Clean(ish) Sweep

One of the things I planned to do during Someone's absence was clean the Evil Genius's room.  I think I managed it...mostly...but only with the help of an incredibly good friend who rode herd on Sprout while the Evil Genius went and stayed at his dad's for a couple of days.  Without Angie's assistance, I would still be at it...or sitting in the corner, weeping...holy wow, she did Yeoman's duty for sure!

It took more than twenty hours over four days.

Here it is an hour after I began, when I remembered I wanted some "before" shots, which I usually forget:

 The bed hasn't had actual sheets on it for...umm...please don't alert the authorities...more than a year.  I could not get to it to make it, and the boy didn't mind nesting in blankets camp-style.  I know, I know...

 No wonder most of his clean laundry wound up on the floor - who could reach the dresser in there?

 Here it is a few hours in:

 Hey, there's a floor under there!

 I realized today that it has been more than two years since I cleaned in his room.  The mess began, as many messes do, with some visiting friends and some enthusiastic playing with Legos, K'Nex, and various other toys.  How many Legos?  A shop's worth.  I plan to photograph the bins another day.  They were dumped on the floor for play, then the friends left, and the mess stayed.  It was daunting to clean up, and after a while the Evil Genius gave up and just started piling things up, and...well...  Why didn't I do it?  Could be I am a Slacker Mom.  Could be there was a battle of wills,  Or...and I'm being honest, here...most likely it was that when I looked in there and contemplated cleaning it all up, I felt ill and had to lie down until the nausea passed.

The Legos, K'nex, and other tiny things were what took so long - sifting through dust and trash and bits of this 'n that took time.  He knows he's lucky I didn't just sweep the lot up and toss it.

Here it is at 11:00 Monday night:

 The bins under the bed and the basket by the door are the toys and games that survived the cleaning.  I was tough but fair - if it was broken, torn, missing parts, or had clearly been lost in that disaster for so long it wasn't even a memory, it was bagged.  Five large black trash bags are bulging to the limit.  I will slowly sort through the bins and put things away.  For now, though, I need to be done - my back aches, I am listing to starboard, and I itch from stem to stern.

Look to the right of the bed - that is Stuffed Critter Mountain.  He clearly needs more.

 The book shelf may have surpassed its load limit.

Still to do:  sort through the bins, wash, dry, and put away (conservatively) ten loads of laundry, and clean the closet.  The closet?  Oy, vey, I dont have the strength right now.  The closet will have to wait another day!  For now, I am happy that I could zip on a new mattress cover and make the bed.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I need a hot shower and twelve hours of sleep.  I'll get the shower, anyway...