December already! Fledgings will sleigh the pre-Christmas clutter (and eat all the mince pies)

[GoingGoingGoth]

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 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!

Thanks to BlueEyeshadow and SlimChance for the November thread.

All welcome!! And remember that December is the new January!

SUMMARY

Whoknows had a good school fair yesterday and now has glittery nails. Good Luck with the decorations tomorrow, is it a family affair or are you a control freak?
Think the family Christmas Carol performance sounds great.

dizzyday was up at 6am, I'm sure the swimming gala will be worth it.

giraffes had a Disney day with a poorly DD, that sounds lovely (the films not the vom), and is on top of the Christmas Cards
(I'm STILL waiting for DD's designed ones from school to arrive )
I agree with Angry, do the Elf this year.

Engles gave us a crash course in sinterklaas. Wow, all that and then Christmas!
So pleased you posted after completing the cellar, would have worried you were trapped by a big spider. Why do you have a milk churn? (Visions of Heidi)

Toffee had some well deserved 'me' time with a night out, then cut and colour.

Paint is ordered into naughty corner well stocked with meds as she has pleurisy! I hope you re taking it very easy, and will keep doing so until you are FULLY better. sorry now have Billy Connolly's Welly Boot Song going through my head

Gossip overslept due to quiet kids! Although it may be partly due to illness.

Good news with the 2 Stars of the Week.

Angry blitzed DC's bedroom, after discovering their decorating.

Bitchy had great fun getting very cold and muddy with DS. Enjoy your bath, it's the soak afterwards that just makes those days perfect.

OddSocks has also experience the trauma of old salt dough So pleased it's not just me.

I scored big in the parenting game today, we took DD to a book signing by Julia Donaldson! Then did a bit more Christmas shopping, (found some cracker snaps, so that's another thing on the 'To Do' list) and finished with pizza & ice-cream, in front of Harry Potter.

Urrghh kitchen is now messy again, I cooked, so will need to tackle that, on the second flower for the blanket of the night, I swear this is the most laborious part!

No control freak here Goth - the DCs have helped decorate it and we have all sorts of stuff on it, the only rule is no tinsel.

A good day here, we all loafed about till about 9.30 and then swung into action as I had reminded everyone that we were only going to get a Christmas tree today if the house was tidy first. The DCs didn't actually do much tidying but they did play really nicely together and keep out of our way which is the next best thing. So, after lunch, off to the Forestry Commission place to get a tree. Then the DCs were booked in to try trampolining at the sports centre, having not been for a couple of years. DS wants to sign up to do it regularly, I'm hoping there will be space next term.

The home to start decorating and out again for DD and I, we went to see the drama group she is joining after Christmas do their performance, it was really good. Got home at 9.30, did a bit more decorating and promised to leave the rest for the DCs to do in the morning. I'm going to wrap some presents now and do the non-tree decorations. Replacing or refreshing a few this year as it has dawned on me that most of them are 20 years old now and look it!

Hope all the poorly people feel better quickly. Paint - pleurisy, you poor thing, my friend had it once and it wiped her out, take it easy.

Sounds like everybody has had a good day. Ours was rather mixed.

DD and I sat around for hours waiting for the time for her first race and then due to some confusion she missed her heat! To say she was devastated is a bit of an understatement. But, showing true grit and determination she pulled herself together and completed a perfect IM. No reduction in time but she was against tough competition (11yr olds in same heat). She's been tucked up in bed as we are up at the crack of dawn as warm ups for Day 2 are at 8.20am and the venue is an hour away! Fingers crossed all goes OK as this is her best event and she is only 4seconds off getting a County time.

Ta-Das

• Brought Xmas lights in from the garage for DH to put up
• Out to gala
• Washed pots and shined sink
• Bags repacked for the morning

Giraffe I am in the UK and have the extremely bad habit of not getting to bed before 2am. Must go early tonight as I'm dead on my feet!
Gossip I am sure that at DD's school everybody gets to be Star at least once during the school year

Good luck to dd today dizzy.

Up early because of a wriggly ds with a dirty nappy

ta da
washing on
breakfast (bacon and eggs)

To do
washing up
declutter kitchen
finish christmas cards

going to stick with the power of three! Lots more to be done (inc bedding, more washing in and away, ironing, christmas tree, marking, plants rest of bulbs before it's too late).

Goth no idea why we have a milk churn. But this house has been in dh's family for well over 50 years. Before ww2 was one house then split after with housing shortage. Dfil grew up here...he remembers an American soldier sheltering him under a tank during a bombardment/battle during the liberation of the netherlands.At one point house was a small holding with lots more land and dh told me they used to slaughter pigs in the cellar (there's a big concrete sink thing on the floor in the corner) but he may be winding me up!

Those who are feeling poorly, I hope you feel better soon. Paint I know someone who cracked a rib when they had pleuresy so please take care of yourself.

DH announced yesterday that our house depresses him because it's so cluttered. The irony being, of course, that it has been years since he lifted a finger in the decluttering stakes. He had a huge go at me which ended up in him sitting watching football while I looked after both DCs and tidied the front room. He's now decided that the problems in the whole house stem from the computer desk which is a bit of a dumping ground and is actually in our hallway (weird house design).

This has now become number one on the list of things that must be decluttered. It fills me with dread because it just is physically impossible to keep tidy. I just want to scream at him that he lives in this house too and if he wants it tidy then he needs to actually start contributing to that state!

Anyway, today we have a family trip to buy the tree and then Decorate it with the DCs. Might be a tad emotional. DH is going to take immense amounts of cardboard to the tip. Hoorah!

On Friday after weeks of begging our medical waste bin was delivered so my house no longer smells of poo. Result! We have just gone to fortnightly collections and the extra waste from DS' nappies and feed paraphernalia is just ridiculous.

Anyway , DH seems happier now it's all off his chest and we are both under a huge amount of stress right now. Today is also the last day of DS' treatment - desperately hoping for it to be the last day of treatment ever. And the next fortnight brings end of treatment scans.

Silly I'm sorry to hear your son has been having hospital treatment. Fx that it goes well at his next appt.

I had a meltdown with my dh over clutter last week. It's mostly HIS rubbish cluttering all the storage space (garage, cellar, attic, computer room, shed, wardrobe! ) which means there isn't room to store anything and we have lots of things without homes.

Clearing the cellar yesterday was a first step. I am now responsible for painting the cellar walls as DH can't stand up in there. Once that is done, shelves, storage boxes and we can start finding homes for things. Will mean that the attic is cleared out a bit so thatcan become a real, usable space for DH and I to work and play - it's going to be my workspace, and DH will have his computer and guitars upstairs as well. Then we will gradually empty the home office and that will become bedroom for Dc2 (we hope- as long as I get allclear from hospital onFriday we will be back ttc).

Then garage will be sorted into workshop for dh and more organised storage and potting shed area for me. Shed will be cleared, demolished and an extension to become a dining room/utility room with doors leading into the garden.

And the garden? First step is paving the derelict section behind garage which will be play area for ds. We have a tower/slide from dbil to put up. Last derelict section is currently a dumping ground for tiles/bricks will be cleared last when garage is done, rest of house and we are ready for extension.

phew!

that's our grand plan! It's on MNnow so no backing out.

However, none of that is going to get done if I don't start with the small stuff. Time to do washing up, tidy kitchen and finish my damn Christmas carxs!

bbl

Engels it's me! Traz!

And meant to say, it has always been my dream to play the piano, but we don't have much room. Once we are started with the cellar/attic as sorted places I would like to get a decent sized keyboard. And when the extension is done (we're talking years here!) a real piano! DH has just started his guitar lessons so I am feeling inspired.

Have ticked off a lot of ambitions the last few years: learning another language, writing a terrible book, running in races (edging closer to half marathon and marathon every year!). Now it's time for some music (must get back into dance as well...I have a very underused pair of tap shoes in the corner!).

Oops! Missed that one! Good disguise!

Fx for J.

Are you published, Engels ?

I only ask because I read a lot on the Kindle and various friends and relatives have self-published and their books are really good!

Haven't caught up at all but wanted to say "Enjoy the Santa Run" to Buddha and littleBuddhas

Have a good day everyone. Hopefully BBL.

dizzy - well done to minidizzy! Fingers crossed that she beats the county time today. Make sure you get to bed before 2am today (I am guilty of the same, incidentally).

Engels - looks like a great grand plan of your. Sympathies on the clutter, which is an ongoing issue in the Toffee household too.

Trazzles - glad the medical waste bin is being collected now, but, honestly, not fair that you had to fight to get this. As if you need anything else to cope with. Sympathies, as above, on the clutter issues. And on the DH having a go at you - you are being immensely understanding and I hope he realises that. Everything crossed for J at hospital today and over the next two weeks. x

Persuaded DH to let me have a lie in this morning. He was very reluctant, but as I have been surviving on approx five hours' sleep per night for the last few nights and he's been having at least eight and sometimes more, I think he realised he couldn't really argue.

Loads to do today, but am starting it off with a bath and pampering session. Then will tackle the list:

To do :

Me time
Write Xmas cards
Remind DS2 to write his Xmas cards
Wrap some presents and sort out stocking fillers
Ironing, ironing and more ironing
Tidy our bedroom
Tidy up Lego on DS2's bedroom floor (persuade him to help)

Also, we might go out and buy an artificial Christmas tree. I have always vowed never to have an artificial one, so this is a U-turn for me. My PIL's used to bring theirs down from the loft every year, complete with decorations, and I thought that was so sad and lacking in Christmas spirit. Well, that was before I had DC and lived in a tiny house. We can only fit in a tiny tree, thanks to lack of space, and small trees are always a funny shape, in my experience. I want a proper triangular tree. Suddenly dawned on me that getting a good artificial tree might actually look better than the funny-looking real tree we buy every year - as well as being loads easier to manage.

Last Christmas was really difficult and I vowed that this year would be different. So I have delegated present buying for the DC back to family (whereas before I bought and wrapped them myself on their behalf) and am planning on buying as much ready-made food as possible. An artificial Xmas tree is another thing that will make it so much easier.

Not published! Have an unedited nano novel languishing on a hard drive!

we have an artifical tree and so do my dps. Just remember that you have to store it somewhere for the rest of the year!

ta da
washing up
hob and kitchen surfaces
2nd load of wash on
emptied paper and plastic recycling
kitchen and bathroom bins emptied
downstairs bathroom cleaned inc floor

next...deal with clutter pile in kitchen which includes Christmas cards. Has been divided into one ft or me and one for dh...he's been told I t must be sorted today!

I had to be up with ds every 2 hrs last night. I am very grateful for the fact that after he rescued a harry potter film he dissappeared off and let me sleep til gone ten other wise I would not be in a state to function.

ta da
deal with virusy no voice can't breath wheezy sneezy snot boy
1 load of washing on
sort out the rest of the plan for finish making a clock ds has designed and been making
internet admin
sort out stuff for ds' going away at end of week
replan how tomo is going to work - ds not going to be fit to send to school
2nd load of washing on

ta da
normal morning routine
washing up
first load of laundry in washer
tidied up kitchen
tidied up living room
2 cups of coffee... must have third soon!

to do
at least one more load of laundry, preferably two
put out recycling and food recycling bins for morning collection
review this week's expenses
review this week's Christmas costs (planning on purchasing a couple presents this week)
review Christmas food and menu
put together shopping list for just before Christmas
finish Christmas cards to send locally
put together "to do" list for Monday - I suspect it will be a long one!

Paint hope you're feeling better soon. DD used to get pleurisy a lot when she was younger - it was just awful.

I will go back and catch up a bit later today - the last couple days have been crazy hectic and I've been slacking.

Ta da
my kitchen pile successfully sorted
changed beds

moving onto Christmas cards now then next job is to declutter dining table

I have an artificial tree, I had a real one once and felt very sad on new year when it lost all of its needles and died, and yes although its fully biodegrable I still felt sad taking it to the tip, dp wanted a real one this year, I said no :( pennies are tighter than normal :(. And the one I have is 11 years old ! And still going strong, can you get trees in pots that stay alive all year round? Planning on following babysteps today :)

ta da
deal with virusy no voice can't breath wheezy sneezy snot boy
1 load of washing on
sort out the rest of the plan for finish making a clock ds has designed and been making
internet admin
sort out stuff for ds' going away at end of week
replan how tomo is going to work - ds not going to be fit to send to school
2nd load of washing on
boil up hand warmers
collect laundry from around the house
discover leaning tower of cds that need de scrathing and putting away - watch in horror as disks are sent scattering down eerywhere
45mins in my room
put 3rd load washing on
find a small no mess science kit to keep ds occupied

Ta da
Christmas cards for DH family and all my "foreign cards" (and that's most of them!).

To do tomorrow
Buy more Christmas cards and get stamps

Hope it is ok to rejoin again .
To do
Everything (so much worse as DS2 is home for a long weekend for the first time since Xmas last year and leaves everything everywhere but it is just so good to see him)
and DS1 has come home too to see DS2, he cooks everything while he is here which is lovely but does not do dishes and uses every dish possible.
He is currently preparing a chicken and bacon salad for lunch whilst I rest mumsnet
Two more weeks of term to get through although next week is mainly taken up with activities.

TA DA
Went out geocaching ,despite having a horrendous cough. just so as DH could use our new gps which was our Xmas present to each other.
Stocked up in Iceland party food while it is half price.
Two loads of washing, one lot tumble dried and put away.

HI Blueand white. The more the merrier Ho Ho Ho

Ta da
Ironing
Load from tumble drier folded
Meat out of freezer for dinner

Off to put clothes away and get DS up from his nap.

To do
Dining table clutter
Christmas tree

Hope that the poor ill ones are feeling a bit better and aren't overdoing it. (Pampering month any one? I expect we are all ignoring that habit)

Just about to have my third coffee and will then do an hour of flying. Hoping to go out for a walk. Was up late wrapping and then stressing about presents.

2014 resolution will - again - be keep a less slutternly tidy house.

And going - look I'm checking in at least twice a day now

Ta da
#made bed

swished and swipe

#washed pots, am yet to shine sink
#load of washing done
#checked calendar, (glad I did as I have 2 docs apps this week)
#declutter hall - so I sorted hat scarf and gloves bag into boxes

2 min hotspot (ds1 did a very good job with this)

Dp got the tree out and I told the lazies if they wanted it up and to help with the decorating then they need to tidy downstairs, in the meantime dp put the stereo in the loft, where we found another bedroom, which might help when a baby comes along providing we ask the landlord if we can use it :D. Obv not for baby but for ds1 ...