Remember, remember the fledgling Flyers: dusting, and decluttering a lot..

[DarknessSoothes]

Come one come all, fledgling reunite. 1st of the month and we survived the fright. Bonfire month and lets burn though the housework to prepare for the festivities of December.

As from the 1st we will be babystepping, mission and deep cleaning our way out of the C.H.A.O.S. (can't have anyone over syndrome).

For newbies and those who need reminding here is the principles behind the babystep system.

The basic is this:

1. Do the babysteps.
2. When you do the babysteps with consistency add in the missions
3. When you are doing the babysteps and missions as a habbit tackle the deep cleaning.

This thread is a mishmash of people at different stages. The lists can look long, but look carefully, some of us are reposting lists and parts of lists from day to day.

Our motto is this: Do not strive to be perfect, Progress is progress and anything is better then nothing and my personal favourite part of the fly lady system is you are never behind, just jump in and start from where you are.

So on that note here we go. With much thanks to Ellie who lead us with amusing roundups last month.

Day 1: Babystep 1 - How to shine your sink

Mission here - this will update overnight ready for the early fledglings

Tuesday's reminders are here: It's planning day

And for those of you who are eagerly awaiting christmas here is the flylady's crusing into christmas page. Personally i did some of this last year and done some this year and it does take a chunk of the stress out of christmas.

Well now that I have suitably scared you, see you all tomo!!

No time for FLYing here - the dishwasher still hasn't been emptied and the beds are unmade. Did have a lovely morning out with MN friend in Vienna, although it would have been even better without the DC's constant interruptions (if they weren't complaining about being tired/hungry/cold/fed up/tummy ache, they needed accompanying to the toilet). Think we may meet sans DC (mine at any rate; her three-month old was absolutely no trouble) next time.

Now back home for lunch (was very glad of the leftover souvlaki and chips from the Greek restaurant) before we're off out again, this time to take DD1 to her dyslexia lesson. Must also call in at Lidl before all the Cheddar and baked beans are sold out (it's British week this week).

swan Ah, I saw that series - but for some reason thought that your BIL had only written one book. I love to read books set in Berlin, but don't have a Kindle unfortunately.

lauren I'm no help on the socket covers I'm afraid, as I've all the ones I've seen/used in the UK seem quite flimsy and easy to pull out. We have these, which are virtually impossible for a young child to take out (you need to use a plug to get them out), but the sockets have a completely different design here so of course they would be no good in the UK.

WhoKnows Your loft idea sounds very good; maybe I should do the same with our cellar, which is a hot spot extraordinaire.

PMPY I bet your DD is a bit younger than DD2, though (7.5), who is always very disappointed that most Peppa Pig clothes don't go up to her size. We also have a minor catastrophe on our hands as the Peppa toy that came with her PJs has been MIA for over a day now.

MC Good luck with the interviews!

Really must go and empty the dishwasher now...

Right, toddler slept for ages in puschair this am (unusual) so no way she will have a nap now.

I've decided to rebel. Just got home after attending school meetings, haven't even cleared up breakfast (never seem to be able to clean dishes before school run).

It's a lovely sunny day and dh is away on business (which means less pressure to do dinner and house to myself to clean up tonight).

So I'm going to take our coats, run away from the mess, go somewhere nice for lunch, have fun with dd2 until pick-up time.
Then it's takeway for dinner for all of us and maybe fun outing with both dc after school (depending on dd1 tiredeness).

Can't face the groundhog day feeling today, just can't!!! Maybe having one rebellious day will be refreshing.... Or is this a slippery slope?

So, me and dd2 are eloping.

laurenamium What about plastering all sockets with that grey shiny masking tape type sellotape. I haven't tried this but maybe you could tape the plugs in to the sockets? Presuming you don't need to move them around often.

Just a list as I'm on my phone.

Friend for coffee
Tidy up toys
Lunch
Nappy changes
Naps
Mop kitchen
Clean clothes away
S and s
School run
Dinner for kids
Clear up
Mindees hometime
Our dinner
Get ready and go out

Boring day here but thought I'd post a list to keep me on track with the extras.

Oh linzer they would have been perfect if they worked in the uk!

justonemore I love that you are eloping! Unfortunately taping would be a nightmare as those are the only accessible plugs in the front room for laptops /phone chargers etc on a night when DD isn't around!

Hmmm think it might be a furniture shift!

ok, I had to clean up the kitchen and put a load of washing on.
Couldn't face running away and coming back to smelly dishes.
Flying obviously gets under one's skin!

Wow, what a lovely welcome, thank you so much everyone :o I am staying here even if I don't get any housework done :o

Unfortunately this has got to be a quick one as I can hear DS is up from his nap and playing in trashing his room.

Ta Da
Dishwasher filled
Surfaces wiped (is this what flylady means by swish and swipe?)
DH's bed made (we have separate rooms atm as I am cosleeping with DD in the spare room)
Been to messy play with DS and DD (hehe, messy play! Ironic! seriously though, I have to go elsewhere to do it, I haven't got enough time to do normal housework without then specifically getting the house extra messy to then clean it up again.)

Feeling like I haven't done very much :( The dishwasher should have gone on last night so that I could have emptied it this morning and refilled it, but DD had her 12 week jabs yesterday and would not be put down and DH was working late, so I didn't get any time in the evening to do it :( Don't think I can bring myself to do a to do list, it's too depressing :(

When I've got more time, I need to ask all your advice on how you get your family involved. DH is close to useless in the housework department (although he takes care of the garden, cars, cooking and bills etc, so I can't complain) and would laugh himself silly at flylady's emails, so I haven't told him what I'm attempting to do just yet .

Right, I must get back later and update, off to the park now I think, DS is in serious need of a run around and at least that'll mean less tidying of toys for me later :)

p.s. I LOVE the thread round up, it's brilliant :o

lifeofkate I have serious words with DP at his lack of doing anything around the house that doesn't include the use of a power tool, so am also watching with interest at any way family is involved, I've resigned myself to just doing it myself now, means I nag less! DD is too small to help just yet!

done
picture of King Solomon's Temple ds1 homework
worktops
food recycling out
fridge minorly purged

frustrated to see that ds1's last two RE homeworks have not been marked nor his last two History homeworks. And it's parents' meeting tomorrow Why do we slave away if they are not actually interested in taking his book in?

I've sent ds off for a run as I'm beginning to feel seriously badtempered by grappling with his schoolwork. Sooo sloppy when I don't look at it, and rages when I help him. Deep breath.

Afternoon all.

Done no flying, but seen the boys' pictures in the "art exhibition" [still proud] and made progress with the newsletter. Currently chaos in the garden as the patio wall is being rebuilt...

swan - blog is at adiscounttickettoeverywhere.blogspot.com. I posted a new review yesterday, as it happens. :) Thanks for asking! Have a - hope you're feeling better now. It is hard with homework, and we only have reading to do!

DWM - well done at getting on the MN bloggers' network! Apparently they don't want reviews so haven't bothered applying. :(

Darkness - thanks for mammoth round up!

Lauren / Kate - DH is gradually getting trained to help with the kitchen - we do the washing up together and so he notices/gets asked to help with wiping counters, sweeping the floor etc. I'm also teaching the boys to put their dishes in the DW and DS1 will usually put his pjs under the pillow and have a go at straightening the duvet. We also have a massive toy clear-up before bed every evening. Most other stuff is down to me though.

Lauren - no help with sockets I'm afraid. Both boys were fascinated with switches but I always took the view that they wouldn't actually do themselves any harm unless they poked a long metal wire all the way in, which is relatively unlikely!!

You've got a good point blue, at the minute im rushing straight over, telling her no and then moving her away which is probably making it into a bit of a game as she goes straight back to it, considering just moving the chair over, relocating toys and calming down a bit

Hey all! Feeling good so all round!

Had the HV round today for DD2s' 6-week checkup. Didn't have to do any tidying up as the house was good! Well, the front room anyway!

Ta Da
dressed and bed done
packed lunch for hubby
SS
breakfast all round
wm
mission
hoovered down stairs

to do
wm
what's for tea?
clothes away

Lauren, we use the socket covers from Ikea and DH struggles to get them off! They come in great packs of about 8 I think. Quite cheap too!

Happy flying!

lauren My earliest memory is of trying to poke a stick into an electric socket - not sure why I remember it, as nothing actually happened. I do remember my mum telling me off quite sharply, though (that's probably why!).

Now back home with 24 tins of baked beans, 12 blocks of Cheddar and two extra children. The house is going from bad to worse, so I'm going to focus on the three most important things:

empty dishwasher
put washing away
unpack shopping

I found this www.babysecurity.co.uk/products/2506/Clippasafe-Double-Electric-Socket-Cover.html

Have done

Cleaned upstairs bathroom - looks lovely
Washed all the towels and hung them out
Shopping
Picked up new curtains and hung them - look lovely but need dressing properly as they don't hang right at the mo as a bit creased and bulky (so did not need 2 1/2 times the window width, don't be conned by this mnetters)
Have just become a member of the local gym and am going to pop in and get my pic taken for my card. If i go 20 times in 8 wks i get back the £40 joining fee i have just paid - the race is on.

DD at an after school fun club tonight so a later pick up so i'll will go and have a quick cuppa whilst admiring my new drapes

Almost forgot...

Cleaned the home office too so it's shining new again - it sooooooooooo needed it.

swanriver and others, I may think I have it hard with a toddler but goodness me I'm really not looking forward to dealing with homework. A big well done to you all who manage to approach this in a calm and reasoned manner.... I'm already imagining the homework battles to come in this house!

LifeofKate a huge well done, sounds like you've achieved quite a lot to me considering your situation!

MC looking forward to hearing how the interview went - are you changing jobs or going back to work after having children (sorry don't always read whole thread might have missed something). I'm - I'm really looking forward to going back to work!

Lorelais, NickNacks, LadyinPink think I should take a leaf out of your book, less chatting, more practical thinking and just posting lists - I'm sure you're getting quite a bit done. And congrats on the new curtains LadyinPink!

LinzerTorte Love the 24 tins of baked beans... you could get quite artistic in an Andy Warhol kind of way! Do you have to buy in bulk on account of being abroad?

Waving hello to darkness - sounds like you have too much on!

Sorry, I've forgotten loads of you, need to scroll back through thread to pick up more names!

I'm being a spectacular flying failure at the moment...

Got to get these children in bed now, 4 year old really pushing all the buttons now. (My fault for being on computer of course).

ooo mc, hope it went well today, and good luck for tomorrow. what do you teach? my memory is hopeless!

well ds1's paed appt today, and as a result he's now got a full psycho-ed assessment booked for december. i think i'm relieved. but a little on edge about it. we've known for a long term he's different/ quirky and has issues that lend themselves to all sorts of dx, but i think it is time that a complete assessment was done and we can actually see what the results show, rather than the endless pontification that has been my life of late. and they seem to be very thorough. i didn't have any issue at all with dd2's dx - i had dx her myself much earlier than the official dx from the doc, but this is an interesting feeling, as i'm quite apprehensive about the results!

righty:

budget
post office
ironing
what's for dinner done
wm
dw
wipe surfaces in kitchen
meeting 7pm must not forget
agenda for tomorrow's mtg

Thank you, Justonemore, that's just what I needed to hear :o

WRT plug sockets, it's actually safer not to use socket covers. UK sockets are one of the safest type in the world in that you can't get electrocuted just by poking something in them, you have to poke something quite firmly into the top hole, which 'unlocks' the bottom two holes, whilst poking something into one of the bottom two holes. Fairly unlikely, even with the most dextrous toddler. In fact, one of the ways they could do this would be to use an upside down socket cover, which is why it's not a very good idea to use them. There's more info on this website, I hope that helps!

Done so far since my last post:
exchanged Tesco clubcard points online

Umm, that appears to be it

To do:
Unload dishwasher
reload dishwasher
shine sink :o
tidy up toys
wipe down kitchen surfaces
put pram back in car

Just need to wait for DH to come down after his bath so I can hand velcro baby over to him :o

That's interesting about the socket covers, LifeOfKate. I have no idea whether the sockets in Austria are equally safe, although at least the socket covers here are more or less impossible for the DC to get out themselves (not that we use them much any more).

justonemore Yes, I definitely need to arrange all the tins in an artistic way - a kind of BritArt installation, I feel. We can actually get baked beans in one or two shops here but the tins at Lidl this week are slightly cheaper so I thought I'd stock up. I even drove to the next town to get more Cheddar as they only had one block in the first Lidl I went to - the things I do for DH. (Despite being Austrian he's the Cheddar aficionado in our house, although I do find it good for cooking.)

I will finally be DC and visitor-free tomorrow morning (much as I enjoyed having our friends to stay) so will have a chance to get on with things and hopefully restore a little order to the house. I did empty the dishwasher and unpack all the shopping, but still haven't put the washing away.

Phone credit
Laundry
Utility rm
Clear out of the car - urgent! 3/4s done it was horrid
Check car fluids did washer but had car out so couldn't do water an oil
lunch with friend very much enjoyed
ds' training
ironing.

As for the rest of it. FUCK IT!

Linzer - Have just looked up Austrian plug sockets (the things I do for you ), still not sure WRT safety compared to UK ones but they do look like they would be impossible to remove a socket cover from!

I forgot to add put washing away to my list, there are 3 loads to put away :(
I'm sure our washing amount has trebled since DD was born

Seems to me like the main topic of conversation today has been electrical sockets and safety. LoK has been helpfully googling stuff. See you were warned that we wouldn't save you from spending too much time on the computer

mad has been drowning in brownie stuff.

MC hope the interview went ok and good luck with the one tomo!

Lauren has been having her flying twarted by investigative dd but has decided to take a course of action which means she will have to clean behind some furniture.

Swan had a trying start to the day - hope it got better as it progressed.

Lady was pleased with the zone this week, hung curtains and joined a gym.

Rowing used a list to focus the whirling brain process.

Linzer gave flying a miss, went cheese hunting for DH and had coffee with a friend. One more also decided to have a fun day rather then flying but found flying habbits are hard to ignore.

Nicknacks posted a long list and declared her day to be boring. God I'd love a boring day. Life is a bit too crazy atm

lorelais basked in not having to panic over the state of her lounge today, So she treated us all to

Onemore
"I'm picturing you all dressed in black with hair swishing all around you in some sort of day of doom image, wielding a whip of efficiency!" Rofl. . Dressed in black and swishy hair sounds about right, not so sure about the other bit. I am not the most consistant flyer. naughty corner founder

Right, I am going to sleep. My eyes are tired and the hot water is making me all warm and cosey. So linkies and then bed.

Wednesday is antiprocrastination day

bathroom missions

be sensible and ignore this babystep

Night all.

Hooray! Today's babystep (bedmaking) is one I actually usually manage to get done
Otherwise, general manic running around but at least DH made tea and I managed to get a bath as he miscalculated what time I would get home.
Uniforms ironed so just need to do DH's sandwiches for tomorrow then I AM GOING TO BED . I have decided that I will get much more done if I get to bved before midnight.