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!

SC I suspect she is just very tired. Dd does that. Suddenly demands scuba diving kit/engine parts/buttons unexpectedly for school. The worst is these "class" cakes she is always being asked to provide by her school friends' birthdays.

hyper eyelet glad your weekends went so well. How lovely to eat your own baking in the woods eyelet

Done
dd and I ordered some new laundry baskets (snap *Hyper) for the house, a grey bedspread for her bed, a tree cushion, a willow hamper for spare duvets in her room. Will buy lace curtains locally I think.
dropped dses at school, arguing furiously with each other over Joseph production. Practised ds2's admittedly croaky singing with him in the car. Ds1 is finding ds2 SOO annoying, and is determined he is going to spoil "Joseph". I feel sorry for the drama/singing teachers having to deal with this mini-sibling scenario

Dd went to school very early having spent at least an hour of dh's time yesterday discussing her lunchbox

now
off to count money at church
then need to keep the tidying up to scratch, esp utility
organise what's for supper
keep calm when thinking ahead to holiday plans - need to book Ireland and feeling a bit tense about how long I intend to spend in the bosom of my family [not]

Toffee I hope you are alright
Whoknows hope you also had a great weekend, with plenty of new shoots and not too many frustrations with the statementing.

Woohoo! Window company came and put in new window. Electrician came and fixed wiring in bathroom (and fixed my ceiling fan!! ). And I've completed the first coat of paint in the living room and it looks amazing!!

All in all a good day's progress!

Alice

Ok feeling the walk more today than i did yesterday

ta da
ds to school
work

to do
finish moving gardening bits to relevant bin
put said bin out for collection
put out recycling
figure out wtf to give ds for tea
put letter into post
folding
ironing
clothes away
speak to mother of one of ds' friends
sort out ds' lunch for tomo

I currently have a 2wk cycle length. It is annoying, although was warned some new meds might have this effect. Hoping part of this meh feeling is linked to this. Although i also seem to have a scratchy thoat. meh is it bedtime yet?

or can we between us breed some magic fairy to actually do the house work for us?

Flying list... none! Happy holidays!

Yay! Happy holidays Carpe!!! Safe travelling x

Hope the muscles are easing Bitchy! [proffers fluffy throw and soft pillows] Sorry to hear about short cycle too - that must be a pain (literally). Hope scratchy throat is damp squib and doesn't develop in to anything.

Alice I can stop worrying about you being electrocuted now! Great you have shiny new windows too!

Swan thank you, she is v. tired - but have good news to report on dd front tonight (phew!)- she has finished all of her exams and is right now running around the house like a loon, having a whale of a time, playing hide and seek with a friend, like a proper 10 yr old should!!

Do you count money during hols or is it term time only activity? I am rather guilty at how happy I feel doing my last parish vestiare session tomorrow !!

Hope Joseph rivalry resolves itself happily in the end!

Mercury I just don't know how you do it! I'm not surprised you are tired. How many wks until end of term?

I'm just sitting here looking around my living room, enjoying the stunning new paint job and my whitewashed fireplace. When I finally get the wallpaper up, I may keel over with excitement!

Am about to lower the muscles that hate me into a hot bath. Not entirely certain that tackling the patio (think woodshop mess ) and clean the water feature and re-setup. That was after taking out the garden waste for the bin. I will be glad when I have finished - need to clean the patio furniture. So i can properly enjoy breakfast outside. Also done the ironing but have the rest of the list to do, but it will have to wait until after a soak. Moving is becoming an issue.

alice nothing nicer than a posh looking room.

Sorry I've been AWOL. I'm aware that I'm running the thread in July and I'm still ok for that. I'll be staying with my mum from the second week, so will be away from the chaos of home.

To be honest, housework has gone to pot. DS2 just wants to do art, which means we have paints and paper everywhere. DH has stacked up piles of books in the dining room. I give up. Housework doesn't seem very important anymore anyway.

The good news is that DS1 suddenly decided to go out with a friend on Saturday night . This is the first time he's been out for over a year! I think this means his new meds are working.

My best friend came to stay for the weekend. DH and I were so sad after the loss of our other friend and she helped to cheer us up. But I miss my other friend and all the little nitpicking stuff in life suddenly feels very unimportant.

Went to an autism parent support group this morning, which was very promising. Life goes on...

Baby-step no.24 for Tues 24th is : an important one introducing swish and swipe in to your morning routine.

We are in Zone 4 : The Master Bedroom (June 22 – 28) this week here.

Declutter in Zone 4 for 15 minutes a day!

Detailed cleaning list here if you are at that stage.

Tuesday's mission is here. 15 mins attacking the clothes pile!

Tuesday's daily focus is: planning.

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.

**

Oh did the home bleugh downstairs today, plus all usual routines, various errands, entertained lovely friends briefly, then lovely friend's child but ABSOLUTELY no decluttering in boudoir. Must get to it tomorrow ....

G'night all! Dh is away, so I have the remote control all to myself! [mwah mwah mwah]

on naughty corner bar for everyone to help themselves ... I know it's only Monday ... but still ...

Hi Toffee I was wondering how you are. Sorry life is proving so tough on all sides atm. I know this sounds ridiculous because its so terribly sad whenever you lose someone close to you, but the death of someone at this time of year seems particularly poignant somehow. And I can totally see how nothing else seems to matter much in comparison x Don't worry about running thread in July if the prospect is all too much. (We all know one another well enough now so that you can be totally honest and everyone will completely understand!!) I'm sure someone else would be glad to step in if things are too fraught currently. On a positive note, that is great news about ds1!!

Ouch re: the muscles Bitchy! Hope a hot bath did the trick! Hopefully breakfast al fresco will make all the hefting worthwhile ... .

Sounds like a job well done Alice and glad you are pleased with the results! Must be very satisfying! Very impressed by your energy levels too ! I don't know how you keep going (I find decorating/DIY completely exhausting.)

Yargh! Can't shift the image that Bitchy has put in to my mind re a Flylady avatar (if that's the right word) ...

">can we between us breed some magic fairy to actually do the house work for us? "

... mmmm... think she would have to have Ellie and Eyelets and Mercury's sheer persistence and grit, combined with Whoknow's ability to get her dc to do housework, Swan's creative thinking, , Castle's elan and positivity, Goth's green fingers, Honu's flair for figures, Toffee's patience and knob-polishing skills, Engels and Blues language talents, Alice's interior design flair, Hyperhops multi-tasking skills, PAs and Carpe's sense of humour, Pushme's professional focus, Just's wisdom, Feetheart's cooking skills, Dizzy's athleticism and Bitchy's* sheer devilry matched with manic crafting capabilities ...

Think she'd get the job done alright!!

(And if I've inadvertently left you out, then please don't take it personally; I've just run out of synonyms for "ability" that's all )

oh no I've left out my Mummy!!

Apologies Droitwich should have included your mothering skills of course!!

sc

Bath was bloody brilliant i took a book and lost a few hours. Now to finish off the essential job and haul ass into bed.

Parcelled up and posted friends clothes
buy two birthday cards - nope
buy wedding card - nope
order wedding gift - nope
order two birthday presents
cancelled dd1s paediatric appt on Friday
apply for statement appeal (oh joy) - nope
Walked to park
Cooked breakfast with leftovers from weekend
wiped down tiles and s&s bathrooms

Suffice to say that the DC did not nap at the same time today. I know I sat down to eat breakfast, and then the next time was to eat dinner at six, I even ate my lunch standing up!!!

Zzzzzzzzz

SC - I'm fine about running the thread in July, but thank you anyway. It will be good for me and remind me of what I'm meant to be doing in the house. And it's not silly of you to think that death seems particularly difficult at this time of year. Every time I see that it's another glorious sunny day I think of my friend and what she's missing. She thought she was, at the very least, going to have this last summer, so it does seem particularly cruel that she didn't.

DS2 spent the evening painting, then went to bed and read whilst the rest of us watched 'The Sopranos' on DVD. DH has tidied up the kitchen (think he may have given up on me doing it ). Drank several a couple of glasses of .

Good morning!

That's much appreciated Toffee thank you.

That is so sad about your friend being robbed of her last summer

Oh dear re: vertical lunch *Eyelet! Hope the dc manage to coordinate their naps today!

On rabbit duty and then off to school in 10 mins ... .

Have a lovely day everyone!

Hope you slept well Bitchy

Good morning.

I did indeed SC but the alarm clock woke me earlier than i would have liked.

However ta da
recycling out
bins out ready for collection before 7am as required
ds provided with proper cooked breakfast
internet admin stuff
catch up on the news (generally avoid it tbh )

It's been very emotional here as usual..

row with dh over child management late last night --dd was in a bolshy state again and that took ages to sort out...we have made several new resolutions (to do with the way dh and I communicate Imean) and I've made it up again with him and her, dd is very happy and cheery this morning at any rate. Another long argument about bedrooms and which child sleeps where. Resolved by deciding to do nothing but improve bedtime management..aka spend at least two hours before bed dealing with dd so that she doesn't start roaming around at 9.20pm looking for food and uniform and attention.

Three kids in school with the right pieces of paper
Ds2 very excited to be going to theatre (something beginning with STO) with his class. Ds1 will spend the whole day singing which suits him very well. Dd is eagerly awaiting her new grey bedspread and laundry basket

Unfortunately this long discussions make one very tired the next day, completely used up and burnt out so to speak He has gone off to the British Library.

So much to do in the house as usual.
Todo
washing pile
clean bathroom
book airplane tickets to Ireland and make a decision!!!
shop for food
internet food shopping for rest of week's supplies
short burst of exercise (walk to shops briskly)
buy pot for enormous dying baytree
take the rubbish to the dump take the rubbish to the dump take the rubbish to the dump KLAXON

Morning, just checking in as been busy on the croft, things are finally coming together now. Good job really as am in the middle of operation PHOW (parents here on Wednesday)

DH is busy making stuff today, so will be doing vacuuming afterwards, but luckily flat isn't too bad, just an extended Weekly Bleugh required

*Done (over last few days)
Kitchenwindows washed
Kitchen sides & cupboard doors wiped down
Oven & hob cleaned

Bathroom extractor fan cleaned
Bathroom coving wiped down & cobwebs (!) removed
Lounge dusted (it was really bad) & box of stuff hidden under bed.
Recycling & rubbish out

To do
Vacuum flat
Wash kitchen & bathroom floors
Hang laundry out waiting for showers to stop)
Next load laundry on
Tidy paperwork table
Wash bedroom windows
Bake coffee cake

I thinks that's all achievable, also have a Social Media Seminar for Woodcraft this afternoon and dental check up tomorrow morning.
DD finishes school at 1pm, parents due around 5 and that's our summer holidays started!

BBL (maybe)

Swan all that sounds so exhausting. I hope you're doing okay today. Discussions/arguments with stbx seemed to go on forever when we were together as he just didn't think sometimes - or rather he expected the DCs to think/logic things the same way he did (which tbh wasn't always that logical anyway ). I kept trying to explain it wasn't going to happen, but finally gave up.

One of those fiddly days here... lots of little things to take care of.

ta da
usual morning routine, school runs
laundry - one load in dryer, one load in washer
washed and hung up 2 sets of curtains to dry
washing up done
tidied up living room
vacuumed living room
tidied up kitchen
cleaned both toilets
cleaned kitchen sink thoroughly (really should do this more often, but I hate my kitchen sink - I want a nice shiny one, not this stupid moulded coloured monstrosity )
checked bank
checked budget
altered meal plan for week slightly after checking current supply of groceries

to do
bake cookies
tax credits renewal forms
finish laundry and put away
go through stack of paperwork, file/shred as necessary

Sitting for a few minutes with a , then off to take out mince for tomorrow night's tea (chili yum! ) and then once I get the cookies started in the oven, I can work on the tax forms. I'd like to get the shower attachment installed today in the bathroom, but I suspect it'll have to wait until tomorrow or Friday.

Alice thank you, you have had to deal with so much. It must be such a relief, though sad and hard too dealing with it alone, to know you can do what is best and be consistent. I've had the children by myself for weeks on end before and I'm afraid in the end I'm always aware that tiredness makes me worse at dealing with them, although I always imagine I will be completely consistent.
It is hard trying to see several people's points of view at once isn't it. Difficult to know where spoilt ends and becomes sensitive though [thinking of dd here, let alone the boys..who to some extent we are quite good at secondguessing]

Booked by plane tickets. Hurrah! Feel better already to have made a decision. And they weren't too expensive. Now I can think about Ireland in a more positive way. Have also allowed for the weight of a large tent in the luggage YAY

booked "my" not by..

Swan the funny thing is this - when I was dealing with the DCs alone even while stbx was here, I would get frustrated in general and my stress would shoot through the roof because he was capable of helping out and dealing with the DCs appropriately, but he CHOSE NOT TO. Instead he was aggressive and abusive and no help at all. Now that it's just me, I actually get much less stressed over a lot of it, simply because I know it's just me, and there's nobody "letting me down" IYSWIM. Stbx was forever countermanding rules we'd set or going off at them for doing something I'd told them they could do, so they were all over the place as there was no consistency between us. I'd try to be consistent, he'd blow it out of the water.

Very jealous of you going to Ireland. I would love to take the DCs there. One day maybe.