Are you a FLYBABY??? Come support each other

[Electra375]

A search for FLYLADY AND FLYBABY came up with threads 6 plus months old. I just joined FLYLADY on Tuesday night. As some of you maybe well aware, SHINING your SINK is the first order of business.

So, I shined my old crudy sink, only to discover, my mineral deposited faucet leaks horribly (and the old sink won't shine). My towel dried sink was wet when I went to get my nightly water! It was leaking from underneath the entire fixture, pouring water right now the drain on the side I usually keep my drain rack in!!! On the positive side, I would have not ever picked up on the wastefulness. Now my dh who has yet to finish our masterbathroom has another plumbing job. My bathroom has been gutted since last August!

Day 1, I did not get dressed to my shoes, but day 2 (today), I did!

I think the key really is to delete those little messages that hit all day long. I read some, deleted most, and made and inbox folder called FLYLADY for those messages that might come in handy later (chicken soup recipe).

Yesterday, was ANTI -PROCRASTINATION day, I still have my christmas tree up. So, I thought great I'll work on it 15 minutes. I got two boxes packed up yesterday. I'm about to actually hit the tree this afternoon.

Today one of the zone goals was to clear off your dresser, it sounded great, but I didn't get to it I don't think a day 2 FLYBABY is suppose to do them anyway, but still it would have been nice.

For today, I will be happy to shine my sink tonight. Go to bed within a decent hour. And a wake refreshed to get dressed to my shoes (sorry not laced -- birk clogs for my wide feet), to start anew.

My house is a constant mess, I feel overwhelmed by it. My children don't have enough places to put all of the crappy toys they have. My dd doesn't even have a corner to call her own to place a dolly or two in. I've been swimming a long time, I'm getting tired and I'm starting to go down. FLYLADY is helping me tread water and I hope will get me out of the water!

Anyother FLYBABIES out in the MDC world? Anyone complete the program and live in a happy, CHAOS free home?

And for all looking for out to organize their life of CHAOS join us FLYBABIES at www.flylady.net

[AngelBee]

I am a weak, naughty flybaby! It has been since Sept. and I still am struggling with just shinig the sink and getting dressed. This may really help though.

[FillingMyQuiver]

Hello FlyBabies! I'm a flybaby who's been flying since November 2004 I FLYLADY!!! I have decluttered most of my home (we live in a small 1 br apt), my bed is made EVERY morning (a MAJOR feat for me!) and my sink has been shined pretty much everyday I really do feel the PEACE!! I may not be dressed to shoes every morning (my 9mo DS likes to eat shoes, blech), but I keep up w/ my 5min room rescues, my routines, and fling boogies. During the Super Fling Boogie at the beginning of the month, I flung over 200lbs of clutter from my apt
Electra~ Sweetie, you are just starting out. BABYSTEPS!!! Remember that. Don't expect to jump into zone missions, zone cleaning, etc until you have your routines down. I even get ahead of myself from time to time. You don't want to burn out Take it slow, one small step at a time. What is it that Flylady says, it took years for your home to get cluttered, don't expect it to take a day to get rid of it all
Keep up the good work. I'M PROUD OF YOU!!!

[CryPixie83]

I'm a somewhat lapsed FlyBaby I've read the book (love it!), made my control journal (that was fun) and had even gotten myself in the habit of wearing shoes all the time (which is totally unlike me).

Well, I fell off the FlyWagon and am hoping to hop back on. I've even been doing dishes!!! LOL That may not mean much to some, but I never do dishes unless I absolutely have to (like we're down to using coffee mugs for cereal bowls because everything else is piled, dirty in the sink. My sink isn't shiny right now... I should do it I know. I'm going to lay my clothes out for tomorrow, and when I wake up, I"m getting dressed to the shoes!

My no-bedroom-apartment (just the kitchen, bathroom, and two rooms for df,dd,myself and my granny) is in a constant state of, you guessed it: CHAOS!!! It's to the point that a friend wanted to come over (never been to our house before) and I *begged* him not too. Sad, huh? But I have started to clean and organize... it's a slow process, and I know it's not the Flylady way, but I'm going to clean this place, top to bottom first and then use what I learn as a FLYbaby to keep it out of CHAOS.

So, a big for us FlyBabies!

[jane-t-mommy]

I Love Flylady!!

This is a great thread. I had my 2nd dc in early December and haven't gotten back to my flybaby ways yet. I tend towards trying to do everything perfectly and am learning to accept that good enough is good enough. It is a much kinder way to live. I'm dressed to my socks (LOL) can't bring myself to wear shoes in the house. But being dressed and having my hair and "face" done is a huge improvement over jammies till noon. I also love the idea of date night and family fun day and spiritual renewal day. DS is crying...see you later flyfriends....

[Electra375]

We go out as a family to another families house every Friday night and share a meal, each person cooks a part. It's really nice to only have to worry about the one section of the meal.

The downside, tomorrow morning my sink will not be empty. I always seem to be doing the final prep on the food up until the last minute before we leave, so I come home to a messy kitchen. At 11pm, I loaded the dishwasher and hand washed the rest of the dishes that were in the kitchen. I left the dishes in the rack to dry (sorry I don't like towel drying as I can never get into all the little cracks). Then I scanned the house and found 5 cups!!! So, I will have one side shiny and the other with clean,dry dishes in the morning. I am happy with that.

I followed a notice to do laundry today. I had some darks downstairs already, but not quit enough for a full load, so I gathered some more darks that were either in the hamper or on the bathroom floor. I ended up washing my cellular phone!!! We don't have a home phone, so I will be without a phone until my phone either dries and works or I get the $ to replace it.

So far, FLYLADY is costing me money... a new kitchen faucet and now a cellular phone!!! BTW, I had been hoping my ds2 would through my cellular phone down the toilet. It is a super bad phone with very little reception and I work from home on it!!! So, neither of these $$ items is a bad thing.

I'm going to get myself and my daughter ready for bed and hit the sheets (they were clean and fresh last night!!!). I'll be asleep before she is...

[Treasuremapper]

I just love the flylady!

I love the flylady! I am working so hard and trying to stay cool when I can't do all of it. I have a control journal, based on her control journal that I ordered from her website a few months ago. I love the way that spending fifteen minutes a day, five days a week, will actually eventually make a visible difference in a room. My older dd is very "high needs" as they say, so sometimes that fifteen minutes is broken up into three five minute segments.

I also love her idea that "housework done incorrectly still blesses your home." I remind myself of that when I do a quick swiffer of the kitchen instead of waiting for the day that I have the time to get out the floormate.

Flylady's friends are not that AP (see Kelly's recommended booklist, for example, if it is still there). But the flylady's book is brilliant.

Also -- There is an AP flylady list on yahoo, but a number of us found that that particular group did not work for us because it was so heavily moderated (who knows why, it was an AP flylady list, for pete's sake :LOL

Anyway -- I would love to find some other flylady support, but I am too sidetracked to start a group myself .

[Treasuremapper]

I noticed that the Flylady's book "Sink Reflections" is in the LLL catalogue I got in the mail a few weeks ago.

[Linda KS]

I am a fly baby! I started in April 2002 and my house will never be perfect! I am such a SHE.

Elecktra, don't try to do everything. It isn't possible with little kids. I think the most important things are a simple morning routine, a simple evening routine, and decluttering.

I cannot get to zone cleaning during the week, but I try to do something in the zone over the weekend. Even doing 1 job (15-20) minutes in the zone each week will gradually make your house so much nicer. You don't have to do it every day to get the benefit. Honestly, I don't even get to it every week. :

Right now while you are new, you could spend your zone time decluttering. Take a small trash bags (I love using old grocery bags for this) into the zone and just fill the thing up with trash! You'll be amazed at how much nicer your house will be without the crappy toys and whatever you've got on your dresser

[Electra375]

So much for an easy dinner

I thought I would try the sample menus from a site linked to FLYLADY. You have to pay for the service, but you can sample a weeks worth of menus. I printed the menus out on went through them to pick what my family might like. I went to the store and bought what I needed to make a few of these meals.

I decided since I have sooo much work for my job to finish up today and tomorrow that I would use my crock pot. This morning at my shiny sink and cleared counters I threw it all in the pot and turned it on. When we came home from church it smelled nice and thought this is a good thing.

When dinner time came around, I tasted it and added salt, pepper what have you. It's okay, but I won't make it again. Everyone tasted it, my children spit it out, my dh said "I can't down anymore after 4 bites, and I was the only one to eat it. So, I have 4 quarts of crock pot chicken to freeze and eat for lunches, but I don't know when I might feel like eating it -- it really wasn't so wonderful. And I can't think of a thing to doctor it up.

I proceeded to make hamburgers for the kids and my dh I think from the knife in the sink made himself a pb&j to eat on his way to church (a special meeting, no children).

Fortunately, my dh applauded my efforts, just could not eat any of it.

And tomorrow is another day...

[CryPixie83]

Ah, crockpot diasters... lol I once made a beef stroganoff that tasted like an ash tray... no one told me that you're supposed to put the noodles in way late in the cooking process

[Electra375]

Someone please tell me is there something I'm missing...

I got the welcome e-mail letter that coverd 3 days. Now I feel like I've been left hanging. What do I do next?

And forget 15 mintues -- I couldn't even pick up the toys in a 4X6 area in 15 minutes and my ds was actually helping. And then I can't just leave it 1/2 done for more than one reason but mostly b/c the cat hair has too be gotten up off the little carpet and the floor. I was sneezing like mad picking those toys off the floor with the hair flying around. And to think I just cleaned last week! Those damn cats have got to go!!! (I'm hoping with their advanced age they will die soon : )

Maybe 15 minutes works when you actually can see part of the floor -- I can't even "bless my home" b/c there are no high spots to vaccum -- it's covered by a sea of toys (I only have 2 area rugs in my home).

Geez... I've feeling very angry about the mess of my house right now. My kitchen was so nice about a week and a half ago (the half w/o counters), my dh just piles everything there -- I have a computer monitor on the floor in my kitchen!!! As well as a handful of tools he was working with and the Christmas boxes that are for the attic!!! I can't get to my pantry shelves to put the food away from Costco So I'm tripping over that too. :

Okay my rant is over... I've taken a deep breath and reflected that I can't do it all at once... back to mopping up the cat hair. I can live w the mess until I get too it.

Today is the LRM day. I may not get to decluttering the table in LRM, but I will get the toys picked up and the area rugs vaccumed for safety of my crawler. And then tomorrow will be another day...

Maybe I need to do the emergancy house rescue to get a good handle on the out of control state my house is in?

[FillingMyQuiver]

Electra~ FlyLady does have a "Crisis Cleaning" procedure on her site, let me see if I can find it.... here it is... if you do this, maybe you'll feel like you can get somewhat of a handle on things before you jump in...
http://www.flylady.net/pages/FlyingL...iscleaning.asp

Okay, what to do after the first 3 days (your welcome letter). Keep up your routines. Your first concern should be establishing your before bed and morning routines These are going to be your jumping off points. When you feel comfortable doing those, then begin decluttering for 15min a day. The toys: set you timer for 15min and pick up the toys. Then go work in another room or play your children, or rest, etc. for 15min. Reset the timer and make another round through the toys. Keep doing it in cycles. After a few cycles, the toys will be picked up and you will see floor to vacuum. Don't try to do it all at once b/c you'll burn out. Don't try to do it perfectly cuz then you're wasting too much time on it. Just work in small spurts. 15 minutes, don't try to overextend yourself.

Take it slow and steady or else you're going to set yourself up to fail, mama, and we don't want that

FlyLady and AP philosophies~ I read an "Ask FlyLady" a few weeks ago that kind of bothered me. A mama said she had an 8mo old and wasn't sure how to get her cleaning done w/ the babe. FlyLady told her not to hold the babe all day : and that baby's need routines. I wanted to write FlyLady about the benefits of babywearing and AP : My DS is "high needs" and if it weren't for wearing him and FlyLady, my house would be a DISASTER!! I think that maybe someone just needs to educate FlyLady on how much doing your day to day activities while wearing your dc actually benefits baby's development

[Electra375]

Well, it's a good think I pretty much ignor advice on child rearing! I've been a APing and didn't even know it had a name since my ds1 was born.

I have to admit though that I don't have the energy to wear my 20lb dd and bend over and pick toys up!!! :LOL I'm so out of shape since the gym closed due to bankruptcy and I lost my 2 yr pd in full membership!!!

I just ordered The Firm and my intention is to set it up as part of my bed time routine and then get a workout in the AM first thing or as I'm making sure ds1 gets on the bus. This will require diligent pick up of the toys off that section of the floor every night -- so it's a win win situation. I need the energy from working out to get me through the day!!!

I did read over crisis cleaning 101 and yes, I probably should start with that. I read in the details that to do a 15 min zone, the room needs to be fairly straight! I don't know what that means??? To me a room is either neat and tidy or it is a mess -- no middle ground there -- hence my problem.

I can almost see my LRM floor... Now if only we had a place to eat that brisket that has been cooking all afternoon. -- tomorrow is another day and another zone to concentrate on.

[Itlbokay]

Oh My Goodness, I am so the lady in pink sweatpants! I look forward to learning something from this I am still cracking up over things I read on the site. Never heard of it before, I'm a FlyBaby now!

[NorCal Mama]

This is a great thread!

I just started a thread in the new Mindful Home Management Forum called Any Flybabies Out There?, which lead me here. I'm subscribing here too.

[CryPixie83]

Originally Posted by NorCal Mama

I just started a thread in the new Mindful Home Management Forum called Any Flybabies Out There?, which lead me here. I'm subscribing here too.

The new forum is up? All right! LOL gotta go check it out!

[poppyqwn]

Hi, I am trying to fly!( I think I can, I think I can...) I am having difficulty with motivating myself after I get the kids in bed. I can't shine my sink while they are awake. My little middle has claimed the dishwasher his territory and I if mess with it he has a fit. So I need to put them down first, which isn't always easy since my youngest is going through the growth spurt right now and isn't on schedule. Any suggestions? Oh, and I really love the emails to remind me what to be doing, my problem is they are all on east coast time! I am remided to start dinner at 4 and then shine my sink at dinner, then go to bed when I am supposed to be shining my sink. It throws me a bit, I wish the email system could let you select east or west coast time KWIM?
Claire

[NorCal Mama]

Yes, I know exactly what you mean. I finish my zoning, and then before I even get to dinner I'm suppose to be shining my sink?

As far as the little one in the way... I have a 12 mo. old who also loves the dishwasher. I just try to do everything else,(wipe the table and the counters, rinse the dishes and put them on the counter above the dishwasher, clean my hot spot) and when he goes around the corner, I quickly fill it. I'm not always able to do things in an organized order, but that's part of being a Mom, working around your kids. Different stages are easier for certain things than others. I'm constantly changing my routines.

[Shantimama]

I admire all of you who are able to stick with Flylady! I tried it a couple of times but the e-mails drove me crazy. I have a pretty good system now, all my own. the trick for me is to never let my guard down - I always clean the bathtub after taking a bath, sweep every night, clean my kitchen as I go and do a thorough job at the end of the day, make beds, and have a place for everything. It took time to get to this point but I love it now. We just moved into a new house and I realize that a prioroty for me is replacing the kitchen sink. It is old, stained beyond hope, scratched up and the faucet is ugly and it leaks no matter what we do to it. If you start with somthing clean and shiny it is easy to keep it that way! It is a lot harder with something that seems to want to be dirty looking!

Good luck everyone!