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Musings on anything. |
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My blog was filled up. I'm too lazy to clean it out. So I started a new one. |
| I'm only a FLY baby, as newbies are called by the FLY lady. But I still want to talk about it and share the excitement. She tells us it all starts with a shiny sink. Yes. Shiny. Clean I understand, but shiny? I read the directions and followed them. I'm hooked. Here's how it works. There's a major first step, then a minor daily one. First, empty the sink and clear the drain of all debris. Scrub the sink (start with the kitchen) with scouring powder or baking soda or whatever you like. Scrub all over and down into the drain. Include the faucets and handles. I usually fail to take out the stopper and clean it inside and out, but now that it's been pointed out to me, pay a lot of attention to it. I've seen people put the stoppers in the dishwasher, along with scouring pads, and sponges. I don't believe that will be necessary from now on. The FLY lady recommends using a knife to go around the edges of the sink, the fixtures, and the drain. I prefer a toothpick, which I've always used to get that discoloration up. Rinse the sink thoroughly, not leaving any cleaner behind. Now fill up the sink with water and add bleach. ( bleach mixes with a lot of cleaners to create toxic fumes which could hurt you.) Leave this for 15 minutes or longer. Drain and rinse. Now wipe with a paper towel or a rag of your choice until all surfaces are dry. The faucets should show no finger prints or water marks. The bottom and sides of the sink should be dry. Final step: Spray the sink and fixtures with window cleaner. Dry until sparkly. Repeat in bathrooms. You will not have to repeat that first step very often. In fact, you won't have to scour much except for big messes or denture paste. When that zone comes up each month, you will pay a little extra attention. But for now, every day, the last thing in your routine is to make sure the sink is clean and dry. Any dirty dishes you can wash and dry and put away OR hide in the dishwasher. (Always put the clean dishes away as soon as they are done, so that the dishwasher remains available for hiding dirty dishes.) I find myself washing dishes as soon as I dirty them, like before dinner. I empty the drain stopper several times a day. Every night, I dry the whole sink, handles, and the drain. Seeing the clean sparkly sink does have a psychological affect. I feel like the kitchen is cleaner, the bathrooms are more inviting. And it's beginning to affect my desire for clean counters and stove top. I've always wanted those, but didn't work on them on a daily basis By doing these small things on a daily basis, the dirty job doesn't get so big. When I concentrate on those zones, sanitizing the sinks really is not that big a job because I kept it clean daily. |
| I have always clung to the motto "Dull women have immaculate homes." I have the cluttered closets and cabinets to prove I'm a slob. I have lots of excuses for why at various stages of my life, unexpected company was an embarrassment to me. I adore Martha Stewart, but aside from a recipe here and there, I am not her disciple. I admired Marie Kondo for a moment, then decided she is just another person to make the average person, more specifically, woman, feel like a failure. Now I have discovered the FLY lady just from reading one of the thousands of articles on clutter. The FLY lady has been around for years, but I only discovered her a few weeks ago. FLY stands for finally loving yourself. The words that really grabbed me and pulled me in went something like this: Your house/garage/ body/whatever didn't get this way overnight. You aren't going to change it overnight. All you can do is a little bit at a time. We must take baby steps, and we forgive ourselves when we mess up. Basically, it's behavior modification, but it's an attitude adjustment, too. You don't get it all at once. You start with a few tiny daily habits. You "declutter" 15 minutes at a time. Drinking water and any kind of exercising are part of the daily habits. The house is divided into 5 zones. I haven't been through zone 1 or 5 yet, so I don't know how that will work out, since the month isn't long enough to do 5 whole weeks. Zone 5 will always be a little short on days, zone 1 may or may not, depending on the calendar. I have noticed a difference in less than two weeks. Heavy duty chemicals or special cleaners are not important. The most important ingredient is elbow grease. She sells mops, rags, and dusters, but they are not essential. You can use anything you like. She even suggests using shampoo left from traveling, or bubble bath someone gave you that you don't like, or other soaps you don't intend to use can be used to clean your bathroom. Another example of this soap is cleaning the kitchen counters. (She says soap is soap.) Use one rag in your soapy water to wipe down your empty counters. Use another plain wet rag to wipe up the soap. Use a third dry rag to wipe up the residue and dry the counter. The FLYing system includes cleaning out your purse every Friday (it's easy when done weekly), getting the trash out of your car on Friday and doing a light dusting. This does not mean dumping your purse or washing your car or vacuuming it weekly. It means getting out receipts, notes, dirty tissues, and for right now, disposable gloves and masks. On Tuesday you pay bills and plan your weekly menus. I haven't gotten through a whole week yet. but I have done 3 days in advance. That allows me to thaw meat out and plan leftovers. I don't know how people who work get through all this, but I'm finding I have more guilt-free time to read or do a crossword. I've mentally checked off my to do list. The house is not perfect. I'm plagued with thoughts of the garage and the shed and the yard. But when I've followed the schedule, I give myself permission to take a break. I was never a perfectionist in action, but most of us are in our minds. If we couldn't fix the whole problem immediately, we got frustrated and gave in. This system allows us to be methodical and make small improvements. We reward ourselves mentally (loving ourselves). Instead of obsessing or complaining to our families, we are more relaxed and can bless them with an organized, comfortable home. |
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I marvel at the things I'll be able to tell my grandkids about someday. Life is accelerating - or maybe it just feels that way!
I completely sympathize with your desire to declutter. I have more stuff than you can shake a stick at that didn't actually belong to just my wife or myself throughout the house.