Hitting the Reset Button

I found a link on another blog to this post about "resetting to zero." The author talks about cleaning the house, cleaning out his inbox, and checking off his to do list so he can basically start from scratch again.

It was an inspiring post. I often clean the house after I finish dogsitting, which entails a good vacuum, washing the sheets that the dogs lay on, wiping wet nose smudges from door windows, putting the extra dog paraphernalia away, and cleaning up the area in the kitchen where they eat/drink. That way, I can start fresh when the next dog comes.

When my boys were little and they'd visit their grandmother for an overnight, I'd reset by tidying up the house and cleaning the bathroom, because it made my husband and I feel human again, even if it was only for a night. (And no, I am not ashamed to say that I lived for those weekends. Having kids is HARD and we took all of the breaks we could get.)

We also reset to zero before we go on vacation. We change the bed sheets, make sure all of the laundry is done, the dishes are clean and put away, and the bathrooms are scrubbed clean so that when we get home, all we have to do is unpack. It can be a real pain to clean the house while you're trying to pack and get out the door, but the payoff is HUGE when we get back home.

Flylady calls it the "Weekly Home Blessing Hour," wherein you give the house a good once over each week to start off fresh. I prefer to do this on the weekends, although my husband and I disagree on the laundry. He thinks it should be done a load a day whereas I prefer to do it all on the weekend because I get in a groove and get it all done. But he does it often, so who am I to complain.

I think no one would argue that having a "reset" house is a wonderful feeling. And like the author of the post says, being a minimalist only makes resetting much easier to do. Maybe that's why spring cleaning is so popular?