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I don’t know if you’d call it a Christmas tradition really but every November I spend the third weekend preparing for Christmas – that’s this weekend for 2011.

I don’t do other things that weekend and get the kids out of the house as much as possible (my parents take them on the Saturday every year) so I can concentrate on my to do list:

  1. sort all the loose socks – pairs get put away and most others go in the rag bag or a charity bag

    Putting away books

    There’s a certain satisfaction having books lined up neatly 🙂

  2. empty the kitchen pantry and put things back neatly, noting what things can be used in the next week or so to clear more space. Anything not likely to be used gets put into a charity bag (often there’s a box at school around now to collect them)
  3. empty the fridge and freezer. Again, things go back in neatly after I review what’s there and plan the next week’s menu accordingly
  4. tidy the cupboards and shelves in the lounge room – putting people’s stuff back in their room and other things into the rubbish or charity bags. What’s left is put in neatly
  5. I sort my then toys, too. Pulling aside things they’ve grown out of (usually that means moving on to the next child) and removing broken things (to repair where feasible, throw out otherwise)
  6. If I have any time left (which I never do!), my plan is to sort through clothes drawers to remove anything to small or too worn.
Cleaning the house in November gives me mental and physical space to enjoy (and survive!) December!Click To Tweet
image of Santa, baubles and red stockings on a dark background

Even Santa has to deal with lost socks!

This really is about Christmas, not just a spring cleaning, as it gives me space for Christmas things (stocking up on food stuffs for Christmas events and places for new gifts to be stored after Christmas) and also gives me some mental space and energy to cope with December and the whirlwind it always becomes in our house. Of course, it also makes tidying the house easier during December when we have more visitors so that helps, too.

 

I don’t do normal housework for the weekend and only give the emptied cupboards and fridge a cursory clean as I go – I focus on the stuff rather than cleaning and find I can get through a lot.

I’m not a clean freak (at no other time of the year do I do housework stuff for more than an hour at a time!) but I find this really sets us up nicely for Christmas so thought I’d share the idea for others to use. And now I am psyched up, my glass of wine is finished so I’m off to find all loose socks in the house…

 

Images courtesy of 123rf.com