Did anyone stick with the fly lady?

[daisylawn]

I'm interested to hear whether anyone feels that they have learnt anything from the fly lady?

I started with flylady, but the amount of bloody emails I got from them were annoying, it is obviously an oversea's thing and I had about 15 every morning.

What's all good in theory doesn't always work in practice - especially if the kids and hubby/partner don't follow the same regime!

:0

(that's better)

Too bossy, i think I'd rather live with the mess

I've tried and I'm still trying. I can get the house looking immaculate, usually on my day off, but as soon as dh and dd get home in the evening the place looks like a bombs hit it. going on holiday soon so I know that for the fortnight we're away the house will look lovely and still be lovely when we get home, must try to keep it that way once we get home.

oo gawd, i rue the day i signed up because i deleted the welcome email and now can't seem to unsubscribe from the damn thing! It's too american-sickly-sweet for me and all this WHERE ARE YOUR SHOES just makes me laugh!

Spacemonkey, block the email, that is what I did.

??????

i've made a rule in outlook express to delete all flylady messages from the server, not sure how else to block them ...

I lasted about 2 seconds flat and had to block the emails. The one thing I did take from it and still use when I'm feeling really reluctant to get off my bum is the timer idea. I do find it helpful to set it for 15 mins or so and tell myself that I only need to tidy for that short amount of time. Often once I've started I'll find I can bear to continue tidying a bit more after the beep. It's also useful for thinking about how to break things down into small tasks rather than feeling overwhelmed by the extent of the chaos.

Message withdrawn

should i join up?

To unsubscribe, all you have to do is send a blank email to

[email protected]

Make sure it is sent from the address you signed up with though, if you have more than one address, otherwise it won't work.

Thanks SueW!

I tried it for a couple of days. Trouble is you have to spend so long reading the dozen or so emails they send you each day that you don't get any housework done. I think there were some good ideas tho'. Perhaps it might be easier to follow if they sent you just one email a week!

what sort of things do you have to do?

you have to shine your sink EVERY night, get dressed to the shoes EVERY morning and make the bed before going downstairs (unless your darling husband is still asleep in there) - there are some good ideas, so it's worth going to the website and having a read, but the emails are a plague!

have just looked on website - seems very organised.the fly lady herself is a bit chubby isnt she? Hardly a glam logo!

The calendar looks good..is it?

I still think it's a good idea, but I've fallen off the wagon since I redirected my emails to another mailbox & delete them without reading!

The only thing I found really hard (apart from the shoes) was the idea that you don't "make" DH & the kids join in & you can't whine..they will join in automatically. Mine didn't & I just got more & more p**d off that I was clearing up after them all the time. Don't think I've caught the right attitude.

I signed up, read the emails for a few weeks and then unsubscribed. Took a few things from it :

• Keep the sink full of hot soapy water when cooking and clean as you go
• Get your morning routine organised the night before
• Keep the sink spotless
• Some motto like 'housework done incorrectly is still a blessing' - I took to mean even a rough job done is better than nothing
• I've identified my hotspots...those places where piles of junk gather. I don't keep them clear but do a blitz every now and again.
• Declutter And I also remember some advice like don't whine about the work etc. because thats not going to get you anywhere other than feeling like you're hard done by and dp/dh is gonna be p'd off with the nagging. Try and get him/the kids involved in other ways.

IMO its worth a look and a read for a short while but I couldn't be doing with following the orders!

Good recap, bigbird. Beats subscribing to FL.

Flylady also used to say, collect 23 (?) things around the house and give them to a charity shop as doing so would simultaneously declutter and improve the "karma" of your home. Her number seemed too arbitrary and excessive to aim for, but I do these days have a more generous mindset about giving unwanted objects to charity shops.

PS: Re "sickly sweet American. . ." Don't personally actually KNOW any Americans who fit that description, but I guess an invented internet persona like Fly Lady is as good evidence of their existence as any