I don’t know if it is harder for me to hide my disappointment or contain my excitement when summer comes to an end.  As much as I love getting outside whenever possible if the weather is good, I find my house gets pretty neglected.  When the kids are back in school, we seem to have a few more minutes in our day.  There are so many things that can fill that time, but we are never more motivated to be productive as when our children go back to school after taking our time all summer.  I have created a list to help get my house back in order and thought  sharing it would be helpful to all those moms out there.  The list doesn’t take too long to accomplish, then you can get back to the business of being a mom of school children with a nice clean house.  Who says spring is the best time for cleaning out your domicile. 

1. Clean out the refrigerator.  This is more than tossing old food.  Take out the shelves and drawers.  Clean off the milk drips and crumbs that have fallen to the bottom.  Going through your fridge will give you more room for school lunch components and find all of the jelly jars that can be used up.  Be sure to use, then throw out empty jelly, olive and pickle jars, etc.
2. Defrost freezer the in the kitchen and in the garage if you have one - organize the foods contained therein.  Of course, you have been labeling and dating the foods you have stored, if not, it is time to begin.  Be sure nothing is older than 3 to 6 months depending on the food stuffs.  Quality begins to dwindle even if safety isn’t at stake.
3. Spices have a shelf life.  Make a list of the spices you have on hand and take a look at the jars.  Smell them, taste them and replace the ones that have been with you too long.  
4. Sort and remove clothes that won’t be worn again.  The start of school usually brings a new fall wardrobe.  There are plenty of summer clothes that didn’t survive well or will not fit next summer, so donate them.  
5. Clean out the toy box.  I don’t need to explain this one, but remember, Christmas is around the corner and culling the toy herd will serve you well in a few months.
6. Organize the book shelves.  Remove books that are too young and bring more challenging books to the front.  Your children will be excited to discover they can read and understand books they had not tried before.
7. Sort your Board games and puzzles that aren’t in the toy area
8. Change your vacuum bag or clean out the canister.
9. Vacuuming vents - the heating system will be firing up shortly, why not clean it in the time between air conditioning and heating. And don't forget the dryer vent.
10. Clean the rugs. it won’t be long before winter brings in it’s own carpet terrors, but you can enjoy the clean house in the months before holiday entertaining.
11. Store away summer toys that will only be in the way until spring, kites, pool toys, etc.
12. Finally, assess the wine rack.  Organize any new wines that need drinking, sort older wines that are coming to their peak and invite your other mom friends over to help you do away with them.  Be sure school pick up won’t be compromised, but do enjoy the afternoon.