Abbey's Road: Spring-cleaning on spring break. Not the tropics but rewarding nonetheless

As I write this, our family’s spring break is officially in full swing.

I am not on a white, sandy beach with azure waters lapping at my feet or even sitting next to a pool where a strapping young gentleman is handing me a fancy drink garnished with a curly lemon rind or whatever.

On the contrary, today’s high was 43 degrees, and rather than the spray of saltwater on my face, I have braved almost-freezing rain under slate-gray skies on my way to and from Aldi; been invigorated by the whipping of the cold Ohio wind against my face; and reapplied my medicated hand lotion at least twice a day to my scaly hands that are dry from overwashing and general maltreatment.

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To some people, spring break means hopping on a plane and flying somewhere tropical for a respite from the gray skies; to us — this year or until we win the lottery — it means staycation with a side of spring-cleaning.

So needless to say, I set the bar pretty low in spring break discussions:

“OK, kids!” I enthusiastically announced to the crew on the first morning of break, clasping my hands together for effect as if they were in preschool and not 14, 11 and 7. “Does anyone know how we’re going to spend part of our spring break this week?”

“Going to Florida?” Bookworm inquired in a voice indicating she knew this would not, indeed, be the case. (She inherited my penchant for sarcasm.)

“Nah, too warm,” I said. “You guys don’t even like heat.”

“Getting a new kitty?” inquired Tiny, whose lifetime ambition is to be a Cat Lady in the apartment complex behind our house.

“Haha, we’ll think about it,” I responded before rapidly changing the subject.

“How about … spring-cleaning?” I finally asked with gusto. The smile on my face seemed like it was slowly crushing their souls, so I switched to an upbeat grimace.

You’ve never heard such groans, friends.

The truth is, it’s been a whirlwind of a few weeks. Our weekends have been occupied by figure skating competitions; we lost a cat; no one has been motivated to clean or do chores because we’ve been physically and emotionally exhausted; and while a trip to the tropics would be really nice, really we’d only be escaping the work that we need to do here at home.

(I know, I know; that’s the point! There’s nothing wrong with escaping, only that at some point whatever you’re running away from will catch up to you, and if you have a minute to face that reality head-on, sometimes it’s better just to tackle it.)

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My kids’ bedrooms are a literal representation of how chaotic life can get at times, and we decided that rather than ignore the chaos any longer, we would do the hard thing. Our bank account has already expressed its gratitude.

Little by little as the week has gone by, we have — as a family, each with their parts — tackled the projects that we’ve let slip in the busyness of life. The girls cleaned their rooms and sorted through their clothes. I attempted to get caught up on laundry and tidied the parts of the house whose messes I’d stopped seeing. Eventually we’ll take care of that pesky drain in the upstairs bathroom sink.

Boring, real-life stuff that needs to be addressed but you always have the excuse that you “just don’t have time.”

I know it’s not glamorous, cleaning on spring break. And to be clear, we’re incorporating other fun things close to home so as not to be total curmudgeons.

But on a deeper level, it feels great to not come home to messes. It’s relaxing to go to bed in a space that doesn’t look like a hurricane swept through. It’s nice to have a home base that is calm when the rest of the world can get crazy.

And although a trip to the tropics would have been nice, the gift of being able to open any given door in our home and not be overwhelmed by things we need to take care of is a nice little reward that didn’t actually cost a thing.

Would I turn down an opportunity to sit on a white, sandy beach with a fancy drink in my hand? Nope. But for now, this cup of coffee on the couch without seeing dust bunnies in the corner is a gift I can appreciate.

Abbey Roy is a mom of three girls who make every day an adventure. She writes to maintain her sanity. You can probably reach her at amroy@nncogannett.com, but responses are structured around bedtimes and weekends.

This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Spring-cleaning is a boring but necessary part of spring break