•April 8, 2026•

by DM Willaimee

Spring is a time of year when change is in the air. Trees are budding, plants are flowering, and homes laden with dark or heavy fabrics and clutter could use some lightening up. Winter was long, with spring comes mud, and many people find their moods lifted in clean and uncluttered spaces.

Spring is an excellent time to take inventory of your living space. By decluttering, cleaning, and organizing, you can create better home comfort as well as efficiency. Some people find the prospect of getting organized overwhelming, but it can be a cathartic effort that is rewarding. Here are some ideas that can help make your spring cleaning efforts less difficult and daunting.

Have a plan of attack with some bright-line objectives. Focus on areas that are not regularly cleaned-they likely require more attention, and more attention equates to more time. 

Assemble your cleaning supplies. Spring cleaning can be slowed down if you don’t have everything you need at hand. Basic items to have are an all-purpose cleaner, a concentrated cleaner, microfiber cloths, old newspaper, paper towels, rags, a mop, a vacuum, dusters, and a squeegee. Also, having degreasers, melamine foam ‘erasers’, scrub brushes, buckets, polishes, and other items on hand helps prevent a trip to the store before you move on to another task.

•April 8, 2026•

Op Ed by DM Williamee

With the advent of dial-up in the everyday household, youth and adults alike were quickly obsessed with what this new ‘magic box’ was capable of. The cosmic excitement before this was when the graphics, player options, and newer stylized game controllers for video games like Halo and Grand Theft Auto became more pixelated. I, however, was the mean mom. Having used the internet in the workplace, I quickly became aware that now you could literally strike a few keys and click a mouse and have the world at your feet, whether via instant messaging (with people you had to trust were who they said they were), Ask Jeeves, or email. And that was the problem. 

My economics professor told my class that if something was either 100% free or too easy to obtain, we were likely either the bait or the end product. How true, so many years later in this AI age, that his words of advice have proven to be true. As the mean mom, I had a 30-30-30 rule in my home. 30 minutes reading, 30 minutes gameplay or television (pick one), and 30 minutes on the computer, placed in the dining room so I could keep an eye on who was doing what, and when. Reading was not optional. No reading, no magic box time. My teen and ‘tween daughters let me know how cruel and unfair I was frequently, loudly, and even argued that I was stunting their tech growth and education. I reminded them that an hour of interfacing with something non-human each day was my hard line. Take it or leave it, my house, my rules. They, of course, took it.