Clean House: A Challenge

This is not the first time you've heard me talk about the Fly Lady. And it's certainly not going to be the last.  Let's just be honest: I suck at being a homemaker. I'm a terribly unimaginative cook, and I don't even know how to keep a house clean. I'm always envious of those friends whose houses glimmer every time I visit, even unexpectedly. And not in a stuffy way, rather in an I-actually-care kind of way. Sure, I could make dozens of excuses for why my house is never in order: having a baby, having about ten thousand hobbies I find more interesting than cleaning, places to go, people to see, unfinished house projects around every turn, allergic reactions to cleaning products (kidding). However, I'm tired of the excuses that other (very nice) people make for me. I simply want a clean and orderly house. And I don't want to spend my weekends binge cleaning. I realize that I'm not going to get there overnight, and I'm ok with that. As long as I see progress and notice true habits developing, I'm happy.

In order to get a bit more serious about my intentions this time, I decided to issue a challenge. (You all know how I love those!) My girlfriend, Jamie (Eden's mom), had started the Fly Lady system a few months ago, but fell off the wagon after going on a long vacation. While visiting this week, I asked if she was interested in getting started again, but doing it together this time. Baby Steps, day-by-day. This way we have someone to keep us motivated and accountable. And we have help to decipher the system; the Fly Lady website is not exactly what I would call clear and concise! Plus, we simply have someone to talk about it with, cause let me tell you, learning to clean is not currently a hot topic amongst my group of friends!

Jamie accepted the challenge and we started immediately! Last night we both accomplished our first Baby Step: Shining our Sinks. I did it from scratch, yet again, bleach soak, Brillo scrub, Mrs. Meyer's powder and all. Raf came home from his softball game in the middle of it, grabbed a scrub brush and joined the fun! It's looking awfully shiny, if I do say so myself.

Today's Baby Step, on the other hand, I'm not so into: Getting Dressed to Lace up shoes. I don't really do lace ups. But I put my flip flops on instead of slippers, if that counts for anything. :)

Now, I throw it out to you! Anyone else feeling this way about the state of their home? If so, join us! If you commit right away, you can just jump in with us (the Baby Steps start pretty slow), or start from Day 1 when you can, that works too. Whatever helps you feel good about coming home (and having guests)!