FLYlady followers flock together! Join the May fledglings – our nests we will feather!

[Castlelough]

Welcome to the May 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 is 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. Thanks to SC, Blue, Silvery and Goth for leading us through since January and for the brilliant OP I've just cut and pasted.

Nah I didn't notice is SC must admit suffered for it and had to skip training this morning which I was gutted about but simply not super human and it would have just been dangerous if I had attempted it. Slept until after 12noon which was clearly needed. Still very tired though so going to try for an early night.

Doing my daily sneak in from work, that's a laugh, been here nearly 4 hours and my only visitor was the greens keeper, and he only turned up as I'd texted him as I think we have a rat hole in the middle of a bowling green!

It is absolutely peeing down here, even dug out my waterproof trousers out.

So I'm in the middle of untangling some REALLY fluffy wool.

Done at home
Beds
Ironing

Done at work
Brushed all carpets
Mopped toilets, changing rooms and kitchen
Cleaned toilets

Stuck here until 9, somehow I can't see the cricket match going ahead, unless they are in waders

Anyone else excited that we get like a whole week in the living room???? Well, I say excited, that might be the wrong word, but my living room definitely needs it, let's hope I can deliver!
Toffee Hope you're having a good day with the bestie, sounds fab.
sc you do sound like a very popular/busy-bee. I couldn't cope with demands for visits all the time. Sure you'll workably fit it all in.
Oh Doris Not nice.

Ds1 has gone to a friends house and ds2 is watching some crap dvd he insisted I buy about baby dinosaurs. I fear he will get bored in a minute and ask to go to the park.
We've been to the carvery for lunch and could now do with a nap!

Not really silvery. I means I have to deal with the explosion of lego. Which is definitely my least favourite task!

I need to sort out my plan but today I am focusing on renewing my spirit. aka being sensible and sleep/ resting ready for kicking the week off properly in full chaos that it will truly be. Is it bed time yet?

Oh God. Lego. Got to be every parents idea of hell! Lego is fair game in my house, if it's on the floor, the hoover noramlly gets it
Goodluck with the sleep/resting. Fingers crossed life lets you get a few hours to yourself, preferably asleep or doing FA

Ahhhh, family equilibrium restored by supper on terrace in sunshine no less and lots of red wine (managed to find "English" lamb chops today!!!- a rarity - lamb usually far too gamey over here) and, much to the horror/bemusement of our Belgian guest) made mint sauce - very funny seeing him trying to be polite about it but made it up to him by serving extremely pungent cheese Only down side, I've eaten far too much again ...oh dear ...

Silvery¨can't really claim extreme popularity - have humungously large family and the mere fact of living abroad makes one a target for visitors!!

Oh dear to man-flu Doris ....

Sleep well Bitchy

Shame about the weather Goth. If it's any consolation, I am miffed with dh for working all hours to the exclusion of everything else, being permanently preoccupied and glued to his Blackberry thing when he is here and travelling forever.

Waves to eveyrone else!!

hi everyone, another dive in from a diving board in cloud cuckoo land into the reality of getting things done.

[Ahem] nothing much done

except I seem to have been in a kitten frenzy all week, organising pickups and explaining things to people, weeping over last little fluffy creature and hoping no-one sends the others back for some reason .

Unexpectedly the VERY LAST kitten was requested by the lady who took the first one, she wanted a little sister to play with it, as it emerged her husband had been sleeping on a couch to keep kitten company and it was beginning to be ridiculous! I am glad to hear I'm not the only soppy kitten owner If only siblings were as easy as that to organise

Castlelough so hoping it will be good news for you. My SIL is just pregnant after three years of waiting and treatment, in Ireland. She can't tell anyone at moment as she is only 8 weeks. It is a difficult time, also difficult to explain to people why you want to take it easy and not do certain things.

SC I have just eaten two lebanese pastries as well as lots of salami and cheese. It is not helpful that I have given up on most of the tight clothes and just happily waddled into my looser outfits. It is easy to forget I have put on weight when I wear the next size up! What can we do?? I know I just have to steel myself and I CAN do it, only I foolishly read somewhere that dairy and cereal and nuts contain tryophans or summat that make you feel calm and happy, and have been overdosing on Readybrek when my children stress me out..

Toffee ds1 is rubbish at Maths. Dh has just introduced him to some nintendo puzzles which we hope will give him some understanding of problem solving. Otherwise I think a RL money problems sounds a brilliant idea. Ds once did a session in school which was a bar chart on spending on junk food in the year 7's. He was totally intrigued by the concept of the frittering away of money on chips and sweets and how MUCH they spent when they thought it was just a cheap snack. doesn't stop him spending money on sweets though

Good morning fledglings. Taken a very relaxed vied to this morning.

ta da
internet stuff.
planning
stand on the scales and see the damage.
Clear brain and figure out how to tackle today.
sort out training kit
Play hunt the hair grip and realise my car is a moving hairgrip container.
Put hair up fancy but 100% out of the way!

right bbl to start proper normal stuff. Have a good one!

*view or approach. you pick. both are now spelt correctly

Okay. What ever DH has/had, I think he's passed it along to me; achy muscles, lethargy and a banging headache. Unfortunately, I don't get a day off just lots of paracetamol and coffee.

I'm praying DS doesn't get it until after tomorrow's stint at nursery as I need to go into work tomorrow otherwise no one will get paid.

Today I will try to...

• stay awake and alive
• tackle laundry mountain - I'll even attempt to hang it out as the Met Office seems to indicate that it'll be a nice day. I remain unconvinced, but I need to tidy the dining room where I hang the washing, so even if it's out for a while, I can use the space to put other things in while I try to tidy.
• tidy the dining room. It's kindof like one giant hotspot
• wipe down various windows which are handprinted decorated courtesy of DS.
• strip and wash our bed to get rid of the DH "ick" from illness.
• DS to toddler gymnastics

I'd also like to, but it isn't urgent:

• gut our ensuite (I've been S&S'ing, but it needs a thorough "doing")
• start sorting out the study upstairs so that I can start to have an office upstairs, rather than in the dining room (I think this will be my "other" room this month).

Morning. Why is it on the one day you have to get up early, the dc's sleep in?
So I am looking after a friend's ds today. He has just got here so I am hoping to cart them off to the bedroom so I can tackle the ironing pile and finish watching The Social Network (I've had it from lovefilm for about 3 months!)
My friend is also having my 2 sleep over at hers tonight so think me and dp will go to cinema or something.
After all my excitement at realising we have a ful week in the living room I didn't do anything yesterday.
At the least, by the end of the week I want to have pulled out the tv stand and hoovered/mop/wall washed etc behind there.

Wall washing????

Links for Tuesday 28th May

Babystep 28 is a reminder to take care of ourselves ? eat good food, drink your water and get a good night?s sleep.

This week we are in Zone 5 ? The Living Room.

Today?s mission is to spend 15 minutes taking things that don?t belong in your living room out of it.

The focus for today is Plan and Play

The Flight Plan is here.

Good morning! Lovely sunshine here again!

[Alert - a 3-para-husband-rant follows - pls feel free to ignore!]
I have been begging dh for weeks to help me fix a curtain pole which has fallen off the wall, and the task became more urgent when our neighbours at the bottom of the garden decided to do a bit of strategic tree trimming yesterday, allowing all the children who climb on climbing frames and slides and their caretaker (it's a boarding school) to see in to our bathroom!! Which they did this morning (a) when I was showering, and (b) when dd was on the loo!!

It's been down for eight weeks, I tried to fix it myself without success - too high up - bit hopeless on wobbly ladders - (then engaged handyman to fix who didn't turn up) and dh is very tall so not unreasonable for him to assist (or so I thought).

Anyway, my patience snapped this morning and I begged dh to fix it straightaway. He was itching (as usual) to get to office and not amused but agreed reluctantly. I went to docs appt, had lovely walk back in sunshine, only to return to find four pieces of the Financial Times stuck to our bathroom windows with sellotape and the pole still lying on the floor. When I called him about it, he protested that he had taken care to stick the newspaper on very neatly I despair, I really do ...

Anyway ... enough trivia ....hope you are all ok..!

Good luck with the play date/child-swapping arrangements Silvery!

Sorry to hear you are feeling grim Doris thanks for Take it steady.

Ohhhhh at Swan's sad partings with small fluffy creatures [sniff] sounds as though you have worked really hard to ensure they have gone to excellent homes though which must be a comfort. (Yes, food-wise, definitely have to steel myself and tell myself I can do it and generally get a grip). Congrats to your sil and hope all goes well.

Big wing flaps to Castle Bitchy Goth and everyone else!

Right, had better get on:
Stroke furry stomachs rabbits
Finish morning routine inc dw, wm, s&s
Sort laundry, prep laundry, do about six loads of laundry
Quick tidy up dining room
Quick clean kitchen
Make med appt
Prep supper (veggie casserole)

That'll do for now although I should be trying to continue with major boudoir sort. Time is ticking on ....

ps can't wait to hear how it went Pushme!! [nosy emoticon]

It is ridiculously quiet in here today. I guess you must all be busy with half term.

sc how frustrating! These men really are quite useless aren't they?
Not me bitchy I'm avoiding the thread because then I would have to admit to doing FA

So this morning with friend's child was fine. My boys are now with her which means me and dp are child free!!! What are we doing? Watching some shit on the telly about fishing zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Have asked him what the plan is, he just shrugs. I despair, I really do. Might just go out on my own.

That made me laugh, SC. My DH is not practical either, but I am even less practical, so we make a right pair.

DS2 had a friend over for the day and they played non-stop for hours, which left me free to catch up on all sorts of paperwork. Am feeling very smug now.

DS1 is having to do chores this week to pay for downloading an XBox game without permission (by mistake, he said ). So, he has: unloaded the dishwasher; put the washing on; swept and mopped the kitchen floor; and practised his Times Tables with me. He still has several more to do before bed .

Must go and put some food on for dinner .

SC - Although, to do my DH credit, he has managed to mend two of our blinds - one he propped up with spoons stuck in the wall and the other with bits of Lego!

Ta-Da list:

• stay awake and alive - debatable
• tackle laundry mountain
• tidy the dining room
• strip and wash our bed
• DS to toddler gymnastics
• gut ensuite

Still need to clean windows, but by the time I got round to being able to do them, the sun had started shining on them, so they'll have to wait!

I've managed to get through today by just not stopping at all, so now I'm feeling ill and knackered

On the upside, DH has brought dinner in with him so all I need to do is DS's bedtime routine and then tidy up the living room properly, as opposed to DSs' version of tidy!

Sod the ! Where's the ?

ta da
internet stuff.
planning
stand on the scales and see the damage.
Clear brain and figure out how to tackle today.
sort out training kit
Play hunt the hair grip and realise my car is a moving hairgrip container.
Put hair up fancy but 100% out of the way!
training
sort out a plan of colours for dress that needs making
internet stuff
sort lego
sort more lego
sort ever more fucking lego
laundry x3
soak ds' kit ready to go into storage over summer
set ds' kit to drain
folding
ironing
15mins in my room
hunt in office for pattern pieces for dress (fingers crossed all pattern pieces and mock up pieces are present as haven't checked yet.)
Drink far far far too much coffee

tbh i am about ready to collapse into bed already. Shouldn't but want to. might just curl up and watch a bit of crap tv before going to bed early.

Hate lego? Try this lego tidying box

I don't have one myself but they look great! and presumably are a very quick way to get it sorted!!

PS - I LOVE sorting lego I get cross when boys play with it!! Shall I come and do yours bitchy?
Off to do the 15 mins in Living room now via washing machine to get nappy wash in!!

It's half past nine and I've only just started waking up!
Dchildren are obsessed by Britain's Got Talent, and rewatching clips of child comedians etc. I hate the show SOO much, although to my chagrin I have discovered that Simon Cowell in Top Gear is actually brilliant and v entertaining - who would have thought cars could be so interesting

I'm still suffering empty nestitis after the kittens, despite having three resident adult cats Mother cat seems fine but occasionally looks for them under the sofa/beds/in cupboards...it is soo sad...

Just finished The Hive by Gill Hornby yesterday. I really enjoyed it, although it wasn't really a representation of any schooly mothers I know! Threw up several good satirical points about competitive mothers in general though. [vows never to talk about her children's homework again]

SC I can only say one thing about curtain poles. Dh's v important study curtain fell off 12 years ago. It is still under his desk (as are now v dusty curtains He couldn't deal with it, so he went and bought some cheap blinds from B & q. As long as there is no weight or rawlplugs involved he can just about use woodscrews and picture hooks. Oh and dowels for bookcase shelves as he is a bookseller. However to my amazement he put up some trellis on the fence last week, spurred into action by posh neighbour and fear of posh neighbour hiring professional gardener

Morning.
So ds's stayed over at a friend's last night. She has taken them into town and will drop them back at 1!
I have 'caught up' on detial cleaning and did 3 15min sessions today. I moved the tv stand, hoovered and wiped the floor, then washed the whole wall across the length of living room. Looks better but I need a chair to get the bits at the top.
Now I'm going to do some studying and will then have a quick crisis clean before the boys get back.