May 10 is Clean Up Your Room Day

Today is Clean Up Your Room Day. Our research into this so-called holiday has failed to uncover its inventor. We’re willing to bet it was devised by a clean person to pummel a messy one.

The concept of “spring cleaning” is nothing new. In the days before electricity, people burned wood for heat and used oil lamps for light. With their houses closed against the cold of winter, soot accumulated on surfaces. On the first warm day of spring, families would open their windows and doors to let fresh air in, then dust, mop, beat rugs and scrub walls.

Technically, Clean Up Your Room Day occurs more than halfway through the traditional spring season in the Northern Hemisphere. (It’s autumn in the Southern Hemisphere.) But that’s no excuse to avoid rolling up your sleeves. Put stuff away. Make a pile of donations and feel good knowing someone else will enjoy the things you pass on. Now, the hard part: dust, vacuum and mop. You have our permission not to scrub the walls.

After you discover how wonderful it is to have a clean room, the instigator will extract a promise to keep it that way. Taking bets on how long it will take to abandon efforts and return to your slovenly ways is best done in secret, especially if the neatnik in question is your mother, who has the power to ground you, revoke privileges and generally make your life a living hell. In this case, we assume you’re a teenager. If you’re over, say, 30, and still living at home, you may be the thing that needs to be cleaned out of your room.

Happy Clean Up Your Room Day!