Spring Cleaning And Clutter- Free!

Recently the whole family got busy, engaged with spring cleaning and clearing the clutter that had got collected within the last several months. After days of delaying this household task, we decided to start clearing without further delay that particular day. Even my five year old showed a lot of enthusiasm helping around, carrying the thrash bag here and there and trying to fill it up with whatever he thought was garbage!,
The very first thing my son did was to get this particular pair of shoes and said, ‘This is Garbage! I held on to it, as if for dear life before he could dump it into his thrash bag. I was wondering how children observed everything and anything., This one pair of shoes which I loved dearly was a bit tattered, nevertheless I enjoyed wearing it , because it always made me so comfortable .I could walk with ease. Incredibly I‘d never got a leg pain after I‘ve walked, confidently with these, during our many fortnightly outings to the Mall.
Then there was a pile of books, which had to be tackled , with my elder daughter. Those books had been in her room, in the same spot, for several months now, but she wouldn’t let me go any closer to them. Eventually it was decided all the books would go into a cupboard, that was out of view and for later use for my other daughter,( if she finds anything interesting to suit her tastes!)
My husband and I had decided that the things which were not used anymore should be given away , so that someone else, could enjoy. Out came clothes, shoes, socks, shirts, etc. from every nook of the house. I appreciated the whole family’s helping hand; the work got done faster and easier. For my sons this was a fun activity, they were so generous in parting with some of their toys to put in the charity box. My older son loved playing with the duster; he even imitated his Dad, wearing a piece of cloth tied loosely around his nose, like a mask.
By the way I love garage sales! But to organize it here in the country we reside would be a bit of a hassle! Nevertheless I have no regrets depositing all the stuff that was not in use for ages, into the charity box, which was installed close to a popular Mall nearby my home.
It didn’t take a while to understand that by doing this task of cleaning the house together as a family we had plenty of quality time together. No strict rules were imposed on the work task and there was no time limit , but the concept was to complete before night approached. So after a hard day was done, everyone felt tired but happy to see the house neat, clean and clutter free. But I was wondering for how long!
I came to the conclusion by making the children participate in this household chore; we were actually inculcating and developing their skills, sequentially, to complete a given task. They will also learn to arrange and put their toys away in boxes than keeping them scattered on the floor. We also teach them values like being responsible and being productive.
The kids learnt to work as a team. I fervently hope this ‘working together’ notion will be put into practice again, during our next spring cleaning day!