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!!

Forgot to wave to Dizzy

May I ask a question or two? When Step 1 is clean your sink, do you all really seriously dry it after every use? And if Zone 1 is entrance hall/porch/dining room, what are the other zones? When do I get round to cleaning things like kitchen and bathrooms?

Cleaning the sink the way she does it looks too much like hard work. I'm not sure I have any kitchen cleaner. Oh, what accessories tools do I need? Surely a feather duster must be de rigeur?

Your lists are all scary!

Hi TooImmature

I do my sink at night after all the dinner washing up so just dry it round with the tea towel I've used on the stuff that doesn't fit in the dishwasher - as I change my towel daily thanks to a 2yo DS.

Zones change weekly, so you will (once decluttering is done) deep clean each area monthly, plus a wipe round once per week.

Cleaning wise, I have one bottle of general purpose spray, a pack of disposable cloths (cheap ones from 99p shop), e cloths, toilet pan cleaner and bleach. Oh and bicarbonate of soda. Plus a duster and polish.

Hope that helps!

Hi tool! I dry my draining board with a tea towel and rinse out the sink under the washing up bowl after every time I wash up. I do the whole bleach and leave for an hour thing once a week during my home blessing on a Monday, I found it didn't need bleaching EVERY day but drying and clearing the draining board and taps makes a big difference to the kitchen, it just looks done IYSWIM! Everyone has their own ways to do things

Tooimmature I don't and wont do my sink shiney thing. I have found for me that it isn't about the sink but about there being no dirty dishes left over, nothing on my surfaces and nothing on my window sill. A shiney sink with a messy kitchen does nothing for me at all. I get the same satisfaction whether my sink is shiney or just tidy - so I don't bother. I think Flylady's main purpose for me is to remind me that I need routine and I need to have that thing that will give me encouragement.

I don't follow her routines, I am following the ones that work for me but each month need the reminder to stick to them. This is the longest EVER that I have kept control in all areas. A month now :o

Lauren - Enjoy your pampered chef night! Sorry about your date night.

OK so I am doing so much better and have passed my keeping tidy record of three weeks. We are at a month now :o Unfortunately all the work to keep on top of everything - and for me it is work - I am not getting much time with new DP who I am having a very VERY long distance relationship with :( We're pushing through though. The sooner he can move (not til next year :( ) the better.

On that note, has anyone moved to the Uk from overseas? Fancy answering some Qs?

Tonight's to do
Stay up as late as I can with DP cos it's his free day
Do relaxation CD thingy for CBT before sleep
Finish dishes

Finally managed some Flying today - mainly because my lovely cleaner came and I was shamed into rushing round the rooms before her, sorting everything out . I also decluttered by donating two bags of toys to the cleaner for her small daughter.

Decluttering is my priority at the moment. I don't know where all the stuff comes from, but it needs to stop now .

Took DS1 to a farm today. He took part in lots of farm activities - feeding animals, etc. - but my personal favourite was grooming the horse. It's one of the most relaxing things I've done for a long time.

Evening all

Oh yes to the beneficial effects of horse grooming Toffee - very good for the arm muscles as well as soothing for the brain - having to make do with rabbits atm - not quite the same but nearly!! Ditto here re: decluttering btw. As fast as I get rid; more stuff finds its way in.

MrsOnatopp congrats on one month's successful Flying! That's the beauty of the system - it is eminently adaptable to suit one's own needs. Enjoy your evening with your dp! Moved from UK to Belgium quite a few moons ago now - happy to answer any qs though!

TooimmatureTurtleDoves Don't be scared! We are all at different stages of being buried under clutter!
Like Lauren do the real shine (cleaning and buffing) of sink once a week (use a metal polish thing that leaves residue that deflects water). I find the shine lasts pretty well even though we have v. hard water. Use white vinegar or a bit of bleach throughout rest of week to clean sink when it needs it, usually after supper, otherwise just do a quick wipe around. I definitely don't buff and dry every time and it's fine.

Zones - Flylady explains each week which zone we are in. After a full month, you will have worked your way around the majority of the main living areas of your home. Don't worry if you haven't reached every single place in your house in the first month; as one area gets cleaned, all will become easier, and you will have more time to face those areas that don?t seem to fit in any zone.

Info on zones here and here

Have virtually same list of equipment as carpe plus loads and loads of bottles of cheap white vinegar (great for shining tiles, cleaning limescale from kettles and washing machines/dishwashers, shower doors, windows etc etc)

More general info on system here

Any more questions; don't hesitate to ask

Bit disappointed at how little of my list I have got done today despite being flat out all school hrs and beyond. Do now have fridge/freezer full of healthy food so better than nothing but already behind on missions and paper decluttering, art course exercises etc, and it's only week one! Will post majority of list tomorrow again I suppose ...

Anyway, no energy left so am going to post links now and then finish evening routine/watch Gareth/crash.

Hope you all find a few moments to relax a little this evening...

Trazzle you are still very much in our thoughts x

Whoknows and PA hope you are both recovering well and taking it steady

Tomorrow's baby-step no. 5 for Fri 5th October is here Bit of an iffy one about banishing negativity - important of course - but not necessary to write down etc etc.

Tomorrow will be our last day in Zone 1: Entrance, Front Porch, and Dining Room. Try and spend 15 mins decluttering in this zone per day. If you have already decluttered, you can go on to detailed cleaning

Tomorrow's mission is here 5 mins hoovering in each area of Zone 1

Friday is clear out handbag and car day here

The habit for October is: getting rid of paper clutter here

If I've missed anything, have a look at tomorrow's flight plan here which should update automatically

G'night!

*

Sigh...tomorrow is last day in Zone 1? I haven't cleaned any of it. But I've decluttered a fair amount (about half of each room if I'm honest). Oh well, slow and steady wins the race.

Ok, today, hmm.

Stripped bed, washed bedding, re-made it.
Brief hoover of part of downstairs.
Painted half a cupboard
Did a bit of paperwork

Feel a bit 'half' hearted TBH. I know I'm getting there slowly. Perhaps by the next time I get round to Zone 1 I shall actually do some cleaning .

Don't feel disheartened Sowornout! You've done exactly what you were supposed to (strictly speaking you've done more actually, because you are only required to go on to zones once you have mastered the baby-steps)

You can't clean clutter so missions are only done in each zone once that zone has been completely decluttered! (And detailed cleaning is only for those who are on top of decluttering and missions) So give yourself a big pat on the back and a celebratory glass of

Well, one bathroom cleaned - one half cleaned
All washing baskets empty
DS2 much better

Thinking of Trazzle tonight too x

Popping in quickly to answer S/C, and wave to all, hoping to properly catch up thread tomorrow, am still doing everything just struggling to get on here, and have to post and run, but another one thinking of Trazzles

S/C trying to dry out water logged rooms and contents before they rot, but can?t use halogen heaters etc because of previous use and cracking so losing battle as it keeps raining on anything I try and dry outside.

The plan is I will be putting all damaged beyond repair items, and things like skirting boards, flooring, etc into a storage unit which one of the building companies has agreed an ex gratia no liability payment towards, while trying to re dry out flat, get basement pumped (were the rest of the water?s gone) and the insurance arguments will commence.

It all can?t happen for a fortnight and in the meantime I?m supposed to work towards it all then being able to happen over one weekend.

It?s a tall order, and comes at the same time as court of protection hearing to try and allow independent living for older DD, using the compensation she?s yet to be paid, for the sheltered accommodation the council want her into before having the means to pay for it, and trying to keep everyone warm and safe in ?other dwellings? while not infringing tenancy conditions, with helpful vicious neighbour watching and reporting like a hawk. (Your life's painfully small, woman!)

Life is not currently fun (unless you?re a silverfish in which case you?re having a ball in my kitchen!)

Can I ask about your art classes, which I hope are considerably more fun and interesting than my miserable mud instillation ^^^.

Thank you for the info, CarpeJugulum, Laurenamium, MsOnatopp and Strictly! Okay, this is very confusing. So I start off with cleaning my sink and then I start decluttering in a Zone, but I am also supposed to clean the bathroom every day while I'm having a shower , make my bed, get dressed properly and do hair and makeup (atm I'm lucky if I put on real clothes and not pyjamas), dishwasher, laundry and do a mission eg hoover for 5 mins in my Zone? And declutter my handbag and clean out the car? And tidy up at the end of the day? If this is what tidy people do, no wonder my house is such a tip!

Do your husbands/partners/children help with any of this?

Is there somewhere on the website that explains how to do each task, or do they assume you know how? I mean, I do know how to clean, but there's an excellent chance I'm not doing it in the most efficient manner. I'd like to read her version so I can decide if my way needs amending.

I'm also v thick and the Baby Steps confuse me. On Day 2, all you do is have a shower and get dressed? And keep your sink shiny? And I've signed up to Big Tent - is that it for Day 3?

I have purchased a feather duster on Amazon and added cheap white vinegar, kitchen cleaner and bathroom cleaner to my shopping list for Saturday.

I just can't get my head round wasting a whole sink of water every night just to clean the sink! Maybe the Fat Fairy doesn't have a dishwasher or use a bowl so maybe her sink gets grubby . I tend to leave the pots drying overnight (probably frowned upon by FF) but rinse the bubbles out of the bowl and sink and give it a swipe round with the brush if it needs it.

Trying to think what I've done today

• Supermarket shop and put away
• Deposited 2 cheques in the bank
• Changed address for DD's savings account
• Had a look at smartphones so now know which one I'll get
• Load of washing in and hung to dry
• Rang the council to see where our bins are - dosey people have tried to deliver to the wrong address (one that doesn't exist) but obviously didn't think to a) ask in the sales office which house might be ours or b) report when they got back there was a problem! We are promised them now by Tuesday - so we shall see!
• DD to 2nd swimming lesson of the week and picked up fish and chips for tea so no washing up to do.

DD has an inset day tomorrow and as she has a homework project to do we will be sticking cotton wool onto card to make a polar bear.

Evening. I spent most of the day catching up with friends but did a 45 minute fast clean this afternoon and was amazed how much I achieved as the basics had already been done in the morning routine. I feel like I may be beginning to flutter my wings. feet I think it is fantastic that you are going to run the marathon. Have you done a lot of running before?

dizzy - Re: shining the sink. On a good night (like tonight), I finish the washing up and leave it to drain (thereby breaking a Flylady rule) and give the sink a quick wipe over. That's all. No laborious shining at all. I only do shining on special occasions .

Tooimmature - yes, I think that might be what tidy people do! The rest of us can only do our best and even a small improvement is better than nothing. All the steps on the daily routine are small, so, for example, you are only meant to declutter for 15 minutes a day. The tidying bag/car thingy is only once a week.

The main point about Flylady is that you work quickly and do the absolute basics, with the deep clean/declutter happening less often. That is hard to achieve for perfectionists, but it's a valuable lesson. I am much better at giving a room a quick 'once over' now, whereas I used to feel I had to do a thorough clean and tidy up each time, then ended up doing nothing because it seemed too overwhelming.

I think the thing about Flylady is that you only take out of it what works for you. After a while, some habits stick and some don't seem worth it. Swishing and swiping in the bathroom is quick and effective, so I do that daily.

By the way, you need to unsign from Big Tent before you are inundated with emails from the Flylady team.

In answer to your other questions:

Do partners/children help? Well, in my case, housework is mainly my responsibility because I'm at home all day at the moment; decluttering is the responsibility of Dh and me (both failing miserably ). DC will help if asked and I'm working on that.

Is there somewhere on the website that explains how to do each task? Flylady does go into quite a lot of detail with some of them, like how to shine your sink or swish and swipe, but sometimes it takes time to track them down on her website. This contents list might help.

mercury - sounds like you are already feeling the benefits of Flying .

JustGetting - I'm so sorry you are going through all this flooding again. You put on such a brave front, but it must be so disheartening. You are always helping others - I hope this time you have some RL support (and we are here as online support anytime).

issima - I bought this mop and its companion bucket recently and am very happy with it.

maggie - glad your DS2 is better. at your empty washing basket.

SC - I knew you would appreciate my horse-grooming mention. They are amazingly beautiful animals, aren't they? Rabbits are not quite the same .

Not sure if I will get much sleep tonight, as I am on DS2 duty. He kept me up a lot last night with a croupy cough and he has already had another bout of coughing tonight. Luckily, I was able to catch up on sleep this evening with a three-hour nap , so I'm all set for a busy night, if necessary.

Like everyone, I am thinking of Trazzles and her boy. Everything I've just written seems so trivial when I think of what they are going through.

Morning all. Like many of you have said, having just posted on trazzle's thread this all seems a little insignificant.

However it must be worth noting that I have done feck all flying this week. Open Evening wiped me out and the dc's and I are going to Wales to visit my uncle this weekend with dmum so have been running around like a headless chicken trying to get ready for that and still more to do.

Work has been really difficult this week and today I have to speak to a member of my team who has been teaching longer than I have been alive and who is on slt that his teaching was jnadequate and he is going to hate me more than he already does because we had to have a discussion earlier on this week about poor exam results. Sigh. Difficult.

Anyway, i have a suitcase to pack. Big waves to all and hugs to trazzle.

Morning! Just a list dump and run as mindees arriving any minute!

To do:
My laundry away
School run *2
Walk dogs
Clean kitchen floor
Routines
DD and mindee to playgroup
Front room hotspot
Pampered chef party!

BBL!

Good morning everyone

Yes it does indeed seem very insignificant Ellie [Sending positive thoughts and prayers to Trazzle and family from us all here]

Ellie job situation does sound v. difficult; requiring superhuman diplomacy skills I imagine - v. stressful too. Hope it resolves itself without situation deteriorating further. If it's any consolation, I'm terribly behind with Flying too (not that I have excuse of demanding job like yours )!! Hope you, your ma and the dc have a fab weekend away and can forget all about work and chores for a while!!

Toffee Hope your ds2's cough is improving and that you got a little bit of sleep last night; albeit disturbed sleep.

Mercury thanks for your positive post - we all need a bit of inspiration at the moment!! Glad system is working for you ...!! [SC looks up and watches Mercury take flight ....]

Dizzy well done re: your productive day yesterday and aww at polar bear picture

You too Maggie well done on getting through your list!

Tooimmature First of all, you only need to do the baby-steps and once (and only once) they have become second nature (well, the ones you are interested in doing anyway) you can start on 15 mins decluttering per day in current zone. Once zone areas decluttered, then you start 15 min mission in each zone. As Toffee says, the system is designed to minimise the amount of housework we all do, and to encourage us to do it in small bursts of focused activity every day, rather than have big overwhelming chores build up. My morning routine (if I've done my evening routine properly of course!) probably takes me about 30 mins tops. Ditto evening routine - certainly no longer than 45 mins anyway. Mission or decluttering = 15 mins. Hotspots = 5 mins x 2. And as we declutter the house, the theory is that every task should be quicker and easier. Don't try and do it all at once, build up slowly.

In answer to your questions: 1. my dh doesn't do any housework at all causes loads though but he does help a lot with cooking/food shopping/childcare and child transport wherever long work hrs allow. 2. See my link to 'Flying lessons' info in my post of 19.51 yesterday for more info. 3. Baby-steps are posted each day sychronised with date and the idea is to build one on top of the other. So yes, day 2 = get up and dressed and repeat step one. Suggest unsubscribe from big tent or you will receive loads and loads of e-mails per day. We always highlight here which baby-steps we find most useful, and which ones we think you can happily ignore! PS You are NOT thick! Tis good to question the sect rules system!!

Oh dear, that all sounds unimaginably grim Justgettingonwithit especially in current weather and especially as it is all a repeat of what has gone on before. It must be so damp and cold. I can't believe that you haven't been re-housed immediately!! It's outrageous!! I don't understand how they can expect you to live there for a fortnight in such conditions and heft damp skirting boards about. Hope they are going to get you some help. Feel v. on your behalf. All that and bureaucratic nightmares too. Neighbour sounds like an absolute charmer too. How you are keeping your sense of humour (arf at silverfish!) I do not know!! Keep strong x

Nowt much more to report from art course really - thanks for asking - have been mucking about with acrylics (which, I am discovering, dry incredibly fast), sketching with cobalt blue, practising backgrounds in burnt umber and have been doing 3-colour exercises ie crimson alizarin + cadmium yellow + cobalt blue = banana or in my case bright yellow sausage !!

Issima you rebel you - tis good to adapt system to suit yourself - and/or do everything other than what is on the list!! (I think that's one of the Fat Fairy's psychological tricks actually - it's like when you have to write a tedious report or something and start aligning onions in the veg rack instead - works on same principle!! Lots of displacement activity!!) As you say, better some'at than nowt! Sorry - no mop recommendations - have boring Vileda ones (like thick dishcloth cut up in to strips on end of pole).

To do:
finish morning routine
rabbits + cages x 2
carry everything out of hall/dining room/sitting room that shouldn't be there (this will take a long time)
tidy playroom
tidy mantelpiece and sideboard
laundry: ballet wash, school uniform tonight
dye Barnet Fair
evening routine

Loads more but that will do for now!

Have a productive day everyone ...

x posts Lauren you seem v. organised as usual!

Ellie - oh dear, that does sound like a very difficult situation at work. Best of luck with that. I hope your trip to see your uncle is a welcome break after a hard week at work.

lauren - what is a pampered chef party? It sounds fun.

SC - I didn't get a lot of sleep last night and I'm drinking strong coffee this morning to stay awake. DS2's cough is now accompanied by a streaming nose, and I do feel sorry for him. He couldn't help waking up a lot and needing cuddles/ Vicks/ Calpol / tissues, etc etc.

Your art course sounds fun. Are you enjoying it?

Today, my 'to do' list looks like this:

Get dressed to flip flops
Buy milk and bread from corner shop
B/fasts
Morning routine
Wash sheets ready for DS1's birthday sleepover tomorrow (entering his teen years )
Home ed with DS1 (DS2 tucked up on sofa in front of telly)
(Possibly) friend popping round for tea and chat
Drop DSs off at MIL's so DH and I can shop for food and birthday balloons and suchlike
Easy dinners
Wrap presents and put up balloons
Early to bed

Am off to check out Trazzle's thread to see how things are going. Felt so sorry for her son not being able to eat before his GA .

Morning all,

Sorry for lack of personals. My brain feels fried this week, I just can't concentrate - haven't been sleeping well, cold coming out, 3 late nights at school in a row which meant travelling home in rush hour and it taking twice as long to get back and only seeing DS for half an hour each day. Feeling a bit miserable and low, trying to tidy house as MIL is looking after DS this afternoon while I go into school on my day off to give some workshops for a student conference one of my colleagues is running.

Sorry for being so grumpy Pouring it down with rain here.

I feel guilty being such a grump when there are so many of you going through terribel times at the moment.

Tooimmature DH and I both work, but I'm home 2 days in the week with DS and him for one. He doesn't really get the whole flylady thing so have resigned myself that if I want a routine then I'm going to have to impose it. He does do most of the cooking and if I give him very specific tasks to do on his day at home then he will normally do it, but I have to be VERY specific and not remember what I've said one week to the next. For example, I've told him that I always do at least one load of washing on the days I'm home, so it would be helpful for him to do the same, but unless I actually say the night before, "Can you do a white wash tomorrow?" he won't do it. Yesterday I'd asked him to give the lounge and kitchen a once over because his DM would be round today with DS - he DID hoover and dust lounge, do washing-up and cook dinner, but he didn't tidy up any of the crap that's mostly his littering the place, empty the bins, do any washing.

However, he is starting to take my lead. He'll finish feeding DS while I start on the washing-up after dinner. When I cleared out my wardrobe a few months ago he joined me and we donated 4 bin bags of clothes.

Okay, end of self pity for today!

Ta da
Bins emptied
Washing on
ME and DS up, fed and dressed
DS bed changed

To do
Tidy kitchen and lounge
Bathroom once over
Should pop out and get some stamps so I can post all the cards I wrote on Monday but the weather is just too miserable!
Washing in td and then away
I'm sure there's more but I can't think straight.

BBL

I'm sorry you're feeling down, Engels . Lack of sleep and rest can really drag you down. It's a shame you have to go in to work on your day off today. I hope you get some rest at the weekend.

Hi all just off to work. Managed to clear hotspot last night yay!
Who are the people working on body clutter? I am trying to shift some weight, between a stone and half a stone, can't decide. Do you guys have weigh-ins?
Doves I was laughing at your faint when you were reviewing the mahoosive fly routine!