June 2014: half way through the Flying year, fledglings get themselves in gear!

[slackcabbage]

Heartfelt and huuuumungous thanks to Goth for being such a superlative, consistent and professional thread leader throughout May (and wow to all those fantastic round-ups every night).

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.

Flylady link here.

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):

1. start or repeat baby steps

1. repeat baby steps + do 15 mins a day decluttering in the current zone

1. 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!

Three key 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.

If you are new then trying to spend 15mins decluttering and the babysteps is the most. Some of us (mentioning no names!) can have scary looking lists but don't let that worry you! Do what you can, anything is better then nothing, and don't judge yourself against others.

If all else fails, a + the power of three technique + a bit of support on here can work wonders!

Oh and don’t let it put you off if we appear a bit cliquey – some of us have been on here for years – but all lurkers, oldies and newcomers very very welcome!

I will say there are quite a few gaps in the brickwork that concern me. I am going to have to do a bit of research on the best way to fill them and then do it myself and touch up the whitewash afterwards. I think that until I'm ready to have a professional come in and put in a woodburning stove and line the chimney completely, I will be sticking to the electric "woodburning stove"/heater that I have, rather than a real fire.

At work. Done very little work, mainly researching the place I'm interviewing for - and panicking gently. There's a load of acronyms I can't get my head around; thank god for MNet!

M'eh this time tomorrow and it'll all be over!

quick update

done
shopping done for food
4 bags of rubbish to dump
big pot to the dump Yay I hated that blue garden pot, it looked completely kitsch and it didn't drain properly
bag of clothes to dump
old recycling bin to dump
big bag of books to the charity shop
bumped into some friends in street and chatted

dh back

Thanks, swan and SC. It truly was one of the saddest funerals I've ever attended, with the exception of my 16-year-old cousin. All funerals are sad events, of course, but the death of someone so relatively young and with so much to live for is just heartbreaking. It was especially upsetting to see her two boys. Have used up a lot of tissues today.

Escaping into and telly tonight.

Ah, so sorry, Toffee.

Hope the interview goes well, Carpe.

Latest development in the school saga is here if anyone's interested. Not looking good.

Toffee - , so sad.

Blue - someone has started a thread in Primary Ed about primaries becoming academies. Sorry to read your latest update, it sounds like a nightmare.

Sorry to have been AWOL so much recently, I have been very bogged down in the statementing and secondary school choosing stuff again. I am managing a bit of Flying and a bit of allotmenting too, plus the usual work and childcare. Am very jealous of some of the amazing allotments on the same site as mine.

Hello. Sorry not to get on here during Wed. Bit of a full/stressful day. Another revision melt-down this afternoon for which I blame myself and further child security niggles. Felt very very tired at various points throughout the day. And now, sod's law, of course I feel too stressed to sleep.

Did manage to get to parish vestiare though (which I had ducked out of rather ignobly yesterday).

Anyway, sorry to whinge. Looks like others on here have had a far more stressful time of it

Toffee I'm sorry you had such a harrowing day and I'm so sorry for you and your friend's family and for her. It's hard to find words of comfort because it is just so totally unfair .

Blue I haven't read your blog yet (will do so tomorrow) but sorry you are having to battle with yet another stressful development

Sympathies Swan I always find that dh and I have to 'renegotiate territories' when he gets back from a work trip (partic if he has been away for more than five days or so) and it's always a rather tense exercise! Couldn't agree more about girls friendships having a tendency to wear one down!

Bitchy I'm another one who admires your consistent crafting.

Alice well done for finishing off the fireplace!

Hope the statementing is going ok Whoknows (and the secondary school search).

And last but not least, wishing you the very best of luck with your interview later on today Carpe!!!

Baby-step no.19 for Thurs 19th is: supposedly inspirational waffle.

We are in Zone 3 this week : The Bathroom and One Extra Room (June 15 – 21) here.

Declutter in Zone 3 for 15 minutes a day!

Detailed cleaning list here if you are at that stage.

Thursday's mission is here. Bathroom = 10 mins tossing any cosmetics or toiletries you haven't worn or used in the past year. Other room= last fling boogie/putting away misplaced items.

Thursday's daily focus is: errand day.

The monthly habit for June is drinking more water.

To summarise the above, today's flight plan can be found [[www.flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=-120 here]] and will update itself automatically.

G'night/good morning all!

Flying visit, as was busy at croft & woodcraft yesterday, and a full day planned at croft today as DD off to a friend's after school.

SC couple of shots of the treasure maps, they went down really well. I was told it was the best woodcraft ever! I completely wore them out and even more surprisingly didn't get lynched when they found the treasure (popcorn & marshmallows) was back at the starting point.

BBL, hope everyone has a good day.

Wow Goth those are fab!!!! No wonder the dc thought it was the best Woodcraft ever!! (I'm really impressed and interested because I've done several fairly major treasure hunt with clues here for dd and nieces/nephews and friends all over the house and garden and not only did I find it quite time consuming with just 10 clues, but being a bear of little brain, I also found it quite testing to work backwards and get the sequencing right, esp as with less space you sometimes have to slip clues in the correct hiding places whilst dc are rampaging around (for fear of coming across them accidentally out of sequence). Think an outdoor one must be so much more more fun and hugely exciting for the dc though!!! And those seals are brilliant - how did you do them?

Hope all fledglings ok this very dull morning (dull over here anyway)

I have a rather unappealing boring day of chores ahead but want to get them all done and ensure dh has as stress-free day as possible as he is being torn from pillar to post by work atm.

Waved dd off to school for exams with much trepidation today (whilst trying to act very confident and positive on the surface)! Felt like crying in reality. [sadShe doesn't know a good chunk of the stuff she needs to know despite our best efforts. (It would help if she actually voluntarily opened the material and read it occasionally though!!) And I know that sounds sarcastic and mean but it is like herding cats, she just doesn't seem to truly 'get' that more study = better results = exam success. She's so easily distractible, thinking of loom bands or why a particular beetle is a particular coppery green or how she could set up a cake shop. (All good things but not necessarily in revision wk!!)

And very unusually over here, the school in cohorts with ed psych, have taught all the dc in her class methodologie, study methods and how to 'gérer ton stress'. Again, for her, it is like she has done all the exercises and sees the sense of it, but it hasn't "gone in" to the extent that she is applying it to herself and her work.

It's so frustrating because she's perfectly intelligent enough. Any one else with a 'dreamer' who has any tips??? [SC tears hair out in despair]

Ta da:
morning routine inc rabbits, dw, kitchen sink, wm, s&s
on-line order
gardening
boudoir

Oops posted to soon:

That should have read:
to do:
gardening
on-line shopping order
more laundry
quick supermarket dive
thank you letters
boudoir
ballet shop
watch the Gold Cup at Ascot

Sorry for again for more whinging everyone!!! Just feel like crappiest of parents today!!

Goth very cool!!

toffee and Look after yourself x

Blue soory you have been run over but the powers that don't give a shit. fingers.

SC Take a deep breath. It is almost over. Almost the summer holidays. Can you take a nap today?

ds is off school today, which is a minor problem with today's plans but not too bad. I totally slept through the alarm so the fact ds is not well enough to go in is a bit of a bonus as it means no rushing about.

To do
eompletely and utterly empty car
take car to garage and leave
post office
collect prescription
collect car
Work on some craft projects as suffering a little bit of burn out today so need to take it gentle

The one good thing about all this crafting as I have nearly crafted all of my wool stash plus the 20 odd balls of wool that I was give. I have 6 of that left and a few balls that have accidentally snuck their way in under the no new projects rule Although as there will be a few presents required there will be more to come. Next stop is the embroidery projects that need culling off. Loads and loads of them too... I will honestly be glad when i have cleared the backlog of clutter of craft projects and i can just curl up with a good book!

I have done my list. I am working on the crafting bit. I am off out later to see a friend. I am hoping that it will help with the frustration levels. I am so sick of crafting it is unbelievable. I have soo much that needs to be done (can't remember who remarked that I could have much decluttering left but if you imagine normal levels of very cluttered house plus 3 rooms off something out of a hoarders show was where i started from) I know i have done a lot so far but there is still so much to do. And i am impatient and just want to get this all done. Done, gone sorted. Can't move forward until the past is cleared. I need to get the past gone and move forwards. And I am sick and tired of mess and clutter!!! loses plot slightly

done
massive declutter of my bedroom, hoovered under the bed, and finally threw away things I had been hoarding for ages. I decided that it was a pyschological problem that I was hoarding so much craft stuff, as I never actually do any, and that if I want to in future I shall just have to go out and buy more stuff, but in the meantime it HAD TO GO. did keep 10 balls of wool though and a small tapestry kit

5 bags of rubbish to the dump, some from the shed of doom
another bag of clothes to clothes recycling
found lots of moth in the carpet which spurred me on to be more ruthless
cleaned en suite loo

dd is having a sleepover now, and it seems to be going alright partly because the boys are watching football and not talking to anyone

also dones
fielded angry call from ds1's English teacher who said he was not doing any homework and being disruptive
took Ds1 to OT, which tied in nicely as I was able to ask her to ring Senco at school and come up with strategies to scaffold his work a bit more
begged ds1 to commit to a 20 mins at the kitchen table homework contract [sigh]

SC we are struggling to turn our dreamers into functioning members of a bureacracy perhaps I felt a bit tearful today as well apropos academic demands on dcs and their inability to do what they are supposed to (despite being good at other non-academic stuff)

I am having to drill into ds the neme "hard work will always beat talent when talent doesn't work" Bright as a button, can't be arsed Personally I think it is a kid thing.

OK. Half-time. Belatedly testing new flag!!

It worked (again)!!

Uruguay are looking a bit too nifty for my liking though. Defense positively brutal.

[Leaves out cucumber sandwiches and Pimms on naughty corner bar ... mmm .... or should that be pork scratchings and cider ....]

SC the seals were made by DH, red tealights (IKEA) dribbled over some embroidery cotton (that I isn't like the colour of) I think he ended up pouring 2 or 3 layers on to build up a decent amount. Thinking up clues to locations was the trickiest, but it was a lot of fun.

Done
Beds
Packed lunch
Dd to school
S&S
5 hours at the croft - helped build 3 raised beds and we had a humungous bonfire
Collect dd from friends
Washing up

to do
Ironing

(Oh dear, think we have a nat's whisker of a chance of qualifying now ...)

Good morning! Quiet on here yesterday. Hope you are all OK. Can you believe it is Friday again?

**

Baby-step no.20 for Fri 20th is : a useful one about including laundry in your morning and evening routines, every day!

We are in Zone 3 this week : The Bathroom and One Extra Room (June 15 – 21) here.

Declutter in Zone 3 for 15 minutes a day!

Detailed cleaning list here if you are at that stage.

The last mission of the week is here. Bathroom = the dubious task of cleaning taps with old toothbrushes . Other room = hoover the bit of floor that you have decluttered (doesn't matter if decluttering not finished - it will come around again - and room should be better than the beginning of wk, if not perfect).

Friday's daily focus is: cleaning out cars and handbags.

The monthly habit for June is drinking more water.

To summarise the above, today's flight plan can be found [[www.flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=-120 here]] and will update itself automatically.

Hope you all have a good one!

That's a brilliant idea Goth (notes for future).

Another question I'm afraid - is your croft some sort of community project (nosy emoticon)? Lovely to be able to spend so much time there (am very ). Impressed by 5 hrs of graft!

Bitchy and Swan thanks for the sympathy re dd and exams and dreaming. Much appreciated. As you say, I think it is indeed a "kid" thing, as have other people I have spoken to. Some even said that they didn't real 'get' the idea of autonomous study until 13/14 yrs. I know I had my head in the clouds at least until O levels probably still do now as a matter of fact. School have a very dim view of this though. When dd tried to explain (tactfully) to her headmistress that she found religion teaching very dry, she just said " but X, at nearly 11 yrs old it doesn't matter what the subject is, who is teaching it, how it is taught, you just have to study, you have no choice." They don't see it as their responsibility to make a subject engaging - in their eyes - that is for six year olds!! Thankfully, it's the last exam today - a maths exam (grandeurs). DD quite likes it so the atmosphere in the houseis not too stressed this morning!!

Bitchy Congrats on wool "decluttering" through using it up! Sorry to mention 'C' word so early on, but are you making Christmas presents? (V. impressed if so!) Hope your ds is feeling better today. Good luck with the rest of the decluttering and dumping of past. I still have roof and basement to tackle which both resemble something out of a hoarders programme as does our boudoir so you have my sympathy.

Swan Congrats on mahoosive bedroom declutter!!! I admire your bravery. Thinned out a lot of my sewing materials last year, but don't think I could bear to dump them definitively!! And well done re: 5 bags of rubbish to dump and bag of clothes to recycling!! [Presents golden feather duster award for top flyer of the day

Spent the day doing work admin yesterday and then after school, took dd to ballet shop across town to get new shoes and tights. She says she misses dancing and is thinking of starting again although when she will fit it in I don't know. So we have compromised on trialling a new class on Sat, and doing a week's work-shop during the holidays, and then we will make a decision.

I need to achieve more Flying today!!

Right, had better go and check dd's uniform is not cereal-spattered...

BBL! Have a good last day of the week everyone!

is it morning already?? lol

I was so tired last night that I barely got through the football. (should've just slept through it )

Anyway, must get motivated - not quite sure what I want to accomplish today. Lots of little fiddly things to do - pictures in frames, cleaning bathroom sink, tidying....

I'm with you on the fiddly things atm Alice¨- scrubbing dh's shirt collars and cuffs and skinning tomatoes for tonight's pasta sauce - all boring things I should have done earlier in the week and haven't! Oh and dh's on-going pant crisis continues what does he do with them all?? So going to have to wash some of them too. Going to plug myself into Radio 4 and get on with it!! (But boudoir is such a mess I can't find my ear-plugs!!) Good luck with your list!!

Sorry for thread absence. Bump is nearly 12 weeks old and letting me know all about it - bleurgh.
House is in dire need of rescuing so hopefully I'll find some energy at the weekend!

Hi there Castle forget Flying and go with what your body is telling you - rest as much as you need xxx