Day 24, 25, 26

24



Swish and swipe. Don't we love our swish and swipes! I can't imagine my life without them anymore! Whenever I get sidetracked, it's one of the first bells that start ringing! HEY YOU DIDN'T DO S&S YET! YOUHOO! GET A GRIP!!! In my early flybaby days ... I must admit I totally but totally didn't grasp the swishing and swiping. "What do they want me to do? ... Every day? Even when it's clean?" Now that couldn't be right? OK, the shiny sink stuff was crazy enough when I first got to know flylady ... but this? I couldn't get myself to clean toilets and bathrooms on daily basis. All excuses passed the revue ... from it being silly, to no time, or plain simple Princess's I don't want to ... mostly others making it filthy anyway ... so why do I - you know you have to stress the I real well don't you ;) - have to clean it anyway! And i did clean it though, once a week wasn't that enough?



The first time I gave the S&S a try was after my DS was born. We were staying at a studio next to my aunts apartment because of the renovations that were going on at our house. I didn't have a lot of housework to do because the place was sooo tiny lol. But still, as I saw the time approaching of moving back into our home ... I knew I needed a plan for blessing our house and family ... I hadn't done any flying during the year we moved out ... but I still had the mails coming in. I started by reading them again and jumped back on, not by babystepping lol ... that would have been to easy of course! :)) But I hearted the S&S because that was something I could start right there at the studio! And up till now, it is one of the routines that I practiced most of the time ... I fell off the wagon once in a while ... sometimes I had a good excuse due to my being ill and really not being able to take care of myself let alone the house ... sometimes Princessy could persuade me that we just didn't have to do it because we didn't feel like it lol ... but somehow it started to bother me real soon when not doing this little routine ... so I would jump back on the wagon!

Especially the bathroom really needs my S&S discipline. Sometimes I forget to bring a new rag to clean after I put the old one in the laundry ... and then things get horribly wrong and horribly fast! Not cleaning the sinks and mirrors soon infects our "pick up after yourself" routine ... and I don't have to draw a picture what happens next? Once the bathroom changes into partly Mt Washmore, partly garbage belt, partly ... S&S becomes very unattractive and I hate I really hate a filthy bathroom. Short:I love S&S!



25



"Learn how the routines developed" - a testimonial from our beloved Flylady. How she started blessing her home and family from chaos to a FINALLY LOVING YOURSELF not to p* ... to LOVING YOURSELF! I loved reading it! Going to put it in my CJ one of these days ... to remind me of the ongoing process of finding our way and once in a while leaving our path as she's tend to do, but knowing wht to do to find peace again! I'm being sidetracked and a bit overwhelmed when I'm writing now ... but blessed with flylady and all her wisdom ... I just know that I will find a way to organise my life in a way to reduce stress and enjoy a peaceful home and a loving family life. Whatever the challenge, I will babystep it!



26



"You are not behind! I don't want you to try to catch up; I just want you to jump in where we are. O.K.?One BabyStep at a time, PEACE is mine in 2009!" Thank you Flylady I needed to be reminded badly :) A big hug coming your way!



Sunday it is, so inspiration day! I will try to find some time today to reflect on my babystepping. What is going fluently ... where am I getting sidetracked ... how can I change my life so that I can find peace for my family AND me!

Jump!

:)

It's a smiley kind of day! I'm ready to get back to my babysteps. I did a lot of thinking and evaluating ... the routines that I have been practicing thus far are already a real blessing. Especially the sleeping routines!I really love to know that I'm trying to give my body the sleep it needs. It does wonders on my mood! At the same time it frustrates me too, cause sleeping 8 to 9 hours at night plus the regular naps during the day ... time seems to slip through my fingers ... but I do realise that quality must come before quantity. But still, I have to get a grip on the frustration part ... what I learned the last few days is that I CAN take TV time out of my day, I CAN reduce my PC time ... but I soooo need time to reflect, to seek inspiration, to read, socialise ... and my family needs more than routines to bless the house, they need blessing to ... and although I love them to bits ... they need more than cuddles and kisses and the daily basic care ... I need to bring in more time for them too ... what brings me back to time ... What brings me back to flylady :) ... what brings me back to my smiley kind of day ... babystep 23 was the step I needed to take before I took my break, just continuing the steps I had already been taking. Babystep 23 is what I did today. I set an afternoon routine. It consists of rest, playtime with the kids, a set time for dinner with kids (before DH gets home) and a set time for starting the kids BBR. I'm intrigued to see how this routine will affect my evenings. I hope it will free up time for reflection and reading. Th only thing I don't like about my AR, is that the kids and I will be eating without DH ... I hope it works out ...

Day ?

OK. Am I overwhealmed? First excitement of babystepping fading away? I don't know. I need to slow down a bit, that is sure. I'm still babystepping. Trying to make those BB and M routines MINE! And doing quite nice I think. I don't feel the same urge to get it perfect, like I had when I started babystepping again ... euh don't get me wrong ... the little monster roars sometimes, but somehow it is easier letting go of it when you actually see that all those tiny micy little steps DO make a huge difference to me and my family. I knew the babystepping would help me get my focus back, and the blog would motivate me to actually put my words into action, a real BTF that turned out to be lol! But I never could have guessed that the change in my attitude and expectations would be that enormous, since I've been fluttering for so many years now! But it really does! It physically hurts me, thinking of going to sleep if my kitchen ain't clean lol! Really lol! But cleaning out a bag (of probably clutter of course lol) that someone dropped in the hallway ... well that will be a babystep for the next day ... my body needs its rest ... no rest ... no happy mommy, and if mommy ain't happy ... :) I'm actually sighing with relief while I write this ... THIS FEELS GOOD!

Day 22

Where is your control journal? - On top of my dining table hotspot! And yes it needs tackling ... still just hot, but we don't want any infernos lol! How do others use their CJ I wonder ... I don't look at it very often, I must admit. Mostly in morning, after I finished my MR I go and check what I could do after. Checking and reading the CJ is important though ... reading my print outs daily, used to motivate me in the past and would help with the "flywashing"! Lol, do you know the feeling? The feeling that when you are doing the "flytalk", with the fifteen minute magic, mt washmore, MR, and BBR ... you really almost have to get slapped in the face before realising that not EVERYBODY speaks FLY! Lol. Even if not doing all routines, the philosophy is sipping through! So back to some more CJ focus!

Day 20&21

Day 20: include laundry in routines. Of course it could only have been me, organising search operations in the laundry room ... Very surprised I was, when introduced to Mt Washmore ... This is not a local problem! It's a plague! Every day this rough geological phenomenon is conquered by many and every day it bursts out again ... Just like dust, no escaping ... only maintaining: "a load a day keeps chaos away". Thank you flylady! This is one of the first routines, that settled in during all those years ... I can proudly say ... that roughly speaking, I am capable of getting a grip on laundry by doing one load a day. Even Princessy is so used of doing it every day ... she doesn't even bother to put up a fight about it! ... Although ... I must admit, that I still need some work with the other washing babysteps. Doing laundry is one thing, hanging and drying OK ... but ironing, folding and putting away ... ouch those really hurt princessy ... But still we are getting there ... so I will be focusing on those babysteps a little more from now on! .... Still ... the question lingers on HOW THE H* DO THOSE CLOTHES GET DIRTY SO QUICK????? lol!
Day 21. Well Flylady showed me the way again to "Ask FlyLady Question"

Day 18 &19

Day 18 & 19 was all about motivating and inspiration. A relief, cause I already have quite a challenge doing the routines as it is. Especially the missions from Kelly and the decluttering some days. Monday I read " The 11 commandments", it really made me smile :) those 11 things that's really what it is all about! I wrote them down in my control journal ... hope it sticks!

Day 19 was a testimonial from a flybaby. Those of us that have been following flylady for a few years now, know this testimonial all to well! I've read it so many times now ... it still makes me smile. And this time I wondered ... am I getting there too? Not yet mastered the flying that well ... but I love my little B&B too!

Day 17

"Set a bedtime and stick to it" ... well naturally I did ... been practising that for a while now ... and though my body isn't quite convinced yet ... I surely hope to stick to it! I have seen the change ... getting up before the family really helps me getting things done ànd at the same time I enjoy some quiet me-time!

Further, a bit of a grumpy grey day ... I think that in spite of the (very) early bedtime, this flybaby isn't getting enough sleep ... I'll have to plan naps I think! OK that's a new challenge from now on: FIND A MOMENT TO NAP! Hope that gets the bear out of me! And its a nice pamper!

Day 15 and day 16

OK short one lol ... kids are awake ... ceiling almost coming down ... so I guess my early morning me-time has come to an end lol.

Day 15 ... Adding making mu bed ... no problems there :) I was one of the bed making rebels: I used all the excuses you can read in Flylady's mails ... but she IS right of course ... I realised it from the first time I tried it ... and still ... it is one of the first habits that slip out of my routine as soon as something comes rocking the boat ... So no protest here during the month of april ... and hopefully taking it with me this time through the good and the bad days!... and rest of day ... nicely fluttered ... fighting irritation about not being perfect ... and finally gracefully accepting it ... I AM DOING JUST FINE :)

DAY 16 ... Reading a mail from Flylady ... lol I thought this was going to be a piece of cake lol ... but I had to quickly catch up on it before bed .... It was a mail about "moving in may" ... well I certainly will ... with all those exercises we do at the hospital ... and the "homework" they are giving ... this flybaby will surely help us moving around the world ...!

OK off to rescue the house from my kids lol!

Day 14

Thursday. I've been focusing on babystepping for two weeks! I must admit, that being a flybaby since over 4 years ... I wouldn't have thought I would find it so difficult. Maybe it is that for the first time I'm really trying to get into the philosophy of flylady. Before I was more looking for inspiration I guess, I wasn't ready for it yet. OK, and not being completely healthy doesn't make it any easier I know that. But anyway ... padding myself on the back! With "Progress not perfection", in mind ... I'm doing fine. I hope I can keep on the good work, because I love the peace of mind my routines are giving me.

So, how was my day? Well morning routines are becoming more fluent and so are the evening routines ... but I didn't do Kelly's mission ... well ... I think that I might go with one of the strategies of some other flybabies and write them down on post-it notes at the beginning of the week .... taking them down whenever I am able to do one. I think that will suit me better for the busy days. Evening routines stay hard ... there s so little time between finishing dinner and my bedtime hour ... but I know it's for my best interest!
The new assignment for day 14? Reading the essay from Kelly about the calendar! Well I've ordered my flycalendar for the first time last summer ... because, guess what lol ... I am so calendar challenged lol. It ain't a routine yet, but I'm getting there!
Day 15? I'll be making my bed ... ha ha I had all of april to train that habit lol ... guess what ... I think that will be an easy babystep :)