FLYing....

Throughout my pregnancy I was connected HERE with a group of women who were also pregnant and due in June.  We are now very busy with our babies but still continue to encourage one another, give advice when needed and share the joys of motherhood.  One of the things we have been getting into lately is FLYing.

What is FLYing?
FLY is the acronym FlyLady uses for Finally Loving Yourself.   FLYing is really just taking care of your home using routines that become habits which enable you to bless your family and spend more time with them.

What does FLYing actually involve?
Lots of de-cluttering but in short spurts of time so that you do not get overwhelmed.  Each week FlyLady focuses on a different "zone" (area of your home) and sends out daily emails that contain the "flight plan" (list of things to do for the day).  Additionally there are daily "missions" which are emails containing additional 10 minute challenges in the current "zone".  She also sends frequent emails of testimonials from other "FLYbabies" and right now, with the holiday season approaching, she sends "Cruising Through The Holiday" emails with tasks to help you get almostly completely ready for Christmas by December 1.  She even has a Holidy Control Journal you can download.  A control journal is essentially a notebook of information about a particular subject.  Go HERE for your free Holiday Control Journal or go HERE to see if there are any other free Control Journals of interest to you.

So, Shannon, how are you FLYing these days?
Well, like any good FLYbaby I am taking baby steps.  I am not doing ALL the routines from FlyLady's FLYing Lessons but I am slowly but surely developing new routines that work for my schedule to help keep the CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) from taking over. 

Here are a few things I've been doing:

• I created a list of household chores that need to be done regularly.  
• Each week I fill in a calendar for my family that lists the appointments we have and the chores that need to be done for that week.  I also use it to help plan meals for the days we will cook. 
• I have developed a routine of using my time wisely at home without compromising on the quality of time I give to Olivia.  Poor Mark, on the otherhand, might be suffering a little and I've certainly cut back on "time for myself"!  (Need to work on balance in the near future - LOL!)
• I try to put a load of laundry into wash every morning.  When I get home with Olivia at 5:15 one of the first things I do is move the load to the dryer and I do not go to bed until it has been folded and if possible, put away. 
• I shine my sink at least every other day.  I do not currently have space under the sink for the dish drainer so it stays in the sink.
• I try to do my Before Bed Routine.  When I don't I can tell the next morning!
• I have selected two areas of my home that are really bothering me (in terms of clutter) and have been working on them slowly when I have time.  I have taken before pictures and am posting them for the other FLYbabies in my group for accountability.  I will probably post them here on the blog once I have the "after" photos!!

Stay tuned for more FLYing to come.....