The Flylady's 'Vacation Banshee'

Vacation Banshee


by The FlyLady, Marla Cilley





Does the thought of getting ready to go on vacation make you want to crawl under the covers and hide for the rest of the summer?


Vacations are supposed to be fun not a hassle. We don't have to dread going on vacation. We always have a good time once we get there. So let's start now and make it a joyous occasion. We can do this by taking babysteps using the tools that help us most: our timers and Control Journals.


I travel a lot during the year. Michele, my assistant, and I have gotten this down to a science. It is always fun to get away from home for a little while, but there is nothing much better than sleeping in your own bed after several days of travel.


You know that feeling you get walking into a fresh, clean hotel room? I want you to have that same feeling when you return home after your journey. You can do this very easily by not being rushed and with a little planning.


Let's first think about the way you want to come home to your castle. Walking in the door and being greeted with a clean home will make it all worth it. Then crawling into a bed that has fresh clean sheets. These things have to be done before you leave.


Sit down with a nice glass of iced tea and your note cards. I keep my Packing Control Journal on 4-by-6 note cards in a small photo album. These are personalized for me. I have a checklist card for clothes, equipment, my purse and carry-on luggage, food, toiletries, speech bullet points, first aid bag and things to do before I leave and when I get home.


Here are the headings for each card:

• Travel Arrangement - tickets, car repair, directions.
• Food - for car, for condo, to buy once you get there.
• Clothes - This is a card for each family member with their specific needs.
• Equipment - Baby bed, stroller, computer, sleep machine (CPAP), Crockpot, (you get the idea)
• Toiletries - main bathroom bag and personalized toiletries for mom and dad.
• Things to do before you leave - Stop mail, board dogs, set thermostat, check freezer door.
• Things to do when you get home - start mail, get dogs, unpack bags immediately, start laundry.
• Clean house checklist - change sheets, swish and swipe, dishes done, vacuum, hotspots checked.
• First-aid kit - medications, bandages, sunscreen, bug spray.
  
  

Making this list now will help you get ready to leave without your becoming a vacation banshee. I have even made a Packing Control Journal just for you to download for free. Go to :

http://www.flylady.net/pages/control_journals.asp

Have a great vacation whether you travel or stay home. I just want you to enjoy the process and not get stressed out over it. This summer is going to be fun if we will do a little planning now and not put things off to the last minute.

Are you ready to F.L.Y. (Finally Loving Yourself) into fun this summer?

For more help getting rid of your CHAOS, check out her website and join her free mentoring group at http://www.flylady.net/ or her book, Sink Reflections published by Bantam and her New York Times Best Selling book, Body Clutter published by Fireside. Copyright 2010 Marla Cilley Used by permission in this publication.

Learning to FLY

Learning to FLY

by The FlyLady, Marla Cilley

We have lived our whole lives being put down because we were unable to live up to someone else's standards. You know exactly what I mean!

As children we were continually fussed at for not being able to keep our rooms clean. When we went in there to start, we would be completely overwhelmed and no one understood what was the matter. Now as adults we still have to deal with those accusing tongues. You know the put downs you have received from family members - mother, husband, sisters-in-law, sisters, and even your children.

Most of these people are Born Organized (BO) and have no clue why you just can't clean your home. For them it comes naturally. For us, we need to be taught. We are not stupid, lazy or slobs. We just don't do things the way they do. Let's face it; it is hard for anyone in the family to live up to their standards.

Could that be why they are not much fun to be around? They are caught up in their perfectionism and don't know how to get off that destructive merry-go-round.

There is a fine line between BOs and SHEs (Sidetracked Home Executives). That line is perfectionism. BOs tend to go past that line into obsessive about cleaning. SHEs feel that if we don't have enough time to do it perfectly, then why even bother. We were taught if you can't do it right, then don't do it at all. We do as we are told.

Let's look at what happens when we are confronted with some of those unkind words coming from our loved ones' mouths. I really hate to use that term, because they are not loving when they judge us. Love is unconditional. Their love is only if we live up to their standards.

The nasty words can be in snide little remarks or in actions. It doesn't matter they all hurt just the same. As children we would get in tiffs with our friends and blurt out, "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me!"

As adults, those kind of words do hurt. Here is how. Your mother comes over and you really know in your heart she is going to look down her nose or say, "Why can't you just keep the house clean?"

It is the same when your husband gets mad because he can't find any clean socks. You jump up with that surge of adrenalin and get started doing something - anything - to look busy. You are running around and you can't seem to accomplish anything but spinning.

We have lived off this adrenalin since we were children. Let's call it "fast food." Yes, it gives us the spurt of energy for a while, but we can't sustain it for very long. Then we crash and burn.

Our anger has been turned inward on ourselves. So with each nasty unkind word, we let a little more of our spirit die, even if those unkind words are only in our heads.

I want to teach you how to take a different Flight Plan for your life. You don't have to eat their "fast food" anymore. Don't listen to those voices in your head and make assumptions about what people are thinking.

I want you to FLY (Finally Loving Yourself) and it is not going to happen in a few short weeks. Follow a simple morning and before bed routine - declutter just 15 minutes a day and get dressed to shoes and fix your hair and face every morning first thing. Before long you will not care what they have to say, because you know in your heart that you have the Flight Plan that will get you out of the CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome).

You have been starving for just a few crumbs of acceptance from your loved ones. The only way you are going to be fed is if you feed yourself with the love and attention you deserve. You can do this! BabySteps will help you find the substantial nourishing food you need to sustain your Flight.

The adrenalin you have been living on only leaves you wanting. Scarlett said in Gone With The Wind, (I have paraphrased it), "As God is my witness, they aren't going to lick me. I'm going to live through this, and when it's all over, I'm never going to be hungry again."

I want for you what I have; PEACE. When you get a small taste of peace, you will never like adrenalin "fast food" again. No more crash and burn from your self-loathing. You will be FLYing!Are you ready to FLY?

For more help getting rid of your CHAOS, check out her website and join her free mentoring group at http://www.flylady.net/ or her book, Sink Reflections published by Bantam and her New York Times Best Selling book, Body Clutter published by Fireside. Copyright 2010 Marla Cilley Used by permission.