reitphrase that. It's hard for me to motivate everyone else to that kind of time and effort. I can't do it all by myself.
I do like having things relatively clean for Easter, though, so we can at least have a nice dinner in the dining room. Even though it is usually just us, I fix a formal Easter dinner and we lay a "fancy" table.
Technically Easter will be "spring" here, but it's still usually pretty cold. I like to air out the house on those first warm days, and I'll switch the sheets from flannel to cotton.
Since we have a big garden, though, usually most of our time goes to getting the garden in. Everybody's been shut inside all winter, and nobody really wants to stay inside to clean. We try to do it in smaller bits.
--Angela
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doris
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| Posted: March 08 2007 at 4:45pm | IP Logged
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This is my first spring in a long time without a cleaning lady so I am learning to clean again myself, and it's doing me a lot of good!
I'm trying to do one room or area a week during Lent. So far I've done the children's bedrooms. I'm cleaning everything, pulling out all the furniture, going through cupboards and toyboxes. It's sooo satisfying! And I can't believe the cobwebs I'm finding that I hadn't even noticed before...
I've just found out that it's traditional to clean during Lent and esp. Holy Week so it's nice to tie that in too.
However, our house is being rewired in the fortnight before and after Easter, so I'm probably mad to be doing this now. Ah well.
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J.Anne
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| Posted: March 08 2007 at 6:19pm | IP Logged
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I don't really spring clean. I would like to try this year. I deep clean the rooms on sort of a rotating basis through the year.
BUT I would really love to start letting the children stay at my parent's every now and then so I could really focus.
I have dusted our walls before with a swiffer cloth and was shocked at how much dust can collect on a vertical surface.
I also looked on the top of my refrigerator this morning - oh my. 
Dawn, are you planning an informative and highly motivating post???? 
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Angel
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| Posted: March 08 2007 at 6:43pm | IP Logged
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J.Anne wrote:
I also looked on the top of my refrigerator this morning - oh my.
Dawn, are you planning an informative and highly motivating post???? |
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I still have Halloween pumpkins on top of my refrigerator. I think those should probably be put away before Easter.
I hope you are planning an informative and highly motivating post, Dawn.
--Angela
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KellyinPA
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| Posted: March 08 2007 at 6:44pm | IP Logged
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J.Anne wrote:
Dawn, are you planning an informative and highly motivating post???? |
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Oh, I hope so! 
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Kelly
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J.Anne
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| Posted: March 08 2007 at 7:12pm | IP Logged
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OK, now I am thinking....
I liked the way Home Comforts organized it in top to bottom order. So, in no order at all...
Dust Walls
Dust top of fridge
clean out freezer and fridge
clean out and sort pantry
clean behind washer and dryer (ahem, I just did that. Oh my, again.)
scrub baseboards
touch up paint
go through children's clothing and donate outgrown clothes and shoes
wash windows - outside (Is it weird that I don't do this on a regular basis?)
Sort garage - toss unecessaries
My biggest cleaning headaches involve books. I need to sort and organize our books.
I was inspired by your earlier post, Dawn, where you mentioned purging in preparation for the big spring cleaning. I am holding on to a lot of useless items - just because. I have sorted through a lot of that this week and feel so much better.
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: March 08 2007 at 7:14pm | IP Logged
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I do periodically clean everything up.. but it doesn't tie into Lent well here.. it's still cold.. we have a lot of mud if we don't have snow.. we don't really get spring weather until May.. and you don't start planting a garden around here before the end of May.. mid-June is safer.
we did get up to the mid-50's on a sunny day just Wednesday.. so we did open windows for a short while mid-afternoon.. and then got a fire (we heat with wood) going as soon as the sun wasn't hitting on the windows helping things stay warm.
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mary
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| Posted: March 08 2007 at 7:24pm | IP Logged
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hey dawn, here's a list for spring cleaning.
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Maryan
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| Posted: March 08 2007 at 7:25pm | IP Logged
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I share Molly's sentiments: not a cleaner, but want my house clean for Our Lord's Resurrection (same for His Birth). We go north for Easter, so by default cleaning is on Mon - Wed. of Holy Week.
We're basic cleaners here (declutter, floors mopped --instead of spot mopping  , walls washed, and vacuum suck all those weird spots (like fridge and HVAC vents).
But the ultimate-spring-cleaning-favorite-activity in my house is the window cleaning. I tilt and the boys spray and wash all the windows (We're spoiled with those kind of tilt-in windows). And then the boys wipe out the windowsills with baby wipes!! They love it!
I consider all of that a major accomplishment and then, I'm with Angel, we'd rather be outside and work on our gardens before we leave too.
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Dawn
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| Posted: March 09 2007 at 4:04am | IP Logged
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I am enjoying everyone's responses! Stop by Cheryl's for her wonderful post about spring cleaning.
Mary, that list is awesome! So detailed - just what I need! I printed it out and will use it to begin my own list.
I'm afraid I don't have any big post in the works ... at least not yet. (You know I end up posting about everything at some point, lol.)
My query came for two reasons. A. We've lived in this house for almost seven years and it's never been deep cleaned. It sorely needs it. I thought I would start this spring.
I wanted to start with a list of things to do. Then I was trying to decide if I should do a little each week throughout the spring or try to schedule one or two weekends for full-scale cleaning. (Like - tell Bill to take the kids out for the day kind of cleaning.  )
I am also tweaking my homekeeping binder. I am recognizing areas of it that I am not using and one of them is the housekeeping area. I've started a little booklet for myself with just cleaning notes. Spring cleaning seems a good place to start (now that I have the routines just about finalized).
Thanks again for all the advice - please keep it coming!
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Corrine
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| Posted: March 09 2007 at 6:54am | IP Logged
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I'm with Jodie, It's just too winter-like here to think spring cleaning yet.
During Holy Week we'll do a good house cleaning, but no wall washing or anything like that. The only thing out of the ordinary will be carpet cleaning. We'll have a house full and I never cleaned the carpets after our houe full on New Years Eve. And... well it really looks like it hasn't been cleaned.
Come warmer weather I'll start with the kids rooms (with their help). We'll change out their clothes, sort toys, wash woodwork and walls, the whole nine yards. Once the kids are done then I move on to my husband's and my room and closet. Then it's on to the rest of the house and finally the outside. I wash all the windows on the inside and all the first floor window on the outside but I'm terrified of hieghts so the upper floor windows happen only when I can convince my husband to do them. I do this over a several week period and the one thing I don't clean the carpet. Its cream colored (not our choice) and gets so dirty over the spring and summer that it's just not worth the work. We really hope to replace it with wood someday and so each stain just gets me one step closer.
Corrine
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Elizabeth
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| Posted: March 09 2007 at 7:31am | IP Logged
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The problem with nursing is that you never get that good dose of PMS "I MUST CLEAN!"
Cheryl's post did inspire me. I want that kind of order and beauty. My question is "When?" Do I interrupt our regularly scheduled activities for a a few days of binge cleaning? Kids in the house (to help) or out of the house (to prevent the "shovelling in a blizzard" feeling)?
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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Lisbet
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Someone please answer Elizabeths questions!!! I'm desperate for some ideas on this one, but add in the "pregnant and lift anything/be around fumes/stay away past 8 pm" factor!!
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Cheryl
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| Posted: March 09 2007 at 9:03am | IP Logged
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Elizabeth wrote:
| My question is "When?" Do I interrupt our regularly scheduled activities for a a few days of binge cleaning? Kids in the house (to help) or out of the house (to prevent the "shovelling in a blizzard" feeling)? |
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I think that binge cleaning (without kids) would work well for window exteriors, window treatments, carpets, behind the fridge, light fixtures, etc. Binge cleaning doesn't seem great for most other types of cleaning because you work so hard and then a few days later (if you're lucky) it's a mess again. I too would like an answer.
Here are my two ideas:
1. lower my standards
2. hire someone to clean on regular basis
I was hoping my dc would clean as they got older, but that's probably unrealistic.
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Servant2theKing
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Holy Week cleaning is a wonderful idea. What an appropriate time to declare Spring Break, and engage everyone in the effort of preparing your home for Christ's Resurrection. Mom can nurse the baby while supervising/managing the workers (and/or the cleaninglady, if you are so blessed). Making Spring cleaning part of Lent and Holy Week can give everyone a more prayerful focus and greater motivation. Another great motivator could be offering to take TWO weeks off for Spring Break, with the week after Easter being freetime, IF everyone contributes well with the Holy Week efforts.
Centering the days around cleaning and purging, with prayer interspersed throughout, could turn ordinary cleaning into a spiritual event children can truly relate to, especially when the activity of cleaning house is associated with cleansing our souls for Jesus.
Simple soups, can simmer on the stove, or in a crockpot, so mealtimes don't interfere with cleaning. You might even consider freezing a few extra meals during these final weeks of Lent, in anticipation of Holy Week. Older children can usually help prepare simple meals, enabling mom to concentrate on baby's needs.
The week before Palm Sunday would be a wonderful time to gather prayers for Holy Week, stock up on cleaning supplies, prepare simple menus and ingredients for Holy Week meals...maybe even select some prayerful, Lenten music to play softly while everyone cleans. As long as you're at it, keep track of your efforts with the beginnings of a feastday binder, so you don't have to re-invent the wheel in years to come.
When Holy Week and Easter have passed gather all the materials you used throughout the season in a single storage container so you'll be ready for next year! I've been amazed at how little work I have to do in successive years by completing this single act following a major holiday or feastday. Keeping books for special feasts in a specific place also helps simplify feastday celebrations.
All this being said, I would highly recommend lowering one's standards when Spring cleaning...books like Home Comforts are inspiring and thorough, but they seem geared toward households where the children are off to school most of the day. When we Spring clean I'm grateful if we are able to do a thorough dusting, vacuum underneath furniture, wash and exchange winter blankets for summer linens, clean candleholders and such, spotwash fingerprints, and do an extra thorough scrubbing of floors. Walls wait until we repaint (IF or when we do so). Washing windows, curtains or doilies, scrubbing the oven or refrigerator, or steam cleaning carpets are extras that happen more sporadically and certainly don't happen as often as cleaning manuals would recommend!
As homeschoolers, with children in our midst 24/7, it behooves us to be more simplistic (and realistic) in our cleaning expectations. For the past 16 years of our homeschooling journey, preparations for feastdays, or projects like Spring cleaning, have gradually focused more on the value of turning our hearts, minds and souls toward the spiritual meaning of feasts or church seasons than on external results! Yes! I did make the mistake of thinking I could do it all in the early years, but often learned, the hard way, that it's far more important to concentrate on life and relationships than striving for a picture perfect house. Allow your Spring cleaning to follow the rhythm of prayer and contemplation as you embrace the true meaning of Holy Week with your children and your home will shine with Easter Glory.
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julia s.
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| Posted: March 09 2007 at 10:37am | IP Logged
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I think Servant has the right ideas.
Right now I'm in the middle of rearranging my kitchen cabinets. When we moved in a few years ago I just sort of threw things into the cabinets not really over thinking it and well it has finally caught up with me that this isn't really working.
Unfortunately I can only do it in spurts with the baby around even with a week off (I needed some R&R this week).
My general plan is to do the spring cleaning before the weather turns so nice that I want to be outside planting and playing with the kids.
We also need to get rid of the large amount of "stuff" that's been accumulated over the years. *sigh*
I don't have the luxery of kicking the kids out.
[edited for spelling, but I probably missed some]
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mary
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| Posted: March 09 2007 at 11:45am | IP Logged
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the other problem with nursing is that you sit and think about what you want to do, but aren't able to get up and do it. that honey-do list gets mighty long!
i cannot wait for the kids to be out of the house or i will never get cleaning done as my kids are all under 8. i also think it's good for them to see/be a part of spring cleaning to some extent. can the spring cleaning be done in the afternoon, during quiet time? that's my plan and i realize i will need a whole month, not just a week, to accomplish this. this week, we have been going room by room and making a list of what's to be done in each room. next week, we will start working through our list.
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Spring cleaning?
