Marla,

As I’ve tried some of your ideas I have found success,  Getting your clothes ready in the evening is one of the best.  As for the bed being made, my mother’s ghost would haunt me.  And I hate looking at an unmade bed.

I realize now that some of my mother’s ideas had a lot of Fly Lady in them.  For instance, my mother often referred to giving a room “A Lick and a promise”.

I am the 6th of 10 children so by the time I came along my mother had learned a lot.Among the practices which helped was:

1.  Keep the first room you walk in to free of clutter.  She was never ashamed when someone dropped in in spite of having to do all that was needed with 10 children. She had not learned about shiny sinks.

2.  She had routines like Saturday morning we each had a list and at the end it said “See me”.  Once we were done we could have our fun.  She never went back on her promises but could have put a little fun a la Fly Lady into what we did on Saturdays.

3. Fortunately she and my Dad were not into threats and punishment.  They had our respect and that is the most important.

4. Their fair treatment and teaching us to be glad for our brothers’ and sisters’ good fortune was their best gift to us.

We love each other in spite of our foibles and jealousy is not part of our way of life.

I now am applying the 5 minute or 15 minute efforts into my challenges with my husband’s health problems. I do 5 minute balance exercises. I’ll put the 15 minute timer on to clean the kitchen. I can feel overwhelmed but just thinking about a short time helps
a lot.

Thanks, Fly Lady
Barbara