Fledglings Remember to FLY through November...

[BlueEyeshadow]

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 wine 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 Flying lessons. Here's the launch pad for more experienced fledglings. Don't be put off by the barf-tastic language of the site - the underlying system is sound (and you may discover a few of our subversions of the vocabularly along the way).

Many thanks to SC for leading the thread through October (and for such a good OP, which I've blatantly cut and pasted) - - and I'll post the first babysteps and mission tomorrow evening.

All welcome!!

It is unbelievable the difference knowing someone else is dealing with the paperwork has done today. I feel so much calmer. Helped by ds being incredibly calm. Apparently they did science in school today. Small things

I have culled one or two tiny but time consuming never get around to jobs. Moved some stuff about and hopefully will get to do something about the paperwork in my room tomo. And finally tamed the laundry mountain. Mountwashmore was originally the lovely Ellie's term I think. We have all pinched it Main areas of house are clean and tidy. so just my room, toy room, office and spar room to do so the seriously problematic rooms then :(

Hope you are all having productive days although i did snigger at the sweetcorn and be very grateful we are mostly out of that stage

bitchy!

Ooh can't take the credit - Mt Washmore is an official Flylady term. wish I made it up

Hi Trazzles

not much more done.
Soup
washed some uniform
Glenn Miller research for ds1 (ds1 was much more interested in HH the Borgias Ds2 did swing time with me instead
Dd reading Boy with Striped Pjs for homework cue a lot of explanations - she really doesn't get it. She is affected by it though, which is perhaps the point.

Better go to bed now...dh feeling exhausted by his "home" work. Rest of week to catch up, as Brother at home this week to help my SIL sort out some help.

Yay, Bitchy! Sounds good.

Erk to sweetcorn up the nose, Lauren. I can't remember whether it was me or my brother who put a rice crispie up there. Mum decided to let it dissolve naturally though. Maybe TMI...

Big waves to everyone and soothing to Just.

Links:
***
Babystep 20 is laundry - absolutely key!

Mission is to attack the clothes pile.
***

Have a lovely Tuesday everyone.
I've got no flying lined up, but will have to take the boys for a haircut. Wish me luck!!

Popping in to say goodnight. Can't say I did any flying except for wash out the bath after letting a foam mop head completely dissolve inside in it and leave it there looking ugly for two weeks and my sink is not quite clean....BUT I did spend ages filling out forms and looking for medical receipts from the past four years to make a tax relief claim. It only amounts to a return of ?60 or so, but I'll be glad to get it! Had been procrastinating and glad to get it done. Now college fee tax relief is the next big project to sort out - they might be worth something! :)

Tomorrow I am going to work on Mt. Washmore, visit my aunt in hospital and practise the borrowed keyboard piano (or I will not be fit to sit Grade 4 in February ). The flylady focus for this month is meal planning and I am doing well on that one! [happy]

Flapping by without time to read all posts I'm afraid. Just time for a quick 'ta da'.

Ta da list

Stripped beds
Scrubbed mould off DS2's bedroom wall (where the heck has it come from? Room was only wallpapered a couple of months ago - and in 10 years of living here we've never had damp there before!!)
2 loads laundry
Hoovered living room
Took paperwork to accountant
Food shop
Bit of Christmas shopping
Renewed overdraft on business (which took 30 mins on phone!)

Doing ok on meal planning. Don't even know which Zone it is this week yet. Hoping to get more time to check up/babystep tomorrow.

Love to all.

Did all the dailies, didn't make much of an impression on bedroom and realised its just me and baby this week do just bought treats instead of meal planning as it never seems worth cooking properly just for me. Today:

Morning routine
Pick everything up off bedroom floor
Wash up (not my job normally)
Evening routine.

Sweetcorn up nose trip to a&e sounds like it will be something they can be teased about for years. And I need to get my electric piano out of the box out went in whenwe moved house.

Morning all! It's horsey day here today , just a list dump though while DD and mindee demolish rounds of toast!

Yesterday's ta da:
Work
Home bleurgh
Cleaned bathroom
Filled out forms ready to post
Cleared and filed away paperwork mountain
Put away all clothes in my bedroom
Walked dogs
School run
Trip to A and E
Cleaned playroom
Washed bedding
Routines
DD laundry

Today's to do:
DD and mindee to gymnastics
DD laundry away
Yesterday's mission as I did today's one yesterday!
Wash bathmats and towels- just drying
Routines
DD to CM
riding
Walk dogs
Date night!

BBL!

Morning all, I have almost finished a blanket !!!! just have to sew 4 more flowers wash and flatten it then wrap and box it and its done :) I still have a bogging cold, my bones ache. I have the gloss made up for my bathroom now, so when we've finished the stairs, I can make a start on that, it should only take a couple of days, very small room. Also have to clean the cooker today.

Sorry, I have been failing to post! but you have all been in my thoughts, I have been doing 'virtual reporting' to you all daily still just focusing on shining sink and getting clothes ready the night before, and again used the weekend to catch up on laundry to make the latter possible.

I am also tidying ds' room five minutes at a time, 'stealth tidying' in the hope that he will not notice the change if I do it gradually! Perhaps he will just get used to 'tidy' being 'the new norm' and his reluctance to change will mean he starts to maintain it. [and a pig flew past ...]

Haven't been able to get back on MN since Saturday, so felt rather irritated this morning when DM made a joke about me spending all my time on MN. If only! Everyone else in this house seems to get plenty of time on the computer/DS/XBox whilst I am busy tidying up/cooking/washing, etc etc. I think DH/DM assumes I'm on MN when I'm actually checking emails or, as I was doing Sunday morning, printing out thank-you cards for DS2's presents (all done and handed out at school the next morning ). Wish I'd kept my MN hobby to myself now.

Anyway, DM has gone home, after five days of convalescence here. Things were a little tricky, with her on edge thanks to personal problems and DH also on edge thanks to his own problems, but it all went off ok in the end. Felt like I was walking on egg shells a lot of the time. And today DS1's nice mood evaporated and he had a bad day and couldn't manage the farm . And DS2 had a bad tummy and couldn't manage school. Never mind. We are hoping for a quiet day tomorrow, which will do DS1 good and should get him back on track again.

Am only just keeping up with housework. Well, actually, looking at this room, I realise I'm not keeping up with it at all.

Bitchy - I'm really glad to hear your ex is helping. It must be such a relief that he is doing the paperwork. Any idea of when you'll have a meeting at the school? It sounds as if that's really important.

lauren - sorry, but I also giggled at the sweetcorn-up-the-nose story!

Blue - very practical of your mother! (But maybe the rice crispie is still up there?!)

Swan - sorry DS1 said something you wish he hadn't at the meeting. I have had similar experiences in meetings. It's hard not to worry about the picture your DC are painting of you, isn't it? Hopefully, therapists would look for more than a child's one comment if they were concerned about a home situation, though.

It's not quite the same, but DM decided to clear out DS2's lunchbox after school yesterday and asked him if I always washed his sandwich box. "Oh no", he replied, casually. "She never washes it!" I only do it every single bloody evening!

JustGetting - so sorry things are still so difficult for you . Please have some to cheer yourself up.

Sorry, no time for more personals, but thinking of you all.

As soon as I come back, you all vanish. Where are you all?

Toffee hope your mum is feeling a bit better now; my mum is not good when she's convalescing I bet you were lovely to her though and she appreciated everything you did.

Dh had a massive attack of nerves this morning over work (accountant related, not getting back to him...bank not getting back to him...irritations of dealing with bureaucracy etc) but books have made him feel better again - he loves working on cataloguing...

done
very slow start, but finally got into putting clothes away, sorted out dd's drawers again - found the long lost hoover bags for the defunct hoover A hoover on every floor - what luxury, that's how I should think of it!!!
tended to ds1, and read to him, he was in a state after school due to being chucked out of Science Club for not bringing vinegar and a balloon for rocket launch, only soda water

However, the good news is he has said he wants to now try out the science kit we bought him last year and can switch to Badminton

Checked his books (really had been dreading this so avoided for a while and let him do his own thing,and he has been lying over the grades) and they are full of SEE ME SAM Dh and I are now going to split supervision of his homework down the middle as he clearly floundering. I am doing Science and RE/Geog, Dh has volunteered to do History and English. Both of us are blanking Maths... and Spanish...

Stirfry for supper
walked neighbour's terrier, much too frightened to let it off lead less it chase something into the ether, so rather a lot of running on extendible lead involved...

Piano lesson dd, and friend's visit.

DH is off to Bath tomorrow on overnight business...

toffee thank you too for your comments re: FT.

Gossip you are a whirlwind.
I looked in a crochet magazine today, and I am ashamed to say I hid it in the bookcase - I wish someone would start a project for me and then I would feel justified in finishing it...[Or maybe just buy me a nice kit!]

Waves to Toffee - still here, but too busy for much MN time!

Boys haircuts were accomplished with surprisingly little fuss, even from DS2 who kicked off no end at the initial idea. She even managed to get the clippers on DS1!

Have done bare minimum flying lately, but achieved quite a lot of errands this morning, including finding a lovely Monsoon skirt for £1 when dumping some other stuff at a charity shop I don't usually visit. :) And it's a size 12! And it fits! Having been a 14/16/18 since my teens, I'm quite excited.

Toffee/Swan - yes, kids can always be relied on to give the wrong impression, can't they? [remembers past MN thread about stuff they tell reception teachers]

Hope your horsey day was fun, Lauren.

Get well soon to Gossip [hands over soothing ]

Well done for keeping the sink shiny, Systems.

Waves to Castle - good going with the paperwork, and hope the piano practice is enjoyable. We have a lovely piano. Really should play it more...

MrsHoarder - hope week with you and baby is enjoyable. Treat meals sound good to me!

And big waves to everyone else too...

Babystep 21 - more reading so easily skipped

Mission is to tackle the floor of your closet/cupboard/wardrobe. Sorry Fat Fairy - I'm not disturbing the hibernating Christmas presents...

x-p with swan - sorry to hear about troubles with DS1. Hope tomorrow is better.

I'm here, gradually getting back to the usual routines. I've got my checkup with the consultant tomorrow, which I feel a bit nervous about.

Otherwise not much to report. Got a shock yesterday, after school DS asked to be taken to town for a haircut. I had been putting it off because when he was younger he was phobic about it, would scream the place down, he has gradually got better, but the kiddy salon we used to take him has closed down and a friend who sometimes does it has been busy (as have we). So, we went to town , walked into one of those no appointment salons, both DCs given good haircuts within 20 mins and no fuss or wriggling from DS. Wow.

I'm falling asleep must get to bed, night night.

Swan I have loads and loads of started projects! finishing them is my problem

Goodness knows about school. Tbh meeting got cancelled and i haven't bothered to chase it up yet. As sickness was given and there is a nasty bug i thought i'd give it a few days.

Things are madness and i have been avoiding stuff today trying as hard as possible to stay calm and not fall asleep on my feet. tried. I suspect stress is catching up with me so i am going to go to sleep night.

Just thought I would nip in here and see what's going on, and whether I might be able to join in. Have had a quick look at flylady's website and it looks like I could really do with this. Not right now. Now I'm going to go to bed. Tomorrow I'll deal with the main bedroom, the clothes pile(s) and shine the sinks. I will.

Good idea to catch up on sleep, Bitchy. Everything is more bearable if you can get some sleep. Good luck with the school issues when you can face them. It's all so wearing, isn't it?

WhoKnows - at the successful hairdresser visit today (and you too, Blue). And good luck with the consultant tomorrow.

Blue - another gem from DS2 last year was when he had to write a sentence about each of his family and he wrote: "My brother likes horror movies, my Dad likes beer and Mummy says yes to everything" .

Swan - My DH gets into a dreadful state of anxiety over work, especially when he's dealing with bureaucrats (especially BT). Although he'd much rather be self-employed, he still finds the responsibility overwhelming sometimes and panics. I think it's the nature of self employment and you have to weather it and hope for good times in the future. It's early days for your DH. I have noted what you say about mums and convalescence . Oh, and good luck with your DS1's homework issues.

Am relieved to see some of you back here again. Was worrying I had somehow killed the thread.

Welcome, Happy .

Swan / Toffee - I could never go self employed I don't think, I am far too prome to worry and overthinking stuff, so hats off to your DHs. My DH is as laid back as they come, but even he gets massively stressed out by having to deal with the like of BT for work (he is not technically SE but is a director of a small business, and deals with all the facility and most of the personnel stuff).

.

did I mention housework at all? I have done lots of little odd jobs today, like soda down the drains, cleaning small appliances, paperwork.

Welcome Happy - sounds as though you will fit in here.