Remember, remember to Fly through November, but Fledglings will chatter a lot

[BlueEyeshadow]

If you are strugging with C.H.A.O.S. (can't have anyone over syndrome) and S.T.U.F.F. (something that undermines family fun) then this is the thread where we (loosely) follow the step-by-step Flylady housekeeping system (in our own, unique, relaxed style) with lots of chat, support and and along the way.

This little-and-often system is designed so that you can follow a series of steps and routines each day (which gradually become second nature) in zones of the house which are designated weekly; defining and minimising housework - which in theory should leave you with loads more time to do someting more interesting instead!

At the same time it is intended to reduce that panicky "rabbit in headlights" feeling when you are overwhelmed and everything needs doing all at once. No problem if you miss a day or two; just jump right back in and it will all come around next month again!

We advise not signing up to receive the Flylady e-mails as you will be inundated! All the information you need will be linked here on a daily basis.

From the first of the month, we will be 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.]

More info here on getting started and Flying lessons. Here's the launch pad for more experienced fledglings. Don't be put off by the barf-tastic language of the site - the underlying system is sound!

Humungous thanks to SlimChance for leading us through October and such a copy-and-pasteable OP....

All welcome!!

dizzy been there done that with DH as well. Everything just short of putting it away. Is it really that difficult to take that take step or two and just finish the job? Next time maybe I'll put his dinner plate just outside the dining room on the floor. When he asks why it's there, I'll say "it's almost there. Isn't that good enough?"

Sorry to barge in and not acknowledge the thread (will do that later) but desperately need support. We have a couple coming to view our house (we are trying to sell, been on the market since August and this is only our second viewing ).

BUT house is not looking good. We've got til 2pm to sort house out including finishing papering fireplace in living room. We've known since Weds but as our bad luck would have it, I've either been working late or little people have been unsettled (think baby is teething) so just haven't got as much done as we wanted.

Feel all panicky now but trying to take it 15 mins at a time -aargh

Welcome Iam. I think just get as much put away as you possibly can, 15 mins per room. If you have insufficient storage, or are worried about people peeking into overflowing cupboards I would shove all the clutter in binbags and either put them in the car or the loft, somewhere out of sight. Then you can run the vac round, dust any obviously bad bits, make beds neatly and give the bathroom and kitchen a quick clean to make them sparkly. Open some windows for a bit to get fresh air in and then pop the heating on to make it feel cosy.

Morning all.

Have an unexpected morning to myself. DSIL has taken dc's to cinema and then lunch, DH at work so it is just me.

Sorry for not posting through the week but school is mad post ofsted and have been asleep on the sofa by half eight every night!

Friday night however seems to give me some energy bizarrely and i cleaned and tidied whole house last night. This morning i am so glad i did so not too much to do.

Ta da:-
Washing
Put away a gazillion clothes
Drying
Washing up
Made beds
S/s bathroom

Am now going to make the most of the time i have and go to the gym when this washload has finished. Then on to do a foodshop and town to pick up a few bits.

Have a good day everyone!

iamadoozer. I second what whoknows says. Clear as much clutter as possible hiding it where you know they won't look. 15 mins per room. And then go back to the beginning.

toffee is it you that watched Walking Dead. Have you seen last night's?

My suggestion, Iam, is that one of you does the fireplace and the other starts on a crisis clean. Pop the toddler in front of the telly, if that's the only way to get some spare time, and maybe wear the baby in a sling whilst you work. That means 15 minutes in each room, then move onto the next room and so on around the house till it's respectable. Personally, I grab a black bin liner for the rubbish and chuck it in as I go. If there are a lot of papers around, I chuck them all in a box and hide them somewhere. Your aim is to hide the clutter. If you don't have time to wash up, run bubbly hot water and fill the sink with washing up, so it looks as if you're doing it. Or hide it in the dishwasher (preferable). Any washing up that is draining on the side can be covered with a tea towel if you don't have time to put it away.

Aim for as many empty surfaces as possible.

Swish and swipe in the bathroom and wipe down your kitchen taps - it gives a good impression if they are sparkly.

It helps to have nice smells, so simmer some cinammon sticks in a saucepan on the stove if you have any. Or brew some coffee.

Best of luck!

My ta da list so far:

Sliced burnt edges off cake
Made paper Minecraft figures with DS2 for his party tomorrow
Sort out music for the party

To do :

(much of this won't make sense if you don't know Minecraft)

Get dressed (still in dressing gown)
Ice the cake (which means chocolate buttercream icing on the sides, with crumbled Oreos for dirt, and iced green grass on top. It's a Minecraft dirt block)
Make fondant Minecraft figures
Decorate the cake
Make black Rice Krispie cakes (coal)
Prepare Minecraft snacks
Buy bread for sandwiches
Pack party stuff in boxes
Check that I have everything (nb: candles and matches)
Print extra Minecraft printables and stick on cocktail sticks for the food
Print templates for Creeper balloons
Try not to panic

ellie - do you mean episode 4? Yes, if so. I am glued to it. Amazingly, I am completely unmoved by the zombies these days - in fact, I find them quite entertaining, even though I hate gore and horror.

Toffee do you know they are selling a Minecraft Annual in Sainsbury for £4. I have a Minecraft crazy DS too, it's pretty good. Hope your party goes well for you. I always spend my time Panicinking that everyone and especially DS are having the best time in the world, Slowly learning to enjoy it too!!

Still in pj as having a quiet day today, maybe do a couple of 15 minutes de-clutters, also 6.5 mile run (in training). And then going to a firework party later. So quite peaceful compared to Sunday.

Tomorrow, we have the Remembrance parade, Rugby and then hideously a 3 hr party at a swimming pool, Ds4 and ds5 aren't strong swimmers and there are waves, so I will be having put on a swimming costume in front of other parents and help out!! . Not looking forward to this!

So doubt any flying will be done this weekend!

Update:

thank you to everyone for their brilliant suggestions.

Fireplace is done and looks fab. Unfortunately, it was a 2 person job but was better than it looking half done.
DH tackled small bedroom and shoved stuff in loft and it looks good, so can cross that one off
Boys made their beds, tidied some of their toys and books and then played lego batman on the wii whilst we did fireplace and baby napped
So next on list is bathroom and kitchen

Getting there slowly but surely

Well done, Iam. I love the way you have roped in the boys to help too .

Angry - luckily, I managed to get a deal on the album from the Book People. However, I have just realised we are one short, so am going to have to nip down to WH Smith later, where they are selling one for 5.99, but you get an extra one for £1. I'm sure I will find a boy somewhere who will want one for Christmas.

I find the parties stressful too, but am sharing it with a friend this year, so that is taking the strain off a bit.

Right, have had a long soak in a hot bath, washed my hair, renovated my face and am now ready to start icing .

I've only just got dressed, having an extreme lazy morning here. DS decided last night to give hockey a miss this morning, I'm not normally one for letting them miss activities unless they are ill, but he has had such a hectic week. Also it's been chucking it down with rain all morning.

We've got Remembrance Parade tomorrow too for both DCs, the weather looks much more promising. I'm going out with friends tonight, DD is going to a firework display with a friend and DS (who doesn't like displays but will watch from a distance) is staying at home with DH - we normally do a few ourselves, but a bit worried about frightening the cats. They have not seemed bothered by the ones earlier in the week though.

A little bit of a thread hijack, but I've written an Open Letter to Michael Gove about what's going on at school.

Gym done. Food shop done. Time for a and a sit down me thinks.

Yes toffee I meant episode 4. I was quite sad at the end. Like you, I am immune to zombie gore now. If you had told me a year or so ago that my favourite programme would be a zombie fest I would have laughed in your face. Now, spend the entire week waiting for it.

iamadoozer well done.

SC it's feast or famine with the children's things. SIL in Ireland is having baby twins, and I was wondering whether to buy her a baby snowsuit as a present as I wandered round John Lewis yesterday, £28 for one (and we don't know gender of babies yet). It seems a reasonable enough price for a treasured new baby (or two) yet I can't help remembering all the belatedly useful children's clothes I have blithely passed on. Too late! (all that money down the drain, let alone the sentimental associations) However, such is life, we have to move forward...and it is nice to buy presents.. In the end I bought her one of those white lacy feathery wool shawls as I don't think that will be on the modern mum's radar (yet immensely useful to drape over you when feeding

toffee It cannot fail to be a wonderful party!! It will be over soon!!

Whoknows enjoy having ds home. So lovely he was cherished by teachers and did so well.

I was just feeling at my wits' end what with quarrelling, mismatched saucepan lids (dh being a pain whilst cooking and demanding vital equipment) boys still haven't done homework, raised voices and dd seems to have broken the computer whilst trying to install copy and paste function. Aargh and now she insists she has to visit a friend living an hour away, because friend doesn't have a bus pass. No way. She is being a complete drama queen this morning/afternoon - her jeans were split, she needed an iphone5 or noone would like her, she had to do her homework (on broken computer) ds1 had insulted her by mentioning chocolate biscuits, and etc.

However, I am cheered as usual by everyone's news on this thread and feel slightly more relaxed...

Blue In our area there seems to be a lot of obfuscation from council, but no academy primaries yet. Dd's secondary is an academy, I'm not yet sure what that means for her education. I was v interested to read your post: I feel v illinformed on the subject of academies and what is wrong with them.

Well, I have iced the birthday cake and made the Rice Krispie cakes, but DS2 has been helping me all the time, which means it has taken hours. He has also made an entire Minecraft world out of fondant icing which he wants to put on the top of the cake .

DH spotted that I was becoming increasingly frazzled and has taken DS2 off to watch a Powell & Pressburger war film instead . Am going to sit down quietly now, with a cup of tea, and attempt to mould some Minecraft figures...

Blue - sorry for what your school is going through. That sounds so underhand of the council. I hope the public opposition is strong enough to change things for the better.

WhoKnows - what happened about your DD's sniffles? Are they gone? And have the cats settled in now?

ellie - I was sad too. And, like you, I spend all week waiting for the next one. It's my favourite programme on TV at the moment . I am so immune to zombie gore now that I was actually fascinated, rather than shocked, by the decomposing zombie at the foot of a tree the other week. I wish the TV company would make a programme about how they did all the special effects. DH and I have been speculating about it. How do the heads come off, for instance? (Sorry for gory thread hijack).

Swan - I hope you're right about the party. I always worry so much just before. The shawl you bought your SIL sounds gorgeous. I very much enjoyed buying presents for a mum-to-be recently - it was like reliving my own pregnancy.

toffee I've been reading avidly your descriptions of lovely mine craft goodies. Ds1 is 10 in a few weeks and mine craft obsessed , he'd love a creative mum like you. Sadly I'm rubbish on that front so he'll have to make do with a shop bought cake (local baker's though ).

swan I can join you with the baby shopping too! Some of you have read about my sil's plight of miscarriages this year, well she has reached 12 weeks so finally starting to relax and I'm so excited at becoming an auntie! :) this will be our first niece/nephew.

Toffee I don't know anything at all about Minecraft, but it sounds like you have it all covered. I'm sure it looks wonderful!

ellie I used to watch walking dead with DH, but about the time that Governor or whatever he was called came back, I got irritated. I hate it when the show doesn't go the way I want it to.

ta da

• washing up
• two loads of laundry (still not sure where it's all coming from!)
• completely wiped down the kitchen counters and tidied them up
• put up some more Christmas decorations
• folded laundry and put away

to do
Sit back with cup of coffee and enjoy looking at 2 new cookbooks.

Excellent Alice, I desperately want to put up some decs but Dh doesn't like it! but now I am not the first I can start.

I went with "well, with 5-6 boxes of decorations, unless they're going to just sit in boxes on the dining room table for the next 3 weeks, I need to start putting them up properly."

I'm not planning on doing much tomorrow. It's my birthday and I'm going to just enjoy the day. DD and SIL are taking us out to a nice lunch, and I'm really looking forward to a lovely family lunch out.

Ignores talk of putting up Christmas decorations

NickNacks - not so much creative as good at copying other people's work . There's a lot online about Minecraft parties now. If you want any tips, I'll pm you useful links.

Alice - I hope I've got it all covered .

Ta da :

Get dressed (still in dressing gown)
Ice the cake (which means chocolate buttercream icing on the sides, with crumbled Oreos for dirt, and iced green grass on top. It's a Minecraft dirt block)
Make fondant Minecraft figures
Decorate the cake
Make black Rice Krispie cakes (coal)
Prepare Minecraft snacks
Buy bread for sandwiches

Am off to have an early night (feel exhausted now), so the following are delegated to tomorrow morning:

Pack party stuff in boxes
Check that I have everything (nb: candles and matches)
Print extra Minecraft printables and stick on cocktail sticks for the food
Print templates for Creeper balloons
Try not to panic

The printables and templates are added extras and not essential if I run out of time. At least the cake is done.

DS2 is very excited that he's having his party tomorrow, but then will still have his birthday to look forward to the following weekend. I'm glad that the party will be over and done with by then, so I can just relax and enjoy his day with him.

Probably won't have time to pop in tomorrow, so hope you all have a relaxing day.

Have a great birthday.

Oh, Alice, just spotted that it's your birthday tomorrow. So here's some early and . Enjoy your day .

Sorry posted before finished typing.

Have a great birthday Alice.

Hope the party runs smoothly Toffee and your DS has a great day.