If your nest is cluttered and getting you down, join February's Fledgling Flyers and turn it around

[pushmepullyou]

Welcome to the February Fledgling Flyers' thread. A very big thankyou to ToffeeChristmasCake (who will presumably return under her non-Christmas name ) for seeing us through the thick and thin of January decluttering.

All flyers and fledgings old and new are very welcome - we have a fairly relaxed attitude to flying 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.

If you are overwhelmed by the mess in your home, start with just one thing: shine your sink. It's amazing what you can achieve by just doing a bit at a time!

Pleased be warned that my month's leadership comes with a bit of a caveat as I am due to have DC2 at the beginning of March so there is a chance I may disappear mid month! Thankfully Toffee has very kindly offered to deputise in the event of the unexpected appearance of DS .

Apologies to Toffee (and by extension Ellie) for blatant intro plagarising and thankyou to Nettie for the thread title

See you all in February!

Smoke alarms tested
Kitchen surfaces deecluttered and wiped
Washing - 2nd lot on
Wood burner - roaring
Car - cleaned from top to toe
Tennis played
Coffee drunk with friends

My poor car was in a bit of a state, It is our main family car at weekends and DH and the kids fill it with litter and crumbs, plus DH had it for 2 weeks a while ago, so it was knee deep in stuff . Cleared it out, hovered it, wiped dashboard etc, filled up squirters and gave the outside a good clean.

Whoever it was that was raving about E cloths the other day, i use mine for cleaning the car, two cloths cleaned the entire thing inside and out, with only having to rinse one of them once, much kinder on your hands than using buckets of soapy water. They really are my best Flying buy.

My best Flying jobs, the ones that make the most difference are swish and swipe, one load of laundry a day and clothes (and book bags etc) out the night before.

Didn't dare come on here earlier as I knew I'd be sidetracked by all the chat! I have been busy flying this morning and have managed to get through my whole list as well as clear and clean out my fridge (meant to do on Wednesday ). DS is at home with me and helped me by sweeping the kitchen floor. If he is home educated, he'll have to be trained in the ways of flying! It's a useful life skill, after all.

Thank you for everyone's kind words about DS. He is a lot happier now he is at home with me. OM - I haven't been on my other thread for a while because I hoped things were improving. I might bump it up again, as it is so helpful to hear people's thoughts and ideas. (If anyone wants to add anything to the thread, please do. It all helps!). Swan - that's very encouraging to hear about your friend home educating. I can understand the gradual relaxation into a less formal approach over time. OFM - DS is 11 and in his last year at primary school. Good to hear about how much home education benefitted your children.

Must go now, as am hoping to have a quick nap before the school run. Didn't get much sleep last night.

Back later.

Oh, and cheers - !

(Am stupidly excited by that!)

PS: my best flying tip is getting everything ready the night before, including laying out the clothes, right down to putting socks in shoes. We'd never leave the house if I didn't do that.

Oh my! Benefited, not benefitted. Terrible mistake for a proofreader .

(Don't look, Linzer).

Hello ladies!
Newbie here!
Think i deserve a cup of tea! :)
Have shined my sink!!! Oh my god, it has NEVER been so clean!!!! - Thank you!!!
Have gutted out fridge, and cleaned it too, and gutted out the freezer ready for the imminent Tesco delivery! Even made a list of all the stuff still in the freezer!
Going to sit and have a cuppa now (bet you the delivery shall arrive!)

Everyone having a good day?

What do to later?

Need to sort out finances....maybe after the cuppa!

x

Too late, Toffee - just spotted your post with my eagle proofreader's eye.

Just wanted to reassure you that you didn't make a mistake, though: benefitted is an alternative spelling, although it does tend to be used more in American than in British English.

At work, but just cant resist :- !!! How stupid to be so excited.

@ all the around the thread we will all be drunk by 6 p.m.

so chaotic here that it turns out ironing lady is not comign till next week may have done ironing by then I fear

done
ran away from house and took dd to TANGLED
(very good...although in some ways a bit too near the bone all that mother stuff
resolved to behave better to dd in future..
cue very very bad behaviour from dd for rest of afternoon..

ds2 is sitting on my knee and is determined I should type a glass of so virtual wine clinking

friend coming round for ds2
baked cakes for cake sale, sold and eaten
also ate several other types of Fairy cake LOL who would have thought there could be so many variants of icing in one school?
ds2 said he very kindly donated 10p to the school!

what else: bought innards of loo cistern
long chat with cousin on phone - a nice chat is a restorative isn't it, especially when fuming

dressed to shoes done
shiny sink had a pile of dishes in it when i woke up DH decided to have a late snack
school run done
dw
washing done
put away huge pile of laundry and add to ironing pile done the laundry sorting but not the ironing
sorting out a mountain of socks(now why can't some one invent a sock pair maching machine it is one of the most tedious jobs ever) done
wipe down kitchen
lunch done
dinner done

Toffee- I agree about the clothes. Everything is such a rush in the morning so I try to put all ours out. DD's go by her changing mat, mine on a hanger in the bathroom, and DS's in a little cloth bag. That way I can leave them sleeping if I can sneak out of bed and if DS wants breakfast before he dresses I just take the bag downstairs! Really helps me

We are going to see Tangled this weekend too, Swan

Can't keep up with the thread I'm afraid, snatching 2 minutes between jobs.

Perhaps if this thread is going to be so so busy, then it should be weekly not monthly? It's only Feb 4th and 13 pages already !

May I join on Day 4. My sink is currently soaking and my hallway is clear of any clutter. I've got slippers on if that counts. We don't have a dining room so have got out of that - which is a bit dodgy really because I could do the dining end of the kitchen diner...

Course you can NoseyNooNoo! Welcome!!

Just have a look at the baby-steps 1-3 and
here and jump right in!

I've done reaasonably well this afternoon but still a bit miffed that I am only just about keeping up atm, rather than making new decluttering inroads ifyswim. Seem to be stuck on a hamster wheel and the world and his wife must be sick to death of me complaining about the master bedrooom. I know I am. Never seem to get it done though. However:

Downstairs is tidy and shiny

Ditto bathroom

[Master bedroom still a pigsty]

Have a fair bit of washing to do but it's all in neat piles and under control ifyswim instead of festering in corners and I'm doing a load or two every day.

Friday night so fish night. Found some lovely trout. Having it with a load of herbs, new pots, asparagus and peas.

I'm not normally on here much at the w/e but I think I am going to have to try and Fly a bit more seriously tomorrow to make progress.

See you tonight for round-up!

evening all
more or less managed all my list...email to HR didnt happen as when I logged onto work email account I was scared by several scarey emails warning ofd impending disaster..so I logged out before reading them in too much detail and getting sucked into trying to deal with them LOL

Did also manage to mop kitchen and hall...so downstairs nice and tidy and cleanish!

Then in feat of impressive organisation and forward planning I left for school run 15 mins early in case road was still closed (which it was) went alternative route which wasn't actually too much longer...so got there early...But had brought bin bags and dustpan and brush with me so spent 10 mins tidying car whilst waiting for dc

popped to shops on way home for butter...and bought new cleaning cloth and sink shining stuff...think this thread is re-energising my somewhat slap-dash FLY ways LOL

Sadly however my grumpy mood is increasing by the second.
I am feeling possibly unreasonably irritated by DH tonight....I am trying not to ...but cant help feeling that since returning to work there hasn't been much re-allocating of household duties...sigh...am also slightly panicing about when I go from 3 days/week to 4 the week after next...possibly taking stress out on DH...sigh...

Anyway..as soon as I think I can get away with it I am going to start on the .....

oh, and a note to all you proof readers out there...my posts are full of mistakes...always will be! I'm a rubbish typer....and I would really never keep up if I actually bothered to check all my posts...sorry!

It is lovely having ds2's friend round, they have been playing with Lego...makes me realise how little my dcs play [with each other]after school. Usually it is just moaning and whinging and quarrelling. Ds2's friend has even encouraged ds2 to draw some train pictures...

Builder has departed until Tuesday first batch of tiles are grouted to a dazzling white!
Ensuite loo is fixed too

Master bedroom is looking better here SC only because I went to bed at 9pm and did it then instead of the washing up or talking to dh. Also put all my paperwork into an enormous wooden seachest and threw away 27 pieces of paper rather than just feeling defeated. Trout - delicious.

Evening ladies! Me again!
Only just getting that cuppa!!!!! Tescos came, then DD needed fed, then had to unpack shopping!!
Am sat with feet up as they and ankles now throbbing!!!

Evening all!! Managed to do most of my list today and am very happy about it We are having a carpet picnic tonight,so no cooking required,just getting some bits and bobs out of the fridge,spread blanket on floor whatever I can find foodwise goes on there and we just pick all evening whilst mummy and daddy enjoy a and small people indulge in the evil diet coke . No guest tonight so we have the house to ourselves and mummy gets to have a lie in!! Have a good evening,see you all tomorrow. Lekker slapen

Quick post from me, as I'm off out to a Pampered Chef party tonight. Where I will hopefully not spend too much money!

FLying largely ground to a halt one the DCs got home, they have been arguing a lot but nice in between. I did lose my rag at one point and yelled very loudly at them but they stopped fighting and went to play in different rooms for a bit and have been fine since.

We're planing to go and see Tangled tomorrow too, as is just about everyone I've spoken to today, so better book up I think.

SEe you all tomorrow.

Toffee glad your ds is feeling better - I really feel for you both.

Have been keeping on top of the laundry

15mins shredding Done - Green bin now full
Finish cleaning ds's room nearly there
At least 15 mins decluttering - bedside table
Emails/letters - Done some
Give bathroom a good scrubbing done
Descale coffee machine done
Recycle old mobile phones
Make Drs appt

Not a bad day - I'm keeping on top of all the general stuff - the laundry, tidying, sink shining.

I have decluttered all the easy areas so I'm now procrastinating over the rest - the garage for example has too many spiders, I can't - I just can't. My bed side table has too many small bits - it'll take ages and I'll feel like I've done nothing.

Ebaying next week and posting off clothes for nieces etc - that should clear a huge space.

Have a great weekend!

dressed to shoes done
shiny sink had a pile of dishes in it when i woke up DH decided to have a late snack
school run done
dw done
washing done
put away huge pile of laundry and add to ironing pile done the laundry sorting but not the ironing done
sorting out a mountain of socks(now why can't some one invent a sock pair maching machine it is one of the most tedious jobs ever) done
wipe down kitchen done
lunch done
dinner done

also managed to clear out and declutter 1 kitchen cupboard and the kitchen junk drawer am quite proud of that as I have been avoiding that drawer for ages and it was so full it kept getting stuck.

Evening all,

Round-up should be a cinch now we have !!! And thanks to all newcomers for the welcome injection of energy! I've got more done today than I would normally because of this thread. Tis the shame factor!!

[And thanks to oldies too of course for words of wisdom and copious supply!]

Speaking of which, thanks for much needed master bedroom clearing tips Swan

So far, I think the most voted for top Flylady tip is putting out clothes the night before (thanks for idea Optimistic).

Oh and Wendy we have in the past had to split the thread in to two when the scrolling has got out of hand! Will leave that decision for Pushme's return ...

A warm welcome to the most recent newcomers:

NoseyNooNoo MissJulie and Crisptart

Right, here we go:

Chairmum has a top tip about putting lo's clothes for the day in cloth bag so that they are available wherever lo is

Leo and myself have been matching pairs of socks today and doing a bit of and (I imagine) repeating CHB mantra at same time.

Swan and Nettie have had ironing lady trials and tribulations

MissJulie has had a cracking start

PA has been juggling jobs 1,2 & 3, has been doing a bit of this (cheers me duck!) AND will be enjoying her first child-free w/e with her dh in 20 YEARS [whey hey]

Cheers to you too Optimistic!!

Toffee has been disciplined and resisted the chat and the and has got a lot done. [Glad your ds is feeling a bit happier today too.]

Respect to OverflowingMum who frankly only has to list "6 dc, up dressed and breakfasted" and more than fulfils the Fly brief for the day !!!! Sorry to hear you are feeling out of spirits though. Have you been watching "Who does what?" on the Beeb? Very enlightening. Even the blokes who do the same amount of housework and childcare as their spouses, tend to chose the enjoyable stuff to do while their wives are left .. well ...with the less fulfilling stuff, such as ....pairing socks

Ogre has a shiny car [lol at your dh's fear of naturists!! Mine would be exactly the same]

Blijemuts is having a well-deserved carpet picnic after a busy day serving guests. My 7 year old dd (whose Dutch is far superior to mine) sends "Groetjes")

Feetheart has been chatting to a lovely neighbour and decluttering steadily

Linzer has been battling with tech probs at work. (I used to have same prob when I was freelancing: sometiimes client had restriction on size of attachment file or had changed their security settings. Poss one of those?) Hope your dc were happy with their end-of-semester reports btw. Can't believe you are nearing a half term already - ours is 4 wks away!

Colourarcs dh has been doing sterling Flying while Colourarc works

Nicknacks has been Beavering away (excuse dreadful pun]

*Pinkcushion's house is so shiny now she has had friends around for coffee

Waves to DoricP [I hope your dp survived the high winds last night]

Apologies and mahoosive waves to anyone I've inadvertently missed out.

I'll be back before bed to round-up any stragglers and formally pass the symbolic feather duster back to Pushme

Well done on a fantabulous week of Flying ladies - you should be proud!!!

xposts

Leo well done for biting the bullet with kitchen junk drawer decluttering - it is one of those horrible jobs it is so easy to postpone

You've done well too Pinkcushion with shredding and the rest.

Suggestion: get some other family member to start on garage (2 or 3 hours in 15 min short, sharp bursts) and frighten the spiders away, leaving you to follow up in protective clothing (!) and clear away rest

As for bed-side table- take box, dump everything in it, clean surface and drawers, then in 15 mins bursts, only put back what is necessary and keep to minimum so problem doesn't reoccur.

Enjoy your evening Ogre

To stillchuckingit's DD dank je wel lieve meid en je krijgt de groetjes terug van mij. Nou lekker slapen en tot morgen en ook de groetjes aan mama!!