Much Needed Fly Lady

For as long as long as I can remember, my kids have been mess makers.

In more ways than one. :)   I find with 2 part time jobs and 3 kids, it is really hard to keep up with cleaning my house.  I have tried hiring a house keeper (more than once), but after a few visits I just can't justify paying someone that much money for a skill set that I have.

So the other day my friend Jill introduced me to Flylady.com.  Her website is a disaster mess but her concept is genius.  She has divided up deep cleaning a house into daily chores that rarely take over 20 minutes and it gets your house much cleaner than it would have ever been just doing the basics weekly.

Yes that is a picture of my kids playroom and the reason I am not embarrassed to show you that is because I didn't do it and it was perfectly clean 2 days ago.  

So back to Fly Lady.  I get an email every morning with my cleaning task for the day that corresponds to the zone for the week (you go to the website and sign up for that for free).  This last week was the kitchen and this week is the master bath and kids rooms.  Every Monday you do a quick vacuum, wipe down, and sheet change but don't have to deep clean because that comes later.  Tuesday through Friday you just do your daily chore and then your weekends are yours!

After just 2 weeks and 20 minutes a day, I can say that my house is already cleaner than it has been in years.  Oh and I added a little something since Fly Lady thank God does not tell you to pick up your kids toys.  When I do my Fly Lady chore, I set the kitchen timer for 20 minutes and the kids are required to pick up their bedrooms and play room during that time.  That way I also don't feel like the house slave and am not near as frustrated by their messes.

Back to my chief mess maker's room.  Oh and that cash is play money.  Gotta go set the timer and make him clean that junk up.