It’s officially springtime, which means that you’ll be hearing from tons of neighbors, friends and family members about their attempts to clean out and declutter their homes in spirit of the obligatory “spring cleaning” ritual. I’m no different, as the season moves me to look around and consider the state of my somewhat messy home with its residual clutter from the holidays and the cooler months. On a good day I’ll work on a room or box up seasonal ornaments that might be lying around, but that’s because spring cleaning means more to me than cleaning house. To me, spring is the ideal time to cleanse the mind, body, and soul from the stressors that have plaguing me recently. It’s a time for me to use the beautiful setting of the fresh spring season as motivation to look at my life from a fresh light, to reconsider abandoned projects, to reconnect with friends and relations, and above all to appreciate life with renewed vigor. In a family context, spring cleaning and the spring season could mean any number of things. For parents, it’s a time to reflect on the themes of birth and renewal that exist in every household. Some parents might take the opportunity to celebrate the little ones in their lives as a way to get into the spirit of the season. After all, the unparalleled joy of having a child in your life is about the most obvious metaphor for birth and renewal that I can think of, and it’s something worth celebrating.

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