8 of 52 and An Answer about Spring Cleaning

Brennan took this photo of David and me at the Children's Museum on Saturday.

I'm linking up to Carin's blog today for the 52 Weeks of Mom in the Photo project!

After my Spring Cleaning post last night I was surprised to wake up to several emails about it this morning.  Thought I'd answer a couple.

Jenny wrote: Bonnie - I love this idea! My house is cluttered and I'm never sure where to start.  How did you decide which room to start in last year?  Will you start there this year again? 

Last year I started in our mud room area right off the garage.  It's sort of a natural "beginning" to the house.  Next I moved to the mud room closet, the laundry room, the pantry, the kitchen, and just sort of made my way through the house from one end to the other.  Honestly though, I didn't get all the way through the house.  So this year I'm going to start at the other end (the boys' playroom) and work backwards.

Robin wrote:  Our family really needs to do something like this.  How involved were David and your children?

I am blessed with a husband who also prefers the house de-cluttered.  I left the larger jobs to David and involved him on a lot of decisions, but I took the bulk of the work on.  I felt this was a good mix because this was my Spring Cleaning book.  I'm the one that came up with 500 things that needed to be done around the house.  No need to require our weekends were spent getting my list done.  But I did involve the boys a lot.  A good example is the pantry.  We took every item out and wiped down the shelves, mopped really well, wiped down the baseboards (ew, they were dusty and gross), and put everything back.  The boys loved this activity.  Thankfully, cause that's a lot of food to be moving out and back in by myself!

Paula wrote:  How do you keep from getting overwhelmed by all those lists in the book?

Those of us who make lists know that getting it down on paper actually takes a lot of the overwhelm out of the scenario.  Once all the things that could be done are down on paper, then it's fun.  You just pick where you want to start and focus there instead of letting the other 499 things running around in your head distract you.  I made a very detailed list of every room.  I knew that if I didn't get to everything then I would be fine.  I was amazed at how much we did get to.  Simply put - lists keep me from being overwhelmed.

52 Weeks is a year long challenge for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. We are always the ones behind the camera, this is YOUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with your family. Your family will really enjoy having you in the picture. Now go take a picture!