Organic Cleaning & Fly Lady

For those others who may be a bit -- ahem -- cleaning challenged - me too!!

Brett over at this guy's journey has a great post on Organic Cleaning supplies & easy to use/make up recipes! Thanks for posting them! My former son-in law was training to be a plumber, & one of his suggestions for stuck drains was sprinkling a pile of baking soda on the drain, then pouring in some white vinegar, letting it burble for awhile, then flushing with very hot water. Do it a couple of times, if the drain is 'slow,' & weekly as maintenance.
It dissolves the 'scum' nicely - tho not hair, of course! So you may need to 'go fishing' to clear a really stuck drain!

Another suggestion was pouring 1/4 C vinegar into the toilet bowl periodically!

A favorite inspiration is Fly Lady!! A friend of my daughter's suggested her site for cleaning tips a few years ago, & it's a great place to go for inspiration, tips & a program with lots of 'baby steps' & encouragement for those of us living in 'chaos' (* Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome!)

Fly Lady began her journey by cleaning (& keeping clear) her kitchen sink - she suggests that as a great starting point for others.
The home is broken into 5 zones, through which we rotate weekly - this week's Zone is the Living Room. Fly Lady suggests decluttering an area first, & gives detailed suggestions on cleaning, on decluttering, on beginning to 'fly' - if you haven't checked out this site, & are mildly or extremely challenged in this area, do drop by!!
There's even a 'blog talk' radio program, for audio inspiration (& we can listen while cleaning/decluttering, flying!) There are lots of cool tips on getting a handle on this neat house stuff!
My daughter teases me that she remembers when I was dating a fellow who was really good at 'Zen' - & I'd commented that I rather envied his simpler approach to 'stuff' than my clutter . . . . now she's married to a sweetie who learned that approach young, & is good at organizing the whole household & getting rid of extra 'stuff' . . . . her home has evolved into a much neater place, while mine is still rather stuck in 'clutter.'

Her girls (4 & 9) are getting better at quickly picking up their room (the adults go through toys & books periodically) & there's a bag of stuff that's gotten left out at 'pick up time' - mostly by the 4 year old. She's allowed to pick out one thing from that bag each time she cleans up what's currently out.

I love the system at "Playschool" - the kids can get as much out as they want, paint in dress up clothes, etc. When it's clean-up time, they clean the area they've chosen at the beginning of the day (& if lots of kids choose the same area, they get reassigned shortly after beginning in that area). I love the combination of being able to 'free play,' & learning how to pick up efficiently & co-cooperatively!
The teacher always gives a few minutes warning before bringing in the clean up chart (all photos!) As a child who was challanged by transitions, I appreciate having those alerts before the next activity!

To the dishes! (fortunatly, you can't see the counter in the photo - oy!!)