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!

Alice I used to do that but to be honest it didn't really make a dent in things. This was a full on shed, bedroom, living areas clear out. I'd love to start decorating but need some pennies first so saving for that now.

NickNacks Oh not judging you in any way! I had a huge living room set that I didn't like, so I went to a charity shop, bought a different sofa, and when they delivered sofa, I made arrangements for the other furniture to be hauled away. That meant I didn't have to do the lifting. lol

I do need to clean out my shed out back. Stbx left it in a right state - I'm not even sure where to begin on it, to be honest. I just take the mower out when I need it and avoid the rest for now.

I think the biggest problem here is not just furniture it is the fact that there is 3 households worth of stuff in one house. Which, as the households are due to be splitting up again in the near future for practical reasons, can't be got rid of. I finally have permission from ds to sort out selling his old stuff. so have learn how to use ebay on the to do list

Mostly it is paperwork in this house but because of various things - like needing to find out the name and date of seeing a particular specialist in the past is currently needed, i can't get rid of a lot of it yet and it is really annoying. Personally i would take the whole fucking lot of it out side and burn it all into dust and be done with it. simple tidying up done simply

I need to make a list of stuff that needs doing that needs to be done whilst resting. That is my job for next week, rest. If my lists get too long remind me?

ta da
breakfast dd
made banana smoothies with dd
she didn't like it so we turned them into banana pancakes by adding some flour!!
decluttered entrance to play room.
washed up
So need to ..
go food shopping

Hyperhops - I bought a steam cleaner a couple of months ago and am really impressed with it, but not so much for floors as just general nooks and crannies. Mine's a Karcher one, similar to a small cylinder vacuum cleaner. We've only got hard floors in kitchen and bathroom, I prefer my Vileda squirty mop for day to day mopping (no plugging in, waiting to heat up and no bucket either), but you can't beat the steam cleaner for getting round the edges of units, toilet, whatever. My parents have just bought a small hand held one from Robert Dyas for about £16 and have been really impressed with it, again not for floors but general grotty areas.

I would say it doesn't do anything that you can't do with a bit of elbow grease, toothbrush and scouring powder, but it does it a lot more efficiently, quickly and cleanly.

Welcome back Nick.

Welcome back nicknacks !

Have just spent 3 hours on reports and will be another couple of hours I think. Taking me longer then expected but only brain work so not too physically tiring and choclate is helping

bbl when I am well and truly finished.

whooops. Some of my list went out the window, as I spent some time with the dcs outside in the garden. I did get the contrasting blue paint on the patio table though, while I was out there.

Aaaah...finished.

DH is in a foul mood because he has been looking after DS pretty much all day (11-6). Now he knows how I feel most weekends!

Still on holiday and didn't get the job.

One week left before I have to get back to flying...

Is it bedtime yet?!

Thanks everyone, it's good to be back.

I've not completely caught up with the thread but I'm sorry to hear you didn't get it Carpe you sound very disappointed. :(

I've coloured my hair this afternoon, I'm going shockingly grey. I'm too young to be grey!!! :(

Also lift bulbs for the sitting room have been delivered so we can finally see in there, it's only been three months, very embarrassing when we have evening guests here.

Looking forward to a fresh start and following the links for July spot the newbie enthusiasm which will quickly wane

*light bulbs

Sorry to hear that carpe

Looks like the dutch may be on the way out of the world cup.

Sorry to hear that Carpe yes, yes it is bedtime. Hope the rest of the holiday goes ok.

Bugger Engels

I have not followed the football. so no idea who is in or out any more.

Ds has just decided he is too tired and must go to bed now.

Or not just equalised!

unfortunately I missed the goal because ds decided to get out of bed, rip his blind off and start jumping up and down on the windowsill.

a quick hello to all
alice I love having colour on the walls. Lived with magnolia for far too long before I realised how much better life was with colour!
carpe sorry to hear about the job
nicknacks you sound very motivated!
right, well day not quite to plan. Decided on the spur of the minute to go to Ikea (50 min drive) to buy new desks for ds1 and dd 1 and 2. whole trip took about 3 1/2 hours! Then came home and constructed desks and blitzed dds room and re-arranged furniture. All very un FLYladyish really but dd room looking a bit better. Still need to construct shelving unit I also bought for dd room and finish sorting their pjs and undies.
Also need to NAG ds1 to clear out his pit of a room before Thursday so cleaner can clean?!?!

right...off to bed
will BBtomorrow with BIG list!

Gulp I've been mega lurking all month but I'm outing myself now. Figured that joining in for July would be disingenuous & that I should just fess up!

Nick - I have to dye my hair regularly - started going grey at 27 - bloody unfair! Yes I'm lots older than that now. Also bloody unfair

Carpe - what a shame.

Oh & by the way - as well as lurking I've been shirking. House tip.

Shhh oddsocks we have a naughty corner bar for the bad days. plonk yaself down and have a drink. tomo is another day and the flylady rules state you are never behind.

it is bastard babystep no 17 that is the issue though

Shhh oddsocks we have a naughty corner bar for the bad days. plonk yaself down and have a drink. tomo is another day and the flylady rules state you are never behind.

it is bastard babystep no 17 that is the issue though

Oh ffs.

anyhows i need a list for tomo. In an ideal day i would be on bed rest. but it is not ideal and I have work and a house to ensure runs. so:

Monday's to do list
ds to school with lunch
dishwasher finish loading and run
load of washing on
take ds to pick up some essential heading into teenager land bits
order a book that is needed
put in order for ds therapy bits that is long overdue
film night with ds
early night

i want to add lots to that but must resist as it will only frustrate the hell out of me

Good morning! Hope everyone doing ok!

Had a good day yesterday entertaining and have done first tranche of clearing up, but up at crack of sparrows now to post links and do dish washer load no. 2 before cleaner arrives.

Will be back later to catch up properly with thread, but in meantime just wanted to say:

Carpe so sorry to hear about the job, that must be really disappointing. I hope you can enjoy the rest of your holiday though.

Nicknacks Yay! Brilliant to 'see' you again and no need to ask if you can re-join because you are still very much fully paid up fledgling member !!

A warm welcome back to Stillwearingoldsocks too! Very good to 'see' you!

And to not2nitedarling - good to have you back too!

[Love it when fledglings return to the nest! ]

Big feathery waves to everyone else and tray of and croissants on naughty corner bar for you to help yourselves... .

Right, we are at the end of the month - well done everyone - but where did June go for heavens sake?... Here are final links ....

Baby-step no 30 for Mon 30th is here. Study your calendar for the important dates/birthdays in the month ahead and check out the Fat Fairy's basic weekly plan here.

And because June only has 30 days, I will post the last baby-step here too. It's about not needing to understand the whole of the system at the beginning, that it will all become clearer and easier (and quicker) as decluttering starts taking effect.

Today (Monday) is the second of two days in Zone 5: the living room here.

Declutter (or do anything!) in Zone 5 for 15 minutes a day!

Detailed cleaning list here if you are at that stage.

Today's mission (and all the missions of the week) can be found here. Monday's mission involves assessing all the flat surfaces in your sitting room and getting rid of any unnecessary (or unloved) clutter, decorative objects and paper work.

Monday's daily focus is: the home bleugh. Remember that if you don't have a full hour or more to do this today, then you can break up the tasks and do one each day per week.

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.

*

You have done such a fantastic job at leading us through the month, SC. I really appreciate the round ups, as well as the links. I will set up the new thread today and you can hand over to me . Thanks for all your hard work.

Starting early with home ed today, then meeting friend's sister for lunch later to find out how thing's are going for her and her nephews.

But first, I need as I was woken up too early by DS2 who was calling me from the bathroom where he had wrapped himself in an entire roll of loo paper because he was cold, but said he was too scared to go back to his bedroom. "I was worried I'd get frost bite," he told me, when I finally responded to his calls and staggered through to find him.

Oh toffee that made me laugh! Having children does tend to pitch your life towards the ridiculous.

As well as last night's jumping up and down on windowsill incident (I think he could hear ndn's kids who are 7 and 10 running around in their garden shrieking about the football, so he was banging on the window and laughing at them), last week he decided to toddle out of bed, try and eat my foot scrub, smear it all over his face and the rest on the floor then use my ttc pee cup to get some water out of the toilet, which he then drank! (Apologies if I have already told that story...my brain's not working).

Just called mw who advised me to make sure I eat regularly and have something like cup a soup/broth to increase my bpl she said it's prob due to low bp but to ring if it happens again.

to do
email my boss andcomplain again about schedule for this week (and throw in my health issues this weekend)
Let insurance company know I'm pg and sign up for home help service post birth (this is why I love living in tne Netherlands!)
Online banking
few emails for school

That'll be enoughfor now.

want to finish reading Divergent. .started reading it last night and now only a few chapters to go.

Glad I made you laugh, Engels . I think your DS has outdone mine though (one day, you must tell his 'significant other' all about him drinking the water from the loo with your TTC cup! ).

Good luck at dealing with your boss.

July thread is here (with apologies for appalling rhyming title ).

Very kind of you Toffee but I'm not sure I did that many proper round ups in truth but I definitely whinged a lot about my own ishews ... . Arf at miniature Mummy waiting for you in bathroom! Well done re: your list btw and hope your dh recovers soon. Also - thanks - we are still v. sad about our friends leaving. Fortunately dd has had loads to keep her occupied atm before it truly sinks in.

Engels well done with the marking and glad your dh stepped up re: childcare! Glad you have spoken to your mw and good luck talking to your bosses. Take care of yourself x And yay for good post-natal care! Bet things have gone footballl mad in your neck of the woods today haven't they! Dh said it was one of the best matches he had ever seen!

Hope you survived the play-date in the end Bitchy! So much depends on the compatibility of the dc I think. That's one (rather selfish) reason I am going to miss our friends so much - the daughter (dd's friend) was just one of those dc who is a delight to have in the house - fits in with everything that is going on - and is absolutely no trouble - she had such a lovely personality .

Stillwearing yeah Bitchy is right - you are never behind remember! Just jump back in where you are at!

(Stillwearing and Nicknacks - Sympathies - I dye my hair atm (pkts at home) and hate it. Keep contemplating to reverting to grey - now during the summer wd be ideal time to do it - but chicken out every time.)

Nicknacks very impressed by your major declutter with skip! Congratulations!! (Would love to do that here but we are right on street and it would be filled by others in the blink of an eye unless I hired someone to sit out and 'defend' it all day and night!)

Waves to Hyperhops! (In awe of your lists as ever!) Brilliant that you have hired a cleaner!!! And wireless hoover sounds fab (lots of stairs here so definitely something to consider). An Ikea trip may not be Fly-lady- esque but sometimes just buying one piece of strategic storage furniture can make a huge difference to the daily tidiness or otherwise of a partic. room. And I think having a dedicated space for dc school books is a must!

Still dithering over a steam cleaner purchase here Whoknows and Bitchy! I really should declutter the basement and attics before I get it.

Alice glad project interior design is progressing colourfully! Well done re: your list!

Big waves to Carpe Not2nitedarling Ellie Feetheart Eyelet Honu Blue Swan MummyDroit Mercury Castle Dizzy Goth PA VerySeriousGirl and (and Just if you happen to be lurking!) and everyone else I have inevitably missed!

Right ... drum roll ...hands over golden feather duster to Toffee

Engels dd is reading Divergent. She is enjoying it.
Toffee arf at loo paper blanket and thanks for your message.