Summer Cleaning with the Kids

I know this probably sounds like a total buzz kill, but within the first few weeks of Jordan and Jamie being home on summer break, we take a day or two (okay, sometimes longer, depending on the damage) to clean their rooms in preparation for the summer season.

We start the process with the dumping of Jamie’s overstuffed backpack and Jordan’s bulging book bag and Pendaflex in the center of the guest room: All usable school supplies are packed away for the upcoming year, and I take the time to review each and every piece of paper to decide which ones make it into the memory boxes for the past school year.

Some of the best advice I ever received is to take digital pictures of all your children’s artwork as well as odd-sized class projects that will be difficult to store for the long haul without risking damage to them. Depending on volume, these individual photos can then be converted to an artsy-style coffee table book of all your children’s work by grade level.

Next we move on to their closets and dresser drawers: At the end of each summer I make the same mistake and assume my children will not outgrow 99% of the clothing I pack away for them for the following summer. I must admit, though, if Jamie ever wanted to join the Village People, his sleeveless t-shirt that barely covers his chest would help him fit right in.

After all saved clothing is tried on and placed back in a new bag marked ‘donate,’ we move on to all the current clothing hanging in the closet and various shoes that should no longer be seen in public due to permanent stains, larger than life rips and tears, personal graffiti and general outgrowth and pitch them directly in the ‘do not recycle’ pile.

With all these bags moved out of the way and packed in the minivan or the garage, room is now available to back in the bulldozers and clear walkways on the floor for Phase III – A Place for Everything and Everything in its Place.

Beds are stripped down to the mattresses and summer blankets and sheets take the place of fuzzy flannels. All flat surfaces are cleared and dusted, and miners’ hats with lights are donned to clear out the clutter temporarily ‘stored’ under the beds.  Clothes that remain go back to dresser drawers and closet hangars, new pictures go on the walls and this year each bedroom will be treated to a new coat of paint.

Jordan and Jamie’s goal for the remainder of the summer is to then keep their bedrooms as close to Phase III as possible, with beds made every morning and books, toys and general mayhem kept in their appropriate bins.  With so much free time on our children’s hands over the next few months, every parent should set the summer bar high and dream big.

What? No, I have not been snorting sunscreen.