Fledgling flyers - it's the month of May: if your house is a mess, try the Flylady way

[ToffeeWhirl]

Welcome to the May Fledgling Flyers' thread. A very big thank you to WhoKnows for guiding us through last month.

Are you living in CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome)? Flylady's routines 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. On this thread, we do our best to follow these routines (although we also chat quite a lot and sometimes forget why we're here ).

There are three methods of the Flylady system, depending on whether you are new to it 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.

Today's babystep is to shine your sink.

Morning all. Passed out at 9.30pm and slept through as did DS until about 5.30 - but that hits DH's time to deal with him (up to 10.30pm and after 5am).

Today it's a visit friends rather than toddlers I think. Just need to confirm that! And then ASDA for alcohol weekend stuff so I can chill in the sun!

Good morning. lacking motivation this morning. But had another long sleep night. i don't like the heat. I need to move somewhere cold.

I am on my second cup of coffee i know, i know and have consumed pain killers. failing that it will be the cool n soothe look for me later.

3 essential things:

1. finish craft project and get into post.
2. sort paperwork that was abandoned on the dining room table
3. make the waffles that were planned to be made over a week ago and i still have the ingrediants in the fridge in danger of going off.

Am hoping that ds is well enough to go training tonight. I could use the environment to lighten my mood a bit.

Fell asleep again at 6.45, which is when I should have been getting up . Then DS2 wouldn't wake up (the heat, maybe?), so we were embarrassingly late for school.

Have told DS1 he needs to work on his own today as I've realised how much I have to get done before we go away next week. Apart from organising stuff like insurance etc., I have a messy house to sort out, plus another pile of laundry to deal with. So that's today taken care of. DS1 is very happy as he is writing a guide to 'Minecraft' .

Where are you all? Flying maybe?

Decided to tackle online stuff first (more holiday shopping required ), leaving the mess in the house to deal with later. Then there was a knock at the door and MIL turned up unexpectedly. Argh! Had to usher her into the front room swiftly so that she wouldn't see the mess everywhere else.

Ordering insurance now, then it's time for washing up and a quick crisis clean downstairs, before a friend comes round for lunch at 1.

Microfibre cloths
Where would a person buy these?

toffee I will be living on a farm. We are renting nearby while we wait to get mortgage approval to try to finish building our house. I got so tired of traipsing around the building site planning the garden and not being able to start so I dug a veg patch in the field so I could at least start something! However dh could do with fencing in his animals a bit better; they have rambled out a few times recently.....

The weather has finally picked up here! :)

Ta da:
Morning routine
30 mins jog/walk (third week done and only 1 lb lost.
Dinner planned and veg in the saucepans ready for dh to turn on as I will be a bit late home.
At work (lunchtime).

To do:
Finish work.
Piano practice and lesson.
Errands: collect drycleaning, collect boot from the cobbler, buy emergency groceries.
Do something on my Anti-Procrastination list.
Pay landlady for ESB.
Work on Control journal.
15 minute declutter.

I have cleared the dining room table. Paperwork now in a box. Naughty bitchy.

I have decided I shall be spending the afternoon crafting. Naughty, naughty Bitchy.

Flying? what flying?
1 load washing done
maintenance wash doing
sort out hotel travel lodge booking for next month
consider the plans for the weekend - friend needs cheering up so original plans might go out of the window.

castle you can get microfiber porn cloths here
www.lakeland.co.uk/21724/Lakeland-Home-Microfibre-Kitchen-Cloth
(other retainers are available )
they are great when I actually do any flying

Hi all!

I inherited my vast bag of micro fibre cloths! When my (much loved) gran went into a home I moved into her house and she had been stock piling light bulbs shoe polish and micro fibre cloths Alzheimer's so I have a well lit house with the potential to be cleaned effectively whilst wearing shiny shoes a year on

Oops also, no flying here...I'll be in the naughty corner flashing my micro fibre

It's too hot for housework

6pm - naughty corner bar is open!!!!

It's definitely too hot for serious housework. Will do some ironing later but that's the sum total of my efforts today

Today's ta-da's;

2 loads of washing done, dried and ready to be put away/ironed by bedtime
Online banking done
Library books found and returned
Beds made
Toilets cleaned

Still to do;
Clean bath/shower and sink
Hoover

I'm about to make use of an unexpected hour as DCs are at a neighbours making a banner for their dinnerlady who is carrying the torch on Monday and DH is in Cornwall overnight picking up a campervan

Blue I think that's what's wrong with my foot too - I had it a few years ago and it took ages to get better. I'd just started jogging in an attempt to lose some weight too! Think I'm going to swim instead (or maybe just eat biscuits...)

Hello lovely fledglings! Hope you are have been enjoying the good weather! Just popping out from between cushions in naughty corner to say hello.

Have had a rather jolly -drunken-- couple of days- meeting up with friends/enjoying sunshine/bunny-stroking/flitting about choosing potential curtain material (well that bit was enjoyable before I get down to serious budgeting!) and generally taking Swan's advice on avoiding builders!

Flying has taken definite turn for worse Washing/meal planning up to date and ground floor just about respectable. Cellars and upper floors have exploded! (Owing to all the furniture and detritus that has been moved as a result of decorators - first and second floors look like a scene from one of those hoarder progs.)

Got to dash so apologies so few personals but did want to say to Blue - hope your foot recovers soon - sounds v. painful.

Also, great to hear holiday looking possible Toffee You all deserve it!

Castle at proper veg patch (even with cow pats!)

Maggie aw at banner for dinnerlady - fab idea!

Huge waves to eveyrone else!!

got down to serious budgeting

Blue - I had plantar fasciitis after giving birth to DS, the doctor said I had probably strained it with the exertions of delivering him (was a very difficult delivery and also responsible for my current limited Flying abilities). Anyway, the PF cleared up after a few weeks. My Dad had it a few years ago (obv. not for the same reason!), he found that orthotic insole things really helped him.

I've been keeping up with the basic routines but not done any detailed cleaning this week - too hot!. Managed two lots of washing today anyway.

Been having a bit of a full-on week with DS, he is generally a very polite compliant little chap, with everyone except me! I have been getting backchat, rudeness, tantrums, whinging and a total inability to take no for an answer recently, so I have been cracking down. He ended up missing Cubs on Tuesday for pushing it just one time too many and was devastated (the leaders were sympathetic, but it means his investiture has been put back three weeks due to missing some of the work and half term, but I'm keeping that to myself, don't want to completely crush him).

He played up again yesterday after school and lost his Ipad privileges. He played up at tennis tonight and after calming down we have agreed that there is no point him carrying on with it, but he is going to go along with DD next week and apologise to the coach. Other than that all is going well.

Just realised I haven't eaten yet (apart from two Bourbons, several rice cakes, several Tuc biscuits and a bowl of ice cream ) and I'm starving so off to find some food and get an early night

Hi all! Another one in the naughty corner! Too hot here too!

However, after an unsuccessful week trying to avoid having an actual breakdown and crying a hand full of times...I'm home again so flying will start tomorrow! (I'm away at the weekend though )

Managed to sort out and put away mine and DDs swimming things, buy DD some new shoes did a food shop and filled in a tax return today so not a complete fail

I have also found that dumping things on my bed when I'm rushing around instead of in hotspots means that they get put away at the end of the day because I couldn't sleep on top of them so have been doing this this week, there are still 3 hotspots waiting to be put out though

Ah well! Tomorrow is a new day. Bed time for me!!

Had a very hectic day, moderately nice in parts but

TOO HOT
grumbling about hosepipe ban as my garden is parched and cracked

had tearful time (me and ds2) at dd's interschool choir concert, as ds2 was behaving in a bit of an ASD way (gesticulating, singing along, and at one stage making signals to dd in the central aisle) Felt so upset, not sure whether I over reacted to his behaviour (he claimed I was) but so desperate for him not to embarass dd in front of the four schools that were there. Worse still we had to run the gauntlet at the bustop afterwards with ds2 crying and hitting me...

It is Bookfair week so Dh is out this evening networking (not something he finds that easy so it is work for him), and all the teenagers who might have babysat are taking A'levels or GSCEs!

Left ds1 in the house, returned to find he had tried to heat up some oxtail soup on Aga (which I had turned right down, luckily), failed miserably, too frightened to go upstairs because it was dark...and house in the squalor I left it in!

on a plus note -
done
more gardening done
went to concert a way away and ds2 did enjoy it (most of it [blush)
all the children are now in bed
And I did 3 productive hours in school library reading to Reception about Minibeasts...

SC tell us about your curtains, do! Expensive items, certainly...if interlined and handpleated in particular....

Toffee well done on booking a holiday at all, I have still failed on that one Which part of Spain have you chosen?

Castlelough I'm from Westmeath (though a Londoner by habituation) Hope exam goes well. Just learnt several pieces from Grade 2 2011. I am determined to get to Grade 3, but have stopped lessons, as it was too stressful...

everyone else waves ...Bitchy why can I never promise my myself an afternoon of crafting, I must be doing something seriously wrong....

Waves to all. Thanks for concern re the foot! Ibuprofen is definitely helping - it's much better today. The boys think the exercises I'm supposed to do are hysterically funny. I'll shut up about it now though.

Castle you can also get microfibre cloths from Poundland and such places - they seem to work as well as the E-Cloths ones.

Night!

swan you obviously need lessons in avoid and ignoring the mess

I am awake at a silly time again . Still, I do enjoy the uninterrupted Mumsnetting time.

Big achievement today was sorting out all the online stuff for our holiday. Ordering the travel insurance was particularly difficult and stressful, thanks to various medical conditions to declare, but at least it's done now.

The challenge for tomorrow is to get DS into town. He needs to see the optician, get summer shoes and have his hair cut. I couldn't find a hairdresser to come to our house, so have just bitten the bullet and booked him an appointment. Am crossing my fingers I'll get him there. If he could take a dog with him, he'd be fine!

castle - am impressed that you are not only cleaning a house, but building one too!

bitchy - an afternoon's crafting sounds like a very good idea .

MoreCats - at you needing to tidy up your post. Maybe it needed 15 mins decluttering! Hope your DD is continuing to improve, by the way.

lauren - maybe the light bulbs were to illuminate the clean (microfibre-polished) house and shiny shoes ?

Flying - am very impressed at you considering ironing on such a hot day. That's dedication!

Maggie - sorry your foot's so painful. Swimming sounds like a good idea, although, bizarrely, it's one of the worst things I can do at the moment. I have a torn ligament in my knee and couldn't walk the day after I took DS2 swimming. A friend told me that the weightlessness makes injuries like mine worse .

SC - sorry to hear you are still struggling with the stress of building work, but I'm glad you managed to have a happy few days with friends. Yes, holiday does look like it's going ahead now and I'm feeling more excited than apprehensive, at last.

WhoKnows - for you that you have been having such a tough time with DS recently. Maybe he needs a holiday and the half term will help. I have to say that I introduced reward charts in our house again recently, as a result of DS1's behaviour on a few days, but it was just too time-consuming and difficult to enforce, so I have decided to sod positive reinforcement and just withdraw the good stuff when needed!

swan - sounds like a very challenging day. You know, a lot of those parents you had to walk past after the concert were probably either too preoccupied with their own darlings to notice or may have been feeling sorry for you, rather than feeling judgemental. I once had a woman come up to me in a supermarket to reassure me when DS1 was having a major public tantrum . She was so nice and it really cheered me up.

blue - glad to hear the Ibuprofen is working .

Right, here are the links....

Day 24 is one of my personal favourites - swish and swipe in the bathroom every morning. Never have to feel embarrassed when visitors use your bathroom again!

The flight plan is here.

Fly Kid's Challenge is to declutter 10 things.

The birds are tweeting. Time to get back to bed.

Morning. After 2 days and 3 nights of sleep, i struggled to sleep last night. And was pondering what had happened to may and why i couldn't remember it. With the help of the thread I can conclude that I have: posted some scarey lists, posted some lists that aren't so scarey and slept. Explains why i don't have much memories. Cos there weren't any. I need to get this sleep thing sorted.

Going to try and grab a nap now and another post school run. Have a busy afternoon and a very busy evening. And I think i know the complete cause of all the problems so can fix that in just over a week's time with no ds.

The computer is going to be turned off. I read alot of books and stuff on line. It doesn't aid my sleep. The tv in here is usually on standby too. That is going to go off and the curtain for the roof window thing is going to be put back up. AND my room WILL be tidy!

Oh and first wk June feel free to remind me about this cos no doubt i will forget it.

Just flying by to say hi!!

Life has gone a bit more mental than normal times! Trying to sort the house out for the move, DS has his GCSEs, although has been unwell all week, so I have been taxi to and from exams. Plus I am trying to recruit and hand over my jobs to new people. 2 out of 3 have been appointed so far and the hand over process is underway. Job number 1 still hasn't even arranged the interviews - I am not working a minute over the set date of 30th June, so if they dont pull their finger out they will be stuffed like a kipper!!!

How is everyone? How are you now WhoKnows ?

DD2 is doing well and we are hoping the brain lesion will "recover" itself with no more treatment needed.
DS has got himself a new hobby of breadmaking at the moment - I am not complaining!! Although he tried to be creative with the last lot and put us all off totally when he announced the rolls looked like a grannies vagina!! (How would a 16 year old know what a grannies vagina looks like ) They didn't seem to taste the same after that!!

Plan for today is:

A few hours at work
Home - tackle bookshelves and sort out what I want to keep and what I am giving away.
The most important preparation today is to have a "getting used to the heat" prep. (ie: sunbathing) I call that vital!!! Last night the coldest temperature in Cambodia at 2.30am was 27 degrees, so I need some intense practice, I think.

PA - the Grannies' vagina made me laugh (as I adjusted my cushion and decided I might start referring to my own predicament thus!). Good news on that front, I have got an appointment with the gynae consultant himself in 2 weeks, he is highly regarded it seems, so that's good news. Only one fly in the ointment, apparently he drinks in our local pub, which could be a tad awkward in future!

House a bit cooler this am (we left the loft hatch down last night, which helps). NEed to go and get on, back later.

Morning all!

yesterday was a work day so washing-up + hoover downstairs = more than enough.

Today we are....

food shopping
having coffee and lunch with my parents and MIL
try on bridesmaid dress
water plants
5 mins hot spot
clean coffee table
do a spot of weeding this evening

Think that's ambitious enough for today

Hi WHoKnows - I am glad about the appointment. DOn't worry about the Dr being in the pub. I used to be a "fanny nurse" but I can honestly say it was just like looking at any other part of anatomy and I would not think it odd to look you in the eye in the pub.