FlyLady

Have you guys heard of the FlyLady? I heard about her a while ago from one of the twin forums I was on and checked her out. At the time I thought it was just too much to do and set it on the back burner. It probably didn't help that I was sleep deprived with no energy at the time either.

So fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. (does that make sense? should I say rewind?) I was bored and frustrated with the mess in my house again and remembered the fly lady website. I went and checked it out and for some reason this time what I read was a lot more doable. She has this whole thing on baby steps and just doing a little bit at a time. Like literally in 5 minute increments if that's all you have. She states that it took you months to mess up your house so don't expect the mess to disappear in a day.

The first step she had was to shine your sink. Basically every night before you go to bed you clean your sink out (wash the dishes in it or put them in the dishwasher) and shine it up, so that when you get up in the morning your sink is nice and shiny. Its one less thing to worry about. You don't have to do anything other than shine your sink. And just work for 15 minutes or less. Anything you can't complete in 15 minutes doesn't have to get done until the next day.

She recommended trying it for a month, not even worrying about anything else. She's all about not getting burnt out on cleaning so that you can keep it up. Which is one of my biggest problems. I will keep everything clean for a week and then get so burnt out, it will take 3 weeks before I am ready to do it again.

So for the last 2 weeks I have been shining my sink. And its a little contagious. While you shine your sink, you start thinking about how easy it would be to wipe down the counters and put everything else away since you are already in the kitchen working. And you think well I have to empty the dishwasher to be able to shine the sink so I may as well do that too.

I set a timer for 15 minutes and was actually able to get all of that done in 15 minutes. Now I did lapse for a few days and my mind started feeling as cluttered as the house. So this week I started shining the sink again and it has gotten everyone else to clean without me asking.

For the kids, she has this thing called the "Riley Challenge". It basically gives them one little thing to do by them selves a day. So yesterday was pick up 10 things that are yours in the house and put it away in the right spot. The kids did it yesterday and were so proud when they finished. If they have more than 10 things they don't have to pick it all up. Just 10 things, I think it doesn't seem as daunting that way. And guess what? Today after school they cam and asked me what today's Riley challenge was. Is that not crazy? And they did it! It was to pick up any clothes in their room or closet and put them away in the right place.

I'll fill you in on more tomorrow. But I think if I can work this thing properly I might have a semi neat house in the end. And that is true craziness in this house. Its always a mess!