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Housekeeping

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

984 replies

pushmepullyou · 29/01/2011 21:11

Welcome to the February Fledgling Flyers' thread. A very big thankyou to ToffeeChristmasCake (who will presumably return under her non-Christmas name Grin) 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 Grin.

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

See you all in February!

OP posts:
NettieISroundlikefiggypudding · 02/02/2011 22:40
Ihatecobwebs · 02/02/2011 22:44

Quick update and finish off, as I've spent most of this evening sewing rather than getting on with other jobs.

Morning routine done
Walk DS to playgroup done
Washing up done
Tea out of freezer done
Clean washing away done
S/s done
Make beds done
Handwashing done
Playgroup paperwork done
Zone cleaning done
Zone mission done
Collect DS from playgroup done
Lunch done
Clean fridge done
Menu plan done
Shopping list done
On line grocery order done - first time I've tried this
Play/activity with DS done
Make biscuits for tomorrow - DS has 3 friends (plus mummies) coming to play after playgroup tomorrow done
Wash cleaner filter done
Mending done
Tea in oven done
Tea done
Bedtime routine done
Evening routine - still doing Blush
Exercise - still got to be done
Filing done
Cut material for cushion done x 2
WI end of year - ignored in favour of sewing
Our computer finance - ignored in favour of sewing
Hotspot done

So, off to finish evening routine, exercise and bed. DS is very excited about having friends over so I think I'm in for a very early start to tomorrow!

pushmepullyou · 02/02/2011 22:48

Evening ladies Smile. Nice to see that everyone has had such productive days again. I am going away for a couple of days with work followed by a last weekend away with DD before DS arrives so am trying to do enough flying this evening to have a lovely house to come home to! Mostly done now with just another load of washing and mopping the floor to finish, which I am trying to get done in between writing bits of this roundup Grin

Lovely to welcome even more new flyers including jackiepaper (glad your DD is feeling better), bigbadbarry, frenchfancy, geisha and Skiptotheend

linzer has finished her work before her deadline but is cold and has toothache Sad. I used to live with a dentist who swore by 2 ibuprofen, a packet of frozen peas on the cheek and biting on a cold used teabag. Sounds quite odd, but has worked when I've tried it.

nettie was last seen hiding from her DC in the lounge

run has equipped herself with the flyers friends of e-cloths (wonderful), vinegar and timer as well as a to do list and new bin, There iwil be no stopping her now!

SC has had a productive day and has kindly and bravely volunteered to post the links and roundups for me tomorrow and Friday as I am working away and don't think either will be terribly practical from a Blackberry! Good luck SC Grin and thank you very much!

Nick has been advocating removal of loft ladders as a way of preventing clutter bold up, which sounds like a pretty good plan! She has also been concentrating on zonework and has a lovely tidy hallway.

pink has struggled heroically on through a slightly fuzzy head, although so far has not been back tonight, so perhaps the hangover won? Grin

doric is tired, but has done very well with her list. She is controversially wearing crocs, but I am in no position to criticise as I sit here in uggs...

leftovers has posted her first list and gone out for the evening.

ihate has posted another monster list. I feel quite tired at the thought of it Wink

Toffee has taken 6 bags of old clothes to the tip Shock, but is disappointed by the expensiveness of Ocado. I have found our online shopping has gone up massively in the last 6 months, must be by about 20% for the same items Shock. It's worth trying a few clever substitutions eg no prepackaged fruit or veg if you don't do this already.

Leo followed flylady to the letter and dressed to her shoes (were they lace up though?!). She has been tasked by her DS to bake a very complicated cake later in the month.

Blijemuts has been teaching us Dutch and has (probably) gone to bed with a good book

Feetheart has spent 3/4 hour when she could have been flying catching up with the thread ShockGrin. I know how she feels, my kitchen floor won't mop itself!

Wendy I am very pleased to hear flying becomes ingrained! I must admit that after a year some of the more basic routines are starting to become semi automatic, which is making things a lot easier. How old is your DS? I hope your friend is OK - I also would love flowers and chocolates.

Bob it's lovely to see you back, sorry to hear your DD has been poorly again Sad. She doesn't seem to be having a very good time of it recently. There are so many bugs around at this time of year. I hope she is feeling better soon

scout has done well with her decluttering and is discovering the joy of the 15 minute burst, As flylady is so keen to tell us 'you can do anythinng for 15 minutes' Grin

chairmum has had a productive day of decluttering and is looking forward to some well earned time to herself

ellie has had a better day today and is making a postcard for Chinese NY with her DS.

OFM has been wearing knee high boots all day and is now in her slippers.

swan's DD is still suffering after yesterdays dentist trip Sad. Swan is lacking confidence in her tile choices, but I'm sure it will all be worth it in the end.

colour has also dressed to shoes, and has also managed to meal plan up to Sunday.

kriss you are very welcome, if you scroll back up the thread to my posts (they should be highlighted if you have this turned on on your mn settings) then there are the daily links for today and yesterday and I'll be posting tomorrow's shortly. Full sink shing instructions are included in one of the links Smile

OP posts:
pushmepullyou · 02/02/2011 22:49

...and breathe/relax 2, 3....

OP posts:
pushmepullyou · 02/02/2011 22:50

Hello Trinity, of course you are very welcome Smile. Most of us who have been here any length of time have dipped out for a bit at some point. Some of us (mostly me Blush) have done so repeatedly Smile

OP posts:
LemonDifficult · 02/02/2011 22:56

Wow, this thread is fair pacing along.

My FLY efforts have already hit a stumbling block as DS2 picked the same day to get a vomiting bug as the mains water pipe choose to burst into our kitchen.

So a lot of laundry and no washing machine. No water at all in fact, no shiney sink, no flushing loos. But no guilt either! Grin

pushmepullyou · 02/02/2011 22:59

Tomorrows links coming up.....

Nice easy baby step tomorrow to do what we have already done. So basically we're shining sinks and wearing shoes, which should give any late starters a good chance to catch up Smile

Tomorrow's mission is to tidy your entrance hall. I think a few of us are already ahead of the game on this one after today's efforts!

Thursday is errand day so a good day to get shopping!

Happy flying all Smile

OP posts:
pushmepullyou · 02/02/2011 23:00

Oh dear Lemon, there seems to be a lot of these bugs about at the moment. I hope your DS is feeling better soon.

OP posts:
OgreTripletsAreSoCute · 02/02/2011 23:09

Evening all,

Fantastic roundup PMPY, well done! I have never seen this thread so busy.

Busy day here again, but not very interesting, won't bore you with the details. Not much Flying, but house is OK ish.

Tomorrow I'm having coffee with a friend who I haven't seen for about a year which will be nice. Have failed YET AGAIN to go to bed early, never mind.

pinkcushion · 02/02/2011 23:13

Update on list

More shredding done
Finish tidy/decluttering ds's room
Emails/letters
Ocado shop & meal plan done
Trip to charity shop & Recycling done
Give bathroom a good scrubbing

Sink is still shiney...and decluttering is moving ahead at a good pace. And thanks to this thread I remembered to update my Ocado list. Smile

Toffeefudgecake · 02/02/2011 23:17

Blimey, Pushme, I'm glad the thread wasn't this busy last month. FAB round up - thank you!

Had a lovely meal out with DH. It's so rare to have time on our own together these days. Then we collected DC and took DS1 to the doctor. He doesn't need antibiotics, but she could see that his ear had been inflamed. His body seems to be fighting off the infection all on its own, though, so that's good.

Came home, planted one child in front of Scooby Doo and the other in front of the computer, and started decluttering the loft again. Did another six bags! It was actually quite easy as some of the old clothes had been ruined by a leak in the roof, so they had to go. It feels really liberating to get rid of so much stuff.

Have done everything on my list apart from the fridge cleaning. I'll try to do that tomorrow.

Have just finished my evening routine. It makes me realise how disorganised I was before Flylady. It took me about 3 minutes to tidy up the sitting room, but I would never have bothered doing that before I discovered FL. Little and often is the key.

Had a big heart to heart with DS1 about school. He has written a very cogent, sensible list for me about the advantages of home education. I am weakening. I don't think I can take much more of seeing my son so desperately unhappy after school every day. Why should he suffer so?

Off for a wander round the threads before bed. Massive apologies for the lack of personal messages. Too many people, I'm sorry!

Night all.

runforthehill · 02/02/2011 23:18

Wow pushmepull you've got some thread here that you're managing!
I've in the middle of a few busy days now so glad of the babysteps breather.
Today work then meditation class
Tomorrow work then samaritans training
Fri work them night out
Sat work them night out
Sun day off but accountancy exam next wed to study for, aarh, I've over extended myself (again).

Hello OFM, I'm a knee boots woman too, pretend to be a superhero and feel the power

Good luck fellow fledglings x

LinzerTorte · 03/02/2011 05:45

Morning all,

I can't keep up with the thread either, and feel a bit of a fraud for coming on with very little flying to report. Didn't have a great night - DH was up with DS, who was feeling sick (will have to see whether he's well enough to go into kindergarten today), and I was awake for a good part of the night with toothache, so will definitely have to try and get an appointment today.

No list again today, as I'm still concentrating on getting my routines and decluttering done, although tbh I'm not feeling up to either atm. Had forgotten how awful toothache is! Thanks for the tips PMPY - I'm very reluctant to take painkillers as I get rebound headaches, but will give the frozen peas and teabag a go!

systemsaddict · 03/02/2011 06:57

Wahey, kids slept in (it's 6.47 and no noise yet!!) so I have ordered the ASDA! which means I might actually get a lunch hour at work today. Still not got that whole weekly routine thing sussed yet.

On plus side, have done dw and laundry daily all week.

Ah the thud of tiny feet coming downstairs, bye all. Lovely to see Trinity by the way, you were on a babysteps fly thread last time I was, I was struggling with morning sickness at the time and gave up quite quickly though. I have since realised that if this is going to work for me the baby steps need to be really tiny!

ohmeohmy · 03/02/2011 07:03

Haven't been posting, too busy flying. developing new crush on shiny sink. Done hallway and lounge, swept floors and lots of other little bits. Have worst flyspot in my sights.

AliceImWunderland · 03/02/2011 07:18

May I join

PositiveAttitude · 03/02/2011 07:19

Good morning everyone, and hello to all the new "faces" on here. Smile

Wow, this is a bit fast moving for me. I wouldnt get anything done if I kept up with the chat on here!

Day off work today and for the first time since I returned to work I do not feel the need to sleep all day to get back on track. Smile

So plan for toady:
Hoover downstairs- grrrrr!!
Take 8 bin bags of clothes to recycle centre.
Dye DDs hair for a special date she has tonight. - 1 year of her and her boyfriend being together, so lovely meal out planned for her.
Bit of shopping
Then the best bit - I have the energy to do some baking!! Yeah I must be getting back to normal!! SOOOOOOooooo!! plans so far:
Bread rolls
Shepherds pie
Apple pie
Ice cream
Chocolate cake
Flapjack
Play with new KINDLE!! Grin
Finish reading the book i am reading now, so that I can dig into my new toy.

Off I go......

HAve a good day. Smile

pinkcushion · 03/02/2011 07:34

Morning ladies

Todays list

15mins shredding Finish tidy/decluttering Finish cleaning ds's room
At least 15 mins decluttering
Emails/letters
Give bathroom a good scrubbing
Descale coffee machine
Make cakes/biscuits for coffee morning
Recycle old mobile phones
Make Drs appt

Sink still shiny!!!

NettieISroundlikefiggypudding · 03/02/2011 07:48

morning everyone, welcome alice jump right in Grin

pa that is good news, hope you enjoyed your day off work.

quick list post as have to get moving

dw
wm
td
s/s
make bed
check smoke alarms
dc to nursery
me work
banking
pay db holiday money
pick dc up
bath/bed
second coat spare room
bed

have lovely dayeeez Grin

Stillchuckingit · 03/02/2011 08:02

Good morning early birds, newcomers, Fledglings one and all

I'll be looking after the thread today and tomorrow for our esteemed leader Pushmepullyou who is travelling for work. [Have a good trip Mrs Doolittle!!]

I'm off to the printers for the early part of the day - definitely back by school run time - and will be back then to check on how you are all doing.

In the meantime ...

A very warm welcome to AliceImWunderland

Yay!! Great to see you as ever PA and glad you are fully back on your feet!

Hands over oil of cloves to Linzer, hope your ds is OK too. 5.45am is I assume 4.45am Austrian time is it not? That is an early start! Shock Take it steady.

Waves to Nettie Pinkcushion (happy shredding!) ohmeohmy Systems runforthehills and Toffee (well done on those additional 6 bags!!) and hope you have lovely morning with your friend Ogre

Huge waves to everyone else too.

Right, off to the land of pixels and fonts ...

Happy Flying and see you later!

Stillchuckingit · 03/02/2011 08:05

Linzer sorry - I'm a twonk - especially as I am on same time as you!! Blush Blush Haven't had sufficient caffeine yet obviously!!! Got that the wrong way around of course ...

Oh dear Blush

Stillchuckingit · 03/02/2011 08:07

oh yes and forgot to say to Lemon

Hope your ds2 is feeling better today and plumbing issues have been resolved!

TrinityMotherOfRhinos · 03/02/2011 08:20

morning all

so shine sink

force myself to wear shoes

tidy front hall

and get messages

ok I can do that

AliceImWunderland · 03/02/2011 08:29

hands trinity some shoes

and heads back to sort out wreck of kitchen

I have one hour left of my morning

and Im not getting very far,,,as ususal
Confused

LinzerTorte · 03/02/2011 08:34

The toothache is much more bearable now (fortunately, as I just phoned the dentist only to discover that she's closed on Thursdays and Fridays - doctor's opening hours here drive me mad) but has been replaced by a headache. On top of that, DS is at home as he was sick again when he got up. Inevitably, he's absolutely fine now and I'm keeping him occupied with CBeebies at the moment.

Right, I need a list:

Put away rest of yesterday's washing
Today's washing in WM
Ironing
Sew button onto DS's shirt
15 minutes decluttering in living room
Take form into kindergarten
Take metal and glass to be recycled
Check which of us needs tick booster this year
Thank you letters x2 (DD1 decided she wanted to write them at 7 pm last night, and wasn't happy when I told her it was too late)

SC No worries, my brain doesn't usually switch on until I have my first coffee. Grin

Waves to Alice and hello to all the other newbies. Smile

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