Big Momma is Cleaning House

Many have heard of spring cleaning, but at my house we have spring and fall cleaning, and it was this weekend. I have recovered from my surgery to a certain degree and with frequent rests I was ready to tackle it. I had cleaned out my closet -- not to the extent I would have liked, but I tried it a couple of weekends ago. The cleansing for this weekend started yesterday with stripping down the beds, and as I was bending over and the waist putting the sheets on my four year old son's bed, he walks in and says, "Watcha doin' big momma?" Yes, I thought it was funny. He's also been known to ask me if a woman he sees in public is a "hoochie momma." A sense of humor is a must when raising kids because it wasn't long after the big momma remark that Pearce had one of his meltdowns.

At any rate, the house for the most part has been cleaned, and this evening's agenda? The daunting task of cleaning out the kids rooms. I clean out summer clothes, put them in tubs to be used for hand-me-downs, supply the closet with fall and winter clothes, inventory what is needed, and then I clean their closets out of the ridiculous toys from Sonic, trivial toys of no value, or toys that Pearce has taken apart. I don't know how he can dismantle little cars, toys, books, and flashlights which are his specialty. Right up until the last hurricane, we didn't have one working flashlight in the house. We found one that was missing the springs that held the batteries, one was missing the bulb, one was missing the back that held the batteries in place, and yet another was missing the batteries and the lens. We have now hidden a cache of flashlights and pray he can't manipulate the chairs to get to them. In Pearce's room, I also found a transformer that had been taken apart, tires removed from the wheels of cars, and puzzle pieces that had been used for other things.

In Erin's closet I found a stack of papers plates and some unused q-tips. She keeps the most minute items and covets them as being precious belongings. We lightened her load by taking 1/2 of her stuffed animals to take to church to donate to an orphanage in Guatemala. By the time, I got threw there were 2 garbage bags of what I considered trash.

They are so creative to use toys they have and make them into something altogether different. Granted, when we want to complete a puzzle we are inevitably missing at least 1 piece. But all the toys have been put in their proper home. We have collected toys that haven't been played with in order to donate. I take Erin to the Shreveport Rescue Mission to deliver the toys. I want her to know there are people with so much less and we need to be careful to be grateful for what we have.

One of Erin's new (hand-me-down) nightgowns is a pink, satin, dreamy gown. She has been floating around the house claiming to be a fairy blowing us kisses as she says good-night. She informed me that fairy's don't sleep with nightlights or with their doors open, so she does not need me to do those for her tonight nor does she need me to check on her. I assure her that I would not leave her door open or turn on her nightlight, but it was my prerogative to check on her as I am her mother. What a riot!

Oh, the joys of parenting!