Back on the FlyWagon

I jumped back onto the FlyWagon with both feet today, and I'm still buzzing a bit from it. It is truly amazing how much of a difference just a little bit of cleaning can make in the house. Even with the coffee table is clear, the house always looks a bit...harried...but B noticed right away that I had dusted because it just looks brighter in the living room. The entryway looks more loved too (that's the zone for the week). And so I get to relearn all of the FlyLady lessons...like how much easier it is to just CLEAN it rather than fret about it...and how good I feel having done some work around the house (like I've actually earned my keep for the day, rather than just been a big drain on the household).

The coolest part of the cleaning day was that Gareth wanted to help! Ask him to put his shoes away and he'll think of a thousand and one reason why he shouldn't have to do it...tell him he can check off an item in the cleaning list, and he'll wipe down the baseboards and love it. Go figure. He still frustrated me a bit with his futzing around (he wants to make every task a very very complicated little game that only he knows the rules to) but it went far better than I expected. Perhaps I have found our new morning activity LOL!

I spent a lot of the rest of the day reading the new Barbara Kingsolver book that B brought home from the library, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. The further I get into it, the more fascinating it becomes. It's not like I don't know most of the things she's talking about (the importance of eating local, the critical role of the disappearing small family farm, why it is good in all ways to cook your own dinner instead of going to McDs), but itis deeply affirming to be reminded that yes, we have damn good reasons for the lifestyle choices we make. I feel more encouraged about this whole stupid housewife thing, to be reminded how much deep good I doing for my child, my community, and the earth by choosing to stay at home, cook every night, and arrange my finances so that Wal-Mart food doesn't enter into them. And yes, I even feel a bit smug to think how long I have been making those choices, even when I didn't know all of the reasons I "should", just because my heart told me that they were right. Now I'm starting to plot how I can actually grow some produce myself next year. So what if B doesn't think that it can be done...I bet I'm smart enough to figure out how!!!

So overall a good day. I'm riding a wave of "up" that I haven't experienced in quite a while and though I know that the "down" will hit me sometime, I'm going to enjoy this as long as I can.

DD.