3 bags and 7 boxes full.–That’s how many clothes I emptied from my kids’ rooms. I sorted a few to sell, made $60, set aside a box of some of my favorites from Lil’ J’s fashionable toddler days for my niece, and hauled the rest out to my front porch for a group looking for donations this week.

I don’t get the urge to clean often, but when I do, I sometimes go crazy.

Last weekend it hit. You’d think I was 40 weeks pregnant and nesting, getting ready to move or something with the way I was decluttering closets and cabinets, and putting stuff in boxes. I said goodbye to dozens of adorable clothes they’d outgrown, heck, clothes I’ve outgrown. And other things around the house that we just didn’t need anymore. Doesn’t keep my kids from wanting to dig through the boxes and finding stuff they’ve “missed” like these hats I pulled out for their cousins.

I had one cabinet full of old baby food, bottles, cups, and a bunch of other stuff jammed in there. You weren’t safe from things flying at you if you opened it. I organized that entire cabinet! Now it’s shelves are neatly lined with sippy cups and kits plates. No baby expired baby food in sight.

Then this morning I went to town on the medicine cabinet. Like baby food, I had quite a bit of expired medicines, old prenatals and breastfeeding vitamins. Oh man, it’s nice to be done with that.

I cleared out and organized that cabinet. I put all of our medicines in a little old shipping box (until I get a cuter basket) so they’re easier to find and won’t fall all over the place. I didn’t realize there was a special way to handle expired medicine disposal, but you’re suppose to mix your old and expired medicine with an absorbing substance like used coffee grounds or kitty litter. We don’t drink coffee or have a cat so…? I was getting ready to just have my husband take it with him to work–Surely they had something like that there. But I looked up a place to toss controlled substances and there’s a place just up the road at a drugstore (which also has an ice cream soda shop, win-win!).

I’ll bring our old medicine and the kids there after school to get a treat and make a lesson out of it. Follow us on Snapchat (JenniferBorget) and Instagram (BabyMakingMachine) to see that go down.

So now I’m feeling pretty good. We haven’t been able to see the floor in my son’s closet since we moved into this house. Now there’s lots of space! We made lots of room in my daughter’s closet for new clothes that I hope to make and buy. Why yes, all this cleaning has made me want to sew! Though I think I should go through my craft bin next and get rid of all of the stuff I’ve been holding on to for way too long.

So I guess I’ve been missing out on the spring cleaning hype all these years, but I’m here for it now. You know how much I love cleaning. Aren’t you proud of me?

Have you gotten down with spring cleaning lately?

*I love finding ways to keep my family safe that I otherwise wouldn’t have known about, which is why I’ve partnered with Know Your OTCs on this post. 

Tags: expired medicine disposal, kyotc, spring cleaning