CLEAN UP YOUR ACT WITH HELP FROM THE INTERNET, A TIDY HOUSE IS JUST A MOUSE CLICK AWAY.Byline: JoAnn E.B. Yerem Correspondent Do you dread housework? Are you too embarrassed to invite people in? Did you force another relative to host Thanksgiving Thanksgiving annual U.S. holiday celebrating harvest and yearly blessings; originated with Pilgrims (1621). [Am. Culture: EB, IX: 922] See : America Thanksgiving national holiday with luxurious dinner as chief ritual. [Am. Pop. so you didn't have to clean house? As with many things in this day and age, help is only a mouse click away. Go online and you'll discover there are Web sites devoted to scheduling your cleaning, decluttering your disorganization disorganization /dis·or·gan·iza·tion/ (-or?gan-i-za´shun) the process of destruction of any organic tissue; any profound change in the tissues of an organ or structure which causes the loss of most or all of its proper characters. , making your own cleaning supplies and keeping your house in ``company-ready'' shape all the time. ``House cleaning is not rocket science rocket science n. 1. Rocketry. 2. Informal An endeavor requiring great intelligence or technical ability. ,'' said Marla Cilley, otherwise known as the FlyLady (a nickname (1) An alternate name used to identify yourself in a chat room. (2) A shortcut for identifying a recipient in an e-mail address book. earned from her love of fly fishing). Cilley's Web site, www.flylady.net, serves as an online coach for those who need help cleaning up their act. ``People want someone to tell them where to start,'' she said. The FlyLady site does tell them this, as well as what to clean and how to get rid of the clutter. Cilley also offers an encouraging series of daily e-mail reminders. With 266,000 members and more who visit her Web site, she has a community devoted to methods like the ``27 Fling Boogie'' and the ``5-Minute Room Rescue.'' ``House cleaning is not hard work. It's fairly simple, but we've been taught that it's work, so we don't want to do it. House cleaning chores have been used as punishment - so who wants to do that?'' she said. ``But beds have to be made, toilets have to be cleaned, laundry Laundry can be:
Before industrialization has to be done. When you don't do it, you are punishing pun·ish v. pun·ished, pun·ish·ing, pun·ish·es v.tr. 1. To subject to a penalty for an offense, sin, or fault. 2. To inflict a penalty for (an offense). 3. yourself.'' Cilley speaks from experience. She was a county commissioner and her husband was a district judge when, in 1999, she realized she had to do something about the mess at home. ``I was scared my electorate Electorate may refer to:
Roofed structure, usually open at front and sides, projecting from the face of a building and used to protect an entrance. If colonnaded, it may be called a portico. . ``You could hardly walk through our house, we had so much clutter,'' Cilley said. Through a series of what she calls ``baby steps,'' Cilley changed her life. She started by shining her sink and keeping it that way. The clean sink led to clean counters and a clean kitchen. The cleanliness Cleanliness See also Orderliness. Cleverness (See CUNNING.) Berchta unkempt herself, demands cleanliness from others, especially children. [Ger. Folklore: Leach, 137] cat continually “washes” itself. spread throughout the house. Now she has morning, afternoon and evening routines that she follows to care for her home and herself. And it's the message she spreads online. ``Too many of us are locked up in the perfectionism per·fec·tion·ism n. A tendency to set rigid high standards of personal performance. per·fec  tion·ist adj. & n. ,'' she said. ``You can't do it perfectly, so you do nothing. I had to let that go. ``Everyone deserves to live in a house that blesses them,'' she said. Self-described FlyBaby Jennifer Clark, a domestic disciple disciple: see apostle. of Cilley's and a North Hollywood mother of two, understands the perfectionism. ``I grew up with the whole 'everything had to be cleaned pristine' (attitude),'' she said. ``Vacuuming was a whole-day event. You couldn't do it unless you moved everything.'' Now Clark finds herself vacuuming areas that get the most traffic weekly and doing a deep, furniture-moving vacuuming once a month. She also enjoys using a tool every FlyBaby must have - the timer timer, n radiographic timing device that functions as an automatic exposure timer and a switch to control the current to the high-tension transformer and filament transformer. The face of the timer is calibrated in seconds and fractions of seconds. . For household missions and specific jobs, the timer is set. You work until it goes off and then you stop. ``I love the timer. Even when doing my laundry, I use it,'' she said. Clark has given her two children their own timers, too. They use them for picking up, to time how much longer they can stay in the bath, and for sharing toys. ``My house is not perfect, but that's not the point. You never arrive. It's never over. Once you do that last load of laundry, tomorrow there's going to be more,'' said Clark, who has been a devotee of the FlyLady system for more than a year. ``FlyLady's whole point for me is time saving. I get the stuff done that we need to get done so I can have time with my family.'' Cynthia Townley Ewer, editor and creator of the www.organizedhome.com and www.organizedchristmas.com Web sites, agrees. ``When we think of housecleaning house·clean·ing n. 1. The cleaning and tidying of a house and its contents. 2. Informal Removal of unwanted personnel, methods, or policies in an effort at reform or improvement. , we think of our grandmothers who didn't work outside the home, who cleaned continually con·tin·u·al adj. 1. Recurring regularly or frequently: the continual need to pay the mortgage. 2. ,'' she said. ``Forget it!'' Ewer recommends doing the things that make life easier and forgetting the things you don't have to do. ``We still have all of our grandmother's expectations and more, and we don't have the time,'' she said. Ewer says her Web site teaches its 100,000 registered members how to clean efficiently and as a family. ``I am literally the last generation that received home economics education. We actually learned this stuff in school,'' Ewer said. ``A lot of young moms really don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. how to clean.'' On www.organizedhome.com, readers will find cleaning tips, daily assignments, challenges to rid a home of clutter, and most importantly Adv. 1. most importantly - above and beyond all other consideration; "above all, you must be independent" above all, most especially , Ewer said, others who share the same cleaning problems. ``When you clean out your closet and you find clothes that are still there from junior high, you have a problem letting go in that area. You can go online and talk to others. They can help you find ways to let go.'' Ewer believes that this community feeling is vital. ``It's the difference between success and failure. Folks who have support and accountability are successful. The wonderful thing about the Internet is that it's a convenient way to get that kind of support.'' Ewer defines success as a home that is orderly orderly /or·der·ly/ (or´der-le) an attendant in a hospital who works under the direction of a nurse. or·der·ly n. An attendant in a hospital. , clean and comfortable. ``We are not doing this to make the house look a certain way. We are not doing this to show off to the neighbors,'' she said. ``We are doing this to make life in the home better.'' Clark says her life has been better since she established her cleaning and organizing routines. ``It was really big for me to realize I needed to get myself ready before my kids. That really starts my day off,'' she said. ``It's been really good to get the routines down.'' Clark doesn't feel she needs to be perfect anymore and she's enjoying the work. ``I don't stress out about it. I've gotten rid of so many knick-knacky things that cleaning isn't as bad as it used to be,'' she said. ``Cleaning is actually fun.'' Try these ideas The FlyLady's top three tips for success: Sleep: Go to bed at a decent hour. ``We try to accomplish what we need to do on three or four hours of sleep, and our bodies can't function that way,'' Cilley said. Shoes: Put on your lace-up shoes. ``Your shoes tell your head it's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a to go to work.'' Shine: Make it a habit to shine your sink everyday. ``They don't ever believe me, but it will change your life.'' ...then, click here House a mess? In a panic over the coming holidays? Here's where you can look on the Web for help around the house: Flylady.com Organizedhome.com Organizedchristmas.com Housecleaning-tips.com Pioneerthinking.com/cleaningsolutions CAPTION(S): 3 photos, 2 boxes Photo: (1 -- cover -- color) Click & dust Online cleaning help David Sprague/Staff Photographer (2 -- color) ``My house is not perfect, but that's not the point. ... I get the stuff done that we need to get done so I can have time with my family,'' says Jennifer Clark, washing dishes as daughter Jacqueline, 3, sets the chore timer. (3 -- color) Jacqueline Clark, 3, makes her own bed as one of her chores. Tina Burch/Staff Photographer Box: (1) Try these ideas (see text) (2) ...then, click here (see text) |
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