Spread the Word Wednesday

I have decided to mention the blogs/sites I read, why or how I started reading them, what I like, and if I think it is useful to others. So today's site is
http://flylady.net/

I first heard about the Fly Lady on a quilting site. I clicked on the link, and while the concept seemed interesting, I didn't really get into it. There's A LOT of info on the site and I just got bored wading thru. Then I found her book Sink Reflections and if you want to do her system I suggest you read the book first because it explains everything.

Fly stands for Finally Loving Yourself and the idea is to stop stressing. Make life as simple as possible. People who follow the FlyLady are called FlyBabies. The whole system works by cleaning your sink, then keeping it cleaning. Eventually, the rest of the house falls in line.

The FlyLady divides the house into zones and spends one week cleaning each zone very well. She also has a weekly house blessing so other household chores don't pile up, and missions to help with the chores that don't really fit into a zone like returning books to the library. The beauty of the weekly zone system is that NEVER again will you spring clean your house because every month you will have scrubbed the whole house from top to bottom.

The FlyLady's system has a lot of merit, but I had to do a little adapting to make it fit my needs. I only have one bathroom whereas the FlyLady has two. I have a storage room, but not a garage. The FlyLady has a front entrance zone and I used to clean my porch for that week, then I decided porches need their own zone. I also decided one week was a bit much for me, so I do a zone each day. That's what the 'Where to Clean?' box on the right of this blog is about.

The FlyLady system DOES work as long as you remember two very important things: 1.) You must plan your day and 2.) You must stick to the system! You can't take a day off, be lazy, or swap around zones. I was bad about swapping zones in the beginning because either I would forget what I was supposed to be doing or I would work myself to death. After I cleaned the kitchen I would move on to the bedroom and before I knew it I was exhausted. Quit when you're ahead!

My house still reverts to CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) but this almost always happens because I am too tired to stick to my routine. Right now it's happening because I have ten freaking black lab puppies peeing and pooping in the kitchen. I can't keep up. This morning I put them in the pen and started mopping. I got the floor almost clean, still had a few spots to scrub, and then I realized it was way too hot outside for little babies. They immediately peed on the floor as soon as I set them down. I'll try mopping again tomorrow. I am not going to kill myself lugging around buckets of water. The FlyLady advocates only doing what you can handle in one hour. This was another hard lesson for me because I want everything DONE.

The problem with housework is it's never done. Even if the house is spotless when you go to bed, the next morning you'll get up and do it all over again because humans create constant mess. We dirty plates and clothes. We roll around in bed and track dirt across the floor. That's life. I look for ways to make life easier. I try to eliminate clutter. Clutter takes up too much space. Clutter has to be moved around so make room for living. The more clutter you have, the more money you will spend taking care of it. Either you will buy more storage containers to hold the clutter, you will buy more cleaning products to maintain the clutter, or when something is lost in the clutter you will spend money to replace the item. I think very carefully before I bring anything into my house. Usually I take something out to make room for the new thing.

I think everybody has the right to a clean home. And everybody should know how to take care of their home. After all, houses don't clean themselves.

Tomorrow's post- how to keep house kitchen witch style.