Fledglings dreaming of a FLY Christmas - December's fledgling flyers thread

[BlueEyeshadow]

Welcome flyers one and all, old and new, to the December thread! As the advent calendars go up, let's beat the CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) and FLY through Christmas into the New Year (or have a go at it, anyway...)!

We take a three-pronged approach (and a large pinch of salt) to the FLYlady system:

-babysteps
-babysteps and 15 mins' decluttering
-babysteps and missions

The website is here: FlyLady - if you haven't had a look at it for a while it's worth a gander as the design and layout have changed for the better recently.

Whatever you do, though, don't sign up for the emails or your inbox will be bursting within seconds. Or so I'm led to believe... I will post the links to the babystep and mission for each day (the first ones to follow this evening) and there'll be plenty of chat, , and along the way.

A big thank you to Darkness for leading us through November with so much fun!

Right can someone give me a hand? So I'm supposed to do these babysteps every day, and then after that, what?
Today the sink is clean and I am dressed. I get dressed everyday but having a clean sink is nice :)
I just don't get flylady [wails] what are all these missions and zones and lists and journals and hours and whatnot - and the website does not help, it's confusing

Anyhow I will copy the rest of you and make a list...

plan ds's party food for tomorrow
shop for party food
make dinner half done
make party food
deconstruct the kid's 'den' in the living room
tidy living room

decktheice i hope your afternoon works out better than the morning - start with putting bck your rug, that looks nice and easy :)

For Abird and any other newcomers.

Flylady has several parts to it. The first part is babysteps, one forf ech day of the month, the same every month. The idea is to make sure these become so much part of your daily routine that you hardly notice you are doing them.

The next parts are decluttering, zone cleaning and missions. The house is divided into 5 zones, corresponding to weeks of the month, again the zones come round each month. Every day we with declutter that weeks zone for 15 mins, or do missions (short, specific cleaning jobs) or detailed cleaning. you don't need to start missions or detailed cleaning till you have decluttered. There is lots of info on Flylady.net, as well as explanations of all the terminology. The whole thing repeats every month so you can just jump in any time. Someone posts the daily links to the Babystep and missions on this thread every day, and there is plenty of chat and encouragement.

By breaking it down into such small chunks it all seems more manageable, the idea is that you don't get overwhelmed and just walk away from it all.

afternoon all
well, day not going to plan here....only managed 45 mins at work before I got a call from DD1 school to say she had been sick....so had to cancel things at work (lots of annoyed people - but what can I do) and then go to collect DD1 (which took over an hour to get there as traffic was SOLID for some odd reason)
Now back home, DD in bed, think it is a migraine - she seems prone to them at the moment bless her)
I have a splitting headache for the second day in a row which I have concluded is down to my attempts to cut down my caffeine so rather than toughing it out I have given in and made a pot of lovely coffee which just had to be accompanied by a scone Hopefully it will shift my headache and wont turn me into a jittery wreck for the rest of the day Loads of FLYing I should be doing, but just really CBA!!
So now off to do a bit of therapeutic internet shopping coutesy of DH unexpected tax repayment LOL and hopefully cheer myself up a bit before school pick up.
BBL

abird You don't need to worry about missions, the control journal, etc. just yet - keep doing the baby steps and all should become clear! Some of the babysteps are about putting your control journal together and missions are introduced at some point too.

Re zones, we're in a different zone each week - as this week is the first of the month, we're in the entrance area, porch and dining room. After you've finished the babysteps (so at the end of this month), you then add in 15 minutes of decluttering in the relevant zone each day, and once you've finished decluttering (does this ever happen?!) - or at least started to get on top of things more - you can start doing the missions. The thread leader - Blue this month - will post a link to mission each day (it's always in the zone in which we're working that week) as well as the babystep.

Some of us find that posting lists of what we have to do helps motivate us, but there's no obligation to do so. I have a to-do list on my iPod so usually refer to that, although post lists sometimes if I have time as it's quite satisfying to be able to type done next to the relevant items! It also helps to focus me and forces me to get on with things if I know I'm going to report back later on what I've done (or haven't done).

Hope all that's clear; just ask if there's anything else you need to know!

x posts WhoKnows!

Abird - the babysteps build up into a routine which will help you get your house in order. You are supposed to take time practising them as it establishes them as habits (for instance, I now find it quite hard not to swish and swipe my bathroom in the morning and can't believe I used to have better things to do than wiping my sink be so lax as not to wipe my sink every day ).

Part of the babysteps includes making up a control journal in which you plan your own personal daily routines. For example, my before-bed routine includes cleaning out the lunchboxes, putting the boys' school water bottles into the freezer, laying out their clothes. Not everyone on this thread has a control journal, but I found it incredibly useful to glance at a list every day to see what I was meant to be doing. It's fairly automatic now, but I still keep it in the kitchen to remind myself now and again.

You have probably already looked at the website, but the babysteps are listed here. If you flick through them, you'll see that you are gradually doing more each day until you have built up a proper routine that will keep your house in order.

Haven't done much Flying myself this morning, but I did have a conversation with DH about why I was doing the before-school routine (which started at 6am this morning) and doing the school run and yet still being expected to do all the washing up when I came back, whilst he was just getting up . He's working at home and we are still - er - adjusting.

DS1 does probably have a broken toe (hospital didn't x-ray it, but diagnosed it based on bruising and pain), but all we can do is strap it to the next toe and dose him up with painkillers. He can't do sports for two weeks. DH drove him to school after the hospital visit, which DS wasn't expecting at all. He was clearly gutted not to be getting a day off, but DH - quite rightly - feels he's had enough time off already. I must say, I would have been a bit softer with him, but I don't think DH is wrong.

DS2 is getting married to his first love after school today (they are both 6!), so I mustn't chat any longer - I have a wedding to prepare!

Afternoon all

Well I have spent the morning in the woods with a group of excitable school children and am now eating lunch before I am off to visit another school. (I'll soon have seen all the schools in Sheffield and Rotherham).

I've just had to ring the school I have an interview in tomorrow as, despite inviting me for an interview over a week ago, they have still not sent me confirmation or information on what the interview will entail. No doubt I will get an e-mail this afternoon advising me of an indepth lesson they want me to plan

Have very limited time today as DD is at ballet tonight and I need to prepare for interview so my tiny list for today is

• Clean kitchen
• Clear bannister of coat mountain
• 1 load of washing
• DD to ballet
• Run hoover around downstairs

Thank will be it. OFM hope DD is better soon and your headache improves and Toffee hope DS's toe is soon mended.

Aargh, where can DS's ski helmet be? It's not in his wardrobe where it normally is, it's not in the girls' wardrobe with their helmets, it's not in the cellar with the ice skates and it's not in the car. How can we lose something as big as a helmet? I'm fairly sure we didn't leave it at the rink last week either.

MC Good luck with tomorrow - I hope you get confirmation (without any nasty surprises!) soon.

Toffee Enjoy the wedding. Your poor DS; I (probably) broke a bone in my foot once and it was very painful, but there was nothing I could do except wait for it to heal.

OFM Hope your DD is better soon; migraines are just awful.

Off to continue the search...

Hello! Can I join?

Haven't read the rest of the thread but thought I would jump in with my list!

Dishes
Wrap Xmas presses
Vacuum upstairs
Bathroom and d stairs toilet
Sweep down stairs
Clutter zone: kitchen sides!!
Front shed to clear

Will also try to get started on zone.

Crap. Only two hours till school run!

Found it - in the cellar amongst all the Playmobil. I keep saying we have too much Playmobil and I think that if you can lose a skiing helmet in it, it's definitely too much.

toffee poor ds1, broken toes are painful, still it is nearly weekend and he can put his foot up. You may have to drive him to school tomorrow though, I know from BIL and violin teacher that hobbling is the order of the day.

A good morning in school library.
Now piano lesson practise. Water Music.
Also feeling more and more fed up with the way that SENCO and CAHMS between them are sending me round in circles. (another day of being fobbed off - Oh we can't do that until x sends a letter to say y - no school should be doing that,not us etc etc)Tempted to put all the emotional energy I am expending on dealing with "professionals" into improving ds2's school work instead which now seems to have deterioated, as I mentioned in November (this morning

And tidying the house.

MC Yay for morning in forest (was it forest?)

OFM possibly good for the powers that be to see that you cannot always take up the slack at work and cover for everyone else indefinitely.

Dh in an excellent mood as he has planned a whole weekful of networking business lunches with his friends...

Arf Linzer

Now I need a Xmas name but not quite sure how to go about changing..I think next week i will work out how to.

Hello everyone, hope everyone's well :)

Done so far today:
One batch of washing + put on airers
Washed up inc wiping worktops & hob down (not dried pots yet though)
Swept entrance bit and kitchen, and wiped skirting boards
Dusted bookcases, TV stand, and drawers in lounge
Cleared most of dining table hotspot and wiped over

We haven't eaten at dining table in about three months and I hate eating on laps, definitely about time that changed!

Still to do:
Vacuum lounge
Dry pots (see above)
A bit of shopping

Don't I sound organised? Ha ha, it makes up for all the days I get naff all done!

Fuck! I couldn't find you all and had a mid panic attack and for a while. And now your 65 posts in and I have tons of catching up to do! ARGH!

BBL!

Ahh, all is becoming clearer! Right, if the babysteps show me what to do, I will obediently follow them.
THANKS whoknows, toffee and linzer, that is so kind of you to take the time to explain it in amongst all your FLYing (see, I'm getting the lingo already!).

plan ds's party food for tomorrow
shop for party food
make dinner
make party food about 1/3 done
deconstruct the kid's 'den' in the living room
tidy living room

I decided to make a leek, mushroom and potato pie with all those mushrooms -yum.

So, before I finish the cooking I'm off to check out baby step 3 for tomorrow... (I'm not skipping ahead, honest!)

toffee I'd be interested to hear how your early-morning negotiations work out. Our mornings are crazy and I don't get up as early as I should - because my kids are still small, we're still in the pattern where my DH takes the kids when they wake up and I really need to sort that out, I'm not pulling my weight - even though I certainly pull my share with everything else!

Right, if I stick a post-it not reminding myself to get up on the bathroom mirror DH will be so I think I will use my beloved filofax (I know, I'm oldskool) for all these reminders. I have some spare dividers somewhere...

And now I've finised the dinosaur cakes for DS's party (he's 4, I'm a crap cake maker, so hopefully they will do! When he gets more discerning I'll have to make more effort)

evening all
am feeling rubbish - but DH is home and has taken pity on me and sent me upstairs while he finishes off tea time chaos LOL
abird see here for elf explanation!

swan yes you're right re work. I was getting myself in a state about having to leave, but then rationalised that I have done WAY more than my fair share recently (and last time I was in this situation!) and I am actually entitled to carers leave in an emergency and the fact that it left them really stuck is mostly due to the fact that there isnt enough cover in the first place!
To change name look at links at bottom of page, select "your profile" the go to "registration details" and you can then change name and save.
Battling with schools to get what DC need is SO draining isnt it. I have been battling for dd3 for 3 years....it was SUCH an ordeal getting lea to agree to assess for statement...just crossing fingers we get her what she needs in the end.

toffee poor DS. Hope he managed OK at school. And hope DS2 wedding goes well LOL

donkey yay for discovering dining room table

nicknacks glad you found us!

mc sounds like an interesting tour of all local schools! Hope you get done what you need to tonight, and that it goes well tomorrow.

linzer glad you found the helmet - I now have visions of playmobil taking over your entire house!

right,probably have loads to do tonight, but as I am feeling distinctly not well I shall be taking up residence in the naughty corner instead....sad;y coffee didnt seem to shift my headache and now I feel sort of sick and shakey and odd....possibly just exhausted/overwhelemd ...who knows...

Hahahaha bird rug is a nightmare to put back as it is almost the size of the lounge. Its a bastard to move and because it gets kicked by annoying people who shuffle instead of picking up their feet it has to be relaid regularly. This time it was move so i could clean the carpet underneath and in the rest of the room.

List update, will come back and read through again/properly when my internet connection stops being stupid and when ds is dispatched safely to his dad's.

Ds to school on time success!
rug put back
return furniture to lounge
laundry 1st load on
bath emptied and ds' kit put into to de-stink
pack ds' stuff for going away half done
put ds' clothes away
clear bathroom floor
find utility room floor
find study desk
find lounge window sill half done
turf stuff out for charity shop run.

Have also:
training
got ds' hair cut
given ds his lego advent calendar
charged the portable dvd player
charged the ds thingy
not killed the ex despite wanting to
bumped into a mmner unexpectedly was nice to catch up.

Right must get on as ds' stuff needs to be ready to go asap at 7pm.

Evening all,

Survived Christmas Fair, it all ran like clockwork and was good fun. A bit tired now, also because of lack of sleep last night.

Toffee - DH and I have been having a few words about our morning routine this week. There was a very good thread about it a few days ago (possibly in Primary Education). DS has gradually managed to adapt the morning routine so that he can watch telly for an hour (out of an hour and a half before leaving for school) which I felt was too much. This is partly because he gets up earlier than he used to and partly because he has learnt to bolt his breakfast and be dressed in about 5 minutes. The new routine has been going quite well - I put on the kitchen table something constructive (eg x table sheet, handwriting sheet) for each DC to do after breakfast, DS has to do 5 mins keyboard practice (DD wasn't a problem TBH, she just gets up and starts making things or drawing anyway), then they have to amuse themselves, if they are ready for school AND it is after 8am then they can watch a bit of telly. But I wanted DH on board, he stays in bed till the last possible minute every day, then jumps in the shower and out the door at the same time as the rest of us. Which is a bit irritating. He said to me "it's alright for you , you're a morning person" which I am so not, I am a night owl who has forced herself to get up promptly and do stuff in the morning for so long it has become habit, so I don't see why he shouldn't do it a bit too. We'll see.

Better go, that has taken me ages to type out, back later.

Abird - That's OK - I cheated and cut and pasted my spiel from the start of last month's thread when I typed it for someone else!

ah, well. the painters have just gone, not yesterday as promised, but it does mean i get to start flying properly again on the 1st day of the month new thread. my house is very colourful and shiny new painty, but has stuff piled up all over it! so i guess other than shining my sink it's going to be putting all the furniture back and getting everything back in the right rooms...

first things first though - i need to get all of the coats and boots and shoes back in the hall closet, as they are currently in an enormous mountain of clobber at the end of dd2's bed . and i need to find the doormat, which vanished yesterday when they painted the hall, so now when you step onto the tile from the snow you slip dangerously towards the top of the steps.

mad how do you get stink out of hockey kit? Airing isn't good enough and wet kit dripping in the bath for days is annoying.

Right, both DSs asleep
I have to work now - very anoying - still have a ton to do before DSs birthday party tomorow. And DH has gone out but he'll help out when he gets back. Sigh.

As days go, that was pretty hectic. Full teaching day, lunch hour spent writing reports, led a twilight training session for my department, went to local soft play to relieve mum who had taken dd to a party for me, stayed at party until half 6, home, dd bed, finished ds' 3d underwater world model, collapse on sofa for 5 mins. Havent even put dinner on yet.

Ta da list looks like this:-
Shined sink( and i didn't even do that myself, dh did it before i got home).

Must have a quick whip round though as cleaner is coming tomorrow and the dc's need uniform.

Never flipping ending.