Sink Reflections by Marla Cilley
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Book Reviews of Sink Reflections
Book Review: You'll want this book anyway ... !
Summary: 5 Stars
Dear fellow disorganized, unhappily hermited soulmates,
You don't need to buy this book if you have access to the Internet (and how else would you be reading this review?). Everything you need to know can come to you in daily emails if you register at the Flylady website (.net).
Hard to believe, but the website and email services are completely FREE. This is a labor of love from our dear Flylady, Marla Cilley, who wants everyone to have the peace she has, with a house people can visit, time for the kids and relatives, healthy meals. It happens when you take her advice, stop beating yourself up, and take the baby steps in the order she describes (first, clean out your kitchen sink and shine it; don't worry, she tells you exactly HOW to do it too). Another magic trick is to get up in the morning and get dressed, all the way to makeup, hair, and shoes, so you can answer the door if needed, and watch your self-image magically transform!
But after you've been on the website or getting the daily email bulletins for a while, you're going to want to have this book by your bedside as well, telling you what a GOOD job you're doing just by STARTING (for a change!). THIS BOOK IS NOT GOING TO MAKE YOU FEEL GUILTY. Neither is the website.
Marla is more religious than I am (WAY more religious; I'm a Unitarian Universalist!), but it doesn't get in the way for me because she is so motivated by love and isn't preaching any specific religion.
Let me end with a quote from the book, 'If we do nothing else, I hope we impress upon you that if you don't take care of yourself, you will have nothing left to nurture your family. You will be filling their cups with an empty pitcher. Everyone will be left unfilfilled. You have found this book because you were searching for something, anything, to help you get your home in order.'
Do yourself a favor, honey, and treat yourself to a copy of this revolutionary book.
Your friend,
Harriet
Book Review: It can work if you want it to.
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been babystepping myself for a few years now and there are a few things to keep in mind:
Its more about attitude changes than a book full of tips that you may or may not put into practice and may or may not stick with (been there before myself). Its about reprogramming your thinking towards housework and setting up systems and routines that you tailor for your own home and your own life. Its about putting those tips you get from other books into practice. Its about getting rid of the junk you don't need in your life to make room for actually ENJOYING your life.
Yes, Marla Cilley is Christian and she's not shy about it but its far from "Cleaning your house with God" as some of the reviewers have made it sound. I'm not a religious person and what I've taken away is that it doesn't matter if you pray or who you pray to this will still work for you. I tend to just pass over emails or passages that are loaded with more religion than I'm up to (which are fairly rare). This isn't a book just for families or married couples. I was pointed to this site by a busy single woman with a highly stressful career. I am myself a mom of three kids and a wife so I'm in the majority of followers but there are all kinds.
If you ultimately decided to sign up for the website offerings you will get a lot of emails but if you read the details you'll see they tell you to delete what you're not ready for. I set up a folder in my email box just for Flylady emails and throughout the course of the day I see what's been sent (which are effectively reminders in the subject line and no need to read each on individually) and delete as I've done them or delete if they don't apply to me.
I hope if you're one of those people who has a house burping stuff up all over the place and no idea how or where to begin, who walks into the homes of neighbors, friends or families and wonder how they ever manage to keep a home presentable then you'll pick up the book or drop by the website and take a look.
Book Review: Great, Practical Help!
Summary: 5 Stars
This system may seem a little corny to some out there, but it REALLY works! I am a mother of four children, ages 13,10,7,5, and I started homeschooling this year. I am a born-organizer and perfectionist, who always felt like I was behind, so I knew that I would need help. Marla does a great job with women who have that same mentality. My house is usually clean and in order, but Marla does a great job addressing the issues that affect even the cleanest household, like "Hot Spots...any area, that as soon as you lay a piece of paper on it, the paper begins to multiply and before you know it, the surface will be covered." We ALL have those spots. Not only does Marla help you get organized, keep your house clean, and get rid of things that you don't LOVE (clutter), but also teaches you to fight for your own time, time with your children, and with your spouse--very important things to remember! She encourages you without making you feel overwelmed, actually quite the opposite. She constantly reminds you to take it slow, one change at a time, one step at a time.
There IS a Christian view which Marla takes (and some don't like this), but I give her KUDOS for doing so. As a matter of fact, she starts off her aknowledgments introducing us to "God Breezes". What better way to begin a book than talking about GOD! Our society has turned so far away from having a thankful, giving, blessed mentality. Besides, the ideas and principles in the book are what real Christian women believe and know to be true anyway, we just need help sorting through the negatives that we are constantly bombarded with!
This is not a book that teaches you how to clean or what products to use, etc. It is primarily for busy families, or for those who don't know how to get rid of clutter. Even though I don't have much clutter, I still learned alot about how to stay that way.
Thank you, FlyLady, for your fun (but serious) approach to getting our lives in order!
Book Review: Religion and sloppienes?
Summary: 5 Stars
Well, I wouldn't have a clue wether those two would go together, because I'm not a christian. I also don't like people preaching at me about their god. But I've been on the flylady mailing list since May and my home is improving (slowly, because I sometimes still don't get my but into gear). I don't mind her Godbrezes, in fact I just read over the "g-word" and enjoy what she writes. She doesn't talk about god much actually and I would have noticed if she did (I really dislike people talking about god instead of telling me what I need to know). What I really love about flylady is that she's always encouraging us. She doesn't say "you can do better than that" or "have you still not done this?!" she can't look into our homes, but sometimes it really fells like she is standing right there telling me "wow, just look at that shiny sink!" and then I spread out the shining because it makes me happy! She encourages by praise and it works, unlike trying to encourage by putting people down for "not having done enough". Shine your sink, even if you don't do anything else for the day it's okay. Just do one thing everyday to spready the shining and in a weeks time you'll see the difference. Even just one of her hot spot fire drills will make a difference (hot spot=an area where you put thing "for later" and later never comes, so you have one pile of STUFF that makes the whole room look trashed <- mine is my desk :-( But I'm working on it a little at a time. Thank you Fly Lady)
Well, I'm not perfect and I probably won't ever be that but I'm making progress! Thanks to Flylady who's always "standing there your out of my sight" cheering me on when I do something right and telling me "baby steps!" when I feel like I didn't do enough.
Flylady there's 5 gold Stars for you. (I would have given you more, but they don't let you put in the numbers)
Book Review: Fantastic!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been a Flybaby for well over a year, and I have to honestly say, this is the BEST book on organizing and reducing your stress level that I have seen. My life is so much more peaceful now. I am still flinging away, but the difference is absolutely amazing. I have always been messy and figured that it was my lot in life - well, right now my house is cleaner and better organized than my Born Organized Mother's!
This program, nay, lifestyle change is something for EVERYONE. I really can't stress that enough. It doesn't matter who you are - Stay at home, payroll, or single parent; a single adult with no children, or a child or teen - this book will help you in ways you don't expect. I wish I had this book in my teen years! My Dear Boyfriend is now a devoted Fly-guy and has been flinging with me as well. Are things perfect? Nope. Do I want them to be? Not a chance! I am not perfect, I'm human and for the first time I realize that I don't have to be Perfect! There is such a thing as "good enough" and there is nothing wrong with that! What a revelation, and what a relief.
To those who have may have read that some folks consider this a type of "Stepford Wife" thing - I urge you to read Levin's book and Marla's and compare them. A Stepford Wife does nothing but clean - wax the floor, scrub the cabinets, etc. Marla tells us NOT to clean nonstop - or to focus only on cleaning. I bless my home (clean) for 15 minutes each weekday - yes, you read it correctly, 15 minutes 5 times a week -- that's it. My home is cleaner than I ever expected, and I have more time for things I like to do. I go hiking, embroider, attend a book club, and I'm a member of the SCA (medieval re-creation). I am definitely not a Stepford Wife - I actually leave the house to go somewhere besides the store.
Marla's system enables me to have a life, and it's one I really enjoy.