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.

Morning all :) quite looking forward to todays task, I don't dress to shoes but 'making self human' was inspired by another thread about making an effort to be more vain! I figure there's no point in the flat looking nice and me looking ropey so its now contacts, tinted moisturiser, lipgloss and mascara first thing. Feeling much better about myself for it!
Today I have
Swished bathroom
Shined sink
Cleaned bottom half of fridge after it leaked (only the bottom half, mind)
Degrossed patio doors
Dh however has been an utter star after I dissed him on here and has totally blitzed the dining room putting up pictures, hoovering, dusting and everything!

valium that's a good point. I haven't even brushed my hair yet...

Tada list:

Up and dressed to shoes
Made bed and tidied bedroom
Swish and swiped upstairs bathroom
Shined sink
Put away dry washing
Hang up load
Put on 2nd load
Empty and refill dw
Hoover
Dust
Wipe floors

To do

Hang 2nd load

That's it for me today. Have decided to leave the accounts until tomorrow and go to the park with dh and the girls instead. I DESERVE a fun day!

I'm back with it.

Tada list...

All morning routine done
Washer been on twice
Tumble dryer on once
Microwave cleaned out
Began to tackle kitchen cupboard fronts... 10 done so far(includes small ones) plus drawer fronts.

To do list...

Put away laundry
Re-re-arrange lounge furniture (was re-arranged to accommodate Christmas tree)
Buy new tv and set up
Maybe do more cupboard fronts (but this isn't high priority)

Tada list:-

Cleaned sink
Cleared ironing pile
Put clothes away
Got clothes ready for everyone tomorrow
Swish and swiped bathroom
Checked hot spots (clear)

Now off to a 3 yr olds birthday party! How fun!

Well I let the morning routine slip for a lie in then didn't get dressed for a while. During which time I tidied the WHOLE house.... Dd's dolls house, lol!

Anyway now have a ta da list
Washing on
Kitchen surfaces done
Dw emptied and reloaded
Hobb and splashback cleaned
Kitchen cupboard fronts wiped down
Sink shining brightly!
Played with dc
Wrapped gift for this pm kids party

Not too bad.
I feel bad that I'm skim reading other posts and not really replying to people as I know if I do all my flying time will be taken up MNing!

Does anyone have the fly lady book? Is it worth buying? Also why do you not recommend signing up to her emails? Does she bombard you with mails?

Hope you all have a good family fun day

JustGettingOnWithIt but you did shine your sink and hot spot. You didnt do anything. So technically you didnt fall of the ladder/wagon/ too tired to give a damm just had a rl day we all have those.

Jas Indeed. It is important to remember that. And the other one: it didn't take one day to get into this state, it won't take one day to fix

I managed date night last night. And a proper one too. Was fun. Although tired and grumpy this morning and greatful ds is at his dad's so i can ignore family fun day

Haagendazs re emails - and then some. you will drown in them. Several of the fledglings have the book and sing its praises claiming it has helped them make much more sense of the fly lady logic. I haven't got it personally as I have a large pile of books i need to read before i declutter them and feel i could do without adding to it yet. It is on one to be read at some point list. hth.

Hi all. Not had a good couple of days as have been in bed with horrible cold and feeling horrible..much better today but now have conjunctivits which is horrible...not very attractive right now !
Dp has done a good job at keeping the sink shiny but not sure what else I have missed but I will have a look.
Well done everyone with your achievements :)

key thing you have missed it the hotspots and the putting clothes out the night before. will see if i can find a linky to the hotspots info. one mo. fly lady updated her site not so long ago and things aren't so easy to find.

I was feeling a bit special this morning so no dressing to shoes first thing but rather cup of tea and toast in a quiet house while DS was a grandmas. However it made me feel brighter first thing to wake up to a shiny sink!

My ta da list:

Shined sink
DW unloaded
Spare room sorted (well, sort of, the cupboards are quite full now ) but now my friend has a place to sleep as well as being able to admire my shiny sink!
Xmas decks into loft
Dinner out of freezer - a habit I need to develop

I'm looking at the sun streaming through the windows and it highlights how badly they need cleaned - inside and out but I'm strangely relaxed about it because I know I'm building up to it and baby stepping for the moment.

Me time now - and after DS's nap - some fun time too. I might sneak in a very quick hoover later - sunshine also showing up all the dust downstairs but that's it for today. Apart from keeping my sink shiny of course!

hotspots should spend about 2 mins.

You should remember that the timer is used to stop the perfectionist streak. you work until the time is up. You might not get finished but you have made progress. That in itself is progress iyswim. regularly doing a little bit here and a little bit there gets you out of the big difference satisfaction toffee mentions, and into the habbit of doing a little bit and often so a bit clear up isnt needed. hopefully i am still making sense

I've just ordered a magic eraser (and several other bits and bobs!) from Lakeland. And DH is outside hoovering the car .

thanks Jas, yes we have 2 sheds of stuff boxed away - went through loads before ds was born as the 2nd bedroom was used as office/art room/ music room so was crammed - plus I'm sentimental and oh is a reader who holds on to his books so there are 8 boxes of books in the shed and he gets at least 2 new books a month (aaaaaarrrgghhhh this will be never ending - we need a castle not a cottage) plus the usual tool fetish!

openyerlugholes - snap! Set myself the one task above everything else, even making our bed, of completing our tax returns and.......am feeling very very virtuous cos I've just submitted them both! hope you are getting on ok with your accounts etc and will allow yourself lots of chocolate some relaxing time later on.

openyerlugholes whoops, - sorry, just saw your second post! Well, it sounds like you've done loads already today so I think you made the right decision! hope you enjoyed the park. :)

Ta da:
Loos cleaned
Beds stripped, washed, dried and ironed just need to be made now
Shopping at Tesco done and put away
lunch for 3 adults and 4 children (friend and her 2 DC came round) made, eaten and washed up
sink shined

To Do
Tidy up after all the children rampaged through the house!
Make beds
Hotspot to tackle in my bedroom
Dinner to make
Bedtime for the horror 2 yo. Last night was just awful, need to get this sorted.

On another note, I looked up e-cloths in Tesco and they are £5!!!! I didn't buy any this time, are they really worth the money or is there any alternatives??

IceColdBitchy thank you for that info and link. Liking the idea of doing something for only 2 mins, especially as I do have several hot spots!

Fleebee, I haven't tried non-E-cloth E-cloths (but mainly because I haven't seen them anywhere!), but other posters have used them and say that they're really good as well.

Hi i have a small mountain of aldi microfiber clthes ( much same) but are 1.19 for a pack of two. They have a new range in today with glass clothes etc looked much similar to the actual e clothes i bought this week.

The real ones are very nice quality and i may add slowly but i use loads ( bit ocd with them) bought my new real ones in TK Max 1.99 each.

Tesco do value microfibre cloths dirt cheap. And slightly posher, coloured ones.

They work for us!

2wash loads done today (1 still to hang)
Sink will be shined before bed.
And I cooked (normally DH's realm)

I might manage a s&s before bed, maybe a hoover. But really I need to plan next weeks lessons & write reports.

We'll see...!

Well done on everyone's efforts!

Good evening,
Usual morning routine
Supermarket shop
I finished the zone, detail cleaned the hall stairs and landing.
Hoovered all bedrooms quickly.
Super speedy polish in our bedroom
Hoovered just the center of downstairs rooms.

Had a lovely hot bath.

Tomorrow is family fun day and relax.

Next week is kitchen week, is that right? i have just drawn up my list.....its scary!

Thanks to IceCold for the link from me too. My hotspot (the coffeetable) that I sorted yesterday has been this evening covered with empty beer canes that DH and DS have emptied - but at least they can be cleared easily before bed!

Can I ask about the Weekly Home Blessing Hour? Are you supposed to do the 7 listed tasks in consequetive 10 minute slots? And do you think it would be OK to replace tasks? (I don't have magazines to purge but it will take me longer that 10 mins to change beds or even mop floors)

Not much else done here today - and we went out for a family lunch - and I nearly decided not to shine my sink but as DH did the cooking and there were encrusted pots galore and spaghetti sauce up the walls (I kid you not) I know I'd have regretted coming down to the mess in the morning.

Hello, shined sink, got up and dressed early. We were out most of the day, so not much chance to do more cleaning, but then again not much chance to mess it all up again!

Back to it tomorrow!

Goodness, it's hard to keep up with all of you, but I am going to attempt a round-up...

KatyJ26 is back on the Flying wagon again. Well done! (We all fall off it, but, as Jas reminded us, we are never behind with Flylady).

Cristiane agrees that the laying-out-clothes babystep is one of the most useful and DHs could certainly try it too (mine certainly could).

Changebags - had a date night . Good luck with your OU course. (I did a small course a few years back and found it really well taught, but it was difficult to juggle the work with childcare, work and housework. However, I wasn't Flying then so, hopefully, the Flying routine will help you).

MotherofMadhouse completed her tax returns, which deserves a round of applause! .

Jas has provided some essential quotes from Flylady which remind us not to get too stressed about the state of our houses.

Wannabe has done her 15 minutes of 'loving movement' .

Maddening is overwhelmed with DH's boxes of books (we have the same problem in my house). Welcome to the thread. There are tips on Flying with pre-schoolers here.

JustGettingOn - deserves congratulations on shining her sink even when it was so late - that shows it's starting to become a habit. We all know about the distraction of MN, I'm sure!

openyerlugholes got her priorities right and abandoned her accounts in favour of a trip to the park .

Valium stressed the importance of vanity (although I am now finding it's taking me longer and longer to achieve the desired effect every morning ). Her DH was a Flying Star.

Membership is also back on the Flying wagon and flourishing a long and impressive list.

Thefoxsbrush had a great 'ta da' list and was off to party with three-year olds .

Bitchy had a real-life, proper date and reminded us why a timer is essential for Flying.

Poeia is suffering from a bad cold and conjunctivitis, which is rotten . You are officially let off Flying duties until further notice. Hope you feel better soon.

Bubbles is feeling the calm that comes with following Flylady routines and knowing that everything will get dealt with eventually.

RecursiveMoon ordered herself a magic eraser. It's addictive, you know. My DH spends ages wandering round the house, looking for marks on the walls to rub out (it's easier than doing the washing up ).

FreeBee wonders about e-clothes. I would say they are worth the money, but luckily other Fliers know of cheaper brands that are worth trying. Sorry for your struggles with sleepless two-year old. Am still having struggles with my six-year old - and don't even mention my 12-year old (sorry, not very encouraging!).

Mollymoomoo provided tips on cheap e-cloths and asked about next week's zone. As I still can't find my Flylady book and her search engine is down at the moment, I can't tell you, but another experienced Flier may be able to tell you.

Buckminster also provided cheap e-cloth tips and is trying to balance work and Flying, which is tricky, but far from impossible. There are lots of fledglings who work full- and part-time.

Back in a mo with tomorrow's babystep and reminders.

Dizzy - x-posted, so I just missed you in my round up. Sorry to hear DH and DS are cluttering up your tidied hotspot . Flylady's description of the Home Blessing Hour is here. The reason changing the sheets is meant to take only 10 minutes is that you are meant to put clean sheets on straight away and put the others in to wash, rather than do the whole washing palaver and then replace them at the end of the day. However, I am hard pressed to change all three beds in this house within 10 minutes and certainly can't do that if we have guests to stay too. Lots of fledglings struggle with the whole concept of managing to do the House Blessing in one hour, to be honest. I think the idea is that, once you have decluttered, you really can do a quick 'once over'. Maybe not many of us have reached that stage yet.

And yes, you can certainly change it to suit your own needs, so do it in whatever order you wish and replace tasks or extend them if you need to. I think it's worth aiming at 10 minutes a task and setting the timer, even if you can't actually do it all within that time.