The Fledglings' nests will be clean in 2013!

[superfluouscurves]

(With many thanks to Jdub for title inspiration!!)

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 (although some Fledglings find the compilation e-mails helpful)! 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 vocabulary along the way).

Huge thanks to Lauren for being our incredibly reliable and organised shining star in the East and leading us throughout the very busy month of December!!

Happy New Year Fledglings!!

All welcome!!

I have a huge ironing pile too. I'm about to kivk the kids out of the living room so I can have the tv to myself to help me through it.
Toffee That's the way to do it, 15mins at a time.
I have huge paperwork piles that I'm trying to organise. Am using my room rescu and hotspot time to do it in. So that's minutes a day.

Think I'm getting some sort of cold. Head is banging and I ache all over.
What's worse, an old friend has just called and asked if he can visit. He normally stays for a few days. I don't have a spare room, so it;s sofa for him. I did just text him and tell him I'm not feeling great so to expect to find me on sofa with a blanket, hoping he'll leave it until tomorrow, but doubtful!

Anyway, enough of my whining

Morning routine (get up, make beds, get breakfast, shower and dress, swish and swipe, laundry, feed cats, clear breakfast, room rescue, hotspot) done
Check links for tomorrows babystep and mission done
Do mission/detail
Do babystep no
Ds1 to hospital for hip check done (been given all clear)
Babysitting in process
Ironing
Afternoon routine (laundry, dry clothes sorted, non-iron clothes away, start dinner and fill sink, feed cats, wash up after dinner, clean kitchen, sweep floors, boys in bath, stray items away, stories, boys bed)
Menu plan next week and write shopping list
Before bed routine (lay out clothes, shine sink, go to bed)

Sorry to hear about your friend madwoman hope she will be ok.

I didn't think MNers Ironed I learned how not to iron on MN and now only iron school uniforms or the odd thing that looks a bit too creased. Takes me an hour a week during school time (broken up into 2 half hour slots) or 20 mins a week in the school hols.

Is it ok to come on here a few times a day to update my list? I find it easier, hope that's ok if I keep coming on here.

ta da

• Washing Machine on
• washed up 2X
• Wipe down front door
• Wipe down Kitchen window sill (I know its not technically in tomorrow's list or that its not even in zone 1, but Ive got no errands to run,plus it will take 5 mins as Im shining my sink)
• Make out lists for Fri, Sat and Sun (excluding any daily tasks to add on later)
• 2nd load of towels (have discovered DD1 has put muck on one and another could do with a wash)
• Drying
• Mock exam for my AAT course (got 93%, need 70 to pass)
• fill machine for Fridays washing

To do

• take laundry upstairs (when DD2 gets up from her afternoon nap)
• wash up (after Tea)
• Shine Sink (after Ive last washed up)

Some of us like ironing Lilleth!

Oh Madwoman, your poor friend, I will send her some strength to get through this time!

I too like ironing! It's cathartic for me and stops me attacking the nutty cupboard when the boys are in bed

To do:
Clean down kitchen sides
Swap toys from sitting room to play room
Put cardboard into recycling boxes
Make phone calls for clubs/classes/appointments. partially done
Play with DS1 done
Go to the park done
Clean front door and inner door
Swish & swipe
Wait for shopping delivery waiting now
Hoover dining room to appease DS2
Washing and drying done
Remake DC's beds done
find time for a hot choc with brandy when DC's are in bed. bloody looking forward to this!

I must finish this list today, so id better get on while I can!

Hi all,
Just a quick list dump as Im working 6-6 tonight and have been up since 8 so I want to try and get an hours nap in before I head off to work:

Ta da:
Dress to shoes
Make beds
Pop to sainsburys for top up shop
Park with kids and friends.

To do:
Ss
Wipe sides
Reboot laundry
Hoover throughout
Quick room rescue dcs room, living room and kitchen
Make dinner

Its only the bare essentials but its enough to stop the house descending into chaos.

I will catch up with everybodys posts later when Im at work.

Afternoon all, I have done naff all all day as I have been supervising children to stop arguing over the ps3, at the moment there all rolling on the floor laughing at ds3 singing/shouting/growling to santa got stuck up the chimley (thats how he sings it) I have decided to cook lasagne for tea which means I'll be adding sins tonight, bolognaise just tastes crap without the sauce. Hallways still passable for tidying, I'm very glad my pokey little house doesn't have a dining room right now, or I would be struggling with my laziness.

right finally up. lots of strong pain killers and coffee today!

ta da
get up
sort out plans for sat
Load dw and run
get load of washing on

Didn't realise people that liked ironing existed Well I suppose we all like doing our own things.

[Jumps in car with four paniers of ironing and races off to Bitchys house ....]

I hate ironing. I'm really rubbish at it too, I'm sure everything looks worse after I've ironed it, but I just can't allow myself to put clothes on (or on the children) that I haven't ironed. I know that sounds really stupid, but it's something that just is iykwim.

I cannot stand ironing, and haven't used the iron for years, I have a cool setting on the tumble dryer that makes clothes less creased, and the only time use the iron is for the boys shirts :)

Well I have just updated the calendar (the on that sits in the drawer for referrence) and so far I have 6 days in Jan with nothing written in (and had 2 of those days), 7 in feb(although I know i will lose 3 of those just waiting to confirm which 3), march hasn't been filled in properly BUT it isn't going to be much better...

I seem to like crazy busy!

Morning routine (get up, make beds, get breakfast, shower and dress, swish and swipe, laundry, feed cats, clear breakfast, room rescue, hotspot) done
Check links for tomorrows babystep and mission done
Do mission/detail done spent 15 mins bleaching the grouting in bathroom
Do babystep no
Ds1 to hospital for hip check done (been given all clear)
Babysitting in process
Ironing done
Afternoon routine (laundry, dry clothes sorted, non-iron clothes away, start dinner and fill sink, feed cats, wash up after dinner, clean kitchen, sweep floors, boys in bath, stray items away, stories, boys bed) starting now
Menu plan next week and write shopping list groan
Put ironing board and ironed clothes away
Before bed routine (lay out clothes, sweep floors, shine sink, go to bed)

If i had days spare i might be able to knock my to do list into something approximating a findable of end kinda list!!! never said i wouldn't be doing stuff but sometimes it is nice to have days when you don't have to be out with activities. Actually looking forward to March being over

I've done nothing today apart from buy DD a cardi and visit friends...

Be back tomorrow!

Sorry for your friend madwoman
I'm not an iron-er either. DH does the ironing in this house, given that it's almost entirely his shirts.
Well I can't report much Flying success today, as have been out almost all the time, but I suppose at least that means more mess hasn't been created. I got back to find an enormous box on my doorstep which is the fruit of my Christmas money - a Lakeland heated airer. I'm almost pathetically excited about switching it on.
I need to have a look at what Flylady wants me to do tomorrow as I have extra children here and it's likely my house is going to be trashed, let's face it.

I have found a lot of ironing in our bedroom . I know what I will be doing tomorrow.

Silvery - I agree - 15 mins a time. However, I set the alarm, worked on and on in our room, thinking it was a long 15 minutes, only to realise (after about an hour!) that I hadn't pressed the button .

I have made a good start on our bedroom. Found an awful lot of washing and ironing , but at least I have cleared a space.

Spent an hour with DS1 watching him play on his XBox. I'm afraid I just find the shooting games boring, but it was nice to spend time with DS1. Bring back Flambards, I say.

Drinking now.

Hi all, I've had a surprisingly successful day, in terms of FLYing. I basically blew my top this morning when I realsied that every single thing I looked at was either dirty or piled high with junk that shouldn't be there. It sounds worse than it really was, but the dining table hotspot hasn't been clear for weeks, and now it is.

More ta das:
Vacuumed lounge
Cleaned hearth
More decluttering
Cleaned mildew from round bedroom window (so glad that's done, horrid job, been putting it off ages)
Watered plants
Emptied bins & compost bucket
CLEANED KITCHEN WINDOWS!

Sorry for that shouty last one but it was an unexpected added bonus, done on the spur of the moment whilst dinner was cooking. Desperately needed doing too.

Well done ellie
I've done that plenty toffee I'm pretty sure I spend more time checking how much time I've got left than I do actually clearing.

Morning routine (get up, make beds, get breakfast, shower and dress, swish and swipe, laundry, feed cats, clear breakfast, room rescue, hotspot) done
Check links for tomorrows babystep and mission done
Do mission/detail done spent 15 mins bleaching the grouting in bathroom
Do babystep no
Ds1 to hospital for hip check done (been given all clear)
Babysitting done
Ironing done
Afternoon routine (laundry, dry clothes sorted, non-iron clothes away, start dinner and fill sink, feed cats, wash up after dinner, clean kitchen, sweep floors, boys in bath, stray items away, stories, boys bed) done
Menu plan next week and write shopping list tomorrow
Put ironing board and ironed clothes away done
Before bed routine (lay out clothes, sweep floors, shine sink, go to bed) done just have to go to bed.

My friend arrived with a bottle of vodka, a 48 crate of beer and 2 bottles of wine. Not sure how long he plans to stay...............could be a late night! For him anyway, I plan on polishing off a bottle of wine and passing out.

Well Ive done everything again

ta da

• Washing Machine on
• washed up 3X
• Wipe down front door
• Wipe down Kitchen window sill (I know its not technically in tomorrow's list or that its not even in zone 1, but Ive got no errands to run,plus it will take 5 mins as Im shining my sink)
• Make out lists for Fri, Sat and Sun (excluding any daily tasks to add on later)
• 2nd load of towels (have discovered DD1 has put muck on one and another could do with a wash)
• Drying
• Mock exam for my AAT course (got 93%, need 70 to pass)
• fill machine for Fridays washing
• take laundry upstairs
• Shine Sink

Tomorrow Im a bit busy so its not going to be a long list and there wont be any missions for me, just trying to keep up with my usual things and baby steps.

To do

• Wash up 2X
• Shine Sink
• Turn Washing Machine on
• Drying
• Fill Washing Machine for Saturday
• Go to the Supermarket
• Appointment in town

Have a good evening everyone.

Happy New Year fledglings old and new!

Just back from our week in the UK visiting family.

9 PAGES AREADY?!! It may take me sometime to catch up.

First on the list tomorrow will be doing washing, finding homes for all of our Christmas presents, unpacking and taking down the Christmas tree.

Wow, this thread is speeding along!
Finally got my arse self out of bed at a almost reasonable time.

ta-dah
S&s
Marched Dd to the shops to complete this week's food shop, including getting her Christmas cheques in the bank
Prepared dinner with enough to freeze for another day
Tackled cat litter tray (don't normally list this, but he scattered litter EVERYWHERE today!)
Vacuumed bathroom, hall & lounge
Load of washing on
Applied for 3 jobs - am now adding these to my lists as some can take ages
Did Wednesday mission, as I got them the wrong way round yesterday!
Washed dinner pots-Dh dried
Shined sink

to do
Fold washing & put away, no ironing today
Watch Big Bang Theory

Toffee just to say, of course Flambards is about a parent wishing their son would do healthy outdoor things like horses, instead of designing airplanes in his bedroom Not much has changed...

Have suffered death by homework today.
We did do loads of exercise though, took children to gym to learn how to use the treadmill what a pretty pass is life that we have been reduced to this to get dses to do regular sporty stuff...Also decided to bite bullet and pay for a tennis lesson for them as they had been begging to learn properly.

Oh and car has broken down at Health Club, kind friend rescued me and brought me home, will have to call AA tomorrow.

Also have been dancing to Beegees.

better go and clear up mess now..

[watches in disbelief as Ellie overtakes at high speed ...does dejected u-turn and head homes with creased thermals [sticks bottom lip out emoticon]]

[swigs Lauren's Baileys and snaffles cake]

Evenin' all. Hopeless Flying day today but a rather stressful one too. DD ill (again) with mystery illness but have doc's appt tomorrow am thankfully. Mil ill too. No excuses though - could have done far more than I did - I don't know what I am waiting for!!! Bit of a false start to the new year frankly

I bet you've all been v. active though and putting me to shame as usual ...

LadyDeidre really impressed by your schedule, your ironing system (would love to get rid of the back-log so I can achieve that) and your ultimate objective of having weekend free. That roughly correlates with Flylady system (just basic baby-steps at w/es and Sat and Sun designated as 'family fun day' and 'renew your spirit' day respectively) so definitely feasible!!

Well done re: your productive morning MrsPennyapple!! Can really sympathise with your frustration as you look around the house. Same here with knobs on!! Can also sympathise with procrastination - I spend hours and hours looking at stuff and dreading doing it - but when I actually get down to it - it's not half so bad!!

So sorry to hear about your friend Madwoman that's so awful for her and dd (at any time but especially over Christmas). Hope she will be OK. Good luck balancing work with ironing pile.

Toffee [ahhhh... dreams of Flambards...spent my teenage years pretending I was Christina Parsons - madly in love with Dick the groom [sigh] Congrats on 15 mins x 4 in bedroom!!

Silvery glad you got the all clear at the hospital and hope you are not going down with something - and if you are - hope your friend takes the hint! (Although I like the sound of his presents!!) Well done:re list!

Lilleth congrats on mock exam results and post away with lists as many as you like - whatever motivates You've got loads done today - well done!

Wewereherefirst never thought of ironing as potential weight loss tool - that's a brilliant idea!!! [scribbles frantically in control journal]

Mercury that sounds like a hard shift tonight - hope you managed to get some sleep beforehand

Gossip cooking lasagne and supervising giggling dc is NOT nothing in my book!!

Bitchy another one doing impressive calendar planning

Cue trumpet voluntary commemorating Ellie's completion of the mission!!! And, and... wait for it...[more trumpeting] (in the politest sense of course ) reaching the bottom of the laundry basket!! Yaaaaayyyyyyyy!!!!!

Ellie/Gossip and others ... obviously need to investigate use of the tumble dryer and 'non-iron' settings etc which I have ignored to date. Like Silvery I have a compulsion to iron (even pants) but through this thread have weaned myself off that (well, I only do dd's now) Eh, hem, well my twice-fortnightly ironing lady does dd's I should say (when she is here that is - she's on hols for over 2 mths currently - hence current pile of huge proportions). In the really grim past, had compulsion to wash all pants, towels and dh's shirts twice or three times too (have no idea why) but definitely CBA to do that now thankfully!!

Have fun with your Lakeland purchase Doublemum we are huge Lakeland obsessives fans on this thread!

Gelukkig Nieuwjaar Engels!! And how was Blighty? (And what are you hiding in your suitcase: Marmite, s&v crisps, a swede perhaps???)

Good luck with your job applications Goth

Vigorous wing flaps to Nicknacks and everyone else!!

Back in a mo to post links!