Anybody interested in joining me for a flylady thread, starting with the babysteps?

[Carrotsandcelery]

I joined a thread which started in January and it made an enormous difference to the condition and calm of the household.

I have lapsed and thought I would go back to basics and start again.

Anyone want to join me?

My dcs go back to school on Tuesday so I thought I would start on Tuesday morning.

I am planning on doing the dishes today after I've had coffee and got dressed (to shoes), of course i have washing to put away etc. My list today is :-
-have a coffee
-get dressed and make-up
-wash pots
-dry pots
-put pots away
-shine sink
-put laundry away
-wipe sides
-tidy downstairs
-give blood
-give dcs lunch
-clean bogging bathroom
-hoover upstairs
-docs appt for dc1
-cook dinner
and then bedtime routine etc, for me and kids, which usually means bath ds2, put him in bed, and me procrastinating on sofa as ds1 watches dvds.

cani I usually shine my bathroom sink in the mornings as DH is bloddy useless sometimes leaves a mess after shaving.

I think I may even try and catch up with all of you today if I have time, which would then put me on all of your days, also looking at the fly lady emails they mention a lot about zones i.e. declutter zone four, the master bedroom. Will we be doing that too?.

Noooo! Don't worry about the zones yet, just do the baby steps ad it's important to build up the routine gradually or we will get overwhelmed!

I wouldn't worry about catching up either. From what I remember there are a few "nothing" baby steps (like putting in your shoes) which you could skip as they come along?

Gossip I agree with bessie just take the babysteps one at a time and skip the repeat ones or "nothing" ones as bessie says, otherwise it will all fall to pieces. It works just to add a tiny bit at a time and get used to it before adding a bit more. It doesn't mean you can't do more but you have to mentally see it as extras for now.

I also agree that we don't touch zones until we are told to or we will all be "scunnered" as we say up here (ie totally fed up although that doesn't quite capture the sentiment the way scunnered does!)

Today's babystep is here and looks a good one. I reckon it is worth clicking on the link on the page I have linked to as it is helpful advice.

Today I have:

Got dressed & taken dcs to school
Taken the dog on a new and massive walk
Done the supermarket shop and overspent again
Put the shopping away
Made 90% of a tray bake for a fundraiser tomorrow
Put on 2 loads of washing
Folded a mahoosive pile of dry laundry
Picked up meds for dog from vet
Booked small furry in for op. Yikes!

Still to do:
Finish loading dishwasher
Clean worktops
Make either soup or fajitas for tea
Put away clean laundry
Pack for this afternoon's activities after school
Phone a man about a repair
Retidy kitchen

I am a bit worried about the size of the still to do list as Wed is my most tiring day after school and dh is running tonight so I won't get any help.

I will also have to fit in the decluttering etc somehow.

Ok so:
Dishwasher loaded
Soup is now cooking
Half the laundry is away (can't reach to put the rest away so dh will have to do it
Snacks made for after school
Kitchen is as tidy as I can make it until dishwasher and soup are finished.

Yay!

Have done:
Breakfasts
Get dressed
Shine bathroom sink
Go shopping
Lunch

TO DO:
Wash up/dry up
Decluttering
Do tea
Potty training
Get dc ready for bed

Well I've done really well with my list, so far I have

• eaten chocolate AND biscuits
• drunk 3 cups of tea
• DD2 is having her second nap of the day in her own bed
• a friend came round, so I am no longer grumpy
• I've set an alarm on my phone so I remember to pick DD1 up
• I have also ignored the clean laundry

I've also

• emptied the dishwasher
• washed up the recycling
• emptied the recycling bins in the utility room
• paid for the kid's activities next term
• made Drs appointment

Still to do;

• pop to shops & buy strawberries for DD1 & infacol for DD2
• pick DD1 up from nursery
• put away kids laundry
• shine sink
• 2 min hotspot
• another 2 min hotspot
• tidy bedroom some more (this will be my room rescue)
• write shopping list
• pack DD1s bags for nursery (again)

and DD2 giggled for the first time today, so she is forgiven for waking me up so much last night!

cani what are you using as bribery rewards for potty training? I have been amazed at how well stickers have worked for DD1!

I am trying stickers at the moment but she has only done one wee on potty and that was around a week ago. All the rest have been in pants or nappy.
If we are home all day I try to put her in pants and then a nappy at bed time.
She only says "I've done a wee" when it's too late.
Have you got any hints and tips you could share?

I wrote a big post and i lost it in cyperspace

What i have done:

• put two load of washing in and out on line
• got dressed
• got sone dressed
• sorted dirary for september
• went to midwife appointment

I fainted when hanging out washing, was late going to appointment and had to wait over an hour to see midwife, i got told i was over doing it and i need to rest for the next few days

Unfortunatly i'm only 25+2 weeks so 13 weeks to get everything done before baby is here. I still have to walk son to nursary tomoro and friday and there is no one to help me. So i'm stressing big time which is making my 2.6 year old stress out and act up

So not a good day

Canistaysane - my son is doing the same. He will stop look down wee and then tell me he went wee. He is not getting the idea to tell me before hand or to go to the potty. He has stoped breastfeeding last week and we currently co-sleep but we are pputting him in his own room and a big boy bed in september/october so i'm forgetting potty training for now. He has also stoped his afternoon naps as well, so not happy as i need my afternoon nap

I sometimes feel like giving up on the potty training because she doesn't seem to get it, unless I'm doing something wrong? although today she got a tiny bit of wee in potty but only after she wet her pants a bit.
Cheaptrick You need to take it easy, your health is more important than housework. Just do the basic stuff where possible and rest as much as you can. I know that is really hard with a 2 year old, I find it a struggle some days and I'm not pg. I get sibling problems where 2yr old dd hits older brother plus all the other things 2 year olds get up to.
Today have done:
Wash up/dry up
shopping
lunch
cat litter tray
sweep kitchen floor
do tea
put bin out
put cardboard in recycle bag

TO DO:
Get dc ready for bed
do any washing up/drying up
clean work tops
Chill out.

Cani I hope I am not overstepping the mark here but I would give the potty a rest for now. I struggled on and on with dd and it took forever. It was a nightmare. With ds I just left it until he was ready and it was done and over with in no time at all and he was dry at night then too.

I motivated with stickers but nursery (who were normally really healthy) said we would get on better with chocolate buttons. When ds got it right he got a sticker (so I could see it) and one chocolate button - worked a treat We switched to this at home and had very few mishaps, whereas even my friends remember the horror of dd's potty training

Cheap it used to be that pregnant women were not supposed to lift their hands above their heads. I think it was something to do with blood flow. Maybe putting your hands up and down to hang the laundry was just too much.

I agree it is difficult with a 2 year old but I think you should probably do the minimum for now. It won't ruin your life to wait a little while to make these changes and it is certainly not worth risking your health and baby's health over.

Does anyone who goes to nursery go near your house on the way there? You could ask the staff. As I have said I remember the trauma of getting there with dd when I was preg with ds and it was not funny. I am sure a local mum would happily help if they only knew you needed a bit of support. I know I would if I lived nearby (where do you live Cheap?)

bessie I love your list today. I might steal the first part of it for tomorrow, or maybe even tonight, or even both

Carrots I think I might give up on potty training, just for a little while:
Reason one: We are having water supply problems at present due to a leaky pipe somewhere near our house( will make washing pants hard),
Reason two: I think it might be easier to try when ds is back at school in September (less distractions),
Reason three: not having much luck with the potty training.

Cani I hope I didn't offend. Maybe wait for some sign of interest from dd before you start again. Nursery also advised me to train ds straight onto a toilet seat rather than the potty and that helped a lot too. Certainly if you may have laundry trouble then I would hold fire

I have completely run out of steam and dh is sitting with his feet on his own personal packet of frozen peas so I can't see us getting much done tonight. Tomorrow is another day, and supposed to be my day off, but we all know how unlikely that is.

Carrots NO you didn't offend at all, I've been wondering if I should give up, with the current situation we have, You might have helped me decide. It will probably be best to wait till our water is all back to normal as washing is starting to pile up now. Might have to visit the local launderette.

Well, last post from me for a while, going camping with my parents and dh tomorrow, dreading it a bit, as my dad is a nightmare, such a grumpy old sod, who DH struggles to get along with...we shall see. They don't get to see DD very much, only a few times a year, so are really excited about that, I am looking forward to having some help with her - DH is being next to useless at the moment, I literally have to ask him to do everything, he never takes the initative - I have to tell him when her nappy needs changing, when she needs feeding, it goes on...that's before we even get started on housework!

I am hoping the house will look after itself, however I am going in the morning, he is leaving on Fri morning and meeting us there - I am pretty sure, even though I have told him to leave it tidy, that I will come home to a sink full of dishes and bins not emptied etc. AAAAAARRGHH!! never thought I would get so precious about my sink!

I have had a busy day, but the house looks great, and for once I have done everything (nearly) that I wanted to - I still have to sort a couple of areas in the house, but am just going to stick to babysteps from now on to keep on top of it once back at work.

Have a great bank holiday everyone, take it easy though, sounds like we are all working too hard!

A mixed day here today. DS had another rough night so I was seriously grumpy and spent most of the morning being cross with him. :(

The men came to empty the Oxfam bank early and phoned me but my phone was off, so the clothes have gone - never mind. They didn't leave a message though, so DS and I spent over an hour waiting by the recycling bank.

On the plus side, DH looked after DS this afternoon so I could do some reading. My first afternoon off since January, and I really enjoyed it!

Cheaptrick, hope you're feeling a bit better. It's hard not to do things when you feel they need doing, isn't it? Not being able to nap makes things really tough.

Done:

• waited for Oxfam men
• went to market for fruit & veg
• put away market shopping
• did 'maintenance wash' in dishwasher
• washed & hung out one laundry load
• put away dry washing
• bagged up & labelled baby soft toys & books to put away in loft cupboard
• bagged up Lego
• shone sink
• cleared out pushchair basket

Tomorrow:

• find recipe for dinner to cook for friends
• do maintenance wash in washing machine
• look for more nappy inserts
• freeze leftover butternut squash cakes
• buy new pair of trainers
• take DS to park or library.

Hope it goes okay, miss!

Cani I attempted to train ds2 in Easter hols as I'd find it a struggle doing training and school run, it was a complete flop, and I thought he would be like his brother and have it over and done with in a fortnight, (how wrong was I) however I used pull-ups, (I found huggies are best because they feel wet when wet, not good for over night though!) all the time so if he ever wanted to go wee when I did, or when he seen a public loo, or wanted to sit on mamars squishy one, I could just take him. hes doing better these hols but now knows the difference between pants and pull ups and I have a lot more success with pants and he's flawless with nothing on. he still isn't fully trained though and I've been at it for 5 weeks and only one dry night throughout.

cani no tips from me I'm afraid, we're amazed at how well she's done the last couple of weeks! I do think you are wise to stop trying for a bit though, the last thing you want it to make it into something stressy.

DD1 first showed signs of being ready back in Jan/Feb & asked for the potty almost every other day for a fortnight. Nursery suggested putting her in pullups, which we did. Perhaps we should have tried harder, but she suddenly started refusing to use it & we decided to leave it until after DD2 was born (April) Then we decided to leave it until after our holiday in august (6hr car journey) I read in "toddler taming" they suggest first getting them to sit on the potty at regular times every day (after meals etc) so we were going to do that, but she was so excited about the prospect of Peppa pig pants that she forced us to just go for it!

Done:

• bought strawberries & infacol
• picked up DD1 from nursery
• shined sink
• started installing stuff on the new laptop
• wrote shopping list
• packed DD1s nursery bag
• 2 min hotspot (dining room table)
• room rescue (living room)
• another 2 min hotspot (kitchen worktop)

Still to do;

• put away kids laundry (with any luck they'll have worn it all soon )
• room rescue bedroom

Morning everyone, There is only me and dd up in our house. ds is still asleep and dh has gone to bed after working nights. Makes it a little hard to get dressed but I'll have to go in bathroom I guess.
Thanks everyone for the potty training advice. I am going to leave it till our water supply problem is fixed. Hope they don't take too long.

Morning all!

bessie when did you get up to have all of that done already

Today we are on babystep 10 already. Again it looks a good one.

So far today I have:

made the packed lunches
dressed and taken dcs to school
loaded dishwasher
cleaned worktops
finished traybake I started yesterday
made another traybake
sorted laundry but not enough of anything for a load
2 min hot spotted the kitchen table
5 min room rescued the main bathroom

Still to do:

take traybake out of oven
go to exercise class
have a soak in the bath with my book
walk the dog
finish decluttering kitchen table (might have to be my 15 min)
hoover
put laundry that needs put away on high shelf onto dhs side of the bed so he has to do it today
figure out what to do with tent drying in kitchen
write instructions for babysitter & layout some snacks for her
sample baking to make sure up to standard
go to fundraiser, remembering to pick up friend, and eat more cakes

Btw I particularly like the last sentence of our instructions for today

Well today I have caught up with you all, I am now on baby step ten. Tbh I did skip a few repeated ones and did the paper work ones, sticky notes and control journal. Sink was shiny this morning, clothes are still laid out on dresser, and I'm almost ready to start. Going to try and encourage ds' to help too. Like that will happen easily.

today I have done:-
-washing in machine.

and still to do :-
-get dressed
-look at post its
-check out big tent
-turn negs into pos
-put out hot spot- kitchen side
-5 min room rescue-lounge
-de-clutter an area for 15 mins-bathroom
-gather rubbish from around the house and bin it in 15 mins.
extras:-
-wash pots
-washing
-strip beds and wash them
-feed ds'
-polish,hoover and mop

I wont be going out today so this is achievable and would be easier if I could turn my lazy babies into fly babies!

Wow Gossip well done!

I have finally decluttered the kitchen table - what a relief!

I have also sampled the traybake, just for quality assurance purposes.

Thank goodness I am off to an exercise class now - I think I need it just to break even on all the baking sampling