Happy Valentine's Day, FLYlady Style

Here are some Valentine thoughts from the FLYlady, via Becky:

LOVE MAKES A HOUSE A HOME!
I have seen this come up from time to time, but this morning it was a God Breeze. With the New Year, I want us to focus on ways we can show or family our love for them. And I don't mean saying those 3 words either. What can we DO! Do is an action word. So what action can we take that will convey to our family that we love them.
I am going to brainstorm a bit here.
1. By dressing and looking presentable to them at all times. Kids are sometimes embarrassed by the way we don't take care of ourselves; looking slouchy when we take them to school and other places. Have you
ever heard these words, Mom please stay in the car, I can go in by myself. The kids won't tell you why they want you to stay behind. If you look good to yourself, your children are going to be so proud of you.  Try it!
2. We can show our family we love them by not raising our voices and having a sharp tongue. When we let those loud ugly words fly out of our mouths, we can't bring them back and change how those word hurt. So choose your tone and words carefully. You will find as the clutter leaves your home, the stressed out attitudes will be gone too. Practice talking in a quiet voice, it is so hard to yell or say nasty things, when we are whispering.
3. Put a smile on your face, even if something is not good, let the smile be your first defense for those bad, hurtful thoughts you are having. After a while that smile with turn your sad feelings into nice ones. If you don't believe me, prove me wrong!
4. Compliment your family, not as a whole, but one at a time. Focus on the positive things that they are doing, don't reinforce the negative ones. Put little thank you notes in lunch boxes or where they can find
them. Tell them just how proud you are of them.
5. Show them you love them, by doing something that they hate to do: Empty the dishwasher, putting away laundry or make their bed.
6. This one simple thing, means more than anything else. Keep the laundry done and put away. Nothing says I love you, like having clean underwear and socks to put on. Don't just wash and dry it, then leave
it in the baskets all wadded up. No one likes a scavenger hunt just to get dressed in the morning. Laundry is just a routine, once you establish the habit, your family will always feel loved. Now if your children are responsible for their own laundry, then do a load for them occasionally. It won't kill you.
7. The smell of something cooking on the stove, says I love you too. Plan your menus, fix things that your family loves. Make mealtime a special time. Set a lovely table, teach your children how to set the table and proper table manners. If you don't know them yourself, then get a book and make a game of it. All of you can learn together. Proper table manners will give your children the boost that they need to feel confident at those dinner meetings with the boss and co-workers in the future. They may not think much of it now, but when they are grown, they will have the experience and will thank you for it.
8. Keep your living room, entrance and kitchen presentable for company at all times. I am not saying it has to be spotless, just not looking cluttered. Children and husbands get embarrassed when they live in a house that they can't bring their friends to. They may not tell you, but they tend to go to their homes to play and not to their own. Wouldn't you rather have them where you know where they are instead of out
doing things that you can not supervise.
9. Give your family little rewards for jobs well done. Pats on the back, hugs and yes even kisses. So many times we forget to show our affection for our family, because we are just to busy to stop and throw your arms around them.
10. Brag on your husband to friends, It will get back to them. I promise. There is nothing like seeing your husband come home strutting, because he heard something you said nice about him.
11. Keep their favorite treats in the house. I know this can be a problem with those of us that tend to over indulge. But showing that you love them by not eating up their goodies as well as showing yourself that you can do it. I got a handle on this, by freezing the goodies. LOL It is hard to eat a bite-sized candy bar that is hard as a brick bat.
You have joined our group to get your home organized. I'll bet you never dreamed that we would take this approach to cleaning your house. Before you know it, the bad habits will be put aside and new habits will be forming. It is a form of FLY Washing. I have found that if we concentrate on you, the house will fall into place. So go get dressed to shoes and fix your hair and face. Put a smile on your face, a whisper to your voice and watch your family bloom right in front of you.