I can fly! - times of your life - housecleaning tips

Vibrant Life, Jan-Feb, 2004 by Celeste perrino Walker

I love the part in the movie Peter Pan when he teaches the children to fly. Even allowing for our cathedral ceilings, if Pete wanted to fly around my house he'd need air-traffic control to avoid all the obstacles. There's a word for this situation. Maria Cilley, better known as the self-help guru Flylady, calls it CHAOS (can't have anyone over syndrome). Our house has suffered from CHAOS for years.

You know how it is. You let things go until you can't stand it anymore; and then you clean like a mad person, usually when company is 10 minutes from your doorstep. All the "stuff" that's collected everywhere gets stashed in boxes and bags and crammed in out-of-the-way places to be dealt with later. Flylady calls this the "Stash and Dash" method of cleaning.

I'll admit, I found Flylady when I was looking for some way to get my house back under control. What I discovered was so much more than a cleaning system. Consider Flylady's motto for example: "Be kind to me." Be kind to me? What a novel ideal I'm kind to everyone else. In Flylady's world you work 15 minutes by the timer and then rest 15 minutes. In my world you just work. Then work some more.

Flylady knows what life in CHAOS is like. Her own life was at rock bottom when she began her now famous program. The first thing she did was to shine her sink. The rest of her routines and cleaning ideas grew from that one act. When she started her Flylist (an e-mail support and reminder group) it wasn't to get rich with her program or products. She wanted to help just one person find the peace she'd discovered. Now thousands of people subscribe to her free service. Flylady has definitely proven that if you give, it will be given to you. "A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (Luke 6:38, NIV).

FLY, by the way, stands for finally loving yourself. That's why, although the emphasis is on cleaning, FLYing is about so much more. It addresses the deep-seated issues that bog us down--spiritual, physical, financial, relationships, cooking--it covers every aspect of life. The whole program is about blessing others whether it's through cleaning, nurturing, cooking, whatever. Even the weekly dusting and vacuuming is called the "Home Blessing."

And the blessings you send out come back to you. Not long after I started following the Flylady program I woke up one morning to find an "award" placed on my sink by my 9-year-old son declaring I had won "First Place for Shiny Sinks." Later I caught my husband telling the kids not to mess tip "Mom's shiny sink." That was the first inkling I had that Flylady wasn't affecting just my life. She was having a positive impact on my whole family (otherwise affectionately known as The Demolition Squad).

But I knew things were really changing last week. I'd let my cleaning slide and spent three days preparing for a dinner party. The very next day I woke up to find the floor I had vacuumed and mopped tracked up with mud--and not by the guests. Instead of fuming like usual, I thanked God for the muddy-footed culprit and calmly blessed (vacuumed) the mess. After all, what was the alternative? A clean floor and no family? Now, there's a sobering thought. I'd rather spend my time blessing muddy floors any day. Bring 'em on. I can FLY!

Resources: You can check out Flylady for encouragement and support at www.flylady.net

Sink Reflections by Marla Cilley (the Flylady)

Pam Young and Peggy Jones are founders of The Sidetracked Home Executives. For more info: www.shesintouch.com

Celeste perrino Walker can often be seen flying around Rutland, Vermont.