August fledglings fly over here - chatting and Flying will help us persevere!

[ToffeeWhirl]

Here we go again - another month for us to tackle our clutter and get on top of our housework!

If you’re struggling with C.H.A.O.S. (can't have anyone over syndrome) and S.T.U.F.F. (something that undermines family fun), you need Flylady.

Flylady is a system for managing housework. Starting with babysteps, it builds up into a routine which becomes second nature. In theory, once you are used to the system, you will have a tidy house you are not embarrassed by and plenty of time to get on with more interesting things.

Flylady banishes the panicky "rabbit in headlights" feeling when you are overwhelmed and everything needs doing all at once. If you fall off the Flylady bandwagon, it’s no problem: you just jump back in where you are and carry on.

Don't sign up for the Flylady emails as you will be inundated! All the information you need will be linked here on this thread on a daily basis.

From the first of the month, Flylady's steps and routines will be listed here on this thread.

Flylady uses 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 detailed deep cleaning in each zone for those who have made real progress).

More info here on getting started (but ignore step one!) and Flying lessons. Here's the launch pad for more experienced fledglings.

Try to ignore Flylady’s purple prose (hard, I know) - the underlying system is sound!

Three key points to keep in mind:

1. No perfectionism allowed - this is harder than you would imagine.

1. You are never behind - just start where you are and anything you do is progress.

1. It didn't get into a mess overnight, it won't get tidy overnight - accept it will take time to get on top of things and you will be happier.

If you are new, then trying to spend 15 mins decluttering and doing the babysteps is the most you should expect of yourself. Lots of us here like posting our ‘to do’ or ‘ta da’ lists and they can look quite scary. Don’t be put off.

If all else fails, try the power of three – just pick three things that most need doing and focus on those.

And if you have visitors coming over this afternoon and need a quick fix NOW, try Flylady's crisis clean.

We all know each other pretty well on this thread and some of us have been around for a long time, but all lurkers, oldies and newcomers are very welcome!

Coffee. ahhhhhhh

ta da
-usual morning routine done
-courgette breading baking in oven
-washing up done
-living room tidied
-counters wiped down

to do
-pop up to friend's house to get will witnessed
-bank for cash
-store for a few miscellaneous supplies that I couldn't get at my Iceland shop
-shop to top up gas and electric meters for the week
-top up petrol in car
-ring dentist to make appointment for ds1 and check on referral
-more shredding this evening

There's more, but I can't think of it and I didn't write it down. Will have to ponder that later.

On a more happy note, I've realised that while I need to get a few new pairs of trousers for ds1 for school, he still fits in the couple he has, so I can wait a few weeks if need be to buy them. And their shoes are still in good condition, so no new shoes needed for at least a month or so. Hoorah!

Huzzah, was up, dressed, fed and out by 7.50 for the dog walk today (package arriving later so no real choice in the matter). Feeling a bit unmotivated so hoping writing my list will help get me going:

To do
Finish washing up
Tidy living room
Pack dining table away
Washing in tumble dryer
New load in machine
Clear space in dining room for delivery later
Finish emptying filing cabinet - then put up on freecycle
Set up activities for DD
TIDY THE PLAYROOM!

Ds is being a bit, well normal for this kinda day. He has mooned the neighbours ffs and has been generally lippy. So has been set to pair and fold socks.

2nd load of washing is about to go into the machine.

Right now I have had 2 cups of coffee and i don't wanna do anything.

morning.

Bitchy We have a big window at the top of the stairs and I am forever trying to get the boys to remember not to walk naked in front of it as it is in full view of the neighbours. I only draw the curtain at night as it lets so much lovely light in. I wonder if my neighbours think my dcs never wear their clothing.

Good morning! It's actually cold here Where's the summer gone which I whinge about when it is here?

Dh has strided off to the office (despite it being a public holiday here). Never mind.

Most of my ta da list went out of the window yesterday owing to various logistical issues but I did unfortunately spend almost nearly two and a half hours looking at new cars with dh [sigh]. Dh is intensely interested in the choice we make (as is dd) and has been studying the market for months whereas I (as a life-long travel sickness sufferer) am only interested in its potential puke factor rating

As we are now unexpectedly visitor-free, spent the rest of the day yesterday Mnsetting, watching crap telly, cooking, sewing a rag doll for dd (we embroidered face, sewed on wool hair, cut out first dress) and generally having fun making the sort of enduring creative mess which isn't possible on the dining room table during term time and when we have guests. And very enjoyable it was too! Hoping to do more today! With a bit of washing and ironing and baking (we are travelling again soon) thrown in!

A bit of sunshine would be nice too but not essential!

Good luck with all the paper decluttering everyone (I am pointedly ignoring mine for now)

Good luck with all the party prep for tomorrow Saturn (although having nobly filled 32 party bags that's a big chunk done!)

Enjoy your family's visit whoknows!

Eugh at gross incident Dizzy but hope your cat ok and responds to treatment

Toffee sleep DVD sounds promising! Hope calming effect persisted!

Good luck with the laundry Bitchy

Hope your dh is being more helpful now Nicknacks

Blue thanks for Nerf gun explanation! Funnily enough, I've just realised that that is the same make of gun that dd's godfather bought her for her birthday this year so we have one too (except it shoots water not foam darts). [Cat lovers look away] it comes in very useful first thing every day when protecting my grazing rabbits from marauding feline visitors who, in addition to stalking my furries, use my garden borders as their lavatory but my neighbours think it very odd when their mad English neigbour walks back down the garden in her pjs at 7.15am looking out of breath and- holding a combat weapon

Waves to Alice and all other fledglings I have missed! Have a good day everyone!

Arf at the mooning

Hope you find that the motivation increases as the day goes on Dizzy You've already made a terrific start unlike me

Both DC in bed at reasonably good times last night (DS2 reports that he likes his relaxation CD), but could I sleep? Nope. Finally fell asleep at 3am and DH let me sleep in till 9 this morning. I think I'm going to take one of DS1's Phenergens tonight to get me back into the right sleep pattern.

Gloomy day here. I want the sun back.

ta da

Dressed to flipflops. Washed fringe
Swished and swiped
Delegated spider removal to DH
Put washing on
Unloaded d/w
Put clean crockery on dishrack away in cupboard
Emptied bedroom and bathroom bins
Washed bins
Emptied kitchen bin
Put stuff into recycling bins outside
Wiped kitchen counters
Looked for hospital letter for this afternoon - should be pinned to notice board in kitchen, but it isn't
B/fast for me and DS2

to do

Work
Pet shop - buy supplies for new kittens (arriving tomorrow )
Buy new parking permits
Buy food
Tidy up dining room for visit from kitten breeder tomorrow
Find hospital letter
Hospital appointment (mammogram)
What's for dinner? Chicken casserole, maybe?

Oh, and reached for my new phone to check my Flylady app this morning and DS2 had pinched it again. He informs me he is building the Hogwarts Express on Minecraft.

SC ds is currently stalking cats with a water gun in the garden

Arghhhhhh new kitten! I am very envious Toffee, with a dog and cat already it'll be a while yet before I know that joy again.

And that sounds like a really nice way to have spent the time SC, much more important than the daily grind of housework.

Finish washing up
Tidy living room
Pack dining table away
Washing in tumble dryer
New load in machine
Clear space in dining room for delivery later
Finish emptying filing cabinet - then put up on freecycle
Set up activities for DD
TIDY THE PLAYROOM!

Not too bad at the moment, is it just me or does anyone else fine the strikethroughs very satisfying to do? Also ordered worming stuff for the dog and cat which DH will pick up later.

Oooh I love the idea of pets, but not the reality. I'm happy to remain petless, thanks.

I've always been a confirmed no pets person, but our cats, acquired last October are gradually winning me over,

Woo hoo. I have done all the washing I am going to do before the machine gets moved and have time to put it on for a boil wash to clean it. So when it goes back it will be clean and sparkly ignores the 5 loads of washing that probably should be done but are unlikely to be needed in the next week so can go jump

All that crafting sounds idyllic, SC. I'd love to do that kind of thing and we have a house full of art supplies, but I get too antsy and perfectionistic to do much of that sort with the boys.

It's been a very frustrating morning where nothing has gone to plan, or even to plan B, so I am hiding. When I have recovered a bit of equanimity and am able to pretend to be a responsible adult again I need to make a vat of and work out how to restructure the next few days.

No car is even more frustrating when there are actually 2 outside the house, neither of which I can drive. Can't cycle into town because DS1 has broken his helmet, DS2 refuses to walk and the weather's iffy. Bus costs a fortune and having just missed one I'm not inclined to try again.

The boys would love a pet but I'm with Alice in preferring the idea to the reality and responsibility of it.

ta da
finish washing (3 loads done today)
Put washing machine on a cleaning wash
empty the washroom cupboard ready for it to be removed
fold the mountain of blankets, clothes, bedding and towels etc
Ironing
Make kebabs for lunch
sort out ds doing various stuff
5 mins decluttering in lounge
Get ds to try on trainers and school trousers
remove all of ds' stuff from the spare room
remove excess dining chairs and shove into spare room
check internet stuff

to do
Shower and up - it has been one of those mornings
sort out all of ds' socks as they need a serous cull and the few that still fit are going to his dad's house as spares
pack ds' stuff
take ds to the next town to sort out pe trainers
get ds to try on a school shirt to see how it fits so can be used for comparison when getting ds' new uniform nxt wk
Drop ds off
confirm timings for tomo
early night
Move laundry basket of stuff for ds' room into his room

Found this whilst looking for something else. Can't remember if i posted it on a previous thread or not, so appologies if it has previously been linked.

Bitchy

ta da

Work
Pet shop - bought supplies for new kittens done
Buy new parking permits nope
Buy food nope
Tidy up dining room for visit from kitten breeder tomorrow work in progress
Find hospital letter nope
Hospital appointment (mammogram) done
What's for dinner? Chicken casserole in the slow cooker done

Lovely to come home from hospital and smell the dinner cooking .

Amazingly, DS1 came to the pet shop with us, although we had to promise to spend no longer than 10 minutes. He was very edgy and was being very literal and argumentative, so it wasn't very relaxing for any of us, but good that he made himself go. We've bought a cat bed, gorgeous wicker basket to carry the kittens to the vet, red fleece blanket, food, bowls and toys. I also let DS2 buy a sign which reads, 'Beware of the kitten'. He has added the extra 's'.

Am about to declutter the dining room now. It needs to be tidy for our visit from the cat breeder - I feel as if I'm being inspected!

I love pets and have never been without an animal of some description but must admit I do sometimes think it would be nice not to have the added responsibility when I've a toddler (and baby on the way!).

Sorry to hear about the no car situation Blue, I know I end up feeling land locked when I can't get out.

I've just gotten in from my last shift at work, I'm now on ML, and feeling a little emotional. Though it's nice not to have to worry about going to work any more - at least it means no more housework late at night!

Currently no motivation but considering the midwife is visiting tomorrow and I want to pretend that our house is usually tidy I should really do some things tonight in case she comes early.

To do
Washing up
Clean kitchen sides
Bits off dining room floor!
Clean bathroom
Fold up dry washing
Sort clutter on top of tumble dryer
Visual sweep of dining room and sort out easy to do bits

Hope you can make the most of your ML, DizzyKipper. (Speaking of which, where is Lairy? I keep waiting to hear).

The CD worked on DS2 again and DS1 has had his melatonin early, so I'm off to bed, dosed up on Phenergen to help me sleep. Before I crash, here are the links:

Babystep Number 16 is one you can ignore, especially as it now includes a push for a novel based on Flylady by Flylady's own sister!

Tomorrow is Saturday which is family fun day.

There are no missions at the weekend. Phew.

Saturday's flight plan is here.

Night all.

Ah ha. Did a bit of MN searching. Thinking of you, Lairy, and looking forward to hearing the good news.

Morning all!

Didn't get in til nearly one this morning so no flying got done yesterday, had to pick my mum up from the train station after work, pick dd up from holiday club, deliver them both to the train station, go get my nails done and ended up with 15 minutes to get ready before I had to be at my friends house to go out for the night. Was supposed to be having a lie in this morning, but neighbours woke me up ...can't wait to move house...

Anyway busy day today as DDs party later, so maybe a good thing I didn't get a lie in...

To do
Weigh
Diet coke
Get dressed to shoes
Feed fish
Feed hamster
Bring cake in (forgot last night and still in boot of car)
Sort party bags (realised I may have put some age inappropriate things in bags for little ones
Write mum's birthday card
Don't forget DDs b'day card for mum
Wrap friends son's present
Don't forget friends son's card
Get ready DDs clothes for party inc swim stuff (pool party)
Get ready my swim stuff for party
MH clothes to go back to mums
Tidy house if enough time
Close bathroom window
Buy dd a b'day card
Buy dd a helium balloon
Check bank balance
Get petrol
Go pick dd up

Sure there were more things, but that is all I can think of for now...no actual official flying other than the get dressed to shoes, but going to have to catch up with that tomorrow as far too much on today...bbl

I'm a bit bad - I sometimes follow the flying, but really this thread to me is just to motivate me to clean and catch up in the household stuff, not necessarily specifically what's outlined to be done. Hope that doesn't get me kicked off the thread.

I got another big bag of shredding done last night. I'm really pleased at the progress. Another couple evenings of it should do the trick. And then I'm going to park those shredding scissors right by where I generally open and check the post so I can shred anything that needs it right away.

ta da
usual morning routine
checked bank
tidied living room

to do
more shredding tonight
coffee.... lots of coffee.....

Well we survived the drive yesterday. Am now very stressed out by DM's house. It's over 2 years since we've been here. She is a hoarder. It's no worse than it was which is something, but certainly no better. I spent 5 minutes this morning while she was getting dressed going through a pile of paper for recycling. She had cut outs of newspaper articles from last Christmas to remind her to go to London last April for an exhibition...

We are going to do 15 minutes once the kids are in bed. She says she wants to declutter but every item has to be pored over, checked, read and re-checked before it can be dealt with. DH refuses to come here anymore. I just want to cry. And hire a skip.

There's a thank you card from my cousin for her DS' first birthday present. He's nearly 3. But it makes her smile apparently. It's not even as if there's a photo of him on it. She just will not get fucking rid.

Morning fledglings!

Alice, I also ignore a lot of the baby steps and pick and chose which missions to follow . But it's very useful to be prompted to do chores that I would otherwise totally forget.

Saturn, hope your dd has a lovely party, make sure you save yourself a big piece of

Toffee great that the CD is helping your DS and his trip out sounds like a great achievement for him. Maybe once your kittens arrive he can be pursuaded to make other short trips out to get their food and other bits?

Ta da
DS up, teeth done and fed
Cats fed and chucked out
D/w
Hand washing up
Gathered up dirty laundry
Tidied lounge floor
Cleared kitchen surfaces
Folded clean laundry

Am now waiting for a new cleaning company to come over to give me a quote. Our current cleaners are not up to my pernickety standards

To do
Washing
Make beds
Trip to post office and shop for nappies
I have a serious hot spot that has swamped thd dining table and needs some serious decluttering

[coffee] for all, lots and lots of it!