If tidying your home is your New Year's resolution, Flying with us could be the solution

[ToffeeWhirl]

Welcome to the January Fledgling Flyers' thread. A very big thank you to BlueEyeshadow and IceColdBitch for guiding us through the busy Christmas month.

Are you living in CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome)? We know the feeling. We follow Flylady's routines, which aim to help you take control of your home, tidying and decluttering and setting up daily and weekly routines that keep your home looking presentable. We also chat quite a lot and swap tips on coping with housework and mess.

From the first of the month, we will be following Flylady's tips on restoring order to our homes. There are three methods, depending on whether you are new to the system or have been following it for a while:

1. Babysteps
2. Babysteps + 15 mins daily decluttering in current zone
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.

Oh, and don't - really, really ^don't^ - sign up to Flylady's emails.

The first babystep will be posted on 1st January 2012.

Happy New Year.

I was supposed to back at work today but the weather put paid to that!

Used the extra time at home to iron my sheets and a couple of other things but still baby stepping so my sink is shiny and I'm decluttering here and there for short time slots. However I am decluttering into a room that will need a massive sort out. Is it wrong to be thinking of asking my friend to sleep on the couch on Saturday rather than me sort out the spare room?! I hope she is impressed with my shiny sink though!

There is still more to do but fitting it in where I can rather than sacrificing a whole day is less daunting. Still feel I'm catching up with the laundry which means I feel I never stop putting washing on, loading tumble drier, etc - and there are only 2 of us at moment (DH works away for 6 weeks). But I need to get better at getting the washing out the machine and tumble drier more quickly and then I may be abe to relax on the ironing front.

Also tried the Magic eraser - oven and walls. Amazing. I'm now thinking of many other uses...!

Hopefully back to work / normality tomorrow. probably no time for anything beyond the basics.

Oh - and I booked a window cleaner starting next week. 5 years I've been in this house and they've never been done by a window cleaner. The sun shing as been lovely but has highlighted how much they needed cleaned. Long way to go...

Hi all,

My sink is shiney at last :o , and I cleaned the bathroom sink too. Also washed empty jars that had been sitting in the kitchen looking at me for ages, and washed up after dinner tonight!

Mollymoomoo, I had to laugh at your brio story - shades of the past for us, mine are teenagers now, but box of brio still stored safely for future use.

will try to do windows and hotspots tomorrow,

x

Bubbles you iron your sheets??!

Forgot to say I've also emptied all the bins in the house, ready for bin day on Thursday, and I S&S'd the bathroom while DS was in the bath. About to clear pots away and shine kitchen sink before I go to bed.

Loving your name SoftKitty - fan of BBT?

Sadly yes, I even iron my dish towels and ironed muslin cloths when I needed them for DS. Probably a bit PFB! I blame my mother... I think I should start a 12 step plan - starting with not ironing DS's bodysuits!

We are having major Internet issues so I have lost this once already. But today was a good day re the housework.nit is already evident that a little preparation and organisation gives me so much more time to fit in extra things.

Today we got up, breakfasted and dressed
Made beds
Tidied double bedroom where DD and I sleep
S&s the en suite and cloakroom, discovered that DH had left pee stains all over the rim since yesterday! DH texted and reminded to pee in a straight line.
Sorted clothes for next three days for DD and i
Created toddler lunch (2 courses) before leaping into the car to get to the dentist
Met my nct group, lovely bunch, I was early and arranged extra highchairs so all the toddlers could eat with us
Home, nap nightmare
Toddler dinner, washed up
Food menu written, shopping list done, food shop complete
Prepared to do list of meals and freezer components
Wrote three congratulations on new baby cards, not only did I have stamps I had addresses too!!!
Then spend evening catching up on correspondence both work and social
Prepped lunches for tomorrow

Aim to retire to bed shortly.

Struggled to find e cloths in supermarket today, will seek them out online, which are the best to get?

Yes, I love TBBT. I'm a little bit in love with Leonard .

I bought some microfibre e-cloths from Aldi today. They come in a pack of two for £1.19 and they do them in four colours, to complement the modern kitchen .

Goodness, I can't keep up with you all. I'm glad the thread is inspiring you - you are certainly all motivating me. I have shined my sink again tonight and tidied the kitchen. Also did a quick room rescue in the sitting room (which DH and DS1 had left littered with snacks and empty cups ). Just about to put the clothes out for tomorrow and then get to bed. I'm not so good at the 'bed at a decent time' babystep, as I'm a late bird by nature.

Babystep - Day 4 - oh, frankly, I don't think much of this one, but here it is anyway: write your new habits down on post-it notes. I never did this, but others may find it useful. The really important thing is to keep practising your new habits of shining your sink and getting dressed first thing (although I appreciate that this is wellnigh impossible with early-bird babies and toddlers and isn't something I managed until DS2 was older).

Wednesday's mission is to spend 15 minutes clearing the clutter from your hallway.

Wednesday's daily reminders are here.

Goodnight all.

Goodnight toffee and thank you for leading the way

Um. Quick q. When do we dust? Do we dust as part of the zones cleaning or do we do a quick once over weekly?

the next three days will be the test of the systems so far, out of the house 8-6 at work and LO at nursery, meal plan is stuck to cupboard above kettle and I nearly fell over backwards earlier when I saw DH has got the sausages out to defrost for dinner tomorrow.

Hi everyone! I'm a newbie. New years resolution is to keep on top of house work. I just seem to breed clutter! Shined my sink last night and it's looking lovely. Today I'm going to tackle the shoes
In our entrance and deck clutter kitchen benches

just thought id pop in and say with shock i know where all kids uniforms/pe kits/bookbags are.im up and dressed and about to make packed lunchs!!!!!!!plus we have clean bowls for breakfast.....[blush ]at admission this not the norm on 1st day term.aim sort shoe cupboard whi,e kids at school/nursery.anyone know how get rid wet shoe smell?hope you all have good day

we are all up dressed (not to shoes, we dont wear them in the house), the dishwasher will be done, before we leave for school, sink is shiney, bathroom swiped and wiped, just got load of towels and bedsheets to do, and will run a hoover about after school run. I WILL sort the shoes AGAIN when i get back from work today

Bubbles I am a muslin ironer too! I think I need to join a 12 step programme too.

SoftKitty I'm a little in love with Sheldon. Even if he does look like a preying mantis.

Yesterday I had a quick blitz of the kitchen, master bedroom and bathroom and did a load of ironing. Feel a little more on top of things now and am continuing to shine my sink and get dressed to the lace up shoes (well, leopard print slippers in my case!) Feeling very serene about it all at the moment, have had a little explore of the flylady website and feel confident that I will get round to all the niggling jobs (like organise my kitchen cupboards) once I have established a good routine and completed the babysteps.

admires shiny sink and drinks tea

slowburner Yes to both - you do a quick 10 minute dust as part of the tweely named Weekly Home Blessing Hour (we've renamed it the home bleugh or home overhaul) and, once you've finished decluttering, you can move on to detailed cleaning. Dusting also comes up sometimes in the missions: if you take a look at the Sneak Peek for the Week, you'll see that the mission on Friday is to dust the dining room (or at least the ceiling, light fittings, etc.).

Morning!

Been for my run in torrential rain. Brill fun! Certainly woke me up!

No flying today as going into the office. So just the usual morning stuff - swish, dw, beds etc then am off.

Toffee have pm'd you. Thanks so much - you are lovely

Have a great day everyone!

Hello, worked late last night so got in and crashed to bed, but trying to rescue today. When do you do the home blessing hour? I'm just doing babysteps at the moment, but I've got confused by the Missions. How do they fit in?

I'm a bit foggy about this at the moment!

Thanks

Hello. Well I've finally made it onto the thread since asking if I could join you. Dc back at school today so I can start properly, although I have shined my sink since Jan 1st in preparation. We've had a house full until Tuesday so I've been madly washing bed linen and towels etc but at least ive had to keep the house quite tidy and clutter hidden free
I have missed the babysteps etc so far and the thread is soo long already, is there an easy way to find what I need to know each day?
Also, what does a swish& swipe of bathroom entail? Do you use spray or just cloth and water?
I'm feeling Inspired but need to put it into practice. Thanks for your help Toffee and other experienced flyers

Haagendazs sorry but on a new tablet thing which I struggle to type on so not going to attempt a link but the very first message from toffee on this tbread has links to the Flylady website and the 30 Babysteps. So far bas been sink shining and getting dressed to shoes.
Hth, poeia

Thanks poeia. I've seen those, thought I may have missed other ones as so far they seem a bit too simple I guess. I think I'm going to ignore getting dressed to shoes bit. As soon as I'm up I need to get the SC breakfast (ds wakes up far too early!) Plus we are a shoes off house (less hoovering!!)

Haagendazs The fly lady says it takes a while to get a habbit so the main focus of the last few days are the shining sink and get up/get dressed straight away steps. Swish and swipe is tackle slightly differently depending on who you are but basically is a swish of the toilet and a swipe of the sink. So if you need to use products do, although many prefer to avoid as many chemicals as possible and find the can get away with an e-cloth on the sink with a touch of water. In this house, however, ds hasn't managed to learn to wash the toothpaste off as he goes so it requires a touch of something to clean it off. Hth.

Having a blitz day. Tomo won't be like this. won't post list as you will all run away screaming in fear. It is a very long list already. And i have another 3 hours of tackling house before the chaos of after school hits. This is not the fly lady way. But if i don't make serious headway today i will go crazy, this room is a bomb site.

Just wanted to say thanks to Toffee and the other experienced flyers .

Reading this thread is helping to motivate me, and I'm finding the HomeRoutine app really useful too.

It's great that so many of you are seeing improvements in your routines already. Quick replies to those of you who've posted today:

slowburner - looks like the Flylady routines are already rubbing off onto your DH (defrosting the sausages) - I hope this is the start of a new life! Linzer has already replied to your 'when do we dust?' question (or you could be like me and skip dusting altogether unless you see cobwebs ).

Thefoxsbrush - welcome to the thread! You can catch up with the babysteps here. We are on Day 4 at the moment, but the only steps that I think really count so far are the ones for Day 1 and Day 2.

liveinazoo - fantastic that you are so organised already! Sorry, no real idea about the wet-shoe smell, although I know bicarbonate of soda is good at getting rid of smells. Could you sprinkle some of that around the cupboard floor, leave, then hoover?

lisad123 - you are sounding very organised too!

PerishStorm - I like the sound of your leopard-print slippers - so much more fun than lace-up shoes . Glad you are feeling more in control of your house already.

Linzer - thanks for answering the question on dusting. Could you also tell me where I have put my 'Sink Reflections' book, please? It's lost in the bedroom clutter .

openyerlugholes - am very impressed by you running (and singing?) in the rain!

FleeBee - the 'home blessing' is meant to be Monday morning for one hour, but if you work then you can do 10 mins a day in the evening. Stick to the babysteps if you are a beginner then, once you have established new routines, you can start decluttering for 15 minutes a day. The missions are meant to be started after you have decluttered, however you should do what suits you. I did the missions for a while at first, before I decluttered, just because I liked the sense of achievement it gave me. However, I did feel that decluttering was my priority, in the end, so I'm not doing missions at the moment.

Haagendazs - the babysteps are simple because they are all about building a new routine that works, one day at a time. Often, we rush into new ways of life with big plans, then run out of steam and revert to old habits. With Flylady, you start small and gradually build new, effective habits into your daily life. The 'swish and swipe' habit is the babystep on Day 24 here. I don't do exactly what Flylady says about this as I hate toilet brushes. My own swish and swipe, which I do every morning before I leave the bathroom, is to wipe the sink and counters with an e-cloth, then spray the loo seat and inside with disinfectant and wipe off. I also try and do a quick tidy of our bottles and paraphenalia. Then I put out a new hand towel and change the loo roll if it needs changing. It is very nice to know that the bathroom is always in a respectable state if visitors come round unexpectedly (unless DH has left his boxers on the floor after I've swished and swiped, of course ).

poeia - thanks for popping in and helping out. Hope your day is going well.

Bitchy - let me confirm to everyone that I have seen your list and it is, indeed, very long and very, very scary

Well, I started off well today, but was then happily sidetracked by a visit to a friend who I haven't seen since before Christmas. Luckily, I have extra time today as DS2 is going to his friend's house for tea, so I don't have to collect him till 6.

So far today, my 'ta da' list looks like this:

Get dressed
Swish and swipe in bathroom
Breakfasts
Get ready for school routine
Email school (DS1 too ill for school again)
D/W unloaded
Reload D/W with breakfast things
Put washing on
School run
Vist friend

DH has added to the 'ta da' by decluttering and tidying the sitting room whilst I was out .

To do list :

Lunch for DS1 and me
Finish AM routine (put 2nd load in w/m, tumbledry first load)
15 - 30 mins ironing
Tumbledry second load of washing
Put laundry away
DS1 - write thank-you letters
De-Christmas the house
Room rescue - DS2's bedroom
Paperwork - pay bills, post forms
What's for dinner? Spag bol
Collect DS2 from friend's house
Bedtimes
Before-bed routine

Back later.

Thanks, Recursive . I'm so jealous of your HomeRoutine app. I still have my old, much-loved mobile, so can't install any apps. I do love the idea of being told what to do each day and earning stars though.

I am feeling better about myself. Today was the first day back at school. We were out of the door on time and had not forgotten anything. Normally the first day back involves me traipsing back to the school with lunch money/PE kit/bookbag or some other item.

Uniform was got ready last night. It only takes a few minutes, but it makes a whole load of difference not doing it in the morning. Was less stressed and shouty this morning.

Sink is nearly shining. I have got rid of the tea stains in the bowl and around the plug hole (woo-hoo). If anyone is still struggling with that, Vim was the answer for me. Had tried cream cleaner, bicarb before. There are still a couple of areas I noticed need another go, corner of the draining board, sink rim. I didn't notice these till I came to buffing. But now I know I can get those bits off.

I matched up loads of odd socks. DH's sock drawer is now bulging. Threw away loads of my socks, but everyone else has a few days grace until I get to the bottom of the laundry bin.

Have changed all the bedding (was meant to do this yesterday but was out in the storm).

Have put away a load of laundry and another (sheets) is in the dryer. Another load of washing in the machine.

Emptied dishwasher. Put out recycling. Washed up. Descaled the toilet (have been tackling this since yesterday).

The most important thing is, I'm on my fourth cup of tea and I have had lunch. Normally I have an undrunk cuppa sitting on the side, no real jobs done and I get to 2.15 (school time) to find I have not had lunch (or breakfast). I'm finishing my tea and then I am going to spend 15 mins in the hall.

Then I'm going to stop and watch Doctors and feel like I acheived something today.

Changebags - that's so wonderful! It sounds like you are doing really, really well . You definitely deserve your episode of 'Doctors'.

I, on the other hand, am guilty of spending too long on MN already today and getting shifty glances from DH, so had better log off...