Spring Cleaning

Spring cleaning hearkens back to the Jewish tradition of cleaning the home before Passover. In remembrance of their hasty retreat from Egypt, the Jews cleaned every bit of leaven from their homes. Agrarian societies continued the practice. Following a closed-up winter, doors and windows were flung open to let the breezes freshen up the house.

At our house,"spring cleaning" happens sporadically. For a number of years we had graduation open houses. This always entailed large-scale cleaning and organizing. I usually cleaned more than I needed. No one came to check my closets or the cupboards next to the oven. No white gloves ran across the top of window or door frames. The problem with the graduation open houses is that you have a deadline AND food to prepare.

This year I want to do some heavy duty cleaning, sorting and organizing. As the mom, I know what's clean, and what's not. And yes, sometimes it really bugs me. Another thing that bugs me is knowing that behind closed doors, cupboards and and drawers are unorganized messes. And a third thing that really gets my goat is knowing that I have too much "stuff."

If you're an internet junkie (which you just might be if you're blog-reading), you can find lots of sites all about cleaning, organizing, homemade products, etc.