The sense of satisfaction

I invested a couple hours today to clean out the Princess' room.

A couple hours you may be asking yourselves.

Yes.

A couple hours.

I weeded through her bookshelf. Took out books that are well below her current reading level. Took out bits and pieces of junk that have made their way onto her shelves. Funny how things just find their way on those 3 shelves. Amazes me.

I also took some time to clear out stuff under her bed. Not a bunch of stuff. Just things have fallen out of her baskets and such. I vacuumed underneath as well.

I threw all of her stuffed animals into one pile in the middle of her room. I called her in and made her decide which ones she wants to keep and which ones she'd be parting with. We got rid of almost half of them. Thankfully, a few of those she chose to let go are the BIG ones. I vacuumed the ones she chose to keep and sprayed them with Lysol. I put all the "animals" into one corner pile and put her reading couch next to it. This way when she reads she's next to her buds. What was cool was going through the large pile of stuffed animals and finding old friends. I saw (and kept) two of her first stuffed animals named Rainbow and Pastel. I also found one of her favorite comfort items when she just started kindergarten. She actually had two little stuffed dogs that she would carry around with her -- Chocolate (brown dog) and Vanilla (white dog). I found Chocolate and he's now been cleansed.

I also took down a couple posters the Princess put on her door when we first moved into the house 4 years ago. A Disney Princess poster and a My Little Pony poster. I then took down the cloth Princesses that I starched up on her one wall. Bye Ariel! Bye Cinderella! Bye Snow White! Even though we still call her Princess, my girl has definitely grown past that stage in her life. [sniffle]

As I came downstairs with my cleaning supplies and trash, I made sure to let the Hubs know I was done.

Me: You'd better go upstairs and take a look at her room now. It's clean. Who knows how long it'll last.
Princess: Probably an hour or two. [said with a twinkle in her eye]
Me: Did you hear her?
Hubs: What did she say?
Me: She said it'll only stay clean an hour or two so you'd better hustle your bustle and check it out.

But her room smells fresh and clean now. Her room is now ready for this new stage in her life. The Tween years. I know she's ready. I wonder if I am?