The Fledglings' nests will be clean in 2013! Part II.

[superfluouscurves]

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

OK, because we are all so good at chatting housework, we need a second January thread ... .

... where we (loosely) follow the step-by-step Flylady housekeeping system (in our own, unique, relaxed style) with lots of along the way.

This little-and-often system is designed so that we 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 us 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 we get when we are overwhelmed and everything needs doing all at once.

To avoid being inundated with details, we advise not signing up to the Big Tent

We are in the process of 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.]

Flylady site here

Don't worry if you are behind; just jump right back in and it will all come around next month again anyway!

Carry on everybody!

Blue thanks very much indeed for volunteering to run Feb thread - v. kind of you and much appreciated!

Back later after school run etc.

Hope your dd is OK this morning Cuddled

Toffee - thanks for oven link, that looks just about right. Will check Which? recommendations today and go from there.
:o at 'no time for secs'

Jdub - you can have our 'bored jar' list if you want. Not sure how old your DC are but mine are 9 and 7 so our things may or may not be relevant but at least its a starting point, no need to reinvent the wheel :) If anyone else wants a copy just PM me. Toffee - would be interesting to compare lists.

Got through most things yesterday apart from work as apparently our server is dying so SAGE refused to work. DH is going to rig something up so that I can work today as need to do end-of-month stuff (like pay us!). I also want to keep going with catching up as, like engels, I felt much more in control by the end of last week when I had spent time actually doing work rather than procrastinating and struggling. Really need to keep the momentum going.

To do:

• All up and out
• Leaflets into school
• Work
• Morning routine - in stages!
• Cook salmon for dinner so ready when DC come in
• Reading at school
• All fed, DH and DS to Beavers, DD to Brownies (45 mins to myself if I'm lucky!)
• DC to bed
• Ironing

Nearly 7am so best get on.
Have a good day everyone.

Thanks v much for the wise words about DD. I got her up and dressed, have given her breakfast and she's still complaining of tummy ache. So it's back to bed for her and I'll now have to wake up DH and tell him he's babysitting.

I spoke to the chemist yesterday and he said there are lots of tummy bugs going around and she may just have one of these and the fact it hasn't become a full blown one is just her body's way of reacting. He also suggested keeping a record of how often she gets these tummy aches. (Strangely she's had two in the past fortnight - on MOndays!!- so is this also a bit of "Schoolitis"? )

As she often complains of tummy aches at school her teacher has suggested she may have growing pains in her tummy. Can you get such a thing ? !

[removes empty bottles of Baileys from naughty corner]

Morning eveyrone - looks like you have all had v. productive Mondays - really really impressed and humbled by all of your amazing ta da lists!!

Sorry your lo is still poorly cuddledup Have heard of growing pains in legs and arms but never in tum I must admit. More likely to be a bug I would have thought (or perhaps a bit of anxiety?). Hope it passes quickly whatever it is though! (oh and arf at moudly crotch!! )

Feetheart

Morning

tada

• Wash up after breakfast (or rather DH did)
• Turn on Washing Machine
• Make beds

To do

• second load of laundry in as I wont have much time tomorrow, plus I want a short list tomorrow as im getting old its my birthday
• Dry Laundry
• Put Laundry away
• wash up 2X
• shine sink
• get clothes ready for tomorrow
• 5mins cupboard room rescue
• tidy front room once DCs are in bed
• Dentist
• Running club (I will get there)

not doing

• fill washing machine ready for tomorrow
• possibly go to town for some new clothes for DD2. All her trousers are ruined by crawling and now she is walking Im thinking of getting her some nicer trousers. Might look at some shoes as well now she is walking. going tomorrow

Thanks for offering to do Feb's thread Blue

Hope your DD feels better soon Cuddled Re growing pains, I had a supervisor once who was adamant her DS got growing pains so I would suggest that they are real, but not everyone gets them, unless of course people dont talk about it for fear of people thinking they are lying.

Hope you can get work sorted feet and get paid.

Right off to put that second load of laundry in and sort the cupboard out for 5 mins so I can mark another two off my list. All the time remembering:

• Tidy is the new normal
• Dont put it down, put it away
• Never leave a room empty handed

Morning all

SC hope your sinus headache has gone ? they are proper painful

Cuddled hope your DD is feeling better soon

Goth hope the interview goes well

So, tada (although I always feel my tada lists are more tada-ish compared to what some others seem to achieve)

Bed made
Hung washing to dry
Re-loaded washing machine
Sarnies made for lunches
Off to work?

To do

Buy natural breadcrumbs
Buy vests for DD
Post thank you letters (all done?until I remember someone we?ve forgotten ? I should?ve been more organised and written a list!)
Layout clothes for tomorrow
15 min declutter in lounge (might do it in our office area instead ? it?s a hot spot and as it?s in our hallway (previous owners had a desk built-in under the stairs) you can?t miss it, although I seem to do quite a good job of ignoring it when I want to).

Sofa diving
Change duvet cover in our room
Get spare bedroom ready for my Dbrother who?s coming to stay on Friday night
Put car seat base on eBay
Stitch knitting project together
Speak to DD about babysitting
Shine sink
S&S
Go to bed at reasonable hour

I?m sooo not going to get all that done.

Hmm, so Tuesday is planning day. I think I?m going to have to work meal planning a bit more to find the right balance for me. I?ve tried this a few times and found that I?m over ambitious and end up buying food to cook and then having an evening (or week!) when DD just won?t go down, so end up just re-heating some soup and at the end of the week have a ton of fresh food going off. DH is sadly not a cook (but he makes up for it by being brilliant at DIY and car-stuff).

Cuddled - DH had a bug recently which gave him a bad stomach ache and made him feel ill, but no other symptoms, so I would guess your DD has a bug. DS2 has growing pains in his legs at night - never heard of them in your tum .

Feet and Jdub - can we swap 'boredom buster' lists? Mine is aimed more at my 7-year-old than my 13-year old.

Feet - good idea to check the Which report. If it's bad, don't tell me!

SC - sorry your list is so long today. Hope you get it all done.

Lilleth - I like your three Flying tips. I always remember: "Never go upstairs empty handed" (my Nan told me that ).

Snowgirl - I have the same problem with food going off. I was going to cook beef casserole last night, but ended up accompanying DS2 to a playdate and then getting home too late to cook it. So it was pasta again...

DS1 still poorly today. Have cancelled his Maths lesson and I don't think he'll be able to go to his climbing lesson tonight either. He is dosed up with Calpol and has a spray for his sore throat.

Like your DD, cuddled, my DS2 complained of a tummy ache today. However, he was trying to hide a smile when he said it, so I concluded it was 'schoolitis'. Funnily enough, the stomach ache had gone by the time we arrived at school .

Ta da :

Up and dressed
Washing on
Packed lunch for DS2
New morning routine
Phoned tutor to cancel Maths
School run (in the rain)
B/fasts for DS1 and me
Washing in tumbledryer
Checked emails

To do :

Unload and reload d/w
Put washing away
Tidy kitchen
Kitchen hotspot - 2 minutes (pref 5)
Dining-room table hotspot
Home ed - as much as DS1 can manage
Tidy our bedroom
Lunch
School run
Organise play dates for DS2
Eve routine

Thanks Toffee I shall try those out on the small people at the weekend when the inevitable cry goes up ..'mum I'm bored!!!!!' The very act of retrieving instructions from a container other than me, will be a hit for sure! Funny what spurs them into action! I might even try it on myself with the stuff I keep putting off!

Had a quiet evening, and all that talk of Baileys has reminded me I need to fill my ice cube tray!

Today my ta da's have been
all up, dressed, fed and out (clutching required paperwork, 'showing' article, fruit for snack sharing etc etc)
beds made, rooms aired.

to do
a general clutter swoop (after hooshing inlaws home)
meal plan for Wednesday
file all of the Christmas receipts/recycle catalogues that were all just stuffed in the boxes! And this is where I shall indulge in a Baileys as a little nod to what a fine festive season it was!

Happy Tuesday folks. x

Afternoon all, well I've done interview, it went ok, will find out next week.

Short list today

Done
Beds
Windows -all clear again!
Found makeup ( I'd forgotton what the bag looked like)
Interview

Currently sat in a lovely little cafe owned by a friend, drinking lattes

To do
Move off this comfy sofa
Collect Dd
Dinner
Wash up & SS
Do more applications

Thanks for the good wishes, sorry that should have been 1st thing on the post.

Just popping in with a quick afternoon recap

tada

• Wash up 2 X
• Turn on Washing Machine
• Make beds
• second load of laundry in as I wont have much time tomorrow, plus I want a short list tomorrow as im getting old its my birthday
• Dry Laundry
• 5mins cupboard room rescue

To do

• Put Laundry away
• wash up after tea
• shine sink
• get clothes ready for tomorrow
• tidy front room once DCs are in bed
• Dentist
• Running club (I will get there)

Good luck for the job goth

Huge thanks for the sympathetic and correct description of my dentist, it?s had a good result. It?s actually very difficult for me to get a dentist at all as most are non-wheelchair accessible or closed to NHS patients. Mine was actually not w/c accessible either but they took me on claiming they?d assist, then insisted I could only come if I brought someone to get me in and out, which is very rarely.

So spurred on by your comments, I had a bit of a rant at the powers that be, which brought up why I?d left my previous dentist; a new one arrived with ?interesting? views on disabled parents and little interest in teeth!

A small miracle happened and I've been allocated an out of area dentist! Totally unheard of here.
And she's a kind and caring young woman, understands why a smile is so important to me, accepts I have no money, and has agreed to take on offspring too!
I have no idea what I haven't done that I should have (lots) but now have front teeth!

Thanks silvery ! Am going to read and edit for my own use tonight when I get back from my run (in the rain).

Hurray for front teeth, Just! I can see them shining from here!

I am so happy that you have found a caring dentist. I think I have been through every NHS dentist locally and they were all pretty horrendous. One had been taken to court for sexual harassment of his dental assistant and another(who smelt of booze and had nicotine-stained fingers) ended up shouting at DS1 for being afraid and making him cry. I finally found an absolutely lovely young woman just round the corner and will hang on to her for the rest of my life, if possible!

Jdub - glad you like the boredom busters. I hope they work their magic (still untested here).

Goth - hope you hear good news from the interview.

Lilleth - Happy Birthday for tomorrow!

I have been rubbish this afternoon. Managed to do some home ed with DS1, then had to go to bed before getting up for the school run. Finally realised that aching and feeling tired might mean I have caught his bug. Missed Pilates tonight , but I felt too achey to go. DH helped sort dinners and tidied the kitchen after I said I felt rough. Early night for me tonight, then will hopefully feel better tomorrow.

I will confess to an early night last night. I will confess to having slept during the day today. I am also planning an early night tonight. I have seen the doc, got a diagnosis which needs processing, and have a stinking cold on top of that. Minimal flying here.

ta da
dishwasher on
1 load of washing on

Evening

tada

tada

• Wash up 3X
• Turn on Washing Machine
• Make beds
• second load of laundry in as I wont have much time tomorrow, plus I want a short list tomorrow as im getting old its my birthday
• Dry Laundry
• 5mins cupboard room rescue
• Put Laundry away
• shine sink
• get clothes ready for tomorrow
• tidy front room once DCs are in bed
• Dentist

not doing

• Running club (its persisting it down out there fair weather runner I am)

tomorrow's list

• Make beds
• Wash up minimal amount after tea (Will get DH to wash up after breakfast and will leave lunch things till after tea as there will only be a couple of things)
• tidy front room once DCs are in bed
• go to town for some clothes for DD2 and out for breakfast with DH and DD2

Why does 34 seem so much older than 33? I think its because I can no longer convince myself that Im still early 30's from tomorrow

Just - Glad to hear you have found a good dentist and some new front teeth. I must admit Ive always been lucky in the fact that until I moved last March Ive been going to the same place as long as I can remember and Ive found one here with signs saying they are taking on NHS patients.

Bitchy - Sorry to hear you're having a bad time, hopefully now there is a diagnosis things might start to get easier soon. Just make sure you look after yourself Hope you feel better soon

l l l l
l l l l
l l l l

Strike-out fail there

Bitchy - sounds like there are much more important things than flying going on in your life. Hope you're ok.

Lilleth - I would love to be as young as 34. Make the most of it!

DS2 is in bed. Have handed over responsibility for DS1 to DH and am taking myself off to bed. Night all.

The diagnosis just explains a lot of stuff. Changes nothing but expectations of what will be the new normal as apposed to what is normal for most. I.e. the constant pain isn't going to fuck off it is the new normal level of pain. So it needs a bit of processing. I also need to stop with the high massive levels of energy expenditure on the days i feel ok so that the bad days aren't so bad iyswim. Will get there but it needs processing.

Just brilliant news re the teeth, and so good you've got a nice dentist.

Lillith Happy Birthday, have a great day.

Bitchy hope things start to pick up soon, you've been going through a lot, bugger the cleaning until you feel up to it.

Oh Bitchy, good luck with be processing. Take care of yourself.

Can I pull up a chair in the naughty shed with a brew and a fag?

Not posted for days. Only managed to keep up with food making and washing up. Dh has taken over the washing machine - he is re-waterproofing all his mountaineering gear ready for his trip to Scotland next week.
In my defence, I've been working, finishing sorting my late mum's house clearing (completion day next Monday) :(

I have cleared out a cupboard in the kitchen to keep my new to me "naice" china that I've inherited.

I'll try harder for the rest of the week.

Am sooo tired so just a brief update.
Bitchy sorry to hear about the diagnosis - an early night is definitely called for. Don't forget FLYing stands for Finally Loving Yourself so that's definitely permission to say "sod housework" . Would you like the left over Bailey's from last night? (Rummages down back of sofa to find bottle!)

Just brilliant news that you've found a nice, helpful dentist. Your last one sounded bizarre - surely a dentist is paid to mend teeth not to tell people not to bother having them sorted out. IMO he should be struck off!

Update on DD "schoolitis / mystery tummy ache" - thanks for the words of support - after two hours of sitting in bed reading this morning and having been told she'd have no telly until this evening she decided school was preferable, so DH took her in. ! However, I"m getting strict about bedtimes as I think she's rather overtired and I think that's contributing....

Hv done enough flying this evening to be fairly smug. Am now off to have a bath and read Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall - god it's a long book----hope I don't fall asleep and drop the kindle in the bath!
Night all xx

Evening everyone.... hope you've all had a good day - steps for tomorrow first ...

Baby-step no. 30 for Wed 30th January is here checking calendar for important forthcoming dates such as birthdays etc

We are continuing in Zone 5: Living room/den/TV room here

Try and declutter for 15 mins in the current zone per day.

If your Zone 5 is already decluttered, you can progress to detailed cleaning.

Tomorrow's mission is 5 mins dusting sitting room knick knacks, frames, mirrors etc

Wednesday is anti-procrastination day here [Do something you have been dreading and feel the weight lift from your shoulders!!]

The habit for January is, of course, keep shining that sink!

And if I've missed anything or you want a quick reference to tomorrow's tasks, have a look at the flight plan which should update daily.

Keep going every one - and be proud - you've nearly completed a whole month's Flying!

*

I'm in the naughty corner too

Busy at work, busy with the DCs, seem to have an endless list of errands that need doing at the moment.

Today

Morning routine - DH normally unloads the DW and puts the breakfast stuff in, he decide to have an extra 20 mins in bed and not bother today. I didn't have time to do it before school run time or before going to work so it just had to stay there. I did manage to throw dinner in the slowcooker though.

Busy day at work, home at 3.45 to fetch DCs from a friends house, then off to DD's ballet, home for dinner and DS off to Cubs. Sainsburys with DD, then home for a half an hour then off to bring home 4 Cubs in th pouring rain and get my one off to bed.

Just - that's brilliant about the dentist and teeth, about time some good fortune came your way.

Blue - thank you for offering to take over for Feb

Bitchy - hope your diagnosis will lead to improvements in well being,k even if it takes time