It's that time of year again - SPRING CLEANING SEASON!!
At my house, we're in the middle of our annual deep clean in time for Passover which begins April 15th. This includes sweeping and mopping to the satisfaction of removing even the smallest grain of flour from the house. You don't have to go to that extent to tidy up and de-clutter your own home, but here are some areas to think of while spring cleaning this year:
Change out kids clothing to new season - check swim suit sizing - and donate old clothes in good condition to Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc.
Change out your own clothing to new season items, and donate what no longer fits to a shelter such as James Sauls Homeless Shelter in Clermont County. These are the items on their wish list.
Move kitchen items used in the winter (i.e. crock pot) to storage and take the grilling tools out
Replenish any items in your emergency stash that are getting low or will expire soon
Clean out the junk drawer in the kitchen, and throw away (*donate) those 10,000 pens!
Check batteries on smoke and CO2 detectors - purchase extra batteries to have on hand
Recycle! Cleaning leads to used up spray bottles, cardboard, etc. Here are local sites that accept these items and more:
- https://andersontownshipoh.gov/community/recycling - located on Beechmont Ave in Anderson Township.
- https://andersontownshipoh.gov/Portals/andersontownship/Documents/Forms/Going%20Green%20Final%20Version.pdf - gives locations for paint, TV, and battery drop off sites
- https://www.hcdoes.org/410/Recycling-Reuse-Outlets - Use this site if there is still an item where you cannot find a location to accept it's disposal. It has a great search tool!
While cleaning out the usual spaces of your home, you may want to also consider decluttering the following:
Unused medications
Prescription drug "take-back" day is set for 10am - 2pm on Saturday, April 23 at Anderson Center, 7850 Five Mile Road. Place pills and tablets into a zip-lock style bag for disposal prior to dropping off at this site. Please note, the following items are not accepted at the site: liquids, aerosols, inhalers, needles or (plastic/glass) bottles.
Cell phones
Do you have contacts from years and years ago still taking up space in your cell phone? Go through your contacts list and delete any you know you will never use again. This might include old contractors for your home, old co-workers if you have changed jobs recently, etc. While you're there, clean up the names you want to keep so that "Mackenzie's Mom" becomes "Rachel Smith (Mackenzie's Mom)" and all babysitters are categorized with the word "babysitter" first for easy searching when you need one. Now is also a good time to review the number of apps that send push notifications to the front of your screen (those little numerical bubbles that make us feel like urgent news is waiting). Maybe it's time to erase those from your life completely?! Here's how to do that with an iphone: go into settings > notifications > select the app you want (they are listed alphabetically) > toggle off the “allow notifications” option. Lastly, review all the apps you've downloaded and delete the ones you no longer use. If you want to go all out, you can even move apps to categorized folders on the screen. This will create so much space on your home screen!
Your family car
If your family is anything like mine, the car is in a constant state of chaos, cheerios, wrappers, and pet hair. "Cleaning up" the car is much easier said than done. So, setting aside one morning each month to give it a deep clean and declutter is a must-do item on my list! I also refresh the extra set of clothing I keep for my daughter, empty the small trash bin, and trade out any weather related items. Here in Cincy you know it can snow one day and be 70 degrees the next, so don't take out that snow scraper until the end of May {wink wink}! This month I will be throwing in some small outdoor activity items too so that they are ready for any impromptu park stops we make this Spring. For us, this includes: a bag of chalk, soccer ball, picnic blanket, and a couple small plastic dolls.
