If you're house is cluttered and you're Mad as a Hare, join March Fledgling Flyers and get it all square

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

Following on from the February Fledgling Flyers thread, welcome to March. This is the thread that follows the Flylady website (loosely) for getting your home decluttered and your housework into routines, whilst dispensing tea and chat freely.

A big thank you to PushMePullYou for leading us through February ably assisted by ToffeeFudgeCake. We had a huge influx of new posters as well, which was lovely, anyone else who is lurking, please say hello, you will be 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!

Thank you all for your lovely, lovely comments. You are a fantastic support network & brill at holding hands! I really needed support today! It has been such as stressful day!
Hope everyone has a fun date night! xxxx

MrsMcJnr hello, x-posted earlier, welcome on board.

No date night here, MissJ, but never mind. I'm so glad you will be able to go to bed knowing your DH is safe tonight. You have had an awful day.

Welcome, MrsMcJnr. I have been Flying since last summer too, with the help of this thread. I have been tempted to buy from the Flyshop, but haven't done yet. I was particularly attracted by her decluttering bins (titled 'Put away', 'Give away', 'Throw away'), but decided it's a waste of money when I can just use boxes. Haven't seen the Rubba Scrubba testimonials.

Welcome back, MrsSharp. I'm very impressed at your initiative in selling your kitchen on ebay. Hope you get a good price.

WhoKnows - thanks for the babystep and quick update. Hope you managed some telly time without too many interruptions from your DC.

Yes, toffee, it has been just horrid, have spent most of the day in floods of tears.
Am now sitting having a wee bacardi & some galaxy chocolate!

Good for you, MissJ .

Sleep well!

Thanks! She has been in bed sleeping since 11pm!!!! Shame my mind is still racing!!! xx

Go to bed, MissJ! I'm going now. G'night.

Lol! Night night! xx

evening.

late night. just popping in to say. Glad to hear DH is ok MissJ.

right must must must bugger off to bed before i upset someone.

Morning all,

DS and his friend have been up since the crack of dawn. DH got up with them and gave them their breakfast, put on a DVD and went back to bed. DS's friend came into our bedroom a while later to say that DS wanted a drink, so I decided I might as well get up. To think I was worried about whether we'd be ready in time for his mum to pick him up at 8.30 am!

Toffee and MrsSharp I have been adding up the cost of my prospective Lakeland order and trying not to faint. (And then there's the postal charges - 10 pounds for the first 20 pounds of the order and then an extra 1 pound for each additional 5 pounds ).

(And where is my pound sign? Have switched over to the English keyboard [have both German and English installed, but can only see the German one] but can't find it anywhere! There's a # where it should be - is that because the Americans call a hash a pound sign? )

Off for a shower now while the boys are still being entertained by Micky Maus Wunderhaus.

aw love micky mous wunderhous.

good morning everyone, its my lie in today so in bed wide awake as usual. dh has been asleep on the sofa whilst dc glued to tv. dd is now screaming, no one is dressed and there is breakfast all over the floor and table. That chat about whether all the household tidying should be left soley to me obviously fell on deaf ears!

ah well i have a very busy day so better get the troups moving.

Hope you all have a lovely day

Have persuaded DH to take DS out to finish off the weekly food shop and buy a birthday present for his friend so that I can continue browsing the Lakeland website tidy up. I've emptied the dishwasher, cleared away all the breakfast things and emptied the bins and now need to get on with some proper tidying.

Am now up to 26 pounds P&P on my Lakeland order - eek! Still haven't finished browsing, but I'll have to be ruthless and cross several items off my list. It's so annoying to think I could have it all delivered for free if we lived in the UK (a good reason to move back I feel, but unfortunately DH decided against applying for the job in London).

Enjoy your lie-in Nettie and hope everyone else is having a good weekend (it's lovely and sunny here, which makes a nice change).

gosh, I see our Sats are much like everyone else's

However [pretends to be organised] ds1 has gone to beginnerviolin orchestra, dd has been taken to choir, and ds2 is in his football kit and playign with lego Racers. I have prepared the lunch, sort of...
On the minus side, dd has stepped in some sort of cat/dog mess, so was screaming about her shoes, I am not dressed, dh is already fed up with family life, and there is milk all over the table from the bad table mannered dcs!
And I am dreading this afternoon's lineup of Reconciliation service, Boys Ballet (need to tell dh where it is) and chopping up the garden rubbish.

Linzer there is a lovely German school near Richmond, in Petersham and a lovely German commmunity - if you are ever tempted to mix London and delights of abroad. We visited someone there...
Unfortunately our kids can't speak German at all or I would force dh to move there.

I'm not dressed either, Swan. But I have managed to get one of my children dressed, so that is progress.

Linzer - I have the answer to the expense of the Lakeland order: first, do an online order (thus satisfying the Lakeland lust); and, second, turn the computer off before placing the order (in my case, because I was falling asleep), thus cancelling the order and saving yourself ££££!

Nettie - that Sat morning scenario sounds so familiar

Gone - hope you slept ok in the end.

Slept in till the late hour of 8am this morning, when DS2 woke all of us by shouting, at the top of his voice, "Where is everyone? Has everyone forgotten me?"

DH has had his lie in, but is being very grumpy this morning . I have been spring-cleaning DS2's bedroom because my mum is sleeping there tonight. DS2 helped me by cleaning the windows, then went out into our very messy garden to play. Does Flylady cover gardens? It should certainly go on our list

DH has just slid our garden doors shut behind him, thereby shutting himself in the garden .

Might leave him out there .

The DDs are back home and rather sleep-deprived, but have done their homework so that's one thing out of the way. The original plan was to go swimming this afternoon, but it's such a lovely sunny day that we've decided to go into Vienna instead and take the DC on the big wheel (despite DD1's protests; she would prefer to go swimming).

swan Now that is interesting; Richmond is lovely and I can quite imagine living there. In the meantime, we've booked a weekend in London in the summer - not quite the same, but better than nothing!

Toffee Oh dear re your Lakeland order. My items are still all in my shopping basket (really can't afford to order all of them anyway) so I shall be keeping a close eye on the computer - and little fingers away from it!

I too am in my PJ's still but in my defence I fell down the stairs and have been laid up until now DD had dropped her fleece on the stairs and then I walk down the stairs with an arm full of washing and skid the last 7 steps or so right on my coccyx. Tried to stand and i nearly passed out (have low blood pressure) so DH has done the food shop and bought me magazines and chocolates while I laid on the sofa resting. Gonna have an almighty bruise tomorrow.

Note to self and rule for the whole family, definitely DO NOT leave anything on the stairs!

Ouuch lady in pink. Hope that bruising is your only problem.

Didnt sleep well. Have caught virus and feel like shit. But

Tidy lounge done
hide washing done
hoover lounge and turn rug done
finish all jobs not done yesterday done
more washing CLEAN
collaspe back into bed and do nothing doing

Plan for this after noon is either to read a book or to go back to sleep. Must also find hot water bottle as too hot for CH on but feeling cold.

Hope all manage calmer afternoons. Enjoy family fun time!

Gosh ladyinpink that sounds awful- hope the chocolate and magazines are aiding your recovery.

Today has been shocking- DH and i always argue on a sat morning not sure why but i feel dumped on- he's out playing golf right now so i'm sat in our pit home eating biscuits and watching trashy TV with the baby in bed and the boys making a mess playing.

Weekends are never very productive apart from washing uniforms and packing PE kits, swimming bags, money/letters for school etc for the week.

Off to make a BBL

Thank you for the welcome I am most amused with the obvious love of Lakeland too, I adore that shop and the catalogues, though have to admit I do find them a little pricey but that´s because I am a SAHM these days and have no income of my own (?You spent WHAT on a gadget to clean the runners of the patio doors??? ? what´s wrong with a cloth???)

MissJulie ? glad to hear that your DH is safe. Scary times.

Linzertorte ? I feel your postage pain, I live in Spain so the cost is the same for me. That said, I received some goodies via my neighbour yesterday including two of the Pasta Baskets and the oven liner (have to clean it first), I am very excited about them (too much so I imagine ) Have you applied for a catalogue? You get a 5 GBP (Spanish keyboard!!) off voucher in it (though you can´t sue it online!)

Poor you Ladyinpink ? sounds very sore, hope you feel better soon.

Gonehopefullyforgotten ? get well soon!

Nicknacks ? I am convinced my DH kisses his desk on a Monday morning, and he works for my parents!

My Saturday wasn´t quite by the FLY today ? not much Family Fun in that we attended the funeral of a baby today he died in 12 hours from a bacterial infection which shut down his organs. He would have been 1yr on Tuesday and died 4 days before. He was a friend from toddler group so we went as a family. Trudged up a very steep hill path and listened to his parents´ brave and passionate words and joined them in scattering his ashes and releasing helium balloons in his honour. DCs behaved appallingly unfortunately. Very, very sad but a reminder of what is important too.

I´m meant to clean my silver photo frames on a Sat but I´ve taken off my lace up shoes and am having a wee glass of wine instead.

MrsMcJ - that is too, too sad .

LadyinPink - owch. Glass of wine and a soft cushion is in order, I think. And no Flying.

GHF - I think you should go back to bed and try and get some rest.

Linzer - hope your Lakeland order has gone OK now.

Nicknacks - we are having an unproductive Sat too. DH was very grumpy this morning because he's stressed about all sorts of things. He's behaving now because my mum is here!

Can't get on with anything today. Don't know why. Mum and DC are now watching the DVD of 'Mr Despicable' - I can hear a lot of laughter - whilst I cook and tidy up. Am about to get a large box to throw all the junk into, but I feel in a cba mood today. Sometimes it just seems too much effort.

Back later.

Thanks GHF, toffee, MrsMJ and nicknacks i've had a relaxing day dosed up on ibuprofen and feel a lot better but i've already got a corker of a bruise appearing. I have put on a stone in the last year or so and the extra padding saved me i think, least that's what DH said (he said it nicely btw)

GHF dose yourself up and get off to bed as soon as you can - get better soon!

Linzer MrsMJ and Toffee I love love love Lakeland too

No flying sounds like a great plan, thanks Toffee Got all my family and extended family coming over tomorrow for a double birthday celebration so will have to do hoovering and cooking but everything else can wait.

Hope everyone else is having a lovely weekend

Evening all,

I'm sorry I haven't been around, we have had no internet since mid-week - It has been driving me mad. Anyway, all sorted now but apologies I haven't got the time to catch up on thread - I do hope you are all well though.

Well have been rushing around today - gym, dance, Cinema, present buying, school visiting and no flying done at all.

Tomorrow I have Zumba, DD has bf's birthday party then DD has ballet exam. I'm hoping to get bits done inbetween

I start my final school placement on Monday and finished my last uni session last Friday so feeling a little overwhelmed. Have 3 jobs to phone on Monday at lunchtime to see if will accept NQTs and then need to get writing application forms and personal statements . I've also been sent a mountain of docs to look through this weekend so feeling the need for mountains of choccy today.

Bought a few work tops in sale which arrived today - DH doesn't like and says they look like a 70 year old womans clothes need a trying on session to see if to keep or not!!

Before bed jobs

• Wash dishes
• Tidy down kitchen sides and shine sink
• Clear out fridge so see what shopping I need to do
• Sort out paperwork and print off docs for Monday
• Hoover lounge

That will do, then choccies and reading

Back tomorrow

Haven't had time to catch up - will do it later (or tomorrow)

I took DM and DS to a Craft Show yesterday, so zero flying (except for essentials). Today, we've been having a quiet Saturday, so very little really done.

Morning routine - sort of
S/s done
Make beds done
Extend handlbar thingy on DS tricycle done
Screenwash etc in car done
Start cleaning out inside of car done front section done, backseats and boot to do tomorrow
Help DS with his peddling done
Cook tea done
Bedtime routine done
Evening routine - doing
Fix DS drawer - about to do
Washing in machine for tonight done
Bins done
Recycling done

Tomorrow's big jobs are
Finish cleaning car
Gardening - finish moving vegetable bed for DS
Baking (bread and cake/biscuit for DS)

Babystep Pick a mission and do it.

Everyone here's gone to bed and I'm about to go too. Going out with DH tomorrow and leaving mum in charge of the boys. Might go clothes shopping (much needed).

See you all tomorrow.