Dear FlyLady,

What about the kind of detailed cleaning like my grandmother used to do in the spring and fall (lots of people still do – it does need to get done at some point, even if infrequently) — washing all the walls and woodwork; stripping and re-finishing floors or detailed cleaning of wood floors; washing the china and crystal from the china cabinet, cleaning the windows/casings on the inside and out, etc? When do we do that, and how do I fit it in to my schedule/control journal?

Flybaby D NB Canada

Dear D,

Just today on Facebook one of our Flybabies was saying that there was no way that she could vacuum with Weekly Home Blessing. She said it would take her over an hour just to vacuum both floors. What I told her is that with Weekly Home Blessing hour we just do the middles. We can do detailed cleaning with our missions in our Daily Flight Plan.

We have to let go of our perfectionism. When our homes were messy we never got around to those things anyway. When your home is clean; you can see what needs to be done and make a plan for those jobs that require painting, stripping, refinishing and carpentry. Even some of these jobs can be done 15 minutes at a time.

There is a chapter in my book, Sink Reflections; “You will never have to Spring Clean again!” We don’t clean like our mother or even our grandmothers any longer. If you will follow our zones and do FlyLady’s missions you can have this same joy too.

Years ago homes were heated with wood or coal. Soot got everywhere. This is why they had to marathon spring clean. Some people spring clean for Passover. Just because we don’t clean our home like they did; does not make us bad housekeepers. After about three months of doing our zone cleaning/FlyLady missions your home will be as clean as your grandmother’s. Here is the good part; we don’t have to be mean to do this. All we have to do is spend a few minutes each day doing FlyLady’s missions.

I have seen lots of yelling and screaming when children were forced into spring cleaning. Nothing was ever done to suit the mother. Do you want your children to remember cleaning this way. There is no wonder we have a dislike of cleaning. Let go of your perfectionism and follow our zones; You will never have to spring clean again.

I love the misconception of spring cleaning; because a lot of people call me for an interview! It is so much fun to tell their listeners or readers that we don’t have to clean like our mothers did.

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