Yesterday was FINALLY the last day of school here in my part of Alberta, Canada. I know many of you have already been out for awhile but here we go till the end of June and take July and August off. So we are done and I am fried and my house is a wreck. The month of June was so busy that I had to let things slide in the house a little bit. I felt like I went into survival mode to get through each day and what remains as a result is a whole lot of clutter and a massive amount of dust bunnies. Oh and let’s not forget the paper piles. All the paper that comes home from school at the end of the year is ready to bury me alive. BUT I will win this battle. Oh yes I will because, before any member of my family gets to relax and start the lazy days of summer, I am declaring TODAY take back the house day.
Oh yes I am.
As you can imagine my kids think this is a great idea. Ha!
I’d rather do one hard day of clutter control and clean up than let everything fester in my mind of what needs to be done while trying to do little bits here and there throughout the summer. No thanks.
Let’s get it done and then we can RELAX!
And take a delicious nap…or two.
One hard day for many days of fun without a care in the world.
It can be done.
We’ve already done a deep clean of the rec room and rearranged some things in there to freshen the space up. Next are the kid’s bedrooms.
Later tonight, after we’ve carefully gone through the school paper piles and selected our favorites to keep, we will have a big fire in the pit in our backyard to burn all the rest.
I can’t wait, it’s going to be great because once the day is done we’ll truly be ready to enjoy the next two months of summer. Woohoo!!
Do you need to declare a take back the house day?
Care to join me?
Related post:
Why I Toss Most of My Son’s School Work at the End of the School Year
Barb says
I highly agree with this. I did something similar with my 2 girls. We did it in 3 days, 1 day one daughter’s room, 2nd day the other daughter’s room and then finally the main living area. Of course they didn’t want to, but it was amazing how many things they found that they thought they lost.
amybee says
Yes! We finished school, immediately went on vacation and then entertained house guests. There are a lot of piles around the house. I didn’t have a name for it until now but am now declaring tomorrow “take back the house day”! Knock it out, then we can hit the pool.
Paula - Buenos Aires says
One week till our winter holidays. 😀
We are having an exchange student staying with us for his two months of summer school holidays so we´ve been through a deep deluttering, organzing and decorating kick this year:) One mad dash left untile he arrives.
Alissa H. says
Yes – except my house is in such total disarray that it is take back the house MONTH! My trash man loves me… Ha! But seriously, every space I reclaim just motivates me farther for the next space. It feels GREAT!
Heather says
I am completely with you! Get everyone involved, take a day to get the majority of things around the house, and then a couple of days of fun in the sun with kids! Great article, thank you!
Bonnie says
Oh yeah! Love your idea! I may have to extend it to take back week at my house but reading your post gives me the energy to tackle the clutter and paper. For my kids art projects I’m trying out something new. It is called Artkive app-take pics of work and order book-then get rid of paper.
Marilyn says
Great idea and one I am totally joining in on! Thought I would have a garage sale this summer, but am nixing that idea – just sharing and donating = faster way to clutter free!
Kimberley says
I love this idea! I don’t have kids in school yet but whenever I am working on a big project my house always suffers and a “take back the house day” sounds like a good idea…..sometimes it takes a week or two for me to get it back together!
se7en says
WE did this last weekend and it was SO SO worth it… slow and steady might win the race but sometimes you need to just do it all in a day. It was life changing – normally I try and do it all in between everyday living… but devoting one day to it meant we could all be on board and work together!!!
More Than A Mom says
I need to do this also. I think I want to keep the Grade 1 work units from my daughter though to get her to practice with her over the summer.
Why do they send so much paper all at once? I can handle it way better when it comes in dribs and drabs throughout the year! LOL
Tiffany says
Great job! I love the phrase “take back the house”. It’s currently written on the whiteboard in the command center, and I’ve completed two major organization projects since writing it.
Sounds like this is your version of “spring” cleaning!
The Cocktail Lady says
I call ours National Clean The House Day! It’s great when everyone pitches in to help get it done faster. Hope you are enjoying your summer!