Flylady

I am a housewife. I'm not the best housewife. I'm more of a disorganized, slightly disfunctional, definitely cluttery housewife. If you walk in my house you see piles in the corners, piles on the counters, piles on just about every flat surface. To be fair, my current living conditions are less than ideal. The biggest room in my house is 13x13. Unfortunately, it's the entrance so it's not really a functional room. All told, I have maybe 800 square feet of space (I'm estimating high. I really think it's less) for myself, three children, and my husband. So, the piles are understandable since there really isn't enough storage space in my home. But that's just me going on a little whiney rant. Who am I to complain? It could definitely be worse.

Anyway, I'm getting off topic. The point of the above rant is that I'm a mess. I'm not very good at organizing and when I do it typically doesn't stay organized. Part of the problem is that I really, honestly just don't like to do it. Cleaning to me is like poking myself in the eye. I would much rather write something for my blog, work on my novel, play with my kids, or do any number of things that are very productive, but don't make the house look clean. Guess that's my downfall. Lucky me.

Fortunately, there are solutions out there for people like me! The best solution that I've found came to me as a birthday gift from my mom. She knows me and my messes :D. The gift was a book called "Sink Reflections". The purpose of the book is to help you get your house clean and organized without sacrificing every second of your life, which is what I feel like I have to do to keep my house clean. In my head I either have a clean house and get nothing else done (including time with my kids) or I have a messy house and get stuff done that I would much rather be doing. I'll get other stuff done, thank you.

"Sink Reflections" isn't like your typical cleaning manual book. Those books all tell you wonderful tips on how to clean, but they don't really dive into the mindset. This book gives great tips as well, tips that are definitely worth following, but she dives into the mindset. She understands me! She knows that if it isn't done perfect then I'm angry at myself, or if I can't do it perfect I don't see the point in doing it. She knows that I have other things I want to be doing. She knows that the thought of cleaning for five hours straight is pure torture! She knows and understands, and gives tips on how to work around those nasty hate-cleaning thoughts that I experience.

I have to say, my house is still a mess, but that's my own fault. I love her techniques. When I use and apply them my house stays clean! Unfortunately, my habits are ridiculous and I do have to change some habits in order for her program to work (habits such as the fact that my house is a mess, it's eleven o'clock in the morning, and I'm blogging instead of cleaning. Huh. Shoot.) When I've followed her program my house is clean by nine or ten. I could be blogging at eleven o'clock with no guilt or problems whatsoever.

Anyway, point being, "Sink Reflections" is an awesome book for all you lovely housewives out there who feel trapped in the never-ending cycle of keeping the house clean. She gives great advice, makes you feel like you can actually get out from under the nightmare, and totally empowers you as a woman. I love her! She calls herself the flylady. Her website is flylady.net. Check her out. You might just love her too.