COME FLY WITH ME

Shhhh! Don't tell anyone, but I have a secret. Thanks to Pamela (of Red, White & Grew fame), I now have my very own personal House Fairy, and she's doing her damnedest to conquer the CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) in my home.

She comes to me courtesy of a wonderful website called Fly Lady, and the most amazing thing about her is not that she doesn't cost a cent, but that she somehow manages to make it all seem, well, fun! I'm still just a Fly Baby, which means I'm working my way through a month's worth of baby steps - each day I add one tiny, very basic, thing to my routine, and practice the things I have already learned, until they all become so ingrained that I don't even have to think about them. And when I say basic, I mean basic - she starts by telling you to get up and get dressed, "down to the lace-up shoes". Surprisingly, that does make a difference in your attitude.

The lessons come to you via daily emails, which include things like Ask Fly Lady, and your Flight Plan For the Day, including the zone for the week with a job per day for that zone, habit for the month, and special day of the week chore - like Thursday is errand day, and Friday is declutter your purse and car day. Kinda reminds me of those old embroidery samplers that had one chore for each day of the week, and a day of rest on Sunday. If only life was still that uncomplicated, right?

Fly Lady has a couple of mottos that I really like. One is "You are never behind. We don't want you to try to catch up. Just jump in wherever you are." The other is "My timer is my best friend." That is because she figures anybody can probably stand doing something for 10 or 15 minutes, and she doesn't want you to try to do it all at once - you'll just get frustrated and give up! So set your timer for 10 or 15 minutes, and work on one of your "hot zones." Then walk away.

If only this had been available to me when my kids were small, they would probably have much different attitudes about home-caring today. Another thing inluded in the daily emails is the occasional testimonial (this thing has developed a huge fan base!) and one woman wrote in about how she had always hated housework, until now. Fly Lady replied, "Let me tell you why cleaning has always put you in a foul mood.

1. Your parents used it as punishment.
2. You never cleaned to their standards. Not Perfect enough for them.
3. You were forced to do it over!
4. Then when you married, it became a battle ground. Why should you do it! Keeping score!
5. Cleaning always got in the way of your play time

I am so proud of you for changing your attitude! When you get your homework done; you can go out and play! As you have found, making cleaning fun is easy with your timer. We love to play! "

Not only did that sum up the way things were in my household growing up, it was also the reason I always hated so-called "yard work", and didn't discover the love of gardening until my mid-forties. So, since I wanted gardening to be fun for my kids, I was smart enough never to use garden chores as punishment. They were welcome to join in and learn alongside me, but it was never forced. Unfortunately, I never quite figured out how to make housework fun for them - but this website does!

Well, time to go "get dressed down to the lace-up shoes", and check to see what new baby step I will learn today. TTFN!

P.S. Many thanks to lovemarks.com for the above image.