Feisty Fledgling Flyers flutter through Feb with flair, finesse, flaws, failures, fortitude, feedback, fiascos, fabulousness, friendship and fun!

[sanschocolat]

[The fiascos are all mine btw !!]

And just for Just, February is the new January that was the new January before

If you are struggling 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 wine and cake 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 something 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!

It’s up to you, but 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!

Points to keep in mind:
(1)No perfectionism allowed - this is harder than you would imagine
(2)You are never behind just start where you are and anything you do is progress.
(3) It didn't get into a mess overnight, it won't get tidy over night - accept it will take time to get on top of things and you will be happier.

Humungous thanks to Bitchy for steering us through the hectic January thread and for the wise three-line mantra above.

All regulars, lurkers and newcomers welcome!!

I did the socks tonight before I knew it was a mission

Eustacia I do like getting missions i have already just done. makes me feel like i know what i am doing although since i have been here pretty much since the first thread i bloody well should do by now

Evening went fine, with a little help from two friends, one of whom brought DD home form ballet so I could go back after dropping her and get on, the other took DS to Cubs so I could get to the vets. Had a few problems getting the cats into their carrier, but they were well behaved once we got there. The vet thinks No2 probably has a bit of stress related cystitis (I suspect due to next door's tom who intimidates her by staring in our windows a lot). So, various tablets etc to give her and am going to put out a couple of extra litter trays.

Not much Flying, did manage 3 lots of laundry in the end, ironing still to do. I decluttered a big pile of old receipts/instructions while trying to find the code number for the WM to order the new seal.

oh dear SC remember, the Customer is always right! You, and dd are the customer (with re to school)
Do they have any helpful advice or was it just annoying?

Any advice anyone gives me which is not SMART, I'm afraid to say I cannot exactly remember what that acronym stands for but it is something educational and goaly, and has achievable, and time frame in there somewhere I now pay no attention to.

Unless it is from such a saintly person that it makes me think in a whole new dimension

done
lovely evening (partly because dh was in bed)
enjoyed watching Tough Young Teachers with ds1, who was shocked at the teachers being so inexperienced
dd wandered around looking for mudguards, shinpads and gumshields to no avail
ds2 went to bed after dh read him a story

and ds1 suddenly announced he needed to bring in his AIRFIX MODEL WITH PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE for d of e by Friday!!! No way. No xxxng way! I'll have to ring the teacher and say we thought it was March they wanted it by.

recycling out
plates in dw again
milkbottles out
surfaces wiped
uniform out
PE kit washed
loo unblocked
confiscated ds1's radio and phone

toffee it seems only yesterday you were putting all the evidence for the statement together, you are amazing to have completed it all.

Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely.

Whoknows.

WHy is the mumsnet logo rainbow in colour? HQ been at the gin again?

SC - the fiasco about your gas supply is frustrating, but I love the image of you and the two men having a chat and coffee together on each visit. You'll be swapping birthday presents next.

WhoKnows - I'm fretting I haven't done enough actually. And I'm a bit apprehensive about possible phone calls from school or the learning centre once they hear about my application. Ah well, it's all out of my hands for the moment. Glad you took the cats to the vet, by the way. Sounds like you've found the reason for the random wee.

Bitchy - thank you for asking the very question I've been asking myself every time I log on today. I'm afraid it may be something very obvious, but I haven't any idea what it means.

Have spent the evening glued to the sofa, watching American dramas ('Walking Dead', Ellie?). DH did some washing up. Kitchen still looks like a bombs hit it, but it can wait till tomorrow .

Off to bed. Night all.

bomb's, not 'bombs'.

I have done Sweet Fanny Adams today except spend all day glued to the winter Olympics. The bizarre thing is I have never had any inclination to go skiing etc as snow is far too cold!

Ta Da

• Ironed Brownie uniform
• DD to Brownies
• Fed us all (ready meal night)
• Washing load on and hung to dry

We heard today that DD hasn't been selected for her individual event in the County Championships. Only 6 swimmers were selected and she missed out by 0.34 seconds!! :( She is rather disappointed but at least she has the team relays on Sunday to focus on and as I splashed out and bought her a legsuit as I promised that has lessened the blow.

Toffee/Bitchy - The logo change is to show support for anti discrimination in relation to sport

So they are supporting gay rights at the olympics. Fair enough. surely the two men luge does enough of that?

Thanks for all your support. I'm still here, still alive, tentatively flapping my wings

Thanks for links sanschocolat .

I can manage today's babystep.
And I'll spend 15 mins de littering in the bathroom. I'm going to be ruthless and throw out half the cosmetic stash in there. I will never use most of it. That's my aim for today, that and 15 mins emergency cleaning on the bathroom/ensuite.

Ha read decluttering for delittering, although not a bad substitution by predictive text! But things aren't quite that bad in the bathroom!

What lovely messages of support sans and swan Today is my big clean truth be told I'm going to do a 'house rescue' a domestic intervention

Food and Guests I love to entertain and have kids over for parties and playdates but havnt done so for a long time because ive enjoyed being much more chilled about the house but now it is CHAOS. I always used to cook some 'sepcial' and buy tons of stuff, fresh flowers in, posh handsoap out etc.....Now I buy a few choice things from M&S and do a hot or cold buffet! OR I jut do a lasagne with fancy saladardy things.

This Friday is my DD's birthday so I have 5 adults and 5 toddlers to feed and entertain. I am doing a cold buffet of finger foods. It will be well presented in the them of the party. I must get downstairs clean today so I can do decs and bake cupcakes tomorrow.

Ive already got off to a good start:
DD fed DS fed/dressed + school run
Dishwasher done
Laundry done (alas the first of many)
Picked up all the jumble in bedroom and put on bed ready to sort
Decluttered large wall unit in living room done -
Worksurfaces and hobtop wiped done
Swept up pile done

I have this huge list - this is the result of not flying

Porch
Clear coat pile and shoes
Clean mirror/door/spot clean walls
Mop floor
Toilet
Srub toilet and surrounding wall floor
Clean sink
Mop floor
Replenish soap and towel
Living room
Dust window sil/skirting/wall unit/high level/blinds
Polish sideboard/wall unit/side tables
Hoover
Shampoo Carpet (vax)
Spot clean marks on sofa (vax)
Change curtains over and matching cushions
Check im still alive
Kitchen
Put all bonfire documents in box
Put box in garage (if it stops raining as it is detached)
Tidy DD's toys in corner
Clean patio doors/kitchen window
Wipe down and polish table/chairs
Wipe over all door fronts
Declutter window sill/top of fridge
Empty container under leaky sink
Wipe round fridge ready for shopping
Mop floor

Prepare chicken dinner (didn't do yesterday after all)
Pick DS up
Try to get Cubs sweater.

Nooooooooo don't spot clean the sofa - it will show up dreadfully, you know this is only going to end up with you doing the whole sofa so it looks clean...

I have procrastinated over Doc appointment - no time today and should really haul ass into shower and wash my hair. Need to to a patch test tonight.

Feel like crap, and 4 cups of coffee later i really cba. Long drive tonight and i would be lying if i said i wasn't hoping snow would put a stop to it. Ds on the other hand is excited and motivated and really really wants to go!

Spot clean? No such thing. I agree - you'll clean the whole thing. You know you will!!

I am trying to decide between two different spreadsheets - can't decide which one I like best, so am doing both for the next month or so until I see which one is actually easier, then will go with that in future. Will most likely do my head in until I decide.

I'm still here bitchy Ill have sofa sore to spot clean if I dont move soon. Ive had two cups of hopeful coffee best not get to 4 if it makes you cab

I shall spot clean the sofa as it has like patches on it then Im going over with the upholstry attachment on fax so i got that covered! Thats why the last job is 'check im still alive'

Its raining, its not looking hopeful for cub uniform.

Must move, must move NOW oh and you ring GP's bitchy.

Can't just about to head to work and they will only have emergency appointments left for today. it will wait to tomo when i can be about for an emergency appointment. Need new inhalers at the least and antibiotics and steroids at the worst. still breathing and still have lung that can be coughed up.

normally 4 cups of coffee sees a list as long as a mile from me. this is when i know i am ill

I hope you feel better soon bitchy the weather cant be helping at all.

Hi alice spreadsheets, is this for budgetng or cleaning lists

thinking - goodness, you have got a lot on your plate! Good luck with that list. Stay away from Mumsnet - you'll get much more done .

ta da

DS2 to school (very reluctant boy - wish I could send him to a school he liked )
DS1 at home again
Waved off DH to dentist's appointment (having a tooth out)
Emails
Unloaded/reloaded w/m
Washed up extra stuff by hand
Shined sink
Wiped down counters
Room rescue in sitting room
Dusted sitting room
Put throw back on sofa (in heap on floor)
Hoovered throughout downstairs
Mopped hall and kitchen
Swept and wiped down stairs
Decluttered dining-room table
Put recycling stuff out
Prepared OU stuff for tutor's phone call
Lunch for DS1
Friend here for lunch
DH back from dentist with very swollen jaw
First tutorial with OU tutor on phone (was worried, but she was lovely)
Waved off friend
Tackled spot (very bad idea - now worse)
Mumsnet time before school run

Thanks for explaining the rainbow logo, dizzy.

done
up at sparrows (5.30 ) for some reason
got up at 6.30
drove dd to school, dropping ds2 on way (early lesson)
spent several hours in traffic jam on way home
collected some paperwork
meeting at school at 11.15 for ds2. Useful chat, slightly got carried away when I mentioned subject of ds1 too who is also known to SEN dept, re: Airfix.
drove home
had nap
woke up
going to pick up ds2.

My quick copy and paste update. I'll do my personals later

DD fed DS fed/dressed + school run
Dishwasher done
Laundry done (alas the first of many)
Picked up all the jumble in bedroom and put on bed ready to sort
Decluttered large wall unit in living room done -
Worksurfaces and hobtop wiped done
Swept up pile done

I have this huge list - this is the result of not flying blush

Porch
Clear coat pile and shoes done
Clean mirror/door/spot clean walls done
Mop floor done
Toilet done
Srub toilet and surrounding wall floor done
Clean sink done
Mop floor done
Replenish soap and towel actually I'll put it our fresh on Friday
Living room

Dust window sil/skirting/wall unit/high level/blinds done - bloody hell it was bad

Aaarrrrrggggghhhh [tears out hair emoticon]. In the midst of Wed afternoon arguing about hwk session. Have had to come away because I am in danger of having a major meltdown so am having a 5 min Mnset instead!!

anybody?

Just how long does it take for a 10 yr old to understand the concept of 'doing homework now in advance when you have all afternoon free, because you will be busy playing tennis tomorrow night (and every Thurs night) and you are going to be busy for a large part of the weekend.' ??? Is it really that difficult to understand???? We've been having the same battle every Wednesday afternoon since the start of September. But no, she will only do the hwk that is due in for the next day.

She is soooooo stubborn and secretive. Won't even get out the file to bloody well look at what needs doing, never mind actually do it. Refuses to read just a short, two-paragraph dictée. I hate the whole, arsing rigmarole I really do.

[whimpers in a corner]

As for Flying? Ha! What's that?

Ta Da:
Not much!
Dog walked
Kitchen S&S
Tried to nap whilst one child napped and the other had quiet time = more hassle than it was worth

To do:
Loads. Simply too much to do.

Been feeling very tired the last couple of days and my initial motivation for Flying has dwindled other than doing the essentials. I'm not sure if it's PMT building as I'm eating like a horse.

Was briefly interrupted as MiniPP1 needed the loo so whilst said child needed private time to do a poo I put away the dry clothes from the airer and either put them away or added to the ever growing ironing pile. So far I have a large Ikea bag full of ironing.

I am finding that on days I don't have anything planned or have places to be at certain times that I waste time. I am definitely one of those people who do everything at the last minute eg 20mins before the house guests are due type thing. Saying that downstairs is pretty clean/tidy with minimal clutter however MrPP's post pile seems to have rebirthed.....

Hope everyone is having a good day!