Fledglings flying though July into the summer.

[ColdHeartedBitch]

Roll up, roll up. tis the month of school fetes, sports days and annual reports. In all this flurry of extra activities and with the summer holidays hurtling towards us at rapid speed, now is the time to tame the chaos before our very special chaos creators are able to help us. Fully intending to beat the Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome so that my personal chaos creator can be occupied by others this holiday. Good luck to all to are also striving to achieve this.

Starting from the 1st of the month we shall be fluttering our way to tamed houses. If you are new to the system it is recommend that you focus on making the babysteps your main focus. The babysteps will build up to form routines to help you to stay on top of the house once you have discovered it. First step is to shine your sink. But not just half heartidly, deep clean til it shines Instructions here

For the more established flyer we then progress onto decluttering. 15mins each day in alloted zone of the week. New zones each week. and current zones and decluttering instructions can be found here Zones will automatically update for July.

As for the advanced flyer, there are missions to do each day in the current zone

We have one rule we are NOT perfectionists anything is better then nothing, real life gets in the way and we have to do other stuff other then cleaning (put it on your list, tick it off and :) ), besides the fat fairy's moto is "You are never behind"

As such take the vomit inducing cuteness of the website with a pinch of salt, and join us for wish lists formally to do lists , ta da lists and home bleurghs.

See you bright and early tomo although hopefully not too bright and early.

Funny day here, weather wise, it is sort of sunny, but the sky is full of threatening black clouds. Have despatched the DCs to GPs with suntan lotion and waterproofs to cover all eventualities. 2nd load of washing in, there is a mountain of clean stuff to put away on the spare bed, plus ironing. However I need to stay at work most of today and DH and I are out to a Christmas meal tonight.

Nettie will be wondering why I am going to a Christmas meal when I am of the Christmas should stay in December point of view, well it is last Christmas's meal, with a company DH does business with. I'm off to BBH my hair now and try and tame the curls a bit to look nice for tonight

Toffee - let us know how you get on at Robin Hill.

Ellie - nice to hear you sounding so cheery!

Hello.

I am actually a slattern, but have started trying to follow flylady a bit. I really like the idea of it, but I was wondering how religiously you follow it? I am such a procrastinator, and put off jobs because o don't have the time/energy/inclination to do a proper job.

Do any of you have any advice/tips?

Hi DDPW. I think keenness varies around the thread, and comes and goes depending on RL stuff. I have a vague weekly plan which I try to stick to, and I try to do the missions, but Flylady would probably say I should do more decluttering first...

Feeling quite pleased today because I did manage some serious decluttering in the boys' room and the spare room/office. Today is work, rest of house bleugh and shopping day.

Hope you have a good day at Robin Hill Toffee. Waves to everyone else.

BTW, is this thread going through August as well, or do we need a new one? I can start it and try and lead through Aug if you like as we're not going to be away for more than an odd w/e or so.

We always have a new one each month, thank you for offering to lead it. the thread title always has the name of the monthplus the words Fledgling and Fly in it, to distinguish us from other Flylady threads.

whoknows glad to be feeling cheery . I must be a right miserable grump normally for you to have posted that though . Think it is a combination of factors tbh, no work, sunshine, holiday imminent, DH been in steady work for months which takes huge pressure off our relationship. All is good in the elliepac household right now. I like it .

ddpw the fact that I have been on this thread for 2 years and still haven't conquered the whole flylady thing would suggest that I am not religious . There either aren't enough hours in the day (when I am working...teacher so lists at the moment are disproportionate to the actual amount achieved when at work as well ) or there are far better things to do. I am not one of these people who has a show home and never will be, flylady merely helps me to see my floor from time to time . The routines work well when done properly although I do think they are hard to maintain when working full time so I don't maintain them . My tip is to get the babysteps routines in place and see what else happens but then I am a go with the flow kind of person.

blue has kindly volunteered to lead us next month. I do need to take my turn again soon but am away for the first two weeks so can't this month. Am sure you will do a fab job.

Ta da list:-

Made beds
Bathed DD and myself
Cleaned kitchen
Washing on

To do list:-

Go pick DS up
Shop for bits and bobs
Ironing
Washing
Putting away
DS's room

Back later

Pouring with rain here today - glad you have better weather for your holiday, Toffee. I was planning to go out food shopping (anything to stop the DC quarrelling) but we would have got soaked, so distracted them with a jigsaw instead.

Hi Dedalus. We take some of the babysteps more seriously than others - a lot of people ignore the lace-up shoes, for example - and take some of FlyLady's ideas (and flowery language) with a pinch of salt. I do find her idea of dividing the house into different zones (we focus on a different zone each week) very useful, however, and having my daily routines written down (or rather, on my iPod) definitely helps. I do the missions when I have time and really need to make more time for decluttering as well, as it does make a big difference.

Blue We would normally start a new thread for a new month; I don't remember anyone offering to lead in August, so it would be great if you didn't mind doing it. (We'll only be at home for about 10 days in August, but I'd be happy to lead again later on in the year - probably not September though, as we'll be away for the first three or four days.)

WhoKnows I did a double-take at you going out for a Christmas meal - hope you have a lovely time, anyway! I also need to BBH my hair as I went out for a run in drizzle this morning, which hasn't exactly done wonders for my hair.

Am still in despair at the amount of clutter we - and in particular, the DC - have. I asked a friend yesterday how she managed to keep her house so tidy and clutter-free; she said that the fact that her older two are now teenagers helps and also that she's very "pedantic" and doesn't mind mess in other people's houses but can't stand it in her own. I think the key is that they have far less clutter in the first place.

DH and his family drive me mad don't exactly help, either. MIL gave the DC their pocket money at the weekend, so we said they would put it in their piggy banks - "no!" said MIL, "they must spend it!" She's always saying that she doesn't know what to buy them so we need to buy things for them (with her money) instead.

DH told me before he left for work today that I can tell the DC that if they behave today and tomorrow, they can have a new DVD (which I suspect he has already bought for them). I said no, they a) have far too much stuff already, and b) they are coming to expect presents for behaving well/going to the dentist's/doing well in a test at school/when DH has been away for work, etc etc etc. I also think they get too much pocket money but am not sure what to do about it, as it's from my ILs who insist on giving it to them personally (and telling them to spend it ).

Apologies for the rant/long post. Have a friend coming over this afternoon who, despite working far more hours than me, has a far tidier and relatively uncluttered house, so I'm also planning to ask for her advice.

Morning all - Hope you are all well. Thanks for offering to lead next months thread Blue. Ellie I am glad everything is going well for you.

Well I have had a bad couple of days but I refuse to dwell on them and need to get my bum in gear as I am going on my jollies on Sunday. My jobs for today therefore:-

• Shop for essentials
• Couple of loads of washing
• By birthday present for DDs friends birthday party for when we return
• By last part of mums birthday present and deliver
• Empty and clean out fridge of all but essentials
• Pack my bag for holiday - Checking off on list as I go
• Post office to post this months book club book
• hoover downstairs
• dd to library to return books and get some more for holidays (And next part of summer book club reading thing)
• Put away all clean clothes that we don't need for holiday which are currently piled up in spare room.

That will do for now - Will return later

Thank you :)

I don't want to abandon the slatterns, but need a new way of doing things. I managed to do the flyzone bathroom/laundry room ok, but then I find the bathroom easy to keep clean (it is only a year old) I struggled to keep up with the master bedroom missions and I am trying to keep up with the sitting room missions. The thing I think appeals to me is that you are encouraged to get started by just doing such a teeny job, this works for me because sometimes I get in such a slump I literally cannot start. Having someone say "Go shine your sink" or "chuck 27pieces of rubbish" helps me get off my arse and 'do' something, however small and it makes a difference to my mindset iyswim?

Anything is worth a go surely :o

Just diving in and out to say a huge "hellloooooooo" to all you lovely lot

One lot of visitors just left -

Another lot (thankfully much easier and much more thoughtful/appreciative than those just departed) still here -

No time to post or catch up sadly as we are all going off together for a long weekend

Blue very kind of you to volunteer and much appreciated

A warm welcome to Dedalus

Waving to all from between the stacks of bedlinen and veg prep!! See you next week ....

toffee I'm glad you arrived safely and are enjoying the delights of PAs cats

linzer I was nodding in understanding re: pocket money and having lots of tat kind toy gifts from mil. DD is still very young but I see her buying lots of said cheap plastic space takers cutter makers toys for her other older gc and we already have lots of bits and pieces we have no idea where to put from her. Best of intentions and all that but we tell her not to and she still does, and what makes it more [sigh] [frustration] is that she hates junk and clutter and is always throwing things out yet it seems we are only allowed to build it

SCI sounds like you have alot of visitors at the minute

Things here plodding along. Downstairs was relatively clean this morning. Just lots of toys to clear and then big millionnaires shortbread to make to freeze towards christening munchies next month (remember all my food got defrosted last week and I had to start again?). DD has now worked out how to roll from back to front, which was great the first 50 times but she won't stop doing it and then becomes stuck on her front. DH was not amused having to move her back on her back countless times last night when she would roll over and then cry when she got stuck

Ta da so far:
-trip to tescos
-made bed
-shower
-met vicar re: christening
-made apple puree stash for weaning dd
-washing load on
-washing load hung up
-old washing load taken down
-new shoes for christening arrived and time taken trying them on and prancing around in heels for first time in yonks

not in that order btw - I did shower before tescos

Hello DD me old mucka. How's it going. I think most of us struggle with the missions in the master bedroom. And tbh I am not sure in the 2 years the thread has been going I can recall anyone actually achieving all of the missions in there in one go. But they come around again and the fact that you have to focus on this room means that it gets dealt with rather then ignored (and ending up like the house dumping zone). It is not about perfection but improving which is brilliant.

Tbh atm havent have chance to figure out what is going but I like the fact that the fat fairy is of the opinion that i am not behind. it stops me feeling guilty about what i don't get time for and helps me to know where to start when i do get to the point of being able to tackle it. iyswim.

Everyone seems to be so busy this month. If i recall next month will be virtually dead. I had offered to lead next month. But very happy to let Blue lead, having done so this month. Sure you'll do a fabulous job Blue.

Ellie - fabulous to have you back and sounding positivie. Amazing what the end of term can do for a girl

Right as i was crap yesterday about the linkies I am going to post them now as i have every intention of passing out in the naughty corner shortly. As is the school holidays and tea is abound the Naughty corner bar is open so help yourself to refreshments and nibbles of your choice.

Linkies

babystep is the weekly pamper mission this week's pamper mission

The zone in the living room and mission here as of tomo

Friday is date night and the day for decluttering car and purse

Right that's it sleep. night all

Thanks CHB.

Reastie - when the DCs were very young (they're 7 and 5 now) I could have posted word for word what you said about the GPs and the tat. I used to curse and moan about it. I've given in now, as it has become apparent over the years that MIL has a real knack for finding the exact bit of tat that the DCs will love over and above the expensive stuff, I do throw away stuff that clearly they don't like, or gets broken, but we have learnt to live with it. I made it clear after a couple of years that we could not accommodate big toys without prior agreement, she has by and large stuck to that, but she does always arrive with bags full of small stuff still. And far too many sweets.

As for pocket money Linzer - we give a pound a week and a bit extra on holidays, plus the GPs often provide a tenner for ice creams at holiday time, which I tend to divert into pocket money for real stuff, as the only rule I have about pocket money is that it is not to be spent on sweets etc. I do buy them ice creams myself, I'm not that mean! Could you agree with the DCs and ILS to save half, spend half perhaps? I agree about not doing too much rewarding for things that they should do well as a matter of course, like the dentists, but do buy random DVDs, small toys etc for them on a reasonably regular basis.

Dedalus - welcome, by the sounds of it you will be very at home on this thread! I manage the missions very sporadically, but when I do do them it will be in big bunches, I might manage an entire weeks worth about once every six months I suppose, having been on here for the best part of two years. I have never, ever managed the entire week's missions in the living room. However, things are definiteley better than they used to be pre-Flying. Also the chat on here is great!

Ellie - it's not so much that you have been sounding grumpy as just completely out of time and energy, which is quite understandable in your job! Glad to hear DH's work situation has picked up again.

SC - hello!

Got to dash, see you later.

evening all

have stumbled along to the end of my week at paid work - hurrah! Horrendous work day today though. Lts of V stressful stuff going on and not enough enough time as usual!

DD3 bday yesterday went well. ALready had big party so was just family tea-party type thing... I did skive off my planned run and drank wine and ate choc bday cake though
so have been better with healthy choices today! Have been for nice 4.5 mile run along country lanes, round the lake and through the woods...very nice.

seem to have a MOUNTAIN of washing to get through though....and suspect dd4 may have unpleasent guests of the irritating kind [yuck emoticon] meaning tablets all round and frantic repetetive bedding washing and hoovering and dusting....sigh

not sure what tomorrow holds...
thankfully though our big car has been fixed and didnt end up costing a fortune...so we will be properly mobile again!

jobs I need to achive tomorrow:
endless washing
1/2 hour on our room
tidy littlies room
ring dd4 friends mum to arrange play date for Mon!

hoping to take older 3 to see Harry Potter tomorrow too...

now need to see to dd3...will try and come back for individuals later....

Toffee hope you have a lovely time on holiday

Been on the go all day, and have now acquired a headache - probably because I didn't get time to eat and drink - will need to add food into the list along with this going to work business

Done
Morning routine
S/s
Make beds
Go to quilt course for the morning
Straight from quilt course to work til 5.30
Get petrol
Collect DS from DM's
Go home
Get washing in from line
Sort out post
Wiping up
Cook tea
Tea
Evening routine

To Do
Watch Torchwood
Clean washing away
Washing on airer
Washing up

Need to catch up on the cleaning tomorrow, no time for zone cleaning or mission today - need to get myself more organised next week

Ihatecobwebs glad to see torchwood at the top of list (hope it is prioritised ) and that you are enjoying it

A productive day today. No time for a ta-da list, but got a lot done. :)

Will start the new thread tomorrow, as well as last bit of work, trip to Homebase re kitchens (again!), taking boys to park for surviving Homebase, cooking tea and getting ready for complicated w/e!

Waves to all. Night.

Update from our holiday in PA's house:

Robin Hill was great and we wil return. However, our trip was cut short by DS2 being stung by a bee. This is becoming an annual event. He was hysterical about it, so we had to leave and find a chemist which sold antihistamine, soothing cream.

Whilst at Robin Hill, DS1 begged me to take him on the Colossus, which is a fairground ride which is basically a giant swing. It was such a huge step for him to overcome his normal anxieties enough to want to do this that I agreed to go with him (against my better judgement). Guess who then had to do the special sign to tell the man in charge to stop the ride early ? Honestly, I don't know why anyone would enjoy rides like that. For me, it felt absolutely unbearable (that sensation of losing your stomach as the ride plunged down!), yet there were teenage girls behind me screaming with joy . Anyway, DS1 was very proud that, in the end, he had to look after me rather than the other way round. The Prozac is definitely taking effect. A month ago, it would have been difficult to even get him out for the day, let alone get him on a ride like that.

This evening, we went for a walk to see the Needles Rocks, then picked up fish and chips on the way back. The view on the walk was stunning. The IOW really is absolutely beautiful.

Not much Flyladying is being done. I did swish and swipe PA's bathrooms and I shined her kitchen sink this evening. For some reason, it is much more satisfying cleaning someone else's house. The cats and bunnies have been fed. One of PA's cats decided he was going to help himself to our fish and chips and ended up dragging a piece of fish under the table to finish off.

Off to bed in a minute. Apologies for lack of personals.

Evening all

I have had a very productive day as dd has speny most of day at a neighbours whose granddaughter came and asked her to play. I think she has played once before but they played for 3 hours today with dd popping back every so often for more toys. It meant that i am almost packed for dd and me, dh is doing his own so tomorrow i am attacking the house and delivering mums birthday present.

Hope everyone is well toffee your hol is sounding great and ds is clearly making great progress.

ofm hope u get to cinema

Hello to everyone else - back tomorrow

morning all
toffee sound sa sif you're having a loevly time
mc yay for child free productivity!

ok...am trying to do some catch up...
DH has gone to collect car.
DC pottering around
on second load of washing, bathrooms S&S and have just ordered uniform for dd1 and ds1 - £128 worth (it is sooo expensive...£11.50 for 1 polo shirt for flips sake!!!)
now need to consider what dd 2,3 and 4 may need...may try and get do without buying too much new for them LOL
Then of course there will be school shoes for all....sigh..

right...best get on
BBL

Slept in till 9.30! This holiday is obviously working wonders. Woke up to find both children in bed with me .

Bunnies and cats have been fed. Breakfasts done. Going back to Robin Hill today. DS says he wants to go on the ride without me.I'm certainly not going on it with him again!

We really love the IOW. The countryside is beautiful. Now I know why nobody ever has a bad word to say about the place.

By the way, PA sent me a text before she left to say say hello to everyone on the thread from her .

Morning all!

toffee it sounds like you are having a lovely time . Text pa back and say hi from the thread and me .

Busy day today with not much flying this morning.

To do this morning:-

Banking (payday equals pay bills) done
Town for sandals for DC's
Pack DD's bag

To do this afternoon:-

General tidy
Washing/ironing away
Washing
Ironing
DVD night with DS

DSis is taking DD to the caravan for a few days this afternoon. She is very excited . We shall join her on Monday when Dsis will leave and we will start our family holiday. Cannot wait! For the moment, I just have to get through this morning with one overexcited DD because she's going on holiday and one overexcited DS because he us going to have some quality mummy and daddy time without his, and I quote, 'annoying brat of a sister' .

Better get into town!

Back later!

Lazy start to the day, as DS and I had a disturbed night - poor love, he couldn't stop coughing and wheezing, seems fine now - full of life, while I feel like I need another few hours in bed!

Done
Morning routine
Make pancakes for breakfast (holiday/weekend treat)
S/s
Make beds
Tidy living room
Meat from freezer
Having a quiet cup of tea and looking for brownie recipe

To Do
Soak dates
Clean washing away
Wash up
Zone cleaning
Zone missions to catch up
Make brownies
Vacuum through house
Unpack DS's bags
Cook tea and leave in simmering oven
Lunch
Post pay cheques
Allotment
Playground
Tea
Evening routine
Garden
Quilt blocks

Hi everyone. Have been fairly productive this week, so haven't posted .

DDPW I'm new this month to the thread and FlyLady and agree with what you said about having someone telling you what to do. I find coming on here each morning to check the baby steps motivates me as well, although I seem to flag with the decluttering towards the end of each week.

I've also bought the book (this thread is proving expensive) and am clearer about a few things having read half:

• decluttering means clearing surfaces first, even if you stuff some things into overfilled and unorganised cupboards.
• if you start decluttering a surface, you must finish that surface before starting to tackle anywhere else (unless the zone changes).
• if you can't face doing anything, you are intending to do too much, ie. it is better to put/throw away two items than do nothing, or dust for 5 mins than not at all.

Right, must get on. At least there's a test match to watch listen to while I work today.

Afternoon all,

Toffee - glad IOW is turning out well, we loved it last year and will be back in just over 24 hours. You are very brave going on that ride with DS, I hate rides of all descriptions, little trains are about my limit. My DCs are going to have to go with their dad!

Just got back from work and doing a few jobs before fetching the DCs back from my parents. I'm supposed to be packing but feeling a bit CBA. Because we're not camping this time, the packing feels much less of a monumental task, also we're not leaving till after lunch tomorrow, makes a nice change from most holidays when we leave at the crack of dawn. But better go and do some I suppose.

I'm also supposed to be packing WhoKnows - I've halfheartedly done a bit but have decided to have a MN break. DD2 is at a friend's and DD1 and DS are next door, so I really should be making the most of this rare child-free time. Thanks for the pocket money advice (and for the sympathy, reastie) - I do try to encourage the DC to save (and they did quite well at saving up for the school when we went to Playmobil land) but DD1 is a bit of spendaholic. We (well, I) also have a rule about not spending pocket money on sweets and I'm pleased that the DDs will quite often buy books, but I must admit my heart sinks when they decide to buy yet more Playmobil to add to the tonnes that we already have in the cellar!

DS has just come back over and burst into tears as he wanted to go and see Cars 2 at the cinema - but he'd told me earlier that he didn't want to see it so I'd cancelled the plans for him to go with a friend and his dad, and the film started half an hour ago so it was too late for him to change his mind. I've distracted him by putting CBeebies on, which hopefully will keep him occupied while I carry on with the packing.