Dear FlyLady,

I have to be upfront that I haven’t always taken up the challenge of the monthly habit.  For one reason, it took about 3 months just to regain the habit of shining my kitchen sink.

Having been nearly flying two years ago, I understand just how quickly I can fall back into my old non-flying ways when stressed and I have been very stressed these past two years taking care of my home and kids as well as elderly parents and working full time.  To be perfectly honest, sometimes there are things that are more important to me than the monthly habits.

When I read your the yearly motto in January of 2013  ” Words can be KIND or MEAN; the CHOICE is yours in 2013! ”  it really hit home.  You see, the stress of taking care of my Dad and his subsequent death this past April, while not fully coming to grips with the grief from my mother’s death a year and a half ago often led me to not speaking kindly to my own children.

So I decided after reading the motto that my year long challenge was to carefully choose my words and tone of voice when speaking to my children.  That is my most important daily, monthly and yearly challenge.

Each morning when I put a sticker on my calendar for a shiny kitchen sink, I think back on the day before and whether or not my words were kind or mean.  If they were kind, I get to put a star on my calendar and I am pleased to say that now nearly every day has a star on it.

This weekend when I read one of the Swish and Swipe testimonials I thought oh my goodness this Flybaby takes fifteen minutes every morning to clean three bathrooms!  No way.  I am not doing that.  I already have a tight morning schedule.  You see, I have three bathrooms too and while I am one of those odd people who really doesn’t mind cleaning bathrooms, there is no way I want to clean three every day…especially in the morning.

But then it hit me, I don’t have to do it in the morning…I can swish and swipe in the evening!  So before I go upstairs to bed, I swish and swipe the downstairs bath.  Then I swish and swipe the upstairs hall bath and finally swish and swipe my bath as the last thing I do before getting in bed.  The reality of it is that it only takes a couple of minutes per bathroom and when swished and swiped daily, the biggest mess is just a little soap or toothpaste goo on the counter.  It really doesn’t take 15 minutes!

The absolute best was waking up and going into my bathroom the morning after my first nighttime swish and swipe.  I literally stood there and stared for about 15 seconds.  It was BEAUTIFUL!  At that moment I realized that I had truly blessed my home, my children and myself simply by swishing and swiping all three bathrooms.

After giving myself to everyone else for so long, I had forgotten what it was like to do something for me.  At that moment I understood completely what you mean when you say you are blessing your family and yourself.  That morning through your words, you were there smiling next to me as were all the other Flybabies out there and the lovely Flybaby who wrote a testimonial explaining that swishing and swiping three bathrooms isn’t that big of a deal.  Well, really it is.

Elizabeth Single Mom & Blessed Flybaby

FlyLady here: Our  July habit  is to Swish and Swipe your bathroom everyday.

Have you ever been embarrassed when someone asked to use your bathroom?  Have you ever put off allowing a repair person into your bathroom? Have your dear children watched you clean the bathroom and you have then caught them swishing out the toilet?
We want to hear your stories or tips on the benefits of Swishing and Swiping everyday.

FlyLady Rebecca here: Do you have a Testimonial about Swishing and Swiping your bathroom? Let us know, and send an email with MY BATHROOM LOOKS GREAT in the subject line.