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!

Oh, I've been meaning to ask. I detest mopping, and I've been eyeing steam cleaners. Are they easy to manage? Good on floors? Or a hassle and not worth the expense and effort??

Pros and cons from those who have them or have had them would be greatly appreciated.

We've got a cordless Dyson and it's as light as a feather and does the whole (small, think Coronation Street) house on one charge, so long as you do the middles of rooms only, if you're doing corners, stairs, car etc it has short nozzles too. It was expensive but we paid for it mostly with Nectar points. Only problem is that it isn't freestanding you are supposed to hang it on the wall in a holder and keep it plugged in, we haven't got wall space for that so we just keep the head part plugged in and the long body hidden away in a corner.

As for mops, I've got a cylinder style steam cleaner, it is brilliant for getting right into the nooks and crannies at the edges of floors with the hand held fine nozzle and gets dirt off with the main brush, but it leaves the floor dull and just not very clean-looking (we have hard water). My mop is a Vileda one where you fill the whole handle with liquid and press a trigger to squirt as you mop, easy peasy and no bucket, I use Method Almond floor cleaner with it and it smells amazing. The handle is big, you only have to fill it up once in a while, not every time you use it

Oh and of course the Vileda mop beats the steam cleaner for being cordless and not needing to wait for heating up, just grab it and start mopping.

Okay, with the vileda mop, does the stuff in the handle get yucky? I mean do you have to clean it out frequently? And does the stuff you squirt out need to be rinsed off, like some floor cleaners or does it just go on and stay on? (ah, so many questions)

My string mop and bucket are driving me to distraction and the bucket just gets in the way in the kitchen.

We have hard water too. I want the floor to look clean afterwards, otherwise what's the point?

The Dyson sounds interesting, although, like you, I am not sure I would have the room to have the whole thing plugged into the wall, although there are a few options, such as in the corner of the dining room.

Helloooo

I joined you earlier in the tear then disappeared. thinking I need to resume flylady in September so popping in in readiness

I hope you are all well.

year...

still using phone so expect autocorrect/typos

The stuff I use doesn't go yucky or need rinsing off. it is meant to be used neat. It's quite expensive, £4 a bottle, a bottle lasts me a couple of months at least, but I don't mop every day and our floor is fairly small.

Welcome back Eustacia.

Hmm... definitely something to consider. Most of my downstairs floors need regular mopping so it's a possibility it could get quite expensive.

I don't MIND waiting until a steam cleaner is ready to go, as I'm home during the day, and can pop it on and do something else while waiting. Steam cleaners just use water? (haven't had one, so no idea)

You could probably put essential oils or similar in, but I'm not sure. There may well be cheaper floor mopping liquids out there, I bought this on impulse and liked it so stuck with it, it is only for the smallish kitchen and bathroom floors in our house, everywhere else is carpeted.

Morning all!

Alice - I think that is my problem, I try to stick to the Flylady thing and then have times like the last couple of days when I can't stick to it at all, feel like I've failed at it and then end up giving up. Determined not to do that thus time and carry on regardless! And you have my sympathies re stbx as I am going through similar atm and can be so draining to deal with

Trazzles - sorry to hear about your DMs house, really good of you trying to help her with it though

Coffee - apparently according to DD it was the most amazing party ever, which makes all the stress and hassle worth it we had cake for breakfast this morning hope the cleaning company was up to your standards!

Toffee - glad you managed to get a good nights sleep Friday night (although doesn't sound like you did last night!). The kitten photo is just gorgeous

SC - lol at playmobil evacuation procedures - love the imagination they have when screen time is restricted. Unfortunately unlikely to have r&r time today as the house has not survived the neglect ion these past couple of days and every room is in chaos

Engels - sorry to hear about the double bereavement, how awful to come back to. Hope you manage to get the find off work for the funeral

Waves to who knows, blue, bitchy, eustacia and everyone else...

So much to do today don't know where to start...

To do
Kitchen
Hallway and landing
Bathroom
Living room
Bedroom
Spare room
DDs room
Budget
Go for a walk
Meal plan for the week
Food shopping
Text people back
Feed hamster and fish

Sure there is more, but that is all I can think of for now so that will do...

Will put on some music, set timer for 15 minutes and see what I can get done...bbl

Please help yourself to birthday from yesterday! otherwise I will just keep eating it

saturn yes, I can usually shut out the stbx stuff, but some days it's just overwhelmingly irritating and I struggle. He seems to thrive on drama and controversy, so it's an ongoing thing.

I'm whittling my way slowly through a huge box of junk - cables, computer stuff, old mobile stuff. Trying to match power cords and chargers and the like. What a mess. Some chargers for things I no longer have - but I have to be careful so I don't toss one I need. As I figure out what it belongs to, I'm placing them in a sealed clear bag and labelling what it belongs to with a marker (such as "digital camera charger"). Makes life oh so much easier!!

Saturn, was it your birthday yesterday?? Happy Birthday!!

Know exactly how you feel Alice, I try to keep talking to a minimum so any communication is via text...but even then he will try and provoke me over something supposedly strait forward and can then end up with texts flying back and forth for days - drives me mad. Try to ignore it, but he knows exactly how to get a rise out of me

Yo sound so organised with your clear bags and labelling I am no where near that stage yet!

It was DDs birthday yesterday. She had a pool party with 30 kids!!! Had a huge inflatable assault course in the pool, my friend persuaded me to have a go on it and was such good fun ended up having three or four goes on it. Arranging everything was all a bit stressful tbh (as I'm not particularly organised atm), but all the kids absolutely loved it...

Anyway...

Ta da
Emptied bin
Moved things that don't belong in kitchen out of kitchen
Put washing up away
Searched house for washing up that hadn't made it back into kitchen
Washed up

Kitchen now a place I wouldn't be embarrassed if someone looked in the window (however if they looked in the cupboards that would be a different story, but that is for another day)

Ta da
Emptied bin
Moved things that don't belong in kitchen out of kitchen
Put washing up away
Searched house for washing up that hadn't made it back into kitchen
Washed up
Cleaned toilet - Bathroom ok other than that!
Swimming costumes soaking (washer broke in January and not buying a new one until we move - 7 weeks today hopefully )
Taken rubbish out
Tidied hallway and landing where loads of random things had accumulated
Wrapping paper and envelopes cleared from yesterday
Fed fish and hamster
Watered plant
Arranged b'day cards
DDs presents stacked neatly
Living room now tidy and presentable

Think I need a diet coke before I continue...

Saturn so glad the party went well and that your dd had a good time!!! It sounds fantastic!! Sorry there is no time for recuperation today though! I had a party for dd in May and I was so exhausted I spent almost the entire next day lying on the sofa ; so you are amazing to be not only up and about but cleaning the kitchen too! Likewise with Flylady, all of us have periods when we are following the system relatively well and other times when it all goes to pot. That's life! You are doing brilliantly to be doing any house-work at all on top of all the other stuff you are achieving!!

Alice I started off really well labelling all my charging cables etc with a Brother P-touch machine but then all the labels fell off and now I have one drawer and one box full of tangled chaos - with not a clue what is what and what goes where!

Big waves to Eustacia

Still doing boring chores; about to start my least favourite job: on-line shopping returns (to post tomorrow in uk). Pondering whether to bake dsis2 a cake.

Thanks SC, don't feel amazing! Feels like no matter how much I do can never get on top of everything. Always manage to get done what needs to be done, but feel like I'm flying by the seat of my pants all the time. Would love to be more organised and feel in control

Ta da
Emptied bin
Moved things that don't belong in kitchen out of kitchen
Put washing up away
Searched house for washing up that hadn't made it back into kitchen
Washed up
Cleaned toilet - Bathroom ok other than that!
Swimming costumes soaking (washer broke in January and not buying a new one until we move - 7 weeks today hopefully )
Taken rubbish out
Tidied hallway and landing where loads of random things had accumulated
Wrapping paper and envelopes cleared from yesterday
Fed fish and hamster
Watered plant
Arranged b'day cards
DDs presents stacked neatly
Living room now tidy and presentable
Spare room - currently bring used as my walk in wardrobe - as tidy as it can be considering DD broke two of the hanging rails making a den and pointless replacing them when moving - they are now propping each other up, but feel they could collapse at any moment
Made bed
Sorted and put away mountain of washing
Tidied bedroom

Just DDs room to tackle now, which is the worst room. Will have lunch, menu plan for next week and do the shopping first - otherwise supermarket will close on me...

SC that's why I bag them separately. Even if the marker wears off, at least they're not tangled up.

Afternoon all.

DH just off with ILs to wake and I'm ashamed to say the house is very relaxed without him. he's been like a bear with a sore head the last few days and overreacting to little things.

Asked DS whether he wanted pizza (Dominos! Yes please!) for tea or chips and he plumped for chips so am making my own in the oven as it's drizzly and wet outside and I can't be bothered to go out. not sure why I am letting a 2 year old choose meal options

Dora Marathon on (On Nick Jr which we don;t usually have but is channel of the month) so I can MN.

Lovely walk in the local fens earlier and one wash done. That's it. This evening I'm going to enjoy either watching Sherlock (which DH is always too tired to watch and I'm fed up of waiting) or read some more Rebus.

Have just finished reading all the Shetland books and loved them. Now I have to wait until the next one comes out or perhaps read the Vera books while I wait

Welcome back eustacia

alice we have a steam cleaner but I have never used it Keep meaning to put it to work in our downstairs toilet.

wow saturn you've got a lot done today.

I am stupidly excited about the fact that my Organised Mum diary starts tomorrow. Going to put it on a stand in the kitchen so we can all check it every day

Kittens very quiet. They have taken to their bed and are refusing to budge. If I peer inside, I just see two pairs of big blue eyes looking back at me.

Went back to sleep until 11, but still feel woozy. Have managed to prepare lunch and do the basic chores. Spent half an hour or so clearing out one of DS2's drawers and putting stuff in a bag for rubbish or a box for selling.

Now starting dinner: roast pork with crackling - DS2's request (with apologies to any vegetarians ).

Engels dear god, don't mention toilets!! I've been here 5 years and STILL cannot get the limescale dreadfulness out of the toilets. They were vile when we moved here. I managed to shift some of it, but some of it is just impossible - I've tried everything short of scraping it off with a screwdriver (and trust me, I've considered that!!) There are days when I have little fantasies about replacing them both with brand new ones, but I just don't have the money for it. (and there's a ridiculously old bit of plumbing upstairs that it's connected to that is god-awful at best and if I won the lottery, I swear that would be the first thing I would replace!!).

roast pork sounds wonderful. We're having jacket potatoes because a- ds2 asked for them and ds1 agreed. and b- easy tea, poke a few holes in them, toss them in a pan in the cooker. Job done

Aah, crackling. I cannot request pork when we go to my parents because I am forever reminded of and teased about the Boxing Day when at a large family dinner I presumed the crackling plate was "leftovers" (even though we hadn't eaten dinner yet) and munched the lot while my mum and aunt were scurrying round the kitchen then had to shamefacedly own up when everyone wondered where it had gone.

My home made oven chips were delicious. Now I have managed to turn the TV off, put some music on, make track for DS's duplo train which he is happily playing with while I do the washing-up and sort out the washing. Am determined to start the week off with a reasonable house so I can enjoy my last week of holidays before the madness begins again nothing to do with the fact that super houseproud MIL will be putting DS to bed tomorrow night and babysitting so will therefore see all of my house, oh no

BBL with a long list I hope

Not sure if you can see them, but these are our kittens: still hiding in their den.

awwwww cute kitties!!

So cute! The climbing doesn't necessarily stop, look what we found in the kitchen today, but they do grt better at not knocking things over.