FLYing through March: Fledglings Assemble

[SilveryMoon]

Welcome to the March Fledgling FLYers thread

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

All the links for the babysteps and missions will be posted here every day and we'll all be here to cheer each other on.

to SC and Blue for leading us through January and February and for the brilliant OP I've just cut and pasted .

Let's get the old dust balls rolling for March!

Ditto Silvery!! (Hi Toffee!)

Usual story. Have a long list of stuff to do but it is so boring that I am finding it hard to motivate myself today; must get cracking.

Hope you are ok Pushme Hats off to you for doing any Flying at all considering your travel schedule - travel is innately tiring somehow - never mind working and Flying and parenting on top ...

Agree Snowgirl - I may not do exactly what Flylady prescribes each day (in fact hardly ever) but if I wasn't following the system, I wouldn't be doing anything much at all!!

Blueand Issima good going with sock cull

Hope eveyrone who was ailing are all on the mend now - ditto their dc

Afternoon. Today I have been .....

.....

........been being sensible.

Ta da list is very short simply because most of what i have been doing has been paperwork. Soul destroying paperwork but some possible leads to chase up so that is good. Need to deal with those either tonight, although more realistically it will be tomo now.

Ta da
Training
paperwork

Am just about to clear out my car from this weekend's adventures and get ds to training which will zap the rest of my day. Working on the bedtime thing this week. Was in bed with technology off by 9pm last night. Planning to aim for the same again tonight. Although realistically it will probably be later simply due to logistics. Reckon if I can crack this sleep pattern thing then a lot of stuff will fall into line. As a result won't be back today. see you tomo.

been productive today

ta da
washed up
shone sink
made bed
washing
took dd to baby massage
hoovered spare room as cat decided to moult all over the carpet
sorted more stuff to eBay / go to charity shop

Mixed day today, especially as DH has lurgy and moped around rather than going out as planned. I had lots planned spend time on MN

Done
Beds
Windows
Dd to school
Litter tray
Dry laundry away
Dd cooked lunch
Washed up x 1000 4
Baked (dozen chocolate cakes & my 1st ever marble cake)
Did some 'work'
Cleaned freezer
Didn't do mission as I've been throwing old socks out when I find them in the laundry.

To do
Collect Dd from friends house
Shine sink

Evening.
Sorry about earlier, I get so frustrated at work.
TaDa
Up and beds made
Swished and swiped
Showered and dressed
Rubbish out
Bags packed
Dropped kids off
Work
Collected ds1 from club
Cooked dinner
Laid out clothes
Homework
Literacy activities with boys
Mission
Laundry
Sorted dry clothes and non iron away
Hotspot

To Do
Ironing
Clean kitchen
Shine sink
Look up numeracy and literacy curriculum for Y1 as I'm not getting any guidance from the school on how to help ds1 who is very far behind

Ds1's teacher really winds me up. She is so negative. i have told her that I am more than happy to support them in his education but I get nothing from her. I write little notes to her about what we've done in the evenings, what activities or games we've played and how he's done. Asked her what kind of things we should work on at home etc and I get nothing. No guidance whatsoever and no acknowledgement about what we are doing.
I appreciate she is busy and there's a lot of children in the class, but am I being unreasonable to expect something?

Anyway, roundup time

Snow I know what you mean about it being enough to keep you motivated. I think you could def take the system and adjust it to fit you. There was a chat a few days ago between some here feeling the living room gets left short, the room we use the most, gets the least time zone wise.
I reckon putting together a control journal of sorts, copying FLYlady?s detailed cleaning lists and routines, you?d be able to set something up quite easily.
A friend of mine has set jobs she does on set days. Like, cleaning the oven on the 1st, washing curtains on the 2nd, under the sofas on the 3rd etc etc. Whatever system works.
pmpy planned to drive to Stirling today so wasn?t expecting to be FLYing high Hope you?ve had a good day.
Toffee Thanks for the am about to pour a although should give my liver a break.
Chaos has spent all day up to her pits in paperwork. Hope you can see the bottom of the pile now.
Also, good luck with the bedtime thing. I like to go to bed at about 9:30, but normally end up falling asleep on sofa at about 8

to everyone else. Where is bitchy? Or is she a name changer?

LINKS FOR WEDNESDAY 20th MARCH
babystep 20 start including laundry in your morning routine.
Since we got a bigger machine, I'm finding i can get away with 1 load a day instead of 2 so do it now in the evening.
mission get a feather duster to the top of doors etc
daily focus Wednesday is anti-procrastination day....................I think?
flight plan for our routines

ta da
Morning routine
WORK
Home - take DD to Brownies
Go to neighbours for drink

Collect DD from Brownies
more + supper
CBA to FLY prefer to

Feeling so discouraged about the house - it seems I spend my whole day tidying and cleaning...downstairs looked great at lunch time - then by 5pm, it looked like a bomb had hit it again....any suggestions for keeping it reasonably tidy & clean with a toddler (well, she's nearly 3)...there's food & toys and just aaarrrrggggghhh!!!

have made the fatal mistake of trying to completely declutter master bedroom (not just 15 minutes, but over an hour of it), and now have three huge bags full of things that need sorting, so guess that's my to-do tomorrow, as well as about 3 loads of washing :-( It never ends....need ...

Louise, I feel your pain. It does get a bit easier as they get older. I have 2 boys, 4 and 5 years old. They tidy up themselves, I never tidy their toys away but have told them that if any toys are left out at bedtime, the toy fairy thinks they have been left out for her so she takes them away
If the place is getting really bad, I tell them that in 5 mins they have to stop to tidy up before they continue to play.
They aren't allowed to walk around eating, they eat sitting down and if they make a mess, they clean it up. Ds2 is a dab hand with a dustpan now
Well done on the bedroom, sounds like you did loads!

Silvery you sound like you're doing an amazing job with DS. I read somewhere once that children learn/develop faster by XX% (can't remember the %, but it was significant) when they get positive feedback, so I'm sure with all the support you're giving DS he will catch up. How frustrating though to get no support from the teacher - they usually complain that parents aren't involved enough, so you'd think she'd be delighted to have a parent that wants to be involved.

Toffee I love the idea of getting DC's to help out young! My DD (14 months) picks tissues out of the box and first holds them to her nose (I've had a cold, so she's copying what she's seen me do) and then wipes the tissues over the coffee table (usually complete with her snot) - copying when she's seen me use wet ones to wipe up sticky marks. Next, the hoovering!

Well, I managed to clear out my sock drawer and might tight drawer this evening so I'm feeling quite happy with myself.

Just flapping past, manic week here, only just sat down for the evening and still need to do probably a couple of hours OU work.

DD has got a ballet exam, a drama production and her Brownies hostess badge this week, so tonight I have been helping her make cakes, ironing teatowels, making flower arrangements, making a costume for drama all on top of normal ballet lesson, school and work. Tomorrow I am planning to go to work, then DD is going to an Easter egg hunt, then Brownies, Thursday and Friday I will be spending mostly at school helping with various activities (accompanying an outing, attending a concert, cake sale, gardening club). Production is on Friday night. Exam is on Sunday. I have also got a cold.

I did a good lot of Flying yesterday though, cluttered the dining room on Friday and did a semi deep clean yesterday, plus some of the home bleugh and 4 lots of washing.

I'm not happy.

I visited a friends new home today.

She's been in it 2 weeks. Is 7 months pregnant with dc2 - very difficult pregnancy and also has a pre schooler and 2 step sons (who live there).

The house was immaculate. Beautifully decorated (by them) and fully unpacked and homely.

Then I came back and the decluttering I thought was making a difference to our shit tip, is clearly not even touching the sides.

I hate it. I want her house.

Aaargh Nicks. I feel your pain. I have several friends with that type of house, it's bloody infuriating. Just remember there is more to life than having an immaculate house.

I also have friends whose houses make mine look like an immaculate palace, so it goes both ways, I feel much betteer when I've visited one of them.

Well, the sock drawer is still untamed (sorry, SC!) but...

Ta Da!
Laundry done, dry and away!
Sink shiny and washing up bowl scrubbed
S&S
Hoovered downstairs
Sorted all the baby clothes from the loft:
Charity shop/Pregnancy crisis bags in car
Dinner
Cleaned kitchen
Work

to do tomorrow
Change sheets
Ironing
Dusting
Label and box up NCT sale stuff
Dump charity shop stuff
Work
Paperwork
Work out what to do with unsellable stuff

Thanks. I know in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter.

But I still want her house!

PS: NickNacks You should come visit me. Right now our house is downright grubby as well as cluttered and untidy .

Hahaha pin interest is a stealer of time Castlelough

Nicknacks i feel your pain we are back in the cycle of building works and it is a nightmare. The one bonus is the fact that 1. progress is being made, and 2. I have the washing machine back until after Easter.

Whoknows good luck!

Silvery bitchy is about but you need to spot her... Otoh Paperwork is never ending. Just how it is

Today hasn't gone exactly to plan. Feel crap for the good night's sleep, not better. Hopefully a few more weeks of good nights will help. On a plus note it was before 10pm when i got to sleep so that is a bonus.

Ta da
ds to school
sink is shiny and benches wiped down
Attempted a nap
sort out online stuff: mn/fb/email/twitter etc etc
Consider the pros and cons of taking on more responsibility for a voluntery role
charge phone
construct a plan of action for the week.

to do
book smear
book follow up appointment for something else
follow up paperwork from yesterday
sort out paperwork needed for tonight
wash ds' kit and sort out non washing bits
wash my kit
handwash kit comp stuff from wkend
normal washing x lots of loads
Meeting in another town
shower and hair wash in peace - this is the next job to be tackled
training tonight so won't be an early night just aiming to be asleep before midnight, which does mean i need to get home before midnight this week

Nicknacks sympathies ...you should come here... literally suffering from C.H.A.O.S. Daren't invite visitors atm! House is cluttered, messy, grubby (apart from kitchen and bathroom which are a bit cluttered but clean but not that clean if you look above 5. 5 metre mark). And I don't have the work commitments/number of dc that others on here do so only have myself to blame

It's totally overwhelming atm, so keep trying to concentrate on one tiny area at a time ie top of dh's bedroom chest. Don't even manage that some days because I keep procrastinating/distracting myself from chaos by cooking (waist line is suffering) - and dh doesn't give a toss notice about the house but always appreciates a nice supper ....and I'm sewing (more distraction/procrastination) a lot so dining room table has disappeared which always makes our main room look awful.

Really no excuse for it being as cluttery and messy as it is right now. Hoping I will get my mo-jo back soon, especially as it is getting lighter in the evenings... much easier to get stuff done

Arrrggghhh ....why can't I follow the Flylady system properly??? That would be far too easy wouldn't it

Hope you can catch up on sleep soon Truly and good luck with volunteering decision

Good luck with your busy week ahead Whoknows and hope your cold clears up quickly

Waves to DidEinsteinsMum if she is around!

Agree Castle Pinterest is fatal when it comes to procrastination!!! I have willpower of a half-dead slug

You still did loads despite sock drawer Blue

Huge waves to Silvery Just Snowgirl Cuddledup Toffee Feetheart Honu Lauren Honu Madwoman Ellie Louise Pushme Goth MrsBugsy Jdub Ellesababe Issima Xbenedict Nettie and eveyrone else I have missed.

Sorry for eternal whinging! Keep going eveyrone!! We can do it!

There is a clue in that last post Silvery

For the accountants/teachers and numerically astute among you ... I am exploring a primary school related maths issue here

sc do you mean the method like this:...
14 x 5 = 10 x 5 + 4 x 5 = 50 + 20 = 70

It's much easier for children to understand the value of the digits this way, and it helps with mental calculation skills too.

I've been having a much better week now that I'm better but still not getting much done. We're too busy out of the house!

Tada
Showered and dressed
Make packed lunch
Wash on
Out to toddler group
Drop letter off at mortgage advisors
Tumble drying on

To do
Dinner
Washing up
Kids bathed and put to bed
Ironing
Put away shopping delivery
Watch One Born
Shine sink

Dd2 has also been really suffering following her 4mo immunisations on Monday :(
She was up half the night last night just wanting to feed feed feed feed....

I have over tired child here. particularly annoying as said over tired child is swearing blind they are not tired at all.

Not the most productive of days but:

Ta da
ds to school
sink is shiny and benches wiped down
Attempted a nap
sort out online stuff: mn/fb/email/twitter etc etc
Consider the pros and cons of taking on more responsibility for a voluntery role
charge phone
construct a plan of action for the week.
book smear
sort out paperwork needed for tonight
wash ds' kit and sort out non washing bits
wash my kit
normal washing x 1
Meeting in another town
shower and hair wash in peace

Might do some more later but it is going to be a long evening at this rate. Thank goodness for babysitters and training.