Spring Cleaning

Today marked an annual tradition at Chez J-E, spring cleaning. No, not of the house (shame on you for even THINKING that), but of the outdoor toys and paraphernalia. Because spending three hours outdoors in early spring is JUST what the doctor ordered for those suffering from sinus issues. Ahem.

Anyway, for the past few days the kids have been playing outside with all of the shovels and pails and golf clubs and trucks and balls that encompass our slightly eccentric collection of toys that live in the great outdoors. And every day, I look at the filth and think "I really need to clean those." And then I think "Next fall, I must remember to clean the toys at the END of the season and then store them IN the garage instead of leaving them strewn all over the lawn and deck for squirrels to play with, because really, it would be SO much easier to just open up the garage on the first nice day and have clean toys." And THEN I sit there and ponder why our lawn is such a squirrel magnet and forget all about the toys that need to be cleaned.

But it was finally nice enough today that I got inspired and decided that instead of sitting in the window contemplating the filthy toys, I would join the kids outdoors with a bucket of sudsy water and a box of Mr. Clean Magic Erasers. And so I began to scrub. And scrub, and scrub some more.

Of course, once I got going, the kids decided that they were done outside and headed inside to wreak havoc in the playroom and wave out the window every few minutes "Mom! It isn't sparkly shiny yet! Keep scrubbing!" They are so helpful, my kids. But then I realized that it was kind of nice and peaceful out there all by myself, and if I just ignored the fact that every indoor toy in the house was being assembled into a "gigantic contraption of amazing proportions," I was actually having a lovely afternoon, sinuses and all.

Since I was having such a peaceful afternoon cleaning, I started scrubbing the outdoor toy box, the windows, and the folding chairs. I even thought really hard about starting in on the picnic table and chairs, but then remembered that oxyclean spray had done wonders on the chairs last year, so continuing would require a run to the grocery store. And I wasn't THAT inspired to continue scrubbing. Thus ended the annual spring cleaning day.

So come, play in our backyard! The toys are clean! A few are verging on sparkly shiny! You can even sit on a clean folding chair! But please, don't use the bathroom, OK? Better if you just go at home...