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!

Hello all - big waves to Toffee, Trazzles and PA.

Got everything done yesterday and a very nice evening with friends. Shame the boys chose last night to wake me up af 10 min intervals between 1 and 3.30 though! Have also done morning shift at the NCT sale. Got to go back later and collect the leftovers/see what we've sold.

Spent this morning in the hairdressers. Actually fell asleep when my hair was being washed .

Just having a quick cuppa and MN browse before starting my crisis clean.

pushme - hope you are getting lots of decluttering done. Am also aiming to declutter today (need to rid the dining room of home ed stuff, wellies, hats, gloves, etc. in time for our friends' visit tomorrow).

Silvery - well done on making money out of old clothes and decluttering too . Hope DS2 feels better soon.

SC - thanks for your kind words about DS1. The latest episode has just showed us that he should be getting more professional support really, so at least I have a reason to push for that now. The trouble with OCD is it's so secretive and we often don't know what's going on in his head, so everything seems fine.

So sorry it looks as if you will miss out on your family reunion at Easter. I can see that your SIL needs support, but it's awful that you don't get to go home .

WhoKnows - good luck to your DD for her ballet exam.

Blue - thanks for the tea. Sorry you were woken up regularly last night. I am currently paying DS2 50p a night for not waking me (he is saving up for some Lego). It's working brilliantly so far!

Must go and start my crisis clean now...

I could post a ta da list. But i won't because 1. it is scarey long and 2. might induce looks of

There is cake though. help yourselves

I've been in bed all afternoon, just got up to make dinner and am now back in bed. I'm not poorly, just don't feel great. Must be all the empathy I'm trying to show ds2.
Ds1 has a temperature, but that's not stopping him annoying his brother, making stupid high pitched noises and jumping up and down then telling everyone his legs are hurting.
Anyway, another nap and I'll be ready to Bath boys, put them to bed and lay on sofa with telly on

Is it wrong that i want to post that scary list?

I nipped into town this afternoon for more storage boxes as the clutter is driving me mad again, so I am going to have a go at sorting and putting stuff away this evening. Going through baskets of pens at the moment and throwing all the ones that don't work away, I always like that job for some reason.

Hi everyone!

Not much to report here other than dh's eye is ok. He has to out drops in and can't drive for ten days but it could have been much worse.

I am so rubbish at doing personals as I find it quite difficult to remember who's who on here...

silvery I am very at your pj day! I was up with the girls at 7am and let dh lie-in until 9:15. I'm secretly hoping he might do the same for me next weekend but trying not to get my hopes up

PA - I am new to the thread so have no idea where you are or what you're doing there but it sounds exciting! I would love to live abroad one day. Maybe India...

Toffee - Sorry to hear your ds is struggling. I have slight tendencies towards OCD, nowhere enough for any sort of diagnosis but it means I can really identify. I can see how it could easily take over.

sc - That was one mammoth post! How do you keep track of everyone??? Maybe my mental capacity isn't what it used to be!

Tada
Ate and cleared breakfast
Hung out washing
Tumble drying on
Showered and dressed
Took dh to hospital and walked around aimlessly for an hour with the girls waiting for him to finish
McDonald's drive-thru to celebrate
Marinaded chicken
Dd2's footprint for her baby book
Jigsaws and stickers with dd1
Cooked and ate dinner
Bathed dds

To do
Washing up and SS
Ironing
Early night

Post your list Chaos Be proud, show off put the rest of us , well me to shame
I've done fuck all today.
Might do some ironing in a bit, but doubt it.
Tomorrow I will be better.

elles when I post personals, I open up a word document and flick between screens and copy and paste.
Not sue there's another way to do it, scrolling up and down annoys me no end.

I'm in naughty corner as well - had a shower & got out of pj's at 2:30 ...did nothing all day but sat in front of fire and now me & dh having a nice movie evening with dc already in bed ...they'll probably be up for the birds but its dh turn to be up since I did this am ...hope you're all keeping warm in this shocking weather!!

Silvery oh that's how you do it, I've been frantically scrolling up & down on tablet.

Go on Chaos post that list, you know you want to

Done
Beds
Windows
Litter tray
Got Dd to clear out her junk pile in the living room
Library
Shopping
Dinner
Wash up & SS

To do
Ironing
Wash load

Going I tend to mn on my iPod. Tricky isn't it?

Goth I do the cut and paste from word thing if I'm doing long lists of personals, partly because it's easier in a second window and partly so it isn't lost if you forget to press post or MN crashes. My other top tip for thread leading is to put the various Flylady links in your bookmarks, then it is easy to copy them in every day.

Speaking of LINKS
babysatep 24 is to add a swish and swipe
no mission because it's the weekend
daily focus for Sunday is Renew your spirit day.
flight plan

Thanks WhoKnows I need all the help I can get

When i do round ups i use a pen and a bit of paper to take notes.

Actually I went out and got over it but since it was suggested and because it will help focus my mind on what needs doing when i wake up in the morning here goes:

ta da
up
mn/fb/twitter/email etc etc etc
30mins declutter in my room
15mins decluttering in ds' room
room rescue lounge
ironing
folding
wash table clothe
3 loads of laundry
fix washing machine after it threw hissy fits and refused to wash x4
figure out can't run washing machine and dish washer at the same time as it causes said hissy fits
make lasagne for tea from scratch -cheese sauce/tomatoe sauces and everything
make lemon cake
make lime cake
make banana and honey cake
make fairy cakes
make coffee cake
make a batch of biscuits - get ds to cut biscuits whilst i cooked them
load and run dishwasher
30mins decluttering in spare bedroom
food shopping
pick up bits which hadn't realised were needed and were needed urgently (ie tonight)
go training
watch the match
catch up with some good friends
shower and wash hair in peace
clean down the benches
hang to dry competition stuff
Try to sort out hair dresser appointment
speak to dsis on phone
get stuff from ds' and my wkends away finally unpacked and put away
sort out plans for tomo
sort out getting a book ds lent out returned
eat fair too much sugar and cake
drink far too much coffee
wash out the sugar and flour storage jars and leave to dry
water all the plants apart from the two that needed watering
spend some time with ds just chilling with crap tv
physio stuff
take bins out
sort out phone which was playing up.

Which leaves me to do:
tons more washing
finish clearing spare bedroom
make up the bed in spare room
wash bedding and remake master bedroom bed
more folding
more ironing
take recycling out
finish the lounge
Empty the bath of stuff waiting to be dealt with don't ask
hoover through
clean bathrooms
eat cake and drink coffee
ice lemon cake
go out to watch match

tbh i think it is now time for bed. night.

just checking in ! had quite a productive day yesterday, housework wise, then went to a wedding reception an hour's drive away - am not a confident driver and it was quite scary driving back on country roads, so I'm quite proud of myself for doing it.

I've been keeping up with the baby steps but not done the control journal yet - maybe tomorrow

dd celebrated her 3 month birthday by sleeping from 11 to 5

I also mn on my tablet (while bfing) hence typos, lack of links, etc!

Morning

Made a reasonable start yesterday, although nowhere near as impressive as chaos

Well done with the driving MrsB. I used to be a very nervous driver but I have to drive a lot for work which has really helped.

Todays list is mostly as follows:
Change beds x 3
Washing * 4
Paint the fecking cupboard
Routines
House bleurgh
A lot of paid work
Make steak pie.
Put away lots of washing!
Hand wash scarves

Sorry to hear about problems with DD at school sc. They have the same system here in NL, though not sure if they hold kids back in primary (they do in secondary all the time, but they can only be held back once ? anymore and the student has to be moved to a lower level of education. Everything here is streamed pretty much from year 7 or 8 and is very rigid. I hate it which is why I?ve moved more into International Education this year. Though my Dutch colleagues still try and keep them back all the time). I really hate the idea that a student can be held back because one or two subjects are weak. We?re not all supposed to be excellent at everything! I much prefer the UK system of A-levels (way back when) than the Dutch school diploma system. I was so delighted to drop Maths and sciences at 16 and focus on the subjects I loved (Literature, Theatre, History, French). I can understand how bored your DD might be having to redo material from this year.

If she?s struggling with exams then have they considered that she has faalangst ? At my school they do fear of failure training courses several times of year because their stupid system of continuous testing means that kids are freaking out, overworked and stressed Sorry to hear that you might not make your trip back to the UK. Perhaps DH could go to SIL and you could go to UK?

Wow elles - pre-pg jeans? I?m still dreaming of those!

Lovely to ?see? you trazzles Have been thinking of you and yours.

I?m very sorry to hear about your son?s Deputy Head Silvery. I do think that it?s better to tell the children all together to prevent the Chinese whispers thing. Other people have given much better advice than I can. Am tucking all your recommendations and books away in the back of my mind for the future.

Toffee sorry to hear that things aren?t going well with DS1 atm.

PA Lovely to ?see? you and sorry to hear you?re struggling right now.

I have a manic week ahead of me with a major deadline for Thursday (moderation) so am only just keeping on top of washing and washing-up and Flying no further. However, this is my biggest challenge for the rest of the school year. I have a one week Easter holiday when I am planning on really getting the house and garden in order. DH has put up a desk for me now in the attic room and he we are going to continue with decluttering the attic so it is a proper work space, then move the office upstairs and make a 2nd bedroom in the old office. Getting there!

Morning.
I forgot the round-up lasty night since the last round-up:
Toffee has been struggling to keep up her fly routines so needs a firm kick up the arse could your routines be too long? Can you take some jobs off and keep the routines shorter?
Hope you and your ds are ok.
PA Came back. Great to see you! Sorry you?re not happy atm where are you?
Castle had a crappy meeting with the bank where she was told they are not lending money right now, but may do so in a few months. Hang in there chick.
Castle also volunteered to run thread for May or June, but needs to know how to do links. Here it is very quickly: Open up the fly lady website in a different tab so you have mn and fl open at same time. Go to fl tab and click on (for example) baby steps, highlight the text in the address window at the top, right click and copy. Come back onto mn and in the text box enter this symbol [ twice (then right click and press paste, then space bar and write what you want us to see as the link (baby step) then close it with these . Crystal?
Now I?ve told you that Castle can you tell me how to do the bear?
cuddle plonked herself in the naughty corner yesterday for coming downstairs without getting dressed. Tut-tut. The beauty of not having stairs!
I cleared out my loft and sent dp to one of those shops that buy a certain weight of clothes for money and we got £48. Think there must have been over 9 kilos. Dp asked what they do with the clothes and was told they go to the arehouse to be sorted and then get sent to Africa and also to some British Charities. Threw a lot of crap away too.
Didn?t get anything else done because ds2 was poorly and once I?d spent some time on the sofa with him, I started feeling rough so took myself back to bed. So very busy day today, got loads to do and will post a to do list in a bit.
SC where is PA?
SC came on with a mammoth personals post. I?m sure she enjoys putting the rest of us to shame
Sorry your travel plans have been confused and you have to delay your UK trip. Hope your sil is coping ok and you guys can go and give her a little break.
WhoKnows sorry the production didn?t go amazingly well, but sounds like your dd did really well, especially considering it has been a very short term so not much rehearsal time.
Chaos has been boasting and teasing about a long tada list. And my gosh, it is HUGE! Lots of cake on there, you doing a table top sale? Party? Or just hungry? Well done on a massively busy and productive day!
elles glad to hear dh?s eye is ok.
Louise also had a nice lazy day. Her dc?s went to bed early so she was settling down to have a film night with her dh. Hope the dc?s weren?t up too early this morning.
mrsb went to a wedding reception and was nervous about driving home. Well done for doing it. I?m a very nervous driver too still and always feel I?m getting it all wrong.
Engels is doing very basic flying atm as she has a moderation at work coming up. Good luck!!!

Right. Now going to think about my to do list. brb

Oh. Shit. The link I posted there, is not a link. Silly me put the symbols so it has converted.
Castle you need to put 2 of [ before pasting your link, and 2 ] after.

To Do
Strip beds
clear reakfast
Bath/dress
swish and swipe
get clothes out for ds's
rubbish out
glass shelves/mirrors etc
litter trays
dust/polish
make up beds
hoover
mop
ironing
menu plan and shopping list
food shop
polish shoes
filing
wipe down fridge
purse and bag
make weeks sandwiches and freeze
washing machine drawer
bleach plugs
pop to town to get ds2 new school bag
laundry
make dinner - ?
wash up
homework
feed cats
make tomorrows lunch
hotspot
sort dry clothes
non iron away
tomorrows dinner?
play/tidy
stray item dash
clean kitchen
tomorrows clothes out
check diary
study
shine sink
pack bags for school

Told you it was a scary list
some of the cake is for the freezer to use up fruit that was going to need binning other wise. But the coffee cake is just for eating because i wanted to eat some.

really really cba today. which is bad because i need to get on and do stuff.

That was an impressive list

Done
Changed bed including mattress & pillow covers
Laundry on
Windows
Washing up
Dry laundry away
Cleared DD's room - 3 bags of old toys/recycling/rubbish removed
Started weekly bleugh
Vacuumed flat
Dusted
Mirrors

To Do
Litter tray
Bins/recycling out
Dinner
Wash up & SS

Chaos I think that after a list like that you are entitled to a lie down and a cba day.

I am doing pretty well today.

Ta da
Yesterday's washing away
Wash on
Finished marking unit of work so can get cracking on moderation sample
cleared coffee table
skyped mum
5 mins on kitchen hotspot
emptied paper recycling
moved books around so DS has his own shelf and he can stop pulling my 'Activities for teaching Shakespeare' and 'The collected poems of William Blake' off the shelves (he's a very serious reader my 17mo )
Gave DS a bath
Cut DS hair for the first time ever - he was starting to look a little ridiculous, or perhaps just a little like a romantic poet

DS and DH are now both asleep. DH is making a delicious lamb stew today (bubbling away on the stove) and is also sorting out putting a video onto the computer for my moderation (I'm rubbish with stuff like that) so that I can start editing it tomorrow.

Wondering what to do now. I've started collating my moderation stuff for work, but don't want to get too into it now so may a)waste time on MN b) read c) watch some trash TV and wake up DH who has thoughtlessly fallen asleep on the sofa instead of going upstairs