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.

Back and sitting in the car while DS "drives"

Bought pale blue, pale pink, pale green and pale yellow wool and a hook. Planning on a ripple blanket. Have a book as well to accompany web based stuff.

Very relieved that crochet does not count as old Bitchy. And you do know you'll now probably end up with shed loads of PM's from going "what do I do now?"!

Fingers crossed it looks okay!

DH has done his back in so I've been doing everything today while he hobbles around feeling cross.

Ta da!
Washing done and dry
Charity shop dump
Bank
Library
Food shopping and putting away
Blogging
Tons of gardening:
weeding
sieving out everything from pebbles to 6" rusty nails to huge lumps of rock, half bricks etc
Thrown away loads of broken flower pots, empty compost bags etc that had been lying around forever...
Palmed off rusty lantern things on next door - neighbour reckons they'll clean up and look lovely.

Toffee - the spare room is more visible than 2 days ago. Still plenty to do but feels achievable now!!

Carpe - hope the crocheting goes well. I tried to learn a while ago and managed a few granny squares before getting side tracked by embroidery. Now got side tracked from the embroidery too - should get back to it!!

Waves to all. aplenty. Is it o'clock yet??

I think I'll jump back in...

Whoknows poor poor you, I hope you are going to rest from gardening club for a while too. Hope surgery comes speedily. Well done on dd passing ballet.
V impressed by someone who can put her hand to installing waterbutts and mend guttering!

Bitchy having dug up a mere two x two metres of patio sand and paving (to reclaim some matching bricks) three days ago and still suffering from it, I am amazed at your courage in dealing with entire lawn.

LAWN GARDEN UPDATE here...garden is The Somme. What more can I say? Builder discovered what an underground spring under where the path ws meant to go cue much mixing of concrete and general frustration.
However
done
dh and dcs planted a few pots in front garden
I spent a lot of afternoon tking grden rubbish to dump, and buying compost/seeds/few bedding plants to keep ball rolling
catechism class
got ds off early to orchestra in good spirits
dh put lots of toys away
we managed to rationalise playroom (which is on garden side) to make it more suitable for general use, so I don't feel so bad now about kitchen not havign any view. Plan is to put piano in front room too so I can play it without disturbing the neighbours , but that is proving difficult to move we are so pathetically weak when it comes to lifting things...

Generally struggling here with feeling ill, COLD, tired, chaos, bickering and child management - however I felt a bit more cheerful on Friday, partly because I took the fuse out of the telly! Empowerment and I think kids felt much calmer because of it! Ds1 was driving me mad with his refusal to concentrate on anything except the telly schedule, and ds2 has stopped playing completely and dd seemed unable to find anything to occupy herself, and they were all SOO BADTEMPERED and BORING, so I have now given up rationing nd schedulign nd just told them tht ws it, except for weekends and when Dad comes home. (Still loads of screen time really Result is that today, they have "helped", laid tables, done homework and music practice and ds2 has played with his model railway.

Oh and watched BBC Young Musician of Year semi-finals: completely gripping! The outsider seems always to win...funny, I wonder whether it is deliberate policy - haven't seen piano or percussion yet though...Feel even more determined to keep my children in the music groove if only to save them from their worse selves

Ffs is it too much to ask to have 5 minutes to myself. We had a lovely morning/ afternoon at the cinema followed by lunch out and a mooch around town. The day has then gradually descended and now I am tired and grumpy and feel in possession of two spoilt, ungrateful dc's who don't understand how lucky they are.

And breathe......

Flying wise, i have maintained tidiness and cleanliness established by cleaner yesterday and washed. Feel like i am living in fecking groundhog day though. Tidy, kids mess, tidy, kids mess, repeat ad nauseum.

Sorry rant slipped back in again. I'll go now.

Carpe - another crocheter here, I have just finished a ripple cushion and now I am making little cuddly animals for the DCs. It was the MN blankets that got me started. I've been trying unsuccessfully to put some photos on my profile, am going to have another go I think.

Swan - what a brainwave with the Telly fuse. Will remember that one. I did go to gardening club yesterday but told the other volunteers I was strictly there to organize and wasn't lifting anything heavier than a seed packet, so that was fine. I looked at the diary, this week last year we were harvesting our first radishes, they are nowhere near ready this time round.

Mushroom you sound as though Flying is going well, you are so right about the washing. I've slacked on it a bit lately. DH has decreed that we shouldn't have the DW, WM or dryer on when we are out because of the fire risk, which has completely buggered up my washing routine although I am ignoring his advice half the time because it's impossible especially when he forgets to put the DW on in the evening. I am also lazy about putting away the dry clothes and tend to let them pile up.

A nice day here, I've been at home today putting away a week's worth of clean laundry, pottering about, doing a bit of crochet, watching football on the Telly. DH and the DCs have been in and out. Bracing ourselves for a trip to Ikea tomorrow, having realised that most of our furniture is falling to pieces because it's ancient and was cheap in the first place.

Hi everyone, I know I was going to start posting on here again but time keeps running away from me. I have been doing ok with the flying though.

I now need to change my routine though because have been on the housing list for ages to move from our 2 bedroom flat into a 3 bedroom house. We are currently top of the list for a house and the realisation is hitting me that I will have to pack everything and move.

I now really need to get ruthless with the decluttering rather than just putting it away neatly into a cupboard! Being dyspraxic means I find change really hard and organisation even harder.

I'm going to try and stay calm though rather than completely lose the plot, will hopefully be on here more for moral support.

Currently I'm focusing on shiing my sink and hot spots, tomorrow will find out if we have the house and start to rewrite routines for packing and then having a house, rather than a flat!

Sorry this was abit long but no one else will understand as they just focus on how great it will be for us to have a house

I NEED to share some really shocking news with you..... this afternoon I became bored - this is shocking in itself as I never sit still long enough to be bored normally, so what did I do to relieve the boredom ? ...... I got the hoover out and did the whole ground floor!! this was my first constructive flying other than CHAOS control that I have managed for the last few weeks.

Just about managing to breathe under the mountain of work here. I should be able to surface for air later this week - well, that's the plan, then I start on the handing over process..... whooppeeeee!!!

to everyone, sorry for the lack of personals, I am off for a read through the thread.

< there's a little left if anyone wants some >

Welcome to the thread, Shannaratiger. I hope you hear good news about the house tomorrow. I know there seems an overwhelming amount to do when you move, but it will get done, somehow . There's a useful checklist of what to do when you move house here.

PA - at you resorting to hoovering! Good luck with all your preparations for the big move. Have emailed you, btw.

Hi Flybaby here. Been flying for three whole weeks after a lifetime of CHAOS. Its really working for me I usually do things for about four days then go back to my old ways... slipped a bit the last two days so read this thread, felt inspired again and thought i'd join in to keep me on track.... My list for Sunday

Washing load in
Dressed to slippers
Swish and swipe bathroom
Make bedIironing and put away
Empty and put away dry clothes off airer
Empty w/m and hang wet washing
Cook roast dinner
Declutter box in kitchen
Wash/dry/put away dishes
Shine sink
Sweep kitchen floor
Water plants

My hotspots have more or less dissapeared thanks to 'dont put it down put it away' and I love the new one i read on this thread 'If it takes less than a minute do it now!'

Morning all

Swan - hope you feel better this morning.
Carpe - what is your first project going to be. I used to do cross stitching, managed to make some lovely little cards and presents that people appreciate much more because you've put time into them.
Keeptryin - glad you've stuck with flying after a while it gets engrained and you find yourself sticking to the routines even when you're not aware of it.

Still top of the housing list, am starting to think of a sensible decluttering schedule so I don't crash and burn, starting with piles of paperwork that I'm going to put into those clear A4 folders rather than lose in a box!

I'd better go and put yesterday's washing in the tumble drier, only swimming towels. Then breakfast and getting dressed - it is the weekend though flylady would still slap my wrist!

Have a good day everyone, will try and get back on later.

Morning.

Welcome to the thread, KeepTrying. Glad Flying is working well for you.

A decluttering schedule sounds good, Shannara. I should have one of those too.

444wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Er, DS2 has joined me and is playing with my keyboard, as you can see above .

Will attempt to type a 'to do' list without DS2 interrupting:

Unload d/w
Reload d/w
B/fasts done
Tidy kitchen
Extend dining-room table
Lay the table
Sort DVDs for DC
S&S in bathroom
Prepare risotto
QuICK TRIP TO Waitrose

ds2 IS NOW PLAYING WITH THE CAPS LOCK. gOTTA GO......

Rofl at DS2 joining in Toffee!

Today will be a nice ish day. Planning to have a lazy morning. DH and I have already sat down together and planned the menu for the next week - much easier than me having to do it solo; this naturally led on to a shopping list and now we have a plan whereby when DS goes for his nap, I'll do my work and DH will hit the supermarket.

Then a family lunch out and DS will get thrown into the soft play. No doubt DH will go in with him, so I'm planning to load books onto my iPhone to read (restaurant is in the arse end of nowhere so I can't get Internet to MNet )

Have a nice day everyone!

Didn't get house finished. Must finish crisis tidying today. Cleaning hahahah got to bloody find the surfaces under the chaos before you can clean it.

Lounge
hall
kitchen and dining room
bathroom.

Suppose on one level it is good that the number of rooms has been reduced. Have also reduced the amount of work to be done in each room but still :(

Must find coffee. Hope you are all having better days than this.

Will just slope back in and pretend I've been here all along.

Friday turned out to be terrible- as I said ^^ up there that DD had fallen down the stairs, grazed her head and slept and been really clingy for the day. Well she went on to vomit after dinner so off we went to a and e. very nearly got kept in as they did say she had a concussion but let home on the condition we monitor her closely and took her back if any change. She seems ok if a little wobbly on her feet. :( poor girl.

Anyway yesterday we had to go to town and pick up the holiday tickets, exchange money and buy the rest of holiday clothes/ necessities.

Today is lunch with mum and dad. We go out once a month and take it in turns to pay. This is their turn :)

So short list today.

Tidy away holiday purchases
Clean bathroom
Wash a load
Put lots of clean clothes away

I also told DH if he wanted any new holiday clothes he would need to have a clear put to make room. 5 yes 5 black bags later and he has some room. He still has tons though! Madness!!!

Oh, Nick that must have been scary for you and DD, hopefully she's past the worst now. DS fell down the stairs when he was 2, I remember just hearing the thud thud thud and rushing out to find him lying at the bottom,it was awful. He was fine but it was a horrible moment.

Bitchy - hope the coffee does its trick

Carpe - good work with the menus and shopping. I must admit to winging it most weeks, it has made me pretty good at making meals out of whatever we have got though and I am disciplined about never running out of store cupboard goods, but it does get a bit repetitive.

Shannara decluttering schedule sounds like a good plan. The Flylady strategy of only getting out what you can deal with in 15 mins is a good one, eg one drawer or shelf at a time, then you don't get overwhelmed.

KeepTryin - glad the Flying is working for you. I have stuck it much better than any previous attempts, my house isn't perfect by any means but it's a lot better than it was and more importantly when it slips I now how to get back on track and having visitors is far less daunting.

Morecats don't forget to put out the empties

PA - once a Flyer always a Flyer. Would love to carry on getting your emails by the way.

Ellie - hope all the tired and grumoiness has gone away

Toffee - glad you got to the party and had a relaxing evening. My DCs are not terribly good at letting us watch telly. It's not too bad when it's something that they aren't interested in at all as they are likely to wander off, but trying to watch something that we all want to watch is a nightmare, they leap up, stand in front of the screen, ask endless questions.

Right, better get moving. We've had a nice lazy morning so far but need to get on. The house is feeling snuggly. It was really cold last night so I went to put the heating on and couldn't get it to work, the rads all stayed lukewarm, despite much fiddling with thermostats, bleed keys, timers. So we put it back on timer for this morning, turned all the rads to full on setting and lo and behold, house is like a furnace this morning. The thermostats don't seem to cope with spring and autumn very well.

haven't done anything yet apart from...

breakfasts
texted friend whose birthday I forgot
dressed to trainers and 8k run
made a rather delicious banana smoothie which I am now enjoying

So for today...
shower
write and post card to friend whose birthday I forgot
plan lessons for tomorrow (must do after shower and not put off any longer!)
breakfast washing up
hoover downstairs (MIL is babysitting tomorrow so must MIL-proff house, or at least downstairs)
one load of washing
sort out clothes!!!! (I am inspired by 5 black bin ags nick !)
15 mins hotspot

Nicknacks 5 bin bags is amazing! my DH (who is a serial horder) was severly traumatised by filling one last week. He has 3/4 of available bedroom storage...
I am up showered and dressed and have done my morning routine.... all by 11.15. I am usually crawling onto the couch still in dressing gown to watch double bills of Supernanny at this time (obviously only on days we dont have DSD) i think i'm turning into my mother

My next trick will be to tackle the ironing :0

Well usually my Sunday is manic housework day. Whole house, 6 people's worth of washing + desperately trying to squeeze in bedding.
Today?
I've had lots of coffee, read a whole book, washed and dried a load of whites and put on DD1's bedding. Pot roast in the oven.
And all because I've been flying in the week!

Glad dd is okish now nicknacks if the wobbly doesn't settle fairly quickly take her back and get checked out as it is one of the things that you look out for when there is a problem post head knock not that i know the list of the top of my head because ds has had so many head injuries or anything. bloody boys

I can't remember what people have said. Stupid tired and functioning on only 3hrs sleep. Sleep has not been good recently. However whoever said about not having done much but having done 8k run. 8k run is doing a lot. I can't run 8k personally wouldn't want to either but that is a technicality And it counts as flying. It is the looking after self part of the fly lady doctrin. She has some puketastic name for it no doubt brain thankfully not stored this though

Ta da
3rd load of washing about to go on
dw loaded
bread rolls made
chop in danger of going off cooked
washing up done
lounge hit hard
crafting stuff put away
furniture moved
cottage pie made
guest fed
email/fb/mn done
read chapter
People back so throw information at them
Have information thrown at me
Play hunt the bra can train in
sort out training kit
run away - about to do.

have good afternoons

Heres my updated list. I feel proud of myself then realise most of you are doing this and more with kids and babies...I am in awe of you all!! not sure how i'll manage all this when i have my own, i seem to lose the plot when we have DSD, maybe as we want it to be quality time, might feel less guilty about plonking my own in front of Cbeebies or just accept that i'll be cleaning at midnight most days...

Washing load in
Dressed to slippers
Swish and swipe bathroom
Make bed DH still in it works nights
ironing and put away
Empty and put away dry clothes off airer
Empty w/m and hang wet washing
Cook roast dinner
Declutter box in kitchen
Wash/dry/put away dishes
Shine sink
Sweep kitchen floor
Water plants

Having a half hour on here now, had to set timer though as this could easily turn into two hours :o

Survived our first ever family outing to Ikea. I lived near one years ago and got a bit Ikea'd out back then, so have never got round to going to the one that opened down here a few years ago. However we desperately need some new furniture so off we went, put the DCs in the creche and had a nice time wandering round buying kitchen utensils and coming to no decisions whatsoever about furniture. DS wants to go again as many times as he can before he turns 9 and can't go in the creche any more. Hmm.

Have discovered that DS1 has been trolling on MN. And that he admitted he was "Toffeewhirl's son" . Thankfully, the threads have now been deleted.

Ha ha toffee you can't just leave it at that! Tell us more!!!!......

You really need to expland on that toffee.

I hate my life, I hate my family and I know exactly where I want to shove the turf that I dug up last week. Tired as hell, sore and really really pissed off. PLus key board is being stupid, half the keys go awol randomly.

Right now the only solution is sleep. Have had enough of the shit. I know exactly what I need to do to improve my life and winning the lottery would definitely help. Although will settle for someone deeming me employable.

hop eyou have all had a good wkend so far. Need me some sleep.