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!

I'd go with B.

I'd go with b as well.

I'd also go with b.

ta da

d/w on
collected dirty cups and plates from around the house and washed up
cleared out cupboard and threw away previous kitten's stuff
washed and bleached cupboard
put new kittens stuff in freshly cleaned cupboard
tidied up kitchen counters and wiped down
put washing on
late b/fast for DS1
put rubbish and recycling out
swept and mopped kitchen floor
peeled potatoes and brushed with oil
put potatoes into oven
swished and swiped in bathroom
moved plant from over-filled kitchen ledge to bathroom shelf

Feel exhausted! I expect now I'm sitting down, DH will walk in...

Yep B here too.

Ta Da
Dishwasher emptied
Bedroom tidy
Washing out
Hoovering done

Feel much better after a couple of hours of no children, I'm blaming the holidays

MN fledglings thank you! have gone with b and booked it, so now I can relax and organise all the little games/photo book for the bride.

Ta da
Lie in
Catch up on mn stuff
Download files for printing
consider post that has been drafted and see whether posting in the cold light of day is going to be advised.
Print out about 12 policy and procedure type documents
read and file said documents
make plans for tonight and tomo.
find file and notes for sorting out a whole heap of admin type stuff
find the bits of toys that are going to be delievered and thus decluttered from the house later.

to do
pick up prescription
drop toys off
deal with admin paperwork
go get school uniform stuff
stop off in local big shopping centre and see if books that amazon don't have are because they don't have them or they really aren't released yet
put in amazon order for other stuff
pick up an extra file for paperwork
15mins decluttering in my room
sort stuff for tomo's morning (training followed by important meeting).

Have realised it's pointless cleaning since the painters are in and out of the kitchen with muddy feet (not their fault) so will wait until they've gone at the weekend. Has driven me crazy having DH around and people in and out of hosue so am heading to work at school tomorrow (open for teachers this week) then will pop to town for some more maternity tops on the way home.

Ta da
DS showered and in bed

Sorry all, still not caught up, feeling like I never will. Feeling crap but must motivate myself to do some stuff.

To do
Clean clutter from living room floor
Make bathroom presentable
Dining room, presentable
Utility area, presentable

Ideally
Crap off dining room table
Crap off of old fridge
Crap out of "clutter" bowl
Respond to email about fridge
Did I say make dining room presentable?
Probably more, there's an endless supply of jobs to do around here.

Gah.

To do
Clean clutter from living room floor
Make bathroom presentable - not just presentable but cleaned!
Dining room, presentable (mostly)
Utility area, presentable- cleaned as well!

Ideally
Crap off dining room table
Crap off of old fridge
Crap out of "clutter" bowl
Respond to email about fridge
Did I say make dining room presentable?

Figured I'd do a pleasant task for now and look through photos and decide which one to print for our frames. May get back to housework after.

Crap off of old fridge

Have also managed to put washing on, fold dry washing, put dry washing away and do the rest of the washing up, swept floors, and listed bookcase on sale sites. Which is good, I did practically nothing yesterday! And if I should fall asleep when getting DD down for her nap tomorrow (which I inevitably will) I can feel less guilty. Pretty tired, time for bed. Promise I will try my best to catch up tomorrow.

Well done, Dizzy. That's one less horrible job waiting to be done.

Am just posting the links, then going straight to bed. So tired.

It's time for babystep number 20: include laundry in your daily routine.

Tomorrow is anti-procrastination day.

The mission is here, if you scroll down.

Flight plan is here.

Night all.

Have manged to now pick up most of the school uniform bits that were needed. Not all so that can now be labelled.

Stupid tired but have to be somewhere first thing and have a meeting that I have no prepared for yet tomo. Not sure when i am going to get the planning sorted but then again not sure how i am going to function tomo. I need to crash and actually rest. My brain is being a stubborn toad and it is not happening so when i do crash and rest it will be because of a massive burn out and it is going to be a significant crash requiring a long rest. That said my alarm goes off in 5hrs so i had better high tail my ass to bed. night

I promised myself I would try to get the house organised this week ready for returning to school. Yesterday I looked after my friends dc most of the day so got very little done - I had forgotten how exhausting babies and toddlers are!

To do
Make beds
Washload done and out
Pile of ironing
Clean car out and put it through the car wash
Hoover throughout
Box carboot bits that came home and put in garage
Box up course stuff to go in the loft
Wash up
Get dc to try on school uniform bits so far
Try to find uniform labels from last year - if unsuccessful order some more
Buy dd new playing out pumps
Buy present and card for dds friends birthday
Depoo garden
Walk dog

That is what I am aiming to do before work - honestly not sure how much will get done

Awfully quiet in here today. Is everyone off on their Jollies?

Ta da
early meeting
meeting in next town
book another meeting
banking
ring GP and now awaiting someone to ring me so I can have an appointment bloody awful new system

We're off tomorrow bitchy so I'm currently trying to gather all the things we need. Dh will pack the car up tomorrow morning whilst I finish the last few hours of work.

Did you have a nice trip? Sorry I haven't read whole thread if you've already said :)

Trip? erm. I am not recalling any trip but it has been a very long month. erm yes? lets go with yes cos otherwise i would remember it i think.

Enjoy your trip NickNacks!!!

Oh gosh sorry! I'm also feeling the effects of a very long month and brain has turned to mush.

I'm sure someone was going away.... :)

Thanks bitchy :)

No jollies here, I'm at work and have MIL staying, so not so much time for MNing. MIL is great, she minds the DCs and tidies the house at the same time. Which is more than I seem to manage . Probably because she doesn't spend her time on social networking sites.

Feathery waves!

Sounds like you got loads done Dizzy!

Enjoy your time away NickNacks

Bitchy, sounds like you need some down time, will you get any?

Ta da
DW emptied, refilled, switched on again
Wash on
Both beds made
Lounge hoovered
Random mixed veg curry cooked for dinner later
Bedroom mission completed: clothes pile conquered!
DS bathed
Medicine cabinet decluttered

To do
Meeting in town
Buy a new mop
Find two pairs of shoes to go to charity shop
Take out of date medicines to chemist for disposal

Running late now, bbl

I think I have just crashed and hit burnout which means compulsory bed rest for an extended period. So yep, I can get some down time

When i have had the call back i am going to attempt a nap. Otoh it is an amazing what effect a hot water bottle can have on a tired and sore body.

Bitchy oh no. Get some rest.

WhoKnows I'm guilty of that sometimes. But I have to monitor ds1 quite closely, and sometimes that means staying in the same room - there's only so much I can do in the living room at one time - the rest of the house just kind of falls around me. lol

NickNacks have a lovely time!

I'm feeling a bit better today, holding food down. Hurrah!! So back to getting things done.

ta da
tidied up living room
swept hallway/entryway
tidied up kitchen, wiped down all counters and some of the cupboard doors
washing up
organised one food cupboard (trying to figure out what the blazes to make for tea tonight)
stripped all the beds
caught up on all the laundry, including bedding
redid entire budget through January, putting it in a different simpler way, so I could include all the little incidentals and see what I'm spending where

to do
am now looking through old Christmas mags, taking out things I like to put in a binder (to avoid spending extra money on Christmas mags this year as I have come to the conclusion that they are all the same, just recycled every few years)

I avoided turning on the computer until now because I had lots to do and didn't want any distraction.

As a result, I have a ta da list. Feeling very proud of myself.

ta da

Greeted by friendly kittens - lots of cuddles
Cleaned kitten dishes and refilled them with food and fresh water
Cleared out litter trays and swept up litter mess surrounding each one
B/F (one of the kittens jumped up on the table and tucked into my breakfast!)
Got dressed to shoes, washed hair
Swished and swiped in bathroom
Aired beds
Unloaded d/w
Reloaded d/w with b/f things
Put first load of laundry on
Cleared and wiped down kitchen counters
Cleaned cooker hob
Put rubbish out
Made beds
Friends came round to meet the new kittens
Played with kittens
Hung washing on the line
Put another load of washing on
Sorted through old box of baby mementos, assisted by DS2
Crawled into loft storage area, armed with a torch
Sorted out unwanted toys, books and CDs to sell at a stall we're doing on Saturday
Sorted out unwanted clothes for the stall
Moved some of DS2's boxes of toys into the loft to free up more space in his bedroom
Persuaded DS1 to have a bath and wash his hair
Failed to persuade DS1 to attend his appointment at the dentist
Made myself a cup of
Tidied up DS1's bedroom
Put pizzas in oven for lunch
Brought washing in and put half away and the rest in a pile to iron later
DH home. Stopped for and chat.
Checked emails

Amazing what having enough sleep does for your energy levels, isn't it? Am about to go back into DS2's bedroom with a binbag and finish tidying up.

WhoKnows - your DC are probably less demanding of your MIL than they are of you - that's why she gets more done.

Bitchy - hope you get your rest.

NickNacks - have a lovely trip.

Alice - so glad you're feeling better. Bet it's such a relief not to feel sick.

coffee - very organised - making veg curry for dinner later.

NickNacks - maybe you were thinking of when Bitchy drove her son to his Dad's? Or else it might be Swan you're thinking of - she's off in Ireland at the moment.

Mercury - that was kind of you to look after your friend's DC. I hope you get more done today, although you might be being optimistic if you have work to do as well.

Off to tackle ironing and then tackle DS2's bedroom again. And warm the oven up for roast chicken later.

Wow! Great list, Toffee.

Oh no, Bitchy hope you get some rest.

We've had a few pretty stressy days here. Not sure why, just me in a grump. This morning was hideous, but parked the boys in front of a DVD so I could get some work done, and now DS2's friend's mum has taken them to the park.

Have finished first draft now and also made a veg curry for later. Not sure what the boys are having. I usually try and make it bear some relation to our meal, but neither of them likes rice so it might be fish fingers and chips... New car ready to be collected tomorrow. I was hoping to go myself, but they won't pick us up and can't get the car seats there otherwise so DH will have to go on the bus.

Will have to spend tomorrow packing instead - we're off on hols again on Friday. Yay!

Ta da
few hours in work planning
supermarket
Popped into town for more maternity tops
peeled potatoes for dinner (dh actually did the cooking)
Picked ds up from nursery and managed to drag him home in the midst of an enormous tantrum

the painters should be finished with our windows tomorrow morning so then I can relax and have my house back. Tonight will invole my kindle, some fanta, hot chocolate and a packet of chocolate digestives.

ta da, Part 2

Cleared and hoovered under DS2's bed
Tidied his room (one binbag full of junk)
Hoovered his room
Hoovered the bathroom
Served roast dinner