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!

i think i am getting there for today - sink is gleaming :) it encouraged me to tidy kitchen and it all looks good - so far

Sorry, Lair. I hope you get some sleep. Everything will feel less overwhelming when you do. Just come and see us for a chat, don't worry about the flying bit. Hope you feel better soon.

Colourarc - thanks. Will do after school run.

Ballinderry - sounds great! I always feel happier when my kitchen is sorted (if only it magically stayed that way).

Linzer - have put away a basket of laundry. Took 20 mins. Boring, but bearable. Still have hundreds of socks to sort and have to make our bed with clean sheets, so I don't think I'll be winning any races.

Used my timer to spend five minutes tidying up our bedroom and five minutes in DS2's bedroom. It made all the difference. Little and often is the key.

Off to collect DS2 now.

Jobs done for today

Bottom drawer full of papers shredded and moved on to files - there are loads of files.
All laundry put away
Kitchen floor washed
Sink shiny
Pens, pencils etc sorted

Am relaxing with a well deserved coffee but slightly panicked by the old timers still having clutter - I can't have clutter in two months, I just can't! I have builders coming...the dust will take over my life at that point - OK maybe a little over dramatic - how did all this stuff get into my house?!!

Sorry to hear about your decision Lair, although I can understand why you've made it. Please pop in for a chat whenever you feel like it and hope to see you back on the thread again soon. Hope you manage to catch up on some sleep asap.

Toffee I think you may well win our laundry race - mine is finished, I think, but still in the washing machine and I won't have any time to dry it or hang it up for a good few hours. We've just bumped into some of DS's kindergarten friends who are going toboganning this afternoon, and have decided to join them.

Have found time to put the washing in the dryer after all, but I knew it was a bad idea to try to do the laundry in the afternoon. Trying to get anything done in the afternoon is usually a recipe for frustration, in fact.

The DC are all dressed and ready to go; DD1 and DS have put their ski goggles on. "I'm looking cool," DS announced.

Pink - don't panic. I didn't start decluttering until about a month ago. Before that, I was doing the missions. Then I realised that there was no point in doing the missions before I'd decluttered (duh!). So now I try to do 15mins a day. However, 15 mins a day is 'slow but sure', so if you need to get the clutter cleared within two months you need to do a lot more daily decluttering.

Linzer - laundry race on hold here too! Enjoy the afternoon.

DS just said, "We should combine Roblox and Mumsnet, then you could have an avatar and meet your friends in a virtual coffee shop."

toffee I actually quite like you ds's idea of a virtual cofee shop.

I am about to go on the second school run of the day. will then come home and sort out dinner after that studying (I hope)

OK, quick list before we go to the post

Morning routine done
DS to playgroup done eventually, didn't want to go today but was better than yesterday, so kyboshed my plans for the day
Washing up done
Clean washing away done
Washing on airer done
Washing in machine for tonight done
Rr living room done
RR kitchen done
S/s done
Make beds done
Exercise done
Recycling done
Email council re non collection of green waste done
WI phonecalls done
Collect DS from playgroup done
Item from paper file done
Sort my expenses for WI so I can get cheque tonight done
WI meeting prep done
More WI phonecalls done
Progress WI end of year done
Get green bin in done
Post letter
Zone cleaning/decluttering
Zone mission
Make bread
Make tea - heat last night's lasagne
Bedtime routine
Washing up
Quick clear up as have meeting here tonight
Meeting
Cut material for cushion
Evening routine

That'll do for today - I expect something will drop of the list and hit the top of tomorrow's!

Leo - me too. Am hoping he will put his ideas to good use one day .

School run done. Have half an hour before taking DS2 to the hairdresser (tried to cut it myself a few days ago - disaster).

I can choose between sorting socks, washing some glasses or making the bed.

Found you! Still working on the 'do something each evening' goal but I did manage it last night - woke up on dd's bed at 9.30 pm after marathon screaming session getting both kids to bed, slumped on the sofa till 11pm, but I did do a very minimal amount of laundry prep before going to real bed - and then this morning got laundry on and one basket folded, so it was worth it. Tonight's plan is to fold the rest of the laundry; I do need to get ready for tomorrow as there is something truly important I need to be in work early for.

hello all...well today i have my first babystep. and also started to tackle the laundry sorting..have gone through and bagged up all clothes that are to small for DD and DS, and also had a clear out of ,y wardrobes and got rid of 4 bags of stuff to the homeless ( 9 coats!!! will have a bit more of a sort in the kitchen tonight...i will return later.

OMG on page 4 already - ladies pleeeease!!
Just flying by to say hi and sorry for being awol! Will be back tomorrow. Thanks toffee for doing last month and well done PMPY for doing Feb!

Aw lair hope you start getting sleep soon. Hope birthday party and present are a success. Missing you already pop back when you feel like it!

wow 4 pages already not sure I'll ever keep up with this !

Am not long in and slight chaos is descending upstairs as DH tries to handle littlies bedtime so I need to be brief!

Have two fun days at work which were "team building" days, so not really proper work, and finished early!
Managed to fit in a 3.7 mile run this evening too...and am actually getting slightly faster (than my previous pace similar to that of an injured snail LOL)And I have in a mad moment signed up for a 10K run in March

have managed quite well with keeping up with washing , which has been a major challenge since going back to work.

New Nanny is going well....being V specific with instructions when it comes to housework or cooking seems to be important(I didnt specify to make the stock with boiling water in my V detailed risotto instructions...came in to fine her trying to dissolve stock cube in cold water ) (LOL) but she does seem fab with the DC which is the main thing

Am not really "properly" flying at the moment, but am keeping up certain principles!
I will get back into it better once my new hours at work start and I readjust ...again, although it may be quite a while until I get back into the missions LOL

right...gotta go...
BBL

pinkcushion Good luck with the clutter. I still have clutter....BUT it isn't the same clutter I had 2 years ago!! The thing is, 6 kids just attract clutter - I declutter regularly, and it keeps it to a managable level!But not gone entirely...for that I figure I'll just have to wait till they all leave home!(and then I wont know what to fill the house with!)

Evening all, have had a shite parents evening with some rather objectionable parents, am knackered and fed up. Have done no flying at all but must say dh has taken on the mantle admirably whilst i was out and has unwittingly shined the sink!

lair I understand your decision completely but will miss you dearly. Pop by and let us know how you are even if not to fly! Take care ((unmnetty hugs)).

Hopefully back tomorrow full of enthusiasm. I genuinely love my job but tonight I don't like it very much .

Have finally warmed up after a long hot bath - standing around for an hour at -3°C is not my idea of fun (the girls had a great time sledging, but DS went down once and had had enough - so insisted on standing at the bottom of the slope with me the rest of the time).

I have little chance of getting any flying done tomorrow, as some work has just arrived and will take up all tomorrow morning. Am currently struggling with the new(ish) version of PowerPoint - I can only open PPTX files on my netbook but can't work out how to do anything I want to (where is Save As? and how can I change the language?). It's driving me mad. It's my own fault for accepting the job without seeing it.

Toffee You win the laundry race, I think. The washing is still in the dryer - actually, DH is bringing it upstairs as I write, which I'm sure counts as cheating on my part.

Evening all!

I didn't forget about you (or flying) but have been out of the house today doing chores.

Bought invoice and receipt books for business
Bank for a mini statement
Activated paypal account
Contacted a potential customer
Cleaned the bathroom
Shined my sink

I have a much more productive list for tomorrow!

Evening all

[Hands LARGE glass of red over to Ellie and hot toddy to Linzer) and leaves bottles open and glasses available to all ....

Sympathies btw Linzer - it's minus 6 here at the moment!!

Didn't get much done today but dd is better thankfully and off to school in the morning. Now she is in bed I have to descend to laundry of doom and do yet more washing but it's frreeezzzing down there! Have been so slack that fortnightly ironing lady won't have enough to actually iron tomorrow if I don't!!

Lair hang in there girl - and pop back now and then when you feel more rested - and don't feel the need to answer everyone personally when you do. Feel free to post and go!! Everyone understands!! Will pm you!

Swan how did your dd get on at the dentist??? Hope it wasn't too traumatic (for both of you!!) and she is feeling OK tonight.

Waves to PMPY, Optimistic, Toffee Feetheart Nettie PA Ihate Chairmum Systems, everyone else I've missed, and to all newbies - so sorry - haven't got to grip with all your names yet!! I'm terrible with names!!

Early bed for me tonight to stop me snacking in front of telly!!

See you in the morning and well done everyone for getting off to a Flying start ....[ouch]

Swan sorry - just realised your dd was having her teeth out in hospital - not at dentist of course (that used to be the case in my day - much safer now). Hope you are both OK anyway!!

Pink I've been Flying for 7 years but there is always new clutter. I think if someone looked round my house they'd say I didn't have much clutter, just that my tolerance for it is low these days, now I'm a Flylady! You'll get there!
Hi OFM lovely to see a familiar face - it's hard being a newbie!
Swan ditto - how did teeth go?

[smug smiley] I got all my washing dry outside today!

My DS got invested at Beavers tonight - awww it was so sweet!

see you all tomorrow - will try to get to grip with some names

Congrats to your ds Wendy! Hope you got a photo.

[offers last pack of Pringles to newbies to ease settling-in process ....]

Really am going down to laundry of doom now ....I may be some time ...