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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

Fledglings Fly in Flaming June; C.H.A.O.S. will be banished soon!

980 replies

sanguinechompa · 31/05/2012 08:27

Welcome to the June 2012 Fledgling Flyers thread. Park your mops, buckets and microfibre cloths here!!

A huge "thank you" to Toffee for leading us throughout May!! Hope you have a fabulous holiday in Spain!!

If you're house is a mess and you are strugging with C.H.A.O.S. (can't have anyone over syndrome) and S.T.U.F.F. (something that undermines family fun) then this is the thread where we (loosely) follow the step-by-step Flylady housekeeping system (in our own, unique, relaxed style) with lots of chat, support and Wine along the way.

We advise not signing up to receive the Flylady e-mails as you will be inundated! All the information you need will be linked here on a daily basis.

From the first of the month, we will be following Flylady's tips on restoring order to our homes, and as we are all at different stages we will be using one of the following methods:

  • repeat or start baby steps
  • repeat baby steps + do 15 mins a day decluttering in the current zone
  • reinforce babysteps and do daily missions if you have finished decluttering.

More info here, here and here

All welcome!!

OP posts:
BlueEyeshadow · 29/06/2012 14:33

Continuing the broad bean tangent - swan, yes they eat them but only if shelled à la masterchef...

Bodyclutter - Need to go and update MFP and then do some exercise so it'll let me have some Wine tonight...

swanthingafteranother · 29/06/2012 15:14

I've done absolutely nothing this afternoon, except lie down Blush
I feel completely knackered. Dunno why.

Ds is upstairs reading a book I hope.
Children are on their way home I hope
Swimming lesson approaching.

swanthingafteranother · 29/06/2012 15:16

aha! new hoover has arrived and 3.5 tog double duvet. Something has been achieved. Smile

will hang out washing now.

OverflowingMum · 29/06/2012 19:41

evening all
it's Friday ...hooray!!
well, today was not too bad.
And can see benefits of sticking better to routines this week as house isnt quite usual state that it is by Fridays!
Cleaner has sadly been terminated! attempted to discuss with her, and she claimed to have worked "well over her time" and "done more than Mary Poppins" she claimed she had thouroughly cleaned kitchen and lounge (asked then why were there still crumbs over surfaces and thick dust on top of video cupboard?)and to have mopped floors (that were still crunchy with the sand DS2 had tracked home from nursery the day before....so ....didnt go well and have decided money can be better spent elsewhere
Feeling more hopeful though that with a bit of organisation I can keep on top of it all....
Have just put away huge food shop delivery...so at least we have well stocked cupboards and fridge!
Busy but manageable weekend ahead...

Tomorrow:
reboot laundry
tidy our room
strip littlies beds
wash littlies bedding
DS to Scout camp
girls to dancing
collect glasses prescription from opticians
pick strawberries with DS2
might attempt to do some weeding in the wilderness of a back garden!
reboot laundry
dinner????

Sunday
Girls horse riding
baking
RUN!

off to try and catch up on thread more....

BBL Grin

swanthingafteranother · 29/06/2012 20:29

OFM you know that was Ruby on the desk thread don't you? Grin The OP sheep.

done
swimming lesson by bus, mucho complaining over that
fresh air for children
supper over [draw a veil over that]
changed cat litter
recycling away
dw unloaded and reloaded
Wine drunk
trombone practice x 1
piano practice x 1
swept floor

School fete tomorrow. lots of hassle, but hopefully fun for all.

and hurray ds1 found my [green tasselled SC had already anticipated losing it by attaching long exciting key fob] CAR KEY whilst practising the trombone, it caught his eye on the bookcase where he had propped his music YAY!

sanguinechompa · 29/06/2012 20:40

Evening everyone
We are all absolutely cream-crackered tonight. DD very tired after all the end of term shenanigans. Quite worried about dh too who returned from travels looking white with fatigue, was too tired to eat dinner [unheard of] save for some bread and ham, and promptly went to bed at 7.15pm. Mind you, he has been working endless relentless 16 hr-days, refuses to go on holiday for more than 5 or 6 days at a stretch if that, barely goes on holiday anyway and is the type who will just work until he drops. I nearly feel asleep at my desk at 5pm and was too tired to cook so just ate a ham sandwich and I'm off to bed now too.

finish wrapping last minute "thank you" present for v. helpful school sec, remembered at 3 am this morning done
search frantically (again) for dd's school cardigan which is brand new, bought big for Sept, cost a fortune and which she appears to have lost one day before hols done but can't find sad Angry - and looked again without success
morning routine inc dw, wm, s&s, hot spots done
tidy sitting room and downstairs generally done
carry a load of different piles of things endlessly up and down stairs done
clean out rabbits done
just prior to or post school-run:
food shop (diet gone to pot because I haven't shopped: no bread, no milk, no fresh fruit) done but unfortunately went to traiteur and baker instead
pick up prescription from chemist done but no stock so need to go back
rest of day:
do something fun with dd done (glitter art)
more laundry - white hot wash/wool wash done
BOUDOIR!!!!! BIG FAT NOPE
make a start on holiday plans etc/start blocking out dates on calendar done
bribe ask dd to write thank you letter to ballet teacher and wrap present - NOPE will have that delight to come tomorrow morning
fish for supper NOPE
evening routine NOPE but tended to rabbits

OP posts:
sanguinechompa · 29/06/2012 20:48

Oh dear, that was awfully whingy wasn't it:

Positive bits:
ordered dd shoes for wedding (right size this time)
obtained contact details of someone I have been tracking down for ages
teachers presents & cards delivered and appreciated
dd spontaneously drew lovely rainbow card for her favourite teacher before school
had lovely long overdue conversation with cousin
cleaner came and went
dining room table hot spot cleared x 3
dd received excellent school report (except for religion) in the end ...
have arranged three playdate activities for dd next week
ate nicoise salad for lunch (albeit rather wierd interpretation)
arranged for vet to verify gender of rabbits on Tues (tmi but hope both male as they are humping for England)

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OverflowingMum · 29/06/2012 21:15

Oh swan I didnt realise that was Ruby! Just thought she sounded V organised and was abit Envy !
sc you soound totally exhausted. Hope you get chance for a bit of a rest this weekend.

swanthingafteranother · 29/06/2012 21:42

She always sounds organised Envy However, from the sounds of it, so are you! Grin

SC I am not surprised you are tired after all that Shock hope tomorrow brings r & r, of a sort, and no baby rabbit blessings Wink

I am finding it difficult to multi-task Grin
Body clutter seems to have replaced RL clutter as a preoccupation in this house. I have really given up on any sort of tidying, rescuing and routining. For some reason the laundry stays buoyant, but everything else is hopelessly badly organised.

Ah well, kids in bed, asleep and now I will call in the cats. And then go to bed myself avoiding all attempts at tidying

swanthingafteranother · 29/06/2012 21:44

And car key on the car key hook!

sanguinechompa · 29/06/2012 21:46

How did you all get on today?

Good news about car keys Swan (well done ds1) and wishing you fortitude for school fete tomorrow. Ditto with fatigue today. Sudden absence of adrenalin after gruelling term. Really well done re: your daily O.3 kg weight loss. I know what I need to do but this week I simply haven't done it Blush Lost first 2.5 days to illness and meal planning/shopping went out of window and last three days have been full of stress, snatched sandwiches, and trips in car Blush

Thanks for words of wisdom re: holiday btw. Yes, hopefully it will all come together in the end. Believe me, I have no difficult 'just flopping' but different for dd as an only. You are so right about difficulty in dropping down to lower gear. She is hugely energetic and usually on adrenalin high after end of term, so have learnt from experience to "bring her down slowly" as it were with moderate bit of structure initially in terms of planned activities and fair bit of catching up with out-of-school friends and then she will gradually calm down and even get to the stage where she is enjoying being bored for a bit!! [Well, for half a nanosecond!! Grin) Am firm believer in a bit of boredom being good for dc - stimulates creativity and all that ...

Oh and the joys of no regular hwk supervision! (apart from that which her French teacher is sending through)!! Will be lovely to have a break from it all for a while.

I like the sound of your resident mad inventor btw! Grin The world needs ideas people. And good news re: magic IT man.

OFM good on you for ploughing on through with routines to end of week and for big supermarket shop. Blimey, cleaner sounds atrocious! No excuse for sandy floor and crumbs - sorry I suggested giving her another go. Would def encourage trying to find another one though (with six dc and a job, you are more than justified!) Enjoy strawberry picking tomorrow!

Blue well done on showing us MFP the way it should be done [realisation dawning emoticon] Starting to understand now (v. slowBlush) that you have to build up cream cake credits Grin through exercise. I am really not looking forward to weigh-in on Sunday. I tried to do MFP today but was so behind with tracking /couldn't remember what I had for lunch on Wed etc, so I gave up Blush Must start again.

Whoknow clearing and photographing of modelling stuff sounds frighteningly efficient!! Am v. v. impressed!!! Hope school fair went well.

Hey Kiwi well done re: your list and a resounding "hear hear" to second half of year sentiments. Bit of decorating downstairs aside, all I can honestly lay claim to is "maintaining" so far this year, NOT making decluttering progress. Hope you enjoyed your coffee with the girls!

Hope you survived softplay Carpe and hope you had a good day Likelucklove

Humungous waves to everyone else I've missed ...and Ellie thinking of you this w/e xxx

OP posts:
sanguinechompa · 29/06/2012 21:54

x posts

Thanks OFM and Swan just ballet and a few errands to contend with tomorrow, then church + two friends coming for casual lunch Sun, so loads of time to relax this w/e hopefully. (And will have to make concerted effort to protect dh from any outside demands as he has difficulty saying "no")

Oh, just remembered, must make inroads in to boudoir though because window cleaner is coming at 7.30am on Monday and he has to get to every part of house. Can hardly see the floor atm Blush

OFM you too (getting some r & r that is!!)
Sleep well Swan

OP posts:
sanguinechompa · 29/06/2012 22:10


Yay we have nearly made it through another month Fledglings!! Give yourselves a huge pat on the back and a quick swig of the old moonshine [Wondered what happened to CarpeJugulum's still btw? You lot have been so active this month, the naughty corner has never been so under-utilised since its inauguration!!]

Baby-step no. 30, for Sat 30th June is here - a very useful one - checking calendar for birthdays/important dates for next month

No zones or missions tomorrow because it is the weekend!

The daily focus for Saturday is family fun day

The habit for June is a good one - drinking water - more info here

If I've forgotten anything it will be in the flight plan which should update automatically, as should kids challenge

See you tomorrow everyone - for last baby-step of the month ....sleep well!!

OP posts:
sanguinechompa · 29/06/2012 22:15

... unless Foad is still sleeping in there???? Wink

OP posts:
elliepac · 30/06/2012 07:24

Morning all! Still hanging on in there. I am not looking forward to this weekend at all.Sad. DH is moving out tomorrow and we have to tell the DC's tonight. I can cope with most of what is going on but when I think of how we are about to change their secure little world tonight it breaks my heart.Sad When I have my rational head on I know they will be ok. I know after the initial upset, they will adjust and still be secure and happy but unfortunately rational head is a little hard to find at the moment.

Luckily we have had a busy weekend planned this weekend for ages. Today dc's and i are going to a local farm park with an old colleague and her dc's. Can't put it off as it has been planned for months which is probably a good thing and tomorrow it is the summer fair at my school.

Thanks again for all your thoughts. Back later.

laurenamium · 30/06/2012 08:09

Sad ellie! Good luck tonight, will be thinking of you!

So road trip begins at 11am today, early weigh in and no flying other than change bedding wash up and walk dog!

Body clutter:
I have only lost a pound this week, but it's still a loss and considering I've done hardly any exercise AND I had an Indian last night it's not too bad Grin

swanthingafteranother · 30/06/2012 08:59

SC you made me smile ruefully at the DH having difficulty saying "No". What a lovely man he must be...in fact Dh is quite the opposite and always says "No" so I am now officially [jealous] Today's "no" was to get involved in any aspect of fete whatsoever.

I woke up very early this morning [for me] and now feel whacked again. Ds1 has gone to orchestra, leaving his music behind again, [sigh] so I will have to drop that off, or the trombone teacher is really going to despair. Dd refuses to go to her violin lesson because she says she is singing a solo in the fete at that time; I have prevaricated too long over what to do, thinking ds1 would take her slot with violin teacher [£££] but now HE refuses to take her place, despite bribesthreats

and I need to scrunch up about 100 raffle tickets

life is not very hard is it???Blush better go to music dropoff. Oh yes and need to find a box of school flags from the loft..

swanthingafteranother · 30/06/2012 09:07

Ellie friend who split up in very acrimonious circs said they made a enormous effort to tell the children how much they loved them, because although you might think it was obvious, they didn't want the children to think they (the children) were in any way responsible for anything that had occurred. But she still admitted to children she felt sad (I suppose it was impossible to conceal); I suppose just that she made it clear to them that they were not what made her sad. And that helped the children deal with it, and of course, seeing lots and lots of their dad.

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 30/06/2012 09:20

Morning all,

Anyone else having problems with MFP this morning? I can't seem to log anything, just keeps coming up with error messages. I have weighed in this morning and am definitely lighter but can't remember exactly what weight I entered onto it last week. I would say I have overstepped my limit a bit most days, but not had any total blowouts, that seems to be the way forward for me.

Ellie - thinking of you this weekend, Swan has wise advice about making sure the children realise that they are loved and will continue to be loved by both parents and that it is not their fault.

Swan - good luck with the fair. My DH is another who says No to anything to do with it, but he does at least come and take part, look after the DCs while I am busy etc. Ours was last night, half an hour before it started at 6pm it was blowing a gale and pouring with rain, but it cleared just in time, we had one short shower in the middle and it all went very well. It's nice having it on a Friday evening, I would thoroughly recommend it.

Honu · 30/06/2012 09:34

{{{Hugs}}} Ellie. Please both of you tell the DC - when XH decided to have his mid-life crisis I was so upset I didn't want to tell them he was going and felt it was up to him to explain his reasons to them. I should have found a way to do it - they were early teens, he ballsed it up, later went abroad with OW, and saw them about once every 3 years.

OverflowingMum · 30/06/2012 17:16

afternoon all

have had a busy but productive day.
I have done quite a bit of bitzing!
New hoover arrived this morning which seems to have motivated me into action!
DS dispatched to scout camp, girls been to dancing.

ellie thinking of you. Hope it all goes as well as it can

well done to those who have loast weight this week...Im still too scared to actually weigh myself LOL

sc hope you,re relaxing!

swan hope fete went well

ok...ta da list:
Lounge: dusted,hoovered,skirting boards,windows
Hall:dusted,swept,mopped
Dining room: Tidied,dusted swept,mopped,cleaned table
Kitchen: thorough clean of surface(moving microwave etc), wiped down cupbaords and woodwork,cleaned windows,swept,mopped
Stairs/landing:hoovered and dusted
Our room:Stripped bed, washed bedding,remade bed,dusted,clothes away,hoovered,windows
Cleaned bathrooms
checked details for school trip on Mon
collected glasses prescription
ordered new glasses

Still need to :
tidy kitchen(it didnt stay clean for long!)
bake?
attack littlies room
nagencourage DD! and 2 to tidy their room so I can clean
clean ds1 room
loads of washing!

right...back to tea time chaos...
BBL Grin

sanguinechompa · 30/06/2012 19:07

Good evening everyone.

Thought I had better come on here and post Flylady cult followers speech baby-step no.31 (as only 30 days in June!) and formally hand over the golden feather duster and shoe laces to Blue with huge thanks for taking over!

Baby-step no 31 is here! Well done to everyone for making it through the Flying month.

Had a rather humid oppressive day here and have been battling a headache. Errands done and friends have cancelled tomorrow so has been more leisurely than expected really (thank you for asking OFM - hope you have been able to have a bit of "me" time too - although looking at your list it seems unlikely!) DD has had her last extended ballet lesson of this academic year and reverted back to being a child and has been playing with dolls/bears/prams/play kitchen/rabbits and it's rather lovely to see!

Ellie it's seems rather feeble sending a message over the Internet in the circs - have been thinking of you and wish I could do more to help - but fwiw - hope yur weekend is going as well as these things possibly can - remember that you are a great parent and provider and your dc are lucky to have you as their ma. Hope farm park trip provides a pleasant break amidst the tough bits x

OFM you deserve top Flying marks today!! Crikey -you've done loads!!! Well done!! Hope you can rest up a bit this evening though.

I'm dreading Sunday weigh-in too. I've been eating carbs last night and today to try and keep this headache at bay.

Sorry you had to go through that Honu Sad

Whoknows wish I could advise about MFP glitches but haven't been near it today Blush Blush Well done with keeping going with the weight loss in a very sensible do-able manner.

Whoknows/Swan oh lawks no my dh wouldn't volunteer to help at school fete either (well not in any direct way - aside from carrying heavy tables if asked) although like whoknows's dh, he does look after dd while I'm tearing my hair out getting everything done and will willingly rush out to get that emergency last minute ingredient or product (usually something like fabric paint) that I've forgotten!!

Swan I wish my dh would say "no" a bit more Smile as his schedule doesn't leave much time for a proper family life! And even when he is home is he often not really "present" ifykwim (forever twiddling on wretched Blackberry thing or whatever it is and arranging conference calls for after dinner when Americans are stirring). Hope you manage to juggle music lesson complexities and fete goes well (and not too tiring)! Do you think tiredness could be caused by change in thyroid meds btw? (May have this confused but did doc up dose?) Shouldn't it have opposite effect? Although, goodness knows, your life is plenty stressful and tiring enough for it not to have medical cause. Just thought it might we worth getting checked out if blood test didn't flag up any other cause.

It does sound much nicer having fete on a Friday evening Whoknows although perhaps more tiring for very little dc. We had rain too for ours (had to continually brush water off stage). Good that weathered cleared for yours just in time, esp when all the mothers everyone has put so much in effort in to everything.

Safe travelling Lauren!!! And well done on weight loss!! A pound lost is good!!

[Thread-leader apology]
Oh and at the risk of inciting Bitchy's wrath,may I just say that scrolling back through this thread I realise I have whinged and vented on a record number of subjects this month including: being overweight & unfit, wedding clothes not fitting, dd's exams, decorators, problem colleague, illness, and (just now) dh's "unavailability". So mahoosive thanks for putting up with me making heavy weather of everything!! You've been very patient and kind nd I really appreciate the support. Promise to make a concerted effort to try and be more positive next month!!!!

Mahoosive waves to Feetheart Flying Kiwi Morecats Likelucklove Foad Carpe Bitchy Toffee Engelsmeijse and Maggie Scruffy Castlelough PA Linzer Brices Droitwich PrinceWilliam and everyone I've inevitably missed!

OP posts:
sanguinechompa · 30/06/2012 19:36

A couple of ends to tie up:

Forgot to flap wings at Nicknacks Choccochip Takingiteasy Alibalibees and I'm sure several others!! -

BODY CLUTTER

Kiwi and Maggie I owe you both an apology because I said lower down thread that I would invite you to be a friend on MFP and I haven't done so. Profuse apologies - this was down to a combination of lack of time and technical twonkness. Will try and sort this out tomorrow and if I don't manage it, will ask someone else on here for help!

***
For Blue (thought it might make it easier for you to cut and paste tomorrow if I repeat last week's weigh-in list here and have included late update from Feetheart)

(Lauren has already reported in a weight loss of 1lb for week ending Sunday 30th June)

Repeated and updated version of Weekly Body Clutter round up for week ending Sunday 24 June:
Swan has lost another kilo (yay!) done loads of sport and is declaring 78k
Whoknows has lost 1lb!! (well done!!) in addition keeping off the 9lb already lost last year (which is really good going seeing as she can't exercise until after op)
Lauren is sporting a shiny medal having lost 4lbs!! Brilliant stuff!!
Carpe has lost at least 1.2lbs despite having participated in a girls' night out!! V. good going!!
Engelsmeijse has been Shredding!! Well done!
Likelucklove has lost 3lbs!! Excellent going!!
Honu has been drinking lots of water, resisting tempting snacks and walking loads!! Well done!!
Nicknacks has lost a 1lb which takes her up to the one stone lost mark!! Good on you!!
Blue has lost 2lbs!! Really excellent!
Foad has lost 3lbs!! Brilliantly done!!
Feetheart has lost half a pound without seriously dieting! Great stuff!
Kiw has had no snacks, has exercised and ate smaller portions!! (Don't be despondent this didn't achieve the results you wanted - you will feel better as a result)
OFM
Maggie
Sanguinechompa has lost 1.4 kilos and is weighing in at 78.8k [truly can't believe it emoticon as have been over MFP limit every day this wk save for one]

*

OP posts:
sanguinechompa · 30/06/2012 19:39

should have said - included late update from Feetheart and Kiwi

And OFM has joined

And Lauren (who is on the road) has already reported in for Sunday 1st

Sorry cannot find anything further from you Maggie - apologies if you posted something and I missed it - scrolled up and down but cannot find!

OP posts:
BlueEyeshadow · 30/06/2012 21:30