Tip Tuesday: Preparing our home….to leave for vacation!!!
Whenever I am leaving for vacation, there is the inevitable packing list and thing to do. (I will blog about both of these later.)
But this post is about all those last minute things we can do to make our house a happier place to return too.
(I will tease you with a shot of where I am…)
Ok….I digress …but this is what I envisioned as I frantically cleaned my house and prepared to move to a new house for a week.
If you haven’t thought about some of these ideas before, try it!
See if it doesn’t make you feel better!
Mentally prepare for breakfast. Have you ever gone away on vacation and you pull into the driveway to remember there is no milk for the baby? The pure exhausion of the trip summons you inside the house and behind the locked door. You are done. The kids can drink soda and lick the chocolate off a few granola bars for all you care….well…until tomorrow morning when you are hating life. haha. So my advice is grab a few items that you will need that will NOT go bad in a week. I am grabbing some eggs, milk, cheese, butter, apple sauce and bread. I figure my kids can eat some scrambled, cheesy eggs with a slice of toast and a side of apple sauce and be pretty happy til I can grab a few items for lunch and beyond.
Empty every trash bin in the house. Have you ever left your home for a few days and you return and it smells like pee. And then you discovered the baby’s diaper in a trash can or the fish from dinner before you left. Get everything emptied. I go through all the bathrooms and empty everything.
Ask your neighbor to take your trash to the end of the driveway or curb on trash day. Let’s be honest…you don’t want to smell that trash after a week in the sun and neither does your neighbor. Plus, an empty trash can at the curb screams, “We are not home!!” Make sure you also ask him/her to put the trash can back at the end of the day.
Have all the kids make their beds. Then surprise them and put out a little piece of candy on everyone’s pillow for the return. How exciting would this be to walk into your room to a fun little treat??!!! and come on the kids…..they would love it??!! It’s like being in the hotel all over again!
Make sure to empty your washing machine. There are few things as bad as mildewed laundry sitting in your washing machine a few days or a week!!! I try to make my last load, before I head out, dishcloths or washcloths. They are notorious for hanging around the bathroom and kitchen. Make sure you toss these in the dryer before you leave. These don’t need to be folded nor will you worried about them being wrinkled.
Swifter the kitchen floor. I hate a gross floor and I love the smell of febreze swifter pads. So…once you get all those kids strapped in and the car/van is packed. Run back in and do a quick swifter around the kitchen. Trust me…you will be so glad that you did. =)
Clear out your fridge…especially your leftovers, vegetables and fruit. You might be able to avoid this step if you have done an excellent job with meal planning. I always have some stuff leftover, so….I like to bring over a little bunch of veggies and leftover fruit to my next door neighbor.
Clear out your garden. If you have a summer garden like I do, your tomatoes are still doing well. I had the Fashionista drop a one gallon ziploc bag full of cherry tomatoes off to our neighbor before our left. She was so ecstatic! So great to brighten her day while keeping my garden clean and mushy tomato free.
Well, I’m off to enjoy my vacation here in Corolla!
I will check in with you later for the part two of this post: what to pack!!
God Bless,
Tammi
