Happy New Year, January's here, fly with the fledglings to get clutter clear

[ToffeeChristmascake]

Welcome to the January Fledgling Flying thread. A very big thank you to Ellie, our intrepid leader, for guiding us through the frantic Christmas month.

We are not strict followers of the Fat Fairy and take some of the babysteps - such as getting dressed to lace-up shoes - with a pinch of salt. We also strongly advise against signing up for the FlyLady emails.

From the first of the month, we will be following Flylady's tips on restoring order to our homes, using one of the following methods:

1. Babysteps
2. Babysteps + 15 mins daily decluttering
3. Babysteps + daily missions

Following the babysteps helps to establish daily routines and build a weekly plan.

This month's motto is: You can't clean clutter! See here for Flylady's advice on decluttering.

If you are overwhelmed by the mess in your home, start with just one thing: shine your sink.

And if you need to sort out the house after the New Year revelry is over, a crisis clean is what you need.

Back shortly with tomorrow's babystep .

(With apologies to Ellie for plagiarising some of last month's intro')

Lovely, that has made me smile too!

Great news, Arabella. You must be so relieved to have the first day over and done with. What a thoughtful baby you have - to wave you off with a smile .

Ogre - oh no, not another exhausted fledgling! Housework and clutter seems even more overwhelming when you don't have any energy left. I hope you get a good night tonight.

Toffee v. good news that your ds is getting the right support

Arabella so glad today went well!

The coffee did get me through work but only long enough to do some errands on foot, school run, supper, afternoon/evening routine. Haven't done anything else so last Thurs list gets bumped again until tomorrow ...

Wasted an hour and a bit making a soup for tomorrow that went wrong and is inedible!

Heigh, ho. Early night tonight.

Huge waves to everyone else.

Everything on lists except wd40 and empty car done. Going to bed for early night. Ex returned an almost recovered ds

Tuesday's list.
ds' reading
ds' spellings
ds' homework
ds' swimming lesson
bathroom
15mins declutter in bedroom
endless dvd's and monopoly deal as the school has a strict 48hrs rule which will be up by about 2pm but means i will have an almost recovered child stuck at home.

DD asleep on mattress on the floor that we have managed to convince her is a big girl bed (cotbed chaos here this weekend - I hate Mamas and Papas).

Kitchen beautifully shiny thanks to the miracle that is the E-cloth How have I got to this stage of my life without knowing how wonderful these clothes are? Why has no-one ever told me? If you've never used one, really, go and buy one at once. They are incredible!!

Glad your first day back went well arabella.

Very pleased your meeting re DS was helpful toffee. I was wondering how he was getting on now we are getting well in to the new term.

Hope ogre, lair and linzer manage a better night's sleep tonight. I sympathise as I am not managing particularly well on the sleep front either at the moment.

Hello to nettie, cobwebs, feetheart, swan SC and everyone else i have missed.

I have DD all day tomorrow, so not sure how much flying I will get done. Our bedroom is the room of doom in this house at the moment, so a bit of cleaning and tidying is well overdue!

Quick update before I collapse in bed. Have been fighting with computer, net and printer for hours, but have finally got documentation ready to dole out tomorrow, and stuff sent out. I HATE COMPUTERS!!

Morning routine *done8
WI paperwork to secretary done
Breakfast done
Clean washing away done
Washing on airer done
Washing in machine for tonight - no full load to do
WHBH done
S/s done
Make beds done
RR/hotspot living room done
RR/hotspot kitchen done
RR/hotspot bathroom done
Zone clean/declutter bedroom (oh yuck!) done
Zone mission done
Log this week's zone missions into CJ done
Bins, recycling etc in done
Post letter done
Handwashing done
Collect DS from playgroup done
Collect prescription done
Garden - 15 mins done
Playgroup paperwork done
Make tea done
Tea done
Bedtime routine done
Evening routine done
Exercise with new DVD done

To add to tomorrow's list
Mending
Our computer finance stuff
Item from paper file

I never clear my list . Finally, off to bed now, and hopefully to sleep. Night.

Morning all,

I'd hoped that yesterday was a one-off, but it's snowing quite heavily here again this morning. Still, at least I (and DS, and as a result DH) had a much better night's sleep last night.

Today's list:

Morning routine
Mission
15 minutes decluttering
Revise weekly to-do list
Plan English lesson
Finish letter
Post letters
Afternoon routine
Help DD1 revise for test
Thank you letters x2
Pick up DD1's friend
Evening routine

arabella Glad your first day back at work went well.

Toffee So pleased to hear about your meeting with the therapist.

pmpy I have a couple of E-cloths but for some reason tend to use my normal (much cheaper) microfibre cloths more. Must try shining my sink with an E-cloth, though, as it's never quite as shiny as I'd like it.

Must press on with my list - I've set myself the challenge today of getting my morning routine, decluttering and mission done before I have my morning coffee.

Morning all.

Still recovering from birthday chaos here , but I have decided that today I am going to get a taxi to town with all my charity shop stuff as I have a ton.

To do:

Drag self and baby out of bed
Morning routine
Marinade chicken for dinner
Pack up charity clutter
Finish shopping list
Take taxi to town to drop off stuff and shop
Collect toddler from nursery
Make some quality toddler time
Dinner
Childminding course
collapse

Morning

Slow morning here so far - I'm not a morning person. Its as much as I can do to get DS out to playgroup on time.

Morning routine done
Breakfasts done
DS to playgroup done
Clean washing away done
Bins/recycling done
S/s
Make beds
Zone work
Zone mission
Paper file item
Filing
Look at finances
WI paperwork - end of year
Allotment - need spinach and leeks
Collect DS
Mending
DH tax return
Play with DS
Make tea
Bedtime routine
Evening routine
Exercise

Oh lots to catch up on here again. Lots of birthday celebrations and milestones like back to work.
Sorry for going AWOL yet again.
I will be a bit sporadic this week too as DH has taken the week off work = chaos loss of my routine!

Well, I am totally obsessed with my sense and spray thingies. For many years I have wanted our house to smell nice like some of my friends. Ours is a large house with big open areas and any sort of scented item is just lost and useless. (why does cat pee, cooked fish smell, last nights curry or DHs beer on a Saturday night smells always linger so much better than the nice ones???) These are the first things that work!! I can even smell it a few rooms away. I now have three dotted around the house. The morning s are quite funny as they "wake up" as I progress through the house.

No list for today as it will depend on what DH has planned for me when I get home from work.

Massive waves to everyone and I hope you all have a good week.

push yes turning cots into cotbeds v. tricksy
cobwebs not a morning person here either and I hate techie stuff too, when it is not clearly explained to me in simple steps

the builder is taking off the skirtings and tiles from bathroom [aargh], luckily he is not changing any of the rest as that is quite bad enough. How anyone does a whole house up and stays sane is beyond me. The nice thing about our builder is that he will say, keep those limescaled old taps, they are actually better quality than any new taps you can buy unless you want to spend another £200.

there feel a bit saner now..for posting
house feels totally chaotic, but need to go on an errand or will lose control of the building situation..Nice walk will do me good I think!

PA I'v eput v. expensive xmas soap at strategic points round house, such a small thing (and does look a bit odd)but is v. pleasing/calming to soul.

When in church on Sunday struck by smell of wood and polish (and I suppose - incense) which reminded me of my parents' house, and grandparents' house..maybe we are all programmed to like the smell of wood. On the other hand one of my favourite smells is the smell of chlorine so don't think they make swmming pool sense and sprays do they?

Am now reconfiguring in my mind the sound of crashing and banging as woodcutter in forest. CBT for beginners.

Have had quite a productive morning but am in danger of losing my momentum now that the DDs are back from school, so will repost my list to keep me going:

Morning routine done
Mission done
15 minutes decluttering done
Revise weekly to-do list done
Plan English lesson getting there
Finish letter done
Recycling done
Post letters done
Afternoon routine
Help DD1 revise for test
Thank you letters x2
Pick up DD1's friend
Evening routine

Ihate I have to make sure that I get as much as possible done in the mornings - I find it impossible to do much of my list in the afternoons when the DC are home or in the evenings, as I'm just too tired. But I suppose that shows I'm more of a morning person than a night owl!

Managed to get to bed by 11.30 last night so had more sleep than usual, but still look and feel tired today . Why is that?

DS2 is at home with me today as he has a bit of a cold (says he feels "all bottled up"). He is actually quite lively, so probably could have gone after all, but I didn't want to send him and risk him feeling rough at school all day. Doesn't seem fair, particularly when he is only five.

Had great plans for tackling the bedroom (also a room of doom, like yours, Push), but these have been curtailed by the little person who keeps following me around the house and suggesting new games to play. 'Toy Story 3' is providing me with a brief respite so I'm going to try and do a 15-minute declutter at least.

Today's list:

Morning routine done
Washing on done two loads
Tumbledryer on done
Yesterday's washing put away done
Hotspot
Declutter 'bedroom of doom'
Check bank account online [scared emoticon]
Update budget book [bored emoticon]
Lunch
School run
PM routine
Encourage DS1 to start his homework
Dinner
Evening routine
Bed at decent time AGAIN

PMPY - I use an e-cloth in the kitchen and it came in a pack with a polishing cloth too. Even my MIL (very houseproud) asked me how I managed to make my sink shine so well! It's good at polishing the kettle too when I'm feeling particularly fastidious .

Waves to everyone else.

hello All
Was supposed to be visiting a friend today but plans fell through!!
So i'm home, DD asleep and I suppose I should do some housework!!

So
RR in playroom/living room/kitchen
Maybe some Laundry!!
Fill out DS's app form for primary school!!

whole morning spent out tryng to get tiles, finally ordered some, although still not quite clear what the plan is for innovative decor in bathroom Fell out with Topps tiles (manager smarmy and actually rude to me , and had to go somewhere else, all took forever..
also bought wood, and rubble sacks for builder

Dts home again now, ds1 soon to return from athletics, so need to tidy kitchen

painter doing bannisters so hall out of bounds

todo
sink
table
saucepans
dw
make some pancakes for hungry snackers

still feel incredibly tired like you Toffee did so much walking today....

Another fan of the E cloth here, bought a pair of them a few years ago from Lakeland, and they are used over and over and over. I even clean the car with them, far better than the bucket and sponge method.

Still struggling to catch up a bit after the weekend, the house just seems to get untidier and untidier again at the moment, never mind.

PA/Swan - I bought one of those reed diffuser things in lavender a few months ago and that is lovely as you walk past it, need to get back to the garden centre for a couple more of them. I find the house is worse at this time of year because all the windows and doors are shut more, I have been opening front and back doors wide for 5 mins once or twice a week and letting the air blast through which really helps keep the house less stale smelling.

Cobwebs I have always thought of myself as a morning person, but it seems to have changed sinceI had the DCs, I am good at getting out of the house on time, but don't get much else done, instead stay up far too late.

Going to go and do the ironing now while watching the thing about gypsy weddings, was fascinating last week. Waves at everyone, night night.

Well my living room and kitchen are looking lovely (relatively speaking), but the bedroom remains untackled!

Had a lovely afternoon with my best friend and her DS, who is the same age as my DD. I am not keen on the baby stage (unfortunate considering that I am 34 weeks pg tomorrow!), but am really enjoying the toddler stage (so far!).

PA/Swan/Ogre I have the reed diffuser things too and love them, particularly in our bedroom. I do find they get lost a bit in the living room though. They have them in Laura Ashley and John Lewis and although the LA ones are more expensive I do find the smell lingers better in a large room.

linzer would definitely recommend the e-cloth for sink shining, mine has never looked so good and it too literally seconds! Toffee I tried my kettle after reading your post (it's a chrome one and gets very dull) and it is sparkling beautifully

Do we have a leader for Feb - I can't remember if someone volunteered a while back? Happy to give it a go if not as don't think I'll be volunteering again for a few months , but there are a few days I can't manage as I'm going away with work for a bit.

General wave around the thread to dolanette, chairmum. ihate and everyone else.

Tuesday's list.
ds' reading
ds' spellings
ds' homework done
ds' swimming lesson done
bathroom 2x 15mins done
15mins declutter in bedroom done
endless dvd's and monopoly deal done
ds' room 2x 15mins
Solar system hung from ds' ceiling done except saturn which has going missing
pin curtain lining in done one curtain
mend dress attached patch, pair of jeans pinned in patch, pair of short and a pair of school trousers pinned seam back together
Reattach head to soft toy dog done
Hover lounge done
Washing done 3 loads

well today the donelist is
swept floors
tidied twins' bedrooms
put away laundry in twins' bedrooms
dw on
cooked Irish stew, which will do for tomorrow too...
cooked beetroots to make soup for dh tomorrow
rationalized veg box
bought rubble sacks
bought wood
ordered tiles
visited two tile shops
booked carpet measurer
cleared kitchen after supper
supervised piano, and homework
cuddled dd to sleep
cleared out bathroom and oh dear dumped all the stuff somewhere else in house

did lots of walking and ate lots of healthy green veg

notdone
mending of car which is flashing "engine" at me or is that "battery"?
sink is horrid
laundry haphazard
piano practice can't do this after 7pm anyway because under dd's bedroom - anyway tomorrow is meant to be PIANO and DEEP CLEAN day...

bbtomorrow

And today the children played quite nicely after school together with Barbies which was most unusual

Lair all the sewing sounds lovely and very sensible as well as creative

Lair - the whole solar system! Did you have to get the distances correct(ish) or just in the right order?

Pushme - your afternoon sounds nice. I think we all have a blackhole bedroom problem. Every other room (and anything else) seems to get priority.

I have an E-cloth for the Aga, will have to get one for the rest of the kitchen.

Swan - I feel for you in your tile quest. When I had to get them for the kitchen it was a longwinded trial full of agro.

Tuesday update

Morning routine done
Breakfasts done
DS to playgroup done
Hand paperwork out done
Clean washing away done
Bins/recycling done
S/s done
Make beds done
Zone work done
Zone mission done
Paper file item done
Filing done
Look at finances done - worked out where to look next at reducing expenditure
WI paperwork done
Allotment - need spinach and leeks - it was raining so I opted out
Collect DS done
Mending
DH tax return - am trying to do, BUT he can't find his login info [frustated, fuming emoticon] so doesn't look likely I can get it done, language round here is "adult only", and I'm keeping my head down before it becomes my fault
Play with DS done
Make tea done
Bedtime routine done
Washing in machine for tonight done
Evening routine - still doing
Exercise - not looking very likely

Night everyone. DH has just got locked out of the hmrc site for 2 hours, so I think I'm off to bed. If he stays up and tries again, I expect he will wake me so I can get his return done. Best get some sleep while I can.

Round-up time:

Lots of Fledglings have been struggling with lack of sleep this week. Everything is so much harder when you are sleep deprived, so well done to everyone for struggling on with their routines, not to mention work and childcare and all the other stuff life throws at us.

Lair's son has been poorly, but is on the mend. Sadly, his birthday party had to be cancelled . However, he has the entire solar system hanging from his ceiling, so that will cheer him up. Lair has been superduper busy today (very impressive list ).

Ihatecobwebs admits to not being a morning person (me neither ), but is still managing to keep up with her morning routine. Her lists are still the stuff of legend.

PA is loving her new 'sense and spray' thingies, although she may be reported to the RSPCA for cruelty to cats. She is coping with being back at work and DH chaos at home.

Nettie has not resurfaced since diving into her laundry mountain yesterday .

Linzer is snowed under - literally, not figuratively. She is back on Flying form after fighting off the flu.

Still has hired an ironing lady . Enough said.

Arabella is back at work and has settled her baby very successfully into nursery. Fantastic!

Feet is puzzling out how to make a dolphin cake for DD's birthday and saving up for a birthday trip to the London Aquarium.

Pushme has had quite a difficult week, what with DH incapacitated with a bad back, car broken and toddler getting into all sorts of trouble (I can recommend Grobag sleeping bags for cot climbers). She is fighting the bedroom clutter. Both she and I have very, very shiny kettles .

Ogre successfully coped with 26 kids at a birthday party . She is ironing and watching telly tonight. And maybe drinking a large G & T.

Sytems has not been seen since she ventured into her bedroom to declutter. Should we be worried?

Swan is coping with builders in the house, as well as rude, smarmy managers at Topps Tiles. She is still managing to fit in Flying and even to cook pancakes for hungry children.

Chairmum held a successful bowling party last week and is still doing her childminding course. She has discovered her secret to happiness: antidepressants and divorce .

Ellie, Darts, OM and Bob have not been on this week. Ellie and OM are probably too busy educating our nation's children and Darts' computer has been playing up. Hope you are OK, Bob.

Waves to all other Fledglings and lurkers. Apologies, as always, to anyone I have omitted.

Tomorrow's babystep is to learn how the routines developed.

Tomorrow's mission is here.

Wednesday is zone clean and partial desk time. This includes cleaning the fridge and making a shopping list for the next week. (I can still recommend Resourceful Cook website for meal planning.)

Pushme - thank you for your offer of leadership next month. I have found running the thread really helpful in getting me to focus on the routines every day, so it has done me a favour. I have also gone up in my eldest son's estimation because I was able to tell him I was a 'thread leader' (he is a leader in his online community, so was genuinely impressed at my achievement!). If you want to do next month, I could be your back up for work days if you like.

Off to bed now. Have not shined my sink [rebel emoticon] because I cba'd.

Good night all.