My Dearest FlyLady,

How are you this beautiful Sunday morning? I am enjoying the quiet of a house filled with two sleeping adult children (my youngest is turning 18 this week!) and a husband who is in the den. My house is quiet. I don’t even have praise and worship music on (my usual state of computer time to keep min the right frame of mind in the world of social media negativity).

I’ve never written to you before. In fact, I’ve been a FlyBaby dropout more than once. However, as a Payroll SHE (I’m a special education teacher) who has just come off summer break, I alway use the summer to get my house in order. You’ve never left my mind. Your teachings are solid and I think what draws me back to you is that your system isn’t an “all or nothing” type of system – do it right or don’t do it at all. OR You MUST do it this way. No, you teach to start where you are and do a little bit at a time. It doesn’t have to all get done at once. (It won’t get all done at once because we get too overwhelmed).

But when I read a testimonial this morning about the FlyBaby who is overwhelmed and you shared your testimony, a few things dawned on me: 1) you absolutely went through your personal struggles to help others. I completely believe that we go through struggles to help fellow strugglers. And I can tell you feel good knowing that there was purpose in your struggle. 2) Because you’ve been through your struggles, your system is more about the soul sister than the soles of a sister. Allow me to explain. You recognize that clutter is an outward manifestation of on an internal state of mind. And because you recognize this, you focus on this. This is the basis of your whole system. Yes, we all get decluttered and organized and clean as we go through your system, but our SPIRITS change. Your system is very much rooted in the psyche and that’s why it works.

So, the reason for my email:

I’ve recently come back to you after browsing Youtube over the summer. One of your FlyBabies outlined how she had been doing with the system. But what really struck me is she created Zone cards where she had your detailed cleaning list of each zone. Why does this matter?

Well, I’m a visual person (studies show 60% of us are) and I liked the idea of having cards (laminated, of course) laid out, outlining exactly what could be done in each zone (I say “could” because not everything gets done all the time, for whatever reason. But it doesn’t matter because I know I’m going to pick it back up the next month. The pressure is 100% off).

I paired her cards with a print out of Google Calendar and color-coded smiley stickers. At the beginning of each Zone, I place the corresponding color-coded sticker.

My zone color coding is as follows:
Orange – Zone 1 – Mudroom and Porch
Green – Zone 2 – Kitchen and Dining Room (they are connected)
Blue – Zone 3 – Bathroom and Hallway (also connected)
Purple – Zone 4 – Master Bedroom and Closet
Red – Zone 5 – Living Room & My Office (they are actually the same room)

You’ll notice the den isn’t listed. This is my husband’s area. After 22 years of marriage, I’ve learned not to clean his stuff. He will clean when he’s ready. (He’s disabled and home full time, so he has to gather up his “spoons” to tackle larger jobs). My children’s bedrooms also aren’t on my list. They’ve been responsible for their own rooms since they were in elementary school (and responsible for their own laundry since middle school).

I’ve never purchased anything from your shop, but this month I did after careful consideration. I just received your Rubba Scrubba and I’m in love! I was able to dust my bedroom walls (I admit this task I’ve put off for years), dust furniture, dust blinds, dust window sills, dust the recliner that’s in our room, and dust myself after all that dust went on me! I am in love! I originally bought it to use in the kitchen to scrub off cheese (my daughter recently confessed that she threw our generic scrubber away after there was caked on cheese on it that wouldn’t come off. I was hoping your product would assist with that).

However, it appears that this little $8 tool can be used all around my house and I’m thrilled! I’m not a minimalist, but I like certain aspects of it. I also love the idea of keeping things that only spark joy. (This is why while I was in the bedroom dusting, I went through underclothes, shirts, PJ’s, shorts, socks, shoes, and work clothes and flung a whole laundry basket full out of my room to donate.)

I know this is super long. You have my permission to dice it up as you see fit, providing the integrity of the email is kept in tact. There was just so much to tell you!

So, long story short (too late!) – thank you. Thank you for your kindness, your wisdom and your products. (My purple and pink rags should be coming soon!)

I hope you and the rest of the FlyLady staff have a beautiful Sunday morning!

Sincerely

FLYing in GA

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