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.

fudge74 you would be most welcome to come sort the level but that box you linked to would clearly not be big enough. think massive trofast storage unit kinda amounts. I love that people think ds would like lego when they give him presents but really how much does one child need? According to ds more.

Taken this morning very gently and slept off some sleep deprivation. feeling a big bug-eyed and disorientated. Have to head out for a meeting in a bit so will need to get moving. Coffee and some lunch will help I think.

Apologies! Still having internet problems! Quickly posting today's links whilst at work. x
Links for today Wednesday 29th May

Babystep 29 is to visit Flylady?s ?Taking Care of You? page and have a look at the pamper mission.

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 Anti-Procrastination

The Flight Plan is here.

Swan - that is very sad about the mother cat looking for her kittens .

Silvery - good news about the mum keeping your DS till 1pm! Well done on all your Flying.

Doris - you are having a CBA day. Don't worry, we all have them.

DS1 was miserable this morning. I pointed out that not going out or seeing anyone was not helping. He didn't look like he was listening, but the next thing I knew he was out the door and heading off to his best friend's for the day . Rang BF's mum who said she will be getting them to do chores in the garden and walk the dog, so he will be getting fresh air and exercise, as well as company! I hope he comes back a happier boy this afternoon.

DS2 has another friend here for the day. I was a bit alarmed when DS2 shrieked that he'd seen a rat in the garden, but it turned out to be a very sweet, very small mouse, which seems to be living under the playhouse.

My ta da list so far:

Breakfast for all
Fed and cuddled kitten
Swished and swiped in bathroom
Wiped down bathroom surfaces and walls
Emptied bathroom bin
Changed hand towel
Wiped floor with Dettol floor wipes
Emptied bedroom bins
Put washing on (DS1 did this as one of his chores)
Emptied dishwasher (DS1 again)
Reloaded d/w
Put rest of food shopping away from yesterday
Wiped kitchen surfaces
Swept and mopped kitchen floor
Emptied kitchen bin
Put recycling out

Am hoping the boys will stay busy with each other, so I can keep Flying today.

Afternoon all, I've been anti-procrastinating this morning!
Paperwork up to date, as is website.

Also arranged to borrow friends ladders as I am going to be blackout lining DD's curtains this week, so am planning to wash all our curtains (only 4 sets) and get them shortened too!

Done
Beds
DD to school
Washing up
3 loads washing and hung out.

About to start weekly bleugh (blaming 8 day rota for delay)

Am following Doris's good example and starting the 5/2, 1st fasting day today

Have only had a quick flick through thread, so hands out to those going through half term andto Doris hope you feel better soon.

Have an image of Bitchy digging herself out from under a mountain of Lego, so far DD hasn't shown an interest, but we're being taken over by Littlest Pet Shop

Big waves to everyone.

Hellllloooooo!! Neeiiiggghhhhhhh!!! Just cantering through .....

Treble arf at Doris's 'leper' bell Hope you can catch up on sleep soon x

Thanks for diy solidarity everyone!! Particularly liked your dh's spoons stuck in the wall Toffee (great your ds1 has headed out on own initiative btw) and the fact that the curtain pole in your dh's study has been down for 12 yrs Swan (although at least he has replaced curtains with blinds!!). Our entire house seems to be held together with bits of string atm... I give up ...honestly ....

¨Silvery arf at being stuck watching fishing prog!! Well done for vigorous cleaning (and for your long completed list Toffee)

Huge waves to castle goth Fudge74 bitchy and eveyrone else

Just gearing up for weekend of hell school fete. Tons of baking ingreds to be bought, batches and batches of cakes to be made, and owing to hopeless communication and woeful organisation on part of school an entire 3 min dance to be choreagraphed and practiced in two evenings + whatever time is left over tonight after homeworK. (Fortunately can nick bits of previous ballet audition piece to save time) Also need to finish sewing costumes. Will need vat of alcohol come Sunday eve ....

Hope eveyrone who is on holiday is enjoying it!!!

Over and out for now ..........................

Goth btw - will be v. interested to hear how you get on with 5:2. Contemplating joining dh on Tues & Thurs ....good luck!

I have just discovered Fly Lady website and this thread as I seem to have no time to get the basics done whilst looking after my toddler and having the tiniest bit of time to myself while he naps (which isn't often enough for my liking)
Do you mostly follow exactly what she says? The baby steps thing for a month seems very slow - is this necessary? My house is not a major shit tip it is just a bit unloved with collections of crap lurking around. What does "ta-da" list mean?

Welcome Katandkit! We all follow the system rather loosely and adapt it to suit ourselves ... . Think you can speed up with baby-steps as there are lots of "fillers" in there that you can ignore but theory is that it takes 28 days to form a habit (or soemthing like that)

Sorry - dashing - others (more organised than me) will be along to advise I'm sure ...

"Ta da" list is our own invention. Thought more positive to post what we had actually done (with a flourish!) rather than long "to do" lists ... many people find it useful to post both!!

Good luck with it!

Thanks! hopefully the daily reminders will be a bit of a motivation to me - but I was getting a bit over my head trying to take in everything in the site at once with all the talk of control journals and lists and everything so makes sense to tackle one aspect of organization at a time I suppose. Hopefully I can get my head around the weekly planning in time :)

Who does the wearing shoes round the house thing?

Generally I ignore the shoe wearing; the only time I don't is if I'm doing a deep clean when I'll be taking stuff in and out to the bin/garage/shed.

It does focus the mind and make stuff a bit easier, but I don't find it practical with a toddler underfoot.

I just usually use a pair of flip flops at the front door though.

Welcome Kat I wear flip flops in house. Find it a nice compromise, not shoes but not slippers!
Anyway, don't let the website overwhelm you. This thread has a leader, this month it's goth who will post links to the site for the things we need each day.
You can speed up and double the babysteps but we have lost a few because they have taken on too much and burned out.
Must dish up dinner so will bbl

I do flip flops too!

But really for me the wearing shoes thing = putting make up on. I have 2 young DCs and am rarely in work as DS is poorly. I just don't generally bother with my appearance so for me it's getting dressed to face! I feel so much better if I make that bit of effort and it really focuses my mind.

Really, whatever works for you as long as its something to get you in the right frame of mind.

Hi KitandKat, don't listen to me this month, it's Castle's turn (phew).
I'm spending a lot of this month in the naughty corner, it's fun there, we have virtual cakes, chocolate and of course .

Saw this and thought of Bitchy

So just finished a massive pile of ironing and done evening routines.

Took DD to Woodcraft Folk this evening, was lots of fun, we had a nature treasure hunt, rather than just walking round going this is an oak, a lime etc, we were shown a leaf and told to go find the tree. The leaves/flowers were then stuck on a stick. Looked great, although I'll be back on the "don't pull the leaves of the hedge" rant tomorrow morning.

Fast going ok, although I do have a headache (caffiene withdrawal?) I'm not really hungry, as I held out eating until dinner, and am at under 600 calories for the day. I find having breakfast always starts me snacking through the morning. Next fast day will be Friday, as back at work on Saturday, and I seem to snack a lot there.

Bitchy not that THIS

Back home again from a couple of days at MIL's, which was lovely. Unfortunately, DS1 was copiously sick in the car on the way home, so our hopes that DS2's sickness last week was just something he ate seem to have been dashed. :( Buggers up my plans for the rest of half-term too as café lunch tomorrow and quiet day on Fri with both boys at CM now off the cards. :(

Consequently, since getting in, have been doing masses of washing, scrubbing the car seats etc. Bleugh.

Big waves to everyone and cheerier thoughts for tomorrow.

Whoops! Don't listen to me either! Jeez, show's how much attention I pay

Clearly you are in the wrong place kitandKat if you think this 'orrible lot have a clue

LINKS FOR THURSDAY 30th MAY

We are in Zone 5 The Living Room We are decluttering, or detailed cleaning, in this zone for 15 minutes a day.

Babystep 30 is check your calendar for any birthdays falling in the next month. Get organised in advance with a cards and presents!

The Daily Focus for Thursday is Errand Day.

Today?s Misson is to do a 27-fling-boogie in the Living Room.

The Flight plan for our daily routines, should update automatically.

Finally, the habit for the month of May is to get Moving!

Well I'm finally getting around to a round-up this week. Very sorry! Am going to blame my mobile broadband internet stick!

All well here so far so good! Have not managed any decluttering this month despite my pledge to do so.... so hopefully as somebody else has already said! June can be the new January
Had a busy day - school, then coaching camogie, then horses, then dinner, then attended football training with a 'sore ankle' so spent an hour rescuing balls from behind the goals. Then visited a friend, made phone calls and came on mn! Phew - time for bed!

Have dinner out with friends tomorrow evening and the cinema afterwards! Haven't done either in a while so I'm looking forward to it!

Hello and welcome KitandKat - I have been the abysmal leader of the thread this month! But you?ve only another day or two left with me before Pushme takes over the reins! I would just start slowly with the babysteps and a bit of decluttering in the zone. The most important thing is not to burn out quickly and to build up habits that last!

Oh Blue (hugs) and for the evening you?ve had n cleaning up vomit.
Goth - good to hear that the diet is going well. Please plump up a few cushions in the naughty corner! I can?t wait to join you over there very, very soon!!!! Internet problems have made threadleading harder this past week!
SC at the peeping toms at your bathroom window!!!!! Good luck with the baking. I have an idea of you being a wonderful baker?yum! Don?t forget to leave some in the naughty corner when they?re ready (quality control, of course!)
Toffee well done on your super list today! Love hearing your kitten updates!
CHBitchy I?m coming in there?.to join you. Make mine a mocktail please! On the topic of Lego?would you believe my DH never had any as a child!!!! I think he was deprived!! It was one of my favourite toys. Anyway he plans to rectify that some day when we have dcs to buy it for!!
Swan thanks so much for the well wishes! I?ve everything crossed this time! Please God all will go well with your sister too. Just two weeks between us! Poor mammy cat (and Swan) missng her babies ! Well you?ll just have to do it all over again next year Swan!
Doris I may have to borrow your bell, once you?re done with it. I don?t know if anyone has noticed the lack of a ta-da list from me for most of this month? apart from dinner of course! A girl has got to eat?.
Silvery You are making amazing progress in the Living Room, and I can?t imagine you having to do ANY crisis cleaning?ever! Your lists are the only ones that routinely include detailed cleaning!
Trazzles I love the idea of getting ?dressed to face?! Think I may just steal that one for myself!
Waves to Engels, WhoKnows, Ellie, Fudge, PositiveAttitude, Just , Honu , ComradeJing , JDub, MrsBodger , Foundachopinlizt , Newbie and Fireandblood and the other many people I?m sure I have missed out on!

Thanks for the welcome :) Shit sleep last night so don't expect to get much accomplished and also baby is bored of being indoors after two rainy days so think a toddler group is in order.
I have found two pieces of paperwork that need filling in and posting for my errand today so that is better than nothing.

Ha bitchy but yeah, she's right!
Thanks castle (not goth) (so sorry about that ) I really notice it thought when I've taken a day off or had a few lazy days.

Wanted to ask, how do you all clean your floors? I was using a steam mop until it broke, so now back to normal mop, but past few days I've been trying wipes and doing it by hand. Not sure what method to go for, maybe a bit of both.

List:
make beds
shower and dress
swish and swipe
feed cats
laundry on
rubbish out
tesco run
pay credit cards etc
mission/detail
hotspot
sort dry washing
non iron away
cook dinner (sausage and mash)
play/tidy
stray items
clean kitchen
lay out clothes
shine sink
ironing
study

I'm looking after my friend's ds again today. 9am til 2pm. My ds's want to make bread. Then this afternoon, ds1 has a friend coming over, so that'll be from 2 until after dinner. Gonna be a messy day!!!

Girl cat seems to be ok. Obviously not moving as quickly, but she's ok. They want to see her for a check up tomorrow, not sure about that. She is the world's most nervous animal and although she is friendly and loves attention, it is all on her terms, if she comes and sits next to you and you move your arm/head/foot whatever, she is off and we won't see her again for a while. She will not let anyone pick her up and she doesn't fully trust us (think she was really terrorized in her last home, which is why she is here). To get her in the carry box yesterday, I had to trap her in the back of the wardrobe, throw a towel over her and use quite a bit of pressure to keep hold of her when I grabbed her I don't want to have to do that tomorrow, I don't want to hurt her scar area. I have left the carry box out and secured the door open. Boy cat slept in it all night, he loves it!

Right, had better go get ready. bbl

[SC emerges from cloud of pink Tombola tickets and rabbit fodder to say ...]

Morning all!!

Castle just wanted to say, thanks for links and round-up, you are NOT a crap thread leader, you have been brill! And (looking at long list of things you did yesterday) you need to take it steady! [Offers large fluffy cushion and foot rest]

And 'thank you' for saying June is the new January!! Just as an indicator of the spiralling clutter here, my home office is so messy, I haven't been able to locate my house control journal for nearly 3 wks!

Sorry to hear your ds1 has caught the lurgy Blue [hands over large bottol of Dettol]

Goth day 1 of fasting. Going on your advice and not eating brkfast. (Always makes me hungrier for lunch.) Woodcraft folk sounds fab btw. Wd love to be more knowledgeable about trees.

Kitkat/Silvery/Trazzles I am one of few on here who subscribe to lace-up shoe-wearing. Can't do flip-flops as our house is one large staircase, and proper shoes stop me from curling up on sofa/diving under duvet with a book when I shouldn't.

Encouraging wing flaps to everyone else!

To do:
rabbits (done)
morning routine (late today) inc dw, wm, s&s
quick tidy kitchen
quick tidy hall
tidy dining room table hot spot
quick tidy sitting room
quick tidy play room
hang up fantabulous papier maché fish sculptures dd did at school
sort more laundry
do cool white wash x 2
do grey uniform pinafore/sock wash
wash dd jeans/cords for w/e
bank run
supermarket run (baking ingreds)
haircut?
write/post good luck card to nephew
school run
tennis run
hwk supervision
dance rehearsal supervision
afternoon/eve routine
load of on-line shopping parcels to pack up if time
15 min boudoir declutter if time

HAve a good day one and all!

Add to list so don't forget:
make compote with bruised pears