October-fest: a fledgling (at best) might spruce up its nest (then take a rest?).

[strictlycaballine]

Welcome to the October 2012 Fledgling Flyers thread. Park your mops, buckets, microfibre cloths, golden dusters and spiders-web-removing-implements here!

A huge "thank you" to Whoknows and Pushme for leading us throughout September!! (Hope you are recovering well Whoknows - take it steady!)

If your 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 along the way.

This little-and-often system is designed so that you can follow a series of steps and routines each day (which gradually become second nature) in weekly designated zones of the house; defining and minimising housework - which in theory should leave you with more time to do other more interesting things instead! At the same time it is intended to reduce that panicky "rabbit in headlights" feeling when you are overwhelmed and everything needs doing all at once. No problem if you miss a day or two; just jump right back in and it will all come around next month again anyway!

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 steps and routines using a three-pronged approach (dependent on the stage everyone is at):

• start or repeat 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.

[And if you are really enthusiastic and have finished decluttering - you can go on to detailed deep cleaning in each zone.]

More info here on getting started, and the flylady system here and here Don't be put off by the barf-tastic language of the site - the underlying system is sound.

All welcome!!

MASSIVE LIST DUMP ALERT

And this is the condensed version.

get up and dressed
-make bed
-5 min rr my room
-2 min hot spot comp desk
-5 min rr lounge
-coffee break
-5 min rr hall stairs landing
laundry
-s&s
-reboot dw
-shine permanately empty sink
-2 min kitchen side
-rubbish run
-coffee break
-laundry
-5 min rr boys
-2 min other kitchen side
-5 min kitchen
-laundry
-2 min lounge table
-coffee break
-15 min declutter (will be shoes as I have to make way for books)
-hoover and mop
-coffee break
-sort out dp's large box in lounge
-sort out box of books in hall
-keep an eye on freecycle for rather expensive xmas gift that could be free
-put spare quilts away
-wash and hang wetsuits
coffee and relax for the rest of the day break !!
sort out landing which is full of crap

of course it is half term and although I am one ds down, I must feed, water and entertain ds's between jobs.

Anti-procrastination day? Fuck it!

Have done so far :-

get up and dressed
make bed
5 min rr my room
2 min hot spot comp desk
5 min rr lounge
coffee break
5 min rr hall stairs landing
laundry
s&s
reboot dw
-shine permanately empty sink
-2 min kitchen side
rubbish run
coffee break
-laundry
-5 min rr boys
-2 min other kitchen side
-5 min kitchen
-laundry
-2 min lounge table
-coffee break
-15 min declutter (will be shoes as I have to make way for books)
-hoover and mop
-coffee break
-sort out dp's large box in lounge
-sort out box of books in hall
-keep an eye on freecycle for rather expensive xmas gift that could be free
-put spare quilts away
-wash and hang wetsuits
coffee and relax for the rest of the day break !!
sort out landing which is full of crap

It looks so much better when you cross things out.

You're going great gossip! Keep going! My list looks pretty unimpressive

DD and mindee to rhyme time
pick up a parcel from post office
clean kitchen floor
update attendance registers
School run
Clean bathroom
Paperwork
Walk dogs
Routines
pick up dog poo
Find hiding places for new parcels

Have only got these left to do :-

-hoover and mop
-coffee break
-sort out dp's large box in lounge (have moved it to the hall dp will sort it)
-keep an eye on freecycle for rather expensive xmas gift that could be free
-put spare quilts away
-make dinner
coffee and relax for the rest of the day break !!

ahhhhhh its gone tiny !!!!

[Heaves self up from naughty corner cushions - lays extra blanket over Bitchy]

Well done Gossip you are obviously feeling better today

Despite having most of the day free, today I have only managed to:
do tiny food shop
do two loads of laundry and hung one of them up
emptied and filled and emptied the dishwasher
heated up lunch
argued with dd over hwk
did school and ballet run

and am about to embark on afternoon/evening routine

No decluttering. No tidying of boudoir. Woeful performance I'm afraid.

Will be back to catch up with everyone later!

And I am done, dinner is in the oven, I haven't mopped (cba), freecycle turned out to be an ad, and a sleeping bag is currently being used, however the ds using it has been awesome and calm all day, must be a sensory thing [hhmm]

Just noticed the witchy smileys eek [hgrin]

I've been all behind all day because I popped into Sainsbo's for milk and found the toy sale was on, so spent too much time and money in there!

However, have done:
Washing, drying and ironing
Hidden toys!
Quick flick with duster
Hoover downstairs
Some work, though not as much as I'd have liked

Later need to re-make beds and blog about y'day's event before I forget it!

Great going today, Gossip!

[hands out soothing/fortifying / as preferred and dashes off to collect boys...]

Hmmm way too depressed at messy house to begin writing a list.

Going for a nap in the naughty corner again.
< steals a bit of Bitchy's blanket and helps self to coffee; can't remember who to thank >

Thanks Blue .

Well tomorrow were going out all day so had to get it done today really.

today has been slightly more productive

a walk to Beavers did me the world of good, as did Dodge Ball
dropped off three more forms, long tortuous bus journeys
left dh in charge of supper whilst at Beavers
left dh in charge of putting kids to bed (see below)
phone calls

brief nap on sofa in afternoon with my own sleeping bag Gossip we love sleeping bags, I have put them all in the telly room, they come in handy for lounging, and it is as cold as a Scouts' tent in there

oh yes I unloaded the dw!
I am doing zilch! But it did me good to get out, and help at Beavers again, had missed two weeks
and cheered by Ds1 getting a good mark in his Spanish (he is in set three so it is not difficult

SC as Autumn descends I am getting this panicky ratty feeling...a sort of fear which comes as Christmas plans are mooted...rather than anticipation. Could you be suffering from same thing x 10 and missing your mother too , just never feeling like you can catch up before next demands are made. Don't be so hard on yourself, and tell yourself you are wonderful at least once a day.
sorry, [shamefacedly returns to sleeping bag pile]

now I going to bed. Am now reading Dombey and Son. It is so sad, poor little 6 year old being forced to do Latin

Seems to be a slow day here on the thread! Maybe everyone is busy decluttering?

Posted earlier and it was lost .

On my way to bed now, but wanted to record the fact that I have tidied up all my kitchen food cupboards and thrown away all the out-of-date stuff . So I now have a tidy new fridge and tidy cupboards too.

DM is arriving tomorrow afternoon, so it will be a crisis-cleaning day.

Night all.

Just lost my post too, never mind was not very interesting

[Waves from nocturnal depths of naughty corner]

Just stayed up (unintentionally) ludicrously late - drawn in by gripping but deeply troubling/depressing film 'Revolutionary Road' with Kate Winslet, Leonardo diCaprio & Kathy Bates - directed by Sam Mendes. I know I will regret it come alarm time at 6.50 am ...but certainly offered loads of food for thought ...

Have loads of personals to catch up on - will do so tomorrow - but sending encouraging wing flaps to everyone in meantime ...

***

Baby-step no. 25 for Thurs 25 Oct is here and I can't really make head or tail of it tbh - is it about perfectionism, or cj or personal testimonies? Who knows?... One to ignore imo

Btw newcomers - neglected to mention that yesterday's baby-step, no.24, (swish and swipe) is a really useful one!

This week, we are in Zone 4: the master bedroom here

Try and declutter for 15 mins per day in this zone. Once decluttered, you can go on to here

Also, don't forget your super fling boogie in this zone this week in preparation for the Christmas holidays!

Thursday's mission is: here clear tops of dressers/chests of drawers

The daily focus for Thurs is : errand day

The habit for October is: getting rid of paper clutter here Try and shred/recycle/jettison papers you no longer need, 15 mins per day.

If I've missed anything, have a look at Thursday's flight plan

**

Morning all!

List dump time! There's not going to be much on it though- the house is tidy and clean!

School run *3
Routines
DD and mindee to playgroup
Laminate playroom display stuff and put up in playroom
My laundry
DD laundry
Put all laundry away
Walk dogs
Paperwork when DD is in bed- invoices and learning journeys
Clean out dryer condenser thingy
Today's mission- needs doing!

BBL!

SC I watched Rev Road last time it was on telly, and I remember I discussed it on this thread with Toffee who I may say has read the book! It is completely mind changing isn't it; in our house it led to a heated debate about who was to blame, him or her. I can imagine in your house, the whole moving to Paris scenario was an added twist (as you did move...and follow your dream, as it were)
So sad anyway.

In a tortuous mind lock with printers, eadmissions versions, last minute deletion of schools, dd demanding single sex education, blue supplementary forms and green supplementary forms!

Started with ds2 screaming his head off this morning...this is where the ASD stuff kicks in, unfortunately, as once he has got an obsession into his head he will not let go...in this case he was convinced he was going to show Ds1 (who was off to school,incidentally) his "movie" from the kiddizoom; next were various sensory triggers "I've bumped myself" and OCD triggers "I can't find my jumper". Accompanied by very loud 10 year old screaming, it does not a calm morning make
He is fine now, and trotted off to school quite happily. We have to try harder not to change the goalposts, as he really needs everything to be the same every morning.

Oh, do read the book, SC! I really enjoyed it, even though it's not exactly the jolliest read you'll ever have.

Sorry for your stressful start to the day, Swan. I hope you recover soon.

Managed to get a very, very tired DS2 to school this morning, but he has bags under his eyes, poor lamb. He really needs a holiday. Thank goodness there is only one more day of school to go.

Washing is on and am just cooking breakfast for DS1, then will roll up my sleeves and get on with the crisis clean. MIL is dropping in mid-morning, which means I shall have to get a lot of it done before she arrives. It'll be a good deadline and nice to stop for elevenses.

Hope you all have a good day.

swan - that sounds an exhausting start to the day, I would be heading back into the sleeping bag if it was me.
As for the 2 bus trips to school - my sister did it for 7 years and wasn't bothered by it in the slightest, loved her school and did really well (after surprisingly failing her 11+ - NI so everyone did/does it) Think she found it a winding up/winding down time that separated school and home nicely.
My DD is very keen on single sex education (don't blame her at all after her experiences with too many very disruptive boys in her year group at primary) but the only possible one locally doesn't take anyone out of catchment. Still tempted to try for it though [hsmile] If she went there it would be one bus, if she goes locally it's about a 5-10 minute walk.

List for today:

• All up and out - done
• Washing up/S&S - done
• Make cake - done
• Cancel milk - done
• Sort out DSis re DS's birthday present - done
• Plant rest of bulbs before winter sets in tomorrow
• Cat litter - both being frightened and attacked by new local boss cat and are staying in more so litter needs to be sorted daily
• Straighten mad hair
• Sort out dinner
• Buy cereal at Co-op as have run out and won't have time for big shop until tomorrow
• Swimming and diving for DC
• Sew on Beavers badges if DS can remember where he put them

Hi everyone [flaps wings from from depths of naughty corner]

Swan/Toffee oh I hadn't realised you had both discussed "Rev Road" on here!! Really sorry I missed that! Am definitely going to order the book! Crikey. Couldn't stop thinking about it last night/this morning or, as you say, basically work out who was to blame. Not often that you see a film that manages to portray so many different points of view all at once. And the main characters were so unsympathetic but at the same time their self delusion/frailities were quite touching. Have to say, I'd better don my 1950s housewife apron as I am definitely following dh's dream and not my own - although collectively the advantages are many so not exactly Stepford Wife territory [she says hopefully ] [Wanders off in search of Bourbon and pkt of Rothmans]

No Flying at all to report. Got a dreadful case of CBA just when I should be taking advantage of dd's last two full days at school before hols and tackling many tasks that are way overdue. Trouble is, I haven't even done anything interesting/creative like painting or sewing with the free time either because I feel too guilty about not doing the other stuff which is ridiculous really . So have done neither one or t'other: justa bit of half-hearted laundry and a quick supermarket/toy shop, chatted on the phone with friends, read a book oh and made some veggie soup for veggie Thurs. So I'm officially a fraudulent thread leader I'm afraid

[Makes note to self to finally ***ing well clear a room in this house in which to do creative stuff (nearly managed it about 18 mths ago and now it's piled up with junk again)]

How have you all been getting on?

Issima sorry you are still tackling nasty niffs and hope they get to the bottom of it (literally). Hope you survived rampaging toddlers! And hope you are taking it steady too!

Good luck with your list Feetheart (rather like the sound of mad hair though! )

Toffee hope you survived crisis clean and ditto re: school fatigue. DD like a zombie currently. Well done re: kitchen clean out.

Swan sorry you've had two very stressful mornings in a row - hope the day is getting better as it goes along and the mind-lock is easing somewhat. UK secondary school application procedures sound like such a nightmare - in addition to inner conflict of what is officially advised v. your own gut feeling. Must be so stressful. Hope decision tangle resolved soon.

Glad your db's baby getting better!

Thanks for such encouraging words yesterday btw - panicky/ratty feeling due to immediate half term hol rather than Christmas/or my ma though if I'm honest Usually really love the holidays but when dh is working and all her friends are away (many of her friends' parents work for EU Institutions and they are able to get away more easily, but different for us running own business) it gets er, a little "intense" with just me and her. Usually survive hols by planning heavily scheduled routine of activities so will just have to sum up the energy from somewhere! Or... perhaps... sleeping bags are the answer!!

Lauren your list looks like a perfectly respectable one to me, esp as you are working too. Don't know how you c/ms manage to keep your public rooms looking spick and span all the time tbh. Top Flying marks for clean and tidy house! [Hands over ear plugs for when drums arrive]

Castlelough There you are! Well - did you seem him then? What was the 4 yr old £100 million wonder like in the flesh? So of you being there to see him run his last race...

Blue snap! I spent far too much time doing Xmas shopping (on-line in this instance) rather than cleaning. Took me ages to find some fabulously eccentric leggings for my niece (and that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it )

Hope you are feeling better Engels

Shifty/Dizzy arf at electric guitars/violins!! I just know dd is going to ask to take up one of those some day soon ...

You are going great guns with this Flying lark Gossip - top marks!

Huge wing flaps to Whoknows Bitchy PA Ellie Justgettingonwithit and everyone else I've missed

Must dash ....bbl!

Issima sorry - ran out of time - will look at your threads once back from school run/tennis run/supper & bed routine etc

Forgot to mention Carpe and many others

Swan¨"her" in half term para = dd of course.

Sorry everyone - rushing