Time to Clean – Becoming a FlyLady

If you are anything like me, I have a hard time wanting to clean my house.  I don’t enjoy cleaning at all.  Growing up, my mom did it right.  She had it set up that Lisa and I had jobs to do to clean the whole house by the time she came home from work.  I dusted and Lisa vacuumed.  On Saturdays, you didn’t do anything else until those jobs were done.  As I got older, I tried to keep up the cleaning routine, but always struggled with the “want” to do it.  Once I had kids, I tried to implement the Saturday cleaning rule, but for one reason or another, I didn’t have the discipline to make it work, so the cleaning was left to me.

Now add to that an OCD partner and the implication that nothing was being done right.  Oh, sure – sign me up to do more, please!!  This just made me resent cleaning as I would see my partner going behind me redoing the jobs I had just done.

Now, my kids are grown and I no longer have anyone to help me with the cleaning.  This sucks!  It’s so much more fun to do this awful job with someone else.  To help make this job a little better, my sister introduced me to the “FlyLady” method of cleaning.  

Basically, the FlyLady method involves taking small bits of cleaning each day to help accomplish this undesirable task.  Just some of the basic things the FlyLady method includes are:

1. Swish and Swipe your bathroom each morning (have the supplies in each bathroom so you can do this without leaving the room)  This whole process should take about 1-2 minutes.
   1. Take window cleaner and a rag and wipe off the mirror and then the counter, faucets, and sink
   2. Take the same rag or paper towel you just used and wipe off the toilet
   3. Take the toilet bowl brush and swish it around in the toilet
2. Shine your sink each night.  Waking up to a clean sink makes the kitchen feel clean and puts a smile on your face. 
   1. Wash the dishes
   2. Clean the sink, faucets, and counters
3. Dress to your shoes
   1. Getting dressed, including lace-up shoes, will change your demeanor and make it harder to kick back and take a nap

So – I’m not a pro FlyLady by any means, but I’m working on it.  Each day is a new chance to try again to be successful.  Wish me luck!

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