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!!

Thank you, lovely fledglings. It's just crap, isn't it? We meet up every week and chat (we can both chat for England ). She doesn't have an easy life - and now this.

Anyway, sorry, I didn't mean to stop you all posting your 'ta da' lists. I picked myself up after DS1 came back from school, saw I was sad and gave me a cuddle and a pep talk. He was such a sweetheart. So, my 'ta da' list is.... ...

More bloody ironing

I haven't got a ta-da list . Not much of one anyway.

Whole day pretty much has been spent dealing with SEN law and meetings, personal statementing issue and the the new EHCPs and where it will leave everyone if it goes through as is, but Toffee I'm so sorry about your friend, it does put it all in perspective.
Has she been given any advice or support in how to tell her children?

oh Toffee what will she do now?
How lovely ds1 sounds to comfort you. It makes me just want to hug all my children tight when I hear that news. And it is so awful they didn't pick it up earlier - I suppose we all just think we must carry on whether we are ill or not and not realise just how ill we are..

I've plodded on today. And a few things got done.
Leg of lamb roasted (it was about to go off)
Tidied ds1's room in prep for visiting neighbour son (sleepover - but I'm not feeling very enthusiastic about managing guests today)
half tidied dd's room (took rubbish out)
stripped two beds
swept floors
picked up ds2 from school by car, nice chat, he hopes to be on football team and to my horror he has been entertaining his new friends with renditions of I'm Just A Sweet Transvestite, which I told him was wildly inappropriate I need to get him out of that choir.

Dd and ds1 are home now too. All very relieved it is Friday.
Tomorrow is a busy day unfortunately. Model making, Rugby and Christmas Fair at dd's school. And homework lots of it.

Just - oh dear, that sounds exhausting for you. No, friend hasn't been given any advice on telling the children, as far as I know. She has put it off for as long as possible.

Sorry x-posted earlier. Sorry to hear about your friend toffee

Offs just Hope you can get everything under control

Loads more to add to the ta da list but really cba to rype it out.

Swan - friend has always said she can't get ill and never has been - until now .

Am laughing at the image of your DS singing "I'm a Sweet Transvestite".

I can't say I've accomplished much today.

ta da
morning routine, school runs
checked gas and electric meter
walked to shop and put £ on electric key and topped up electric meter
checked bank
put petrol in car
did grocery shop
met friend for coffee (she was dressed in a chicken suit - raising money for Antony Nolan today, so we'd arranged to be somewhere public this afternoon between the other locations she was at collecting )
brief tidy of living room and kitchen

A few bits of paperwork this evening but mainly just relaxing. I'm waiting to see how well the tin foil behind the radiator and the bubble wrap on a couple windows fares tonight. It did seem a bit warmer in those areas today. I have a few more "warm up the house" things to sort this weekend.

Other than that, I'm going to browse Pinterest (and we all know once you've opened Pinterest NOTHING else gets done ) for homemade Christmas ornament ideas.

Toffee, if you google 'telling children about cancer' it will bring up most of the main cancer charities advice pages on how, when, how much, according to age. Macmillan (and probably others) can also support the parent through the fallout.

Quick ta-dah list (as officially watching Ice Age 2 with DD again)
Beds
Laundry on
Windows
Dd to school
3 hours at 'Helping Hands' cutting, sticking and laminating
Bank
Litter tray
Vacuuming
Ironing
Crocheting
Dinner
Washing up & SS
Dry laundry away
Movie night

DH has a friend over this weekend, so not sure what we'll be up to.

Just - thank you. That'll be useful to her. She has a Macmillan nurse involved now too and I hope the nurse will help with that side of things in future. Winston's Wish are good, but I don't think it's the right time to mention that now.

As for Flying - did some washing and ironing. That's about it. Am going to tackle the kitchen now so that I don't come down to a mess in the morning.

Sorry, didn't get back on here last night.

Toffee I'm really, really sorry to hear about your friend . Such an awful thing to happen.

**

Baby-step, no. 23, for Saturday 23rd November is adding an afternoon routine to your day, and to your cj if you use one.

No zones or missions because it is the weekend (although thinking about it, Flylady always includes zones in the weekend Flight Plan, so maybe I am wrong? Maybe we should still be decluttering for 15 mins in the current zone on Sat and Sun? So maybe I should be saying "no missions" because it is the weekend? What does everyone think?)

Habit of the month is still menu planning. Again, thinking about it, surely it doesn't take 23 days to plan a menu?

And the focus for Saturday is having some family fun.

Anyway, here's today's flight plan and you can make your own minds up!

Have a good day everyone!

**

SC you've highlighted one of the many things I don't understand about the system. But tbh while I'm barely managing more than baby steps anyway, I don't try and do any form of missions at the weekend because it's normally virtually impossible here and ends in family disharmony. Pick your battles and all that.

Toffee how lovely of your ds1 to reassure you yesterday

That's a useful link/tip Just. Also have friend going through similar thing (although at a much less advanced stage than that of Toffee's friend) so will point her in that direction. Your day of meetings sounds onerous in the extreme. Sorry you are still having to battle.

Engels definitely, definitely buy yourself the photo of the run!! YOu deserve it!! (Sorry your dh wasn't there to cheer you on.)

Alice >"met friend for coffee - she was dressed in a chicken suit". God I love this thread!! That really made me laugh! Well done to her though! And your heat-conserving tactics have inspired me to go around this house and start blocking up a few holes, starting with the ruddy great one in the front door (old key hole). (And yes to Pinterest addiction!)

Swan arf at "sweet transvestite" Hope you survived the sleepover and good luck with your demanding day today. (Also wear my coat indoors!!)

(Re hwk: am getting a little concerned here. DD had loads last year and as eveyrone may remember it became quite a bone of contention. This year she has hardly any. When I asked her French teacher aobut it she replied that "everyone is doing quite well and I try and cover most of the work in class". Which is great, and I want to believe in her, but she is quite young/inexperienced, dd tells me there is quite a lot of disruption in the class (only from the boys of course ) and when I look through her exercise books, there doesn't seem to be that much work in them. Who knows?! Here's hoping everything is ok.)

Btw Swan can very much identify with your friend who has the dh who loves to cook. DD and I happily dive on the baked bean/sardine tin + toast when dh is travelling!

The other aspect of having a gourmet dh is that they tend to be quite critical. Last night's boulangère (which took over an hour to prepare) was tasteless and too liquid apparently [harrumph].

Big waves to Goth I imagine the Doctor may feature somewhere in your w/e . DD overcome with excitement about tonight.

Top marks for humungous ta da list Bitchy. Love the sound of your oatmeal bread. And watching crochet square progress with interest (and admiration). Sorry about the app misunderstanding btw - always thought of you as a bit of a tech whizz!

Waves to Blue Dizzy Whoknows Feetheart Picturesinthefirelight Jdub PA Sillybilly Ellie Castle Lauren Silversixpence Rollermum Saturn Nicknacks Rowingboat Jess Imadoozer Honu Stillwearingoddsocks Bogstandard and everyone else I have inevitably missed!

Downstairs looking relatively OK as dd's godfather popped around for supper last night. Was busy all day yesterday from 6am until 9pm-ish but only got through the first part of my to do list. So going to try and finish the rest of it today.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

x post

Just [shares early morning pot of coffee ] No, rarely do missions here at the w/e either (not that I do them that often during the week tbh . (Although must try to sort out boudoir surfaces this weekend as they are all teetering with crapola).

Goodness! Not even 9am and I've already had 2 electrical things crash, one DC vomiting, and a trip to the A&E (took adult DD and DGS as she doesn't drive - he had a bead up his nose - long long story).

I'd like to think the day will settle now. Please?

Not sure how much I'll get done - we'll see.

I always assumed Flylady gives us weekends off decluttering as well as missions, so all we have to do is the basic routines. I certainly don't do them. Quite funny that we don't know for sure after all this time - sort of highlights the fact that we don't just come to this thread for Flying reasons .

SC - yes, DS1 was lovely to me yesterday and I feel really touched by his response. Actually, I feel quite proud that I have such a kind and thoughtful son. He phoned me later on from the skate park to say he was worrying for my friend's son, who he knows from school. We had a chat about it and this time it was my turn to reassure him. (Friend has two children, but one has SNs and was not at the same school as my DS).

I can understand your concern over DD's homework. What a contrast with last year. Do you know any other parents of children in that class that you can share your concerns with?

Going - what is Helping Hands? Hope you have a good weekend with your guest (so CHAOS for you must now mean CAN Have Anyone Over Syndrome ).

Alice - we used this on our windows last year and it was very effective. Keep meaning to get some more, especially as the window in our dining room won't close properly, so there's a constant draught.

Swan - best of luck with your busy weekend.

Bitchy - well done on your long 'ta da' list yesterday. Very impressed by your C** stuff too .

Engels - I agree with SC - you must buy the photo of you on your run. It will remind you of your achievement.

As usual, DS2 woke up early this morning. He always wakes early at weekends , probably so that he can start playing with Lego as early as possible. We now have a Lego city taking up the entire sitting-room floor (not that that is very big), with a Lego train running round the outside. Still don't have the heart to move it, so there won't be any hoovering here for the foreseeable future.

Have some errands to run in town this morning, but should be an otherwise quiet day.

Goodness, Alice, what a shock start to your day! I hope everyone is ok now and that the day settles down.

Toffee we used to use those window films in the states as well, every winter. Ah, the memories of standing in front of every window with a blow dryer, sealing the film.

DD has reported to me that offending item has now been removed, and DGS has been given a stern lecture about beads, noses, and the fact that they don't go together.

Don't get me wrong SC I love getting technology to do what i want it to do. I just hate it when it is the technology bossing me about like it knows the ins and outs of what has to be done. RL is not that predictable and best laid plans need to be changeable without being made to feel guilty about the stuff that doesn't get done. Also I have enough shouting at me with ds when he is in meltdown. Am grateful that at the moment he seems pretty balanced.

Unfortunately all the stress of the last few weeks has caught up with me and I feel like i could sleep for a month straight. There is a to do list for today so having been given breakfast in bed by ds. Sorted his breakfast and cleared the kitchen up ready for some baking I must get up and get him started on the biscuits that need making today. Although, tbh, I could happily crawl back into bed and go back to sleep.

Ta Da from yesterday

• DH to station
• DD to swimming
• DD to school
• Week's menus planned and shopping bought
• Washing load in and hung to dry
• Dry washing put away
• DD to swimming (I am such a slavedriver!)
• Dominos pizza bought (DH out on the town with workmates)
• Quiet night in with DD watching films DH wouldn't sit through!

This morning so far has been quiet though DD has her first loaf of bread proving as I type and we are playing Scrabble whilst eating lunch. The 2 of us are out this evening at a swimming club social whilst DH will stay home and watch Dr. Who

Toffee - Sorry to hear it was bad news for your friend. Certainly brings home how precious life is x

today is definitely a "get nothing done" day. DS2 (4) is determined to spend the day in time out and is bugging his ill brother (7) repeatedly. The only thing done so far is the laundry as I could just toss it in the washer and then into the dryer.

Same here, Alice, though I don't have the excuse of ill children. I have simply been a slattern so far today. Went to bed to late, which always slows me down the next day. I didn't get dressed till midday and have only just tidied up the dining room and kitchen. I did manage to get some washing done and put some clothes away, so that's something. I ignored the creases and put them away un-ironed this time. Oh, and I swished and swiped in the bathroom.

Dizzy - you had a busy day yesterday. Glad you such a nice pizza & film night with your DD.

We will all be watching 'Dr Who' tonight. For several years, DS2 was too young and I used to have to miss it whilst I whisked him off to bed, so it's quite a relief for it to be family viewing for all of us at last.

Had an afternoon nap . Such a treat.

Watching 'Who' shortly...

Evening all,

Been out all day so very little Flying, but the house is presentable as no one was here to mess it up.

Went to the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, we had a voucher this time last year for half price entry and the ticket lasts a year so we thought we'd better go again. Last year's visit was a bit rubbish, we left home on a clear sunny day and when we got there it was freezing cold, wet and windy. The Mary Rose was closed (we did know that), HMS Warrior looked way too windswept to go on, ditto the boat trips and HMS Victory didn't have any available tour slots till late afternoon, so we just scuttled round the indoor bits and left again. Today was great, went to all three, it was a lovely sunny day. The new Mary Rose museum was fabulous. Our ticket expires on Monday, so we have decided to go back again tomorrow, just DH and I and have a really good look at the Mary Rose (we ran out of time today), the DCs are going to be dropped at grandparents en route so everyone is happy.

Off out tonight to a friend's 40th, had to spend the last hour glamming myself up, which is so not me, I'm a jeans and jumpers person, but quite pleased with the results. However I'm sure my feet will be killing me in heels and my dress feels scratchy!

DH would probably rather be watching Dr Who, the rest of us aren't in the least bit interested in it (Jon Pertwee was the Dr last time I watched) so all the fuss this week has gone somewhat over my head.