It is also a way to start the year with a clean slate. By having your house extremely-important-guest ready, you are able to welcome the deity, as well as the good fortune that they bring.
The custom of osouji dates back to the Heian period (from 794 to 1192)! It is pretty interesting to ponder this fact while scrubbing the top of the fridge. I felt like I was scrubbing 1,200 years worth of dust off the top of mine today!
People don't just deep clean their home. Schools and businesses also participate in the tradition by marking a specific date on the calendar and everyone participates. I helped at my son's school on Monday where all the kids and staff were busy scrubbing shelves and other items that tend to be overlooked in the routine cleaning sessions. Of course I wasn't required to participate, but I don't mind lending a helping hand and it really makes a difference in the appearance of the school. I even noticed the principal pitching in. No one is exempt from this important tradition.
When I told my son this morning that we would be focusing on cleaning today, his eyes lit up. He asked if we could make cards for each chore and then blindly choose which chore we were going to do. I thought it was a fabulous suggestion, so we sat down and made the cards. He drew pictures of the room and I wrote a list of what we would do in that room.
It might sound strange to some that my son gets really excited about cleaning, but it is the norm in our household. Since he was very young, I have encouraged him to help around the house. We often discuss the importance of teamwork (mommy is too tired to do fun things if she is responsible for all the cooking and cleaning, working together means there is energy left for playing). I've also made it a point to swallow my pride and let him do things by himself. He might not do as good of a job at sweeping (or whatever chore he is trying) as I do, but he has fun doing it and he improves every time he takes on the task.
In the kitchen I had the tasks of wiping off the top of the fridge and top shelf; wiping out the bottom of the drawers; organizing the shelf under the oven; removing everything from the counters and wiping it down; and mopping the floor. I was able to hand my son things from high up instead of going up and down off the chair I was using as a ladder. He helped remove everything from drawers and lay them out in the same order so it was easy to put everything back quickly. He organized the shelf under the oven all by himself while I worked on the top of the fridge. He helped me moved everything from the counters and then begged me to let him mop.
My time in the kitchen could have easily doubled without his assistance. Since he's been helping me for so long, I know how I can easily give him part of my job that will both teach him skills and make the burden of work less on me.
We got through about one third of the cards today. We will do some more tomorrow. Just like today, we'll put on music with a good beat and help each other with the task at hand. And we will have fun doing it together.
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