Well, I did it. And it wasn’t too too painful either. The big clothing swap.

This past week, we’ve taken a spring break of sorts. We had just completed nine straight weeks of school with no field trips, no fun, no days off. Work, work, work. We needed some down time.

I picked a good week, too. The temperatures soared into the 70s on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Yesterday it was cold, blustery, and ended up sleeting in the evening. We enjoyed some time at the playground, had a picnic at the park with friends, and pulled bikes, skateboards and roller blades out of the garage and into the alleyway for hours of good exercise.

I stripped all the beds and washed everything – comforters and blankets too. Moved beds and dressers to vacuum underneath and behind. Removed broken toys and other junk to the big garbage can, and collected 6 bags of clothes and 2 bags of toys to drop off at the thrift store.

And that’s just the upstairs.

The warm days were great for airing out the house, and then the last cold, rainy day was perfect for scrubbing grime off white bedroom furniture (no fantastic weather luring us outdoors and away from chores). But of course, with only winter apparel in our drawers and closets, the kids began begging me to get out the summer clothes.

It’s mid-March. It’s northern Virginia. This is not the Deep South. Wednesday: 78 degrees. Friday: 38 degrees. In another month, perhaps, the kids will regularly be wearing shorts and t-shirts and sundresses, but even then, sweaters and long pants will need to be kept available for rainy days or chilly evenings. And I had already planned my big clothing swap for the first week of April – right before we head off to sunny Florida and Alabama.

But then again, I look at all of Fritz’s pants which are about a half-inch too short, and his “church” pants no longer fit. The kids will need stuff for Easter and for vacation, and did I really want to be scrambling that week doing shopping instead of packing and battening down the hatches? And so, I took a deep breath and dove in. As expected, Fritz needs everything from tennis shoes to a bathing suit (except for t-shirts…I actually made him give some away). And Jenny needs nothing except for sandals and a pair of light-weight tights. I’m relieved the chore is mostly done – still some heavy clothes in the laundry or the dressers because it is still winter. And I have several weeks to get to the stores and find some good deals.

Today, I’ll finish scrubbing the crib rails which were shockingly yucky and haul the giveaway bags to the car (if I can sneak them out without the kids noticing). And I’ll try to get my husband to help me with one remaining closet in our room with mostly his stuff (just to straighten it up). Next week, we’ll go back to school, but I’ll begin working on my downstairs spring cleaning. Two and a half weeks until vacation time!!!!