Anybody starting Flylady with the new year? - Page 3

[Purple Sage]

Yes, the best thing to do is to do the dishes immediately - don't let anything sit in the sink. Before we had a dishwasher, I was really good about doing this because I hate to wash a whole sink-full of dishes. Now I'm always putting dirty dishes immediately into the dishwasher, running when full, and then immediately emptying it. But, of course, I am the only person in the house who does this, and I'm constantly mumbling to myself (as I'm putting someone else's dishes into the dishwasher) how hard is it to just stick these dishes in the dishwasher instead of the sink?? :

[2lilsweetfoxes]

Originally Posted by lemongrass

Yes, the best thing to do is to do the dishes immediately - don't let anything sit in the sink. Before we had a dishwasher, I was really good about doing this because I hate to wash a whole sink-full of dishes. Now I'm always putting dirty dishes immediately into the dishwasher, running when full, and then immediately emptying it. But, of course, I am the only person in the house who does this, and I'm constantly mumbling to myself (as I'm putting someone else's dishes into the dishwasher) how hard is it to just stick these dishes in the dishwasher instead of the sink?? :

:

DH's answer: "I was not sure if they were clean or dirty..." (usually after he'd pulled a bowl out for his cereal or something like that) and "you are better at putting them away than I am" (he knows where they all go)

I run the dishes every evening at bedtime and put them away every morning first thing. I only run them at any other time if it happens to be full.

[Purple Sage]

How's it going flybabies?

[TopHat]

I have a clean, shiny sink and all the dishes are done right now (gasp!). I still need to work on getting up before my family- we cosleep and my DD stays asleep as long as I'm next to her. As soon as I leave the bed, she wakes up. What was great was that I could sit in bed on the laptop emailing/reading blogs and she'd continue to sleep until 10 or 11. But that also meant my morning was not productive.

I'm up and my babe is still asleep- I have to keep all the lights off (we live in a studio).

I need to do my hair and put shoes on (actually contacts- I'm equating contacts with shoes for my personal self since I only wear contacts when I go out to church or weddings).

[mimid]

Its going pretty good here. I just re-did my routines pages from my old control journal. This time I'm posting them ont he freezer so I can't misplace them and it keeps them short since I don't want to paper my freezer. LOL

[2lilsweetfoxes]

Tonight's "flylist":
--weekly home blessing hour
--kelly's mission
--declutter one cabinet in the kitchen
--load of laundry
--eat dinner
--do evening routine

Oh, by the way. I just got told that I'll be working till 7 pm tonight. Which means that I'll be home around 8 pm. Too bad I can't take that person I have to supervise on his extra duty and have him do my housework... And I've got to get the kids in bed by 9. DS needs me to lay down with him and he takes over an hour to fall asleep (nope, can't get up until he's asleep or we start over).

[Mizelenius]

ACK. I am not overwhelmed with FL. I think her routines are reasonable. I AM overwhelmed with my kids.

This is not really a FL issue, but take tonight. I had a menu made for the week, had all the ingredients I needed, etc. for dinner. I have been on my toes about following FL so my kitchen was clean and ready for me to cook. But, could I? No. Every 2 minutes- literally-- someone was asking me to get them something (food or drink), my toddler was having constant, very loud tantrums (she does not nap, and she has been a very, very, very high needs person all along), and oldest DD was complaining about what I was going to make (a very delicious meal, I might add, with both meat and vegetarian options). I can't freakin' cook dinner!!!!!!!! It was not even a complex meal. This is EVERY night. I was going to reserve that time to let them watch TV, but my 3 yo wanted to help cook, the toddler (almost 2) would have fallen asleep too early ( and then she'd wake up which means she'd be up until 10 tonight) so I did not.

What do you do? What do you do when you have 3 fairly little ones and the hardest one refuses to be in a carrier (and I have sooooo many carriers because my other kids loved them) and wants to be held all the time, even 1 month away from turning 2? And the little one does not SLEEP? And they want my constant attention? My 3 yo opened one of her Christmas gifts-- little figures-- and asked me to play. When I said I could not, she put them away and said, "Oh, then I guess I can't either." Who are these children? I was never like that! I would NEVER sit around waiting for my mom to play with me! I did not raise them to be like that-- at least I did everything I knew to prevent this very issue.

Sorry for the rant. It's been a long day. I held it together until the dinner episode. Then I just gave up and said forget it.

[hollyvangogh]

Originally Posted by Mizelenius

Sorry for the rant. It's been a long day. I held it together until the dinner episode. Then I just gave up and said forget it.

[mommabear207]

Mizelenius- sometimes we just need to put everything else on hold. kids don't care if you're in the middle of something or not.lol. the point is you tried and some times you will get it done. give yourself a break plus think of how great you did the rest of the day!

my biggest struggle is dishes- i WISH i had a dishwasher (of course i thought it would be all better if i just had a bigger sink...it is better but i have to actively keep myself doing them asap or they build up and build up while a dishwasher seems so much simpler). to be honest my house isn't that bad to begin with- small yes but its more that i'm a perfectionist and trying to find a way to have it all done. although the closer i get to perfection the bigger the things are that i can't make perfect no matter what... one thing that has helped me is purging! i'm also doing the post x-mas purge except i'm doing 500 cause i havebeen decluttering for months now- i'm up to 400 and the areas i've done feel so much better. i thinki need to let go of perfection and go for a level of clean that is just a step above what would bother me and instead of doing things by day or week just do the little things when i see them.
of course when dd arrives in about a month i'll be struggling to get anything done

[Purple Sage]

Originally Posted by Mizelenius

ACK. I am not overwhelmed with FL. I think her routines are reasonable. I AM overwhelmed with my kids.
....
Sorry for the rant. It's been a long day. I held it together until the dinner episode. Then I just gave up and said forget it.

I know exactly how you feel.

I don't have any advice because I'm in the same situation many times. My husband works evenings, so I have to prepare dinner most nights - and I have a 2 year old (turned 2 a little over a month ago) who makes it nearly impossible to get anything done. Sometimes my 12 year old can occupy him long enough to make a quick meal, but I know that isn't something you can do since your dc are all very young. My 2yo and 5yo are both very needy when it comes to attention and neither likes to play alone. It's a struggle every day.

As much as I want to have a menu planned and cook a good meal every night (well, I don't like cooking, so I don't really want to do it, but I know it would be better for them to have a good home-cooked meal..), it's just not going to happen most nights. I'm lucky if I can scramble some eggs and make some toast. So we graze a lot, and I can usually find the time to boil pasta and pour jarred sauce over the top.

I've just decided that I'm not going to be able to spend any significant time preparing a meal at this point. With another baby due in March, it will probably be years before I can do that. I hope to get more organized with preparing foods in advance that can just be heated up at dinner time. Please let me know if you find some strategies that work.