Dear Neasa,...

"Hi Kids!It is time for the Riley Challenge of the day!!Let’s go into our rooms and as fast as we can pick up 5 things that areon the floor that need to be put away. Then let's do another 5! Super fast! Look around do you need to put away any books, games ortoys? Go! Go! GO!"

The words above have been sent to my kids by none other than Fly Lady herself. When I mentioned the Riley Challenge to BB in passing; his reply was; “Mum, you made that up! I heard you & MM discussing it on the hike!” Well, needless to say, I was speechless; if only for a few seconds.

For starters, MM & I weren’t discussing the Riley Challenge on the hike. We did briefly touch on the subject of vacuum cleaner’s; considering that I had grilled her on the subject, the least I could do was boast about which one I had finally purchased. In fact I had gone for the Hoover 2000 upright model with flexible hose and pet facility, largely because it is €200 less than the Dyson we had been considering.

We figured that a Hoover would have to be a good buy, after all the only reason we’re ditching the 40 year old ancestor is because we can’t buy the bags any more and it is no longer aesthetically pleasing! The trusty old work horse is now being consigned to the WEEE Recycle-ing facility; instead of commuting between the attic and the carpeted ground floor of our ramshackle bungalow in the country.

My new friend; Neasa, was asking me how things were going with Fly Lady. All I can say is that I am now so motivated that I have been persuaded to part with wads of cash in exchange for the affore mentioned Hoover. This is in the hope that if the darned thing works; I might be more inclined to push it around the place in an effort to get the old homestead ready for the festive season. Truth is that Fly Lady & I have made a pact; which is that I am going on a cruise for the month of December and therefore I have to be ready for the holidays before the end of this month!

If only this were true! That said; the very idea of such a thing does seem to be working its benefits on the untidy fiefdom in which I live. After months of descending squalor, Fly Lady has fluttered her wings and shaken a little magic dust upon us. DG was quite surprised when requested to close the cupboard door; after all, if he’s about to use that cup, he won’t be returning it to the confines of its shelf in the immediate future.

Instead of leaving the opened and emptied can of tomatoes on the work counter, it is just as easy to rinse them out and leave them inverted on the draining board, isn’t it? Empty cigarette packets don’t have legs, so they can’t put themselves into the wastepaper basket in the living room, now, can they?

Admittedly, it does take a bit of effort; remembering all this isn’t easy when you have 101 different things running around inside your head at the same time; perhaps that’s why the Slob Sisters coined the phrase Side-tracked Home Executive’s (SHE’s)? However, with even the slightest of efforts the effect is immediately noticeable; it is just unfortunate that the two boys aren’t prepared to put in even the slightest, the very smallest effort.

The Riley Challenge comes into play here; by implementing the use of reverse psychology, the Riley Challenge and merit tokens; we are hoping that these two ruffians will toe the line and help us get our living space back on track.

A typical example of the CHAOS which reigns, in their room alone, is last week’s case of the missing school bag. Having ransacked my home, made a number of telephone calls and generally given it up as a hopeless case, I was then mortified when BB walked in through the door and immediately pulled the darned thing out from underneath his bed! Did I forget to mention the numerous times that I had already looked underneath BB’s bed? By way of consolation, the same DBB whispered that it was okay; the red side was face down, which left only the black part of it showing – hence making it impossible for dear old Mum to find! Grrrh!

One of the biggest challenges for me is the internet. The more time I have on my hands it seems the less I do. However, I have come across some lovely people and some fascinating information, all of which I have put to good use in relation to my greeting cards business; Vinca Cards. Without the ready access to volumes of knowledge and help, I would probably never have found the confidence to pick myself up off the ground and get on with it.

What I have decided to do, regard my computer time is to take two days off per week. With the exception of quickly scanning my inbox on a Saturday morning; in case of urgent e-mails, I no longer touch the keyboard until Monday morning; I don’t peek at the monitor either! There is one rather large drawback to this method, and that is the intense volume of mail to be siphoned through on Monday’s!

My frugal refusal to use the oil central heating and my feeble attempt at lighting the fire earlier; plus the fact that I have been working at my pc for a little over five hours now, and the fact that winter seems to have finally arrived, has led to the fact that I am very cold. Looking on the bright side of things, it is now time to collect LB from school again; which is truly great as it means I can go down to BJK's for an hour or so and defrost my aching body...