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 am disgustingly late. (Think i may have missed all of last month). Marking place.

Back later.

Luffs you all.

I failed to fly yesterday. Dms bf passed away and dgm was moved in to a home for respite care so it was an extremely sad day.

We are off to spend the day with my bf and her family today. Yesterday's events have driven home the importance of making the most of the people in your life.

I do however plan to do some ironing this evening.

Any sign of mini lairy yet?

Mercury - I'm so sorry to hear about your DM's bfriend . How is your DGD doing? I'm sure moving your DGM into respite care is best for her and your DM at the moment. I know what you mean about these events making you value the people in your life. I hope you enjoy your day with your BF today.

Welcome back, ellie and goth.

I think we can overlook you flouting Babystep Number 17, Bitchy, as last night clearly qualifies as a pamper mission .

Am feeling a bit better today, but am not planning on rushing round madly to make up for my day off yesterday. Instead, I will be mostly doing more paperwork which means I can sit on my arse all day.

Lairy - keep us posted, if you can!

Carpe - any news?

I wish toffee I fell asleep instead of going out. should have admitted defeat in the first place.

Sigh. Ds1 woke up at 2am, and then again at 3am and was up the rest of the night. In constant meltdown from 3am until after 9am. So...

ta da
retained sanity... only just

to do
breathe
drink coffee

that is all.

Slight side rant, but jeez I hate the smell of the food recycling bins in this weather. ick.

We are having another lazy day here.

Took ds1 to Mass. Dd dressed smartly, down to her Grecian sandals from Primark, then suddenly announced she was feeling ill. Then her friend turned up, she quickly recovered... Friend is a very good influence as spent last week rock climbing and has no truck with any fashion nonsense.

ds2 still has intermittent earache related to having telly switched off. The plane pressure gave him terrible earache for two days but I think he is getting used to the attention now!

I've switched it off for good now and he is reading in his room, Top Gear, Football book and half looking at a graphic novel.
We are also attempting to get ds1 to do some geography homework at the kitchen table. It takes hours to get him to that point..

Two beautiful purple figs at the very top of my fig tree, alas too high to reach. Dh found one in range yesterday it was delicious. I need one of those telescopic fruit pickers or a small monkey.

Home Edding today..first concerted effort to keep ds2 on track consisted of reading him another two pages of Pilgrim's Progress (Geraldine MccCaughrean version) and talking about allegory. I confess I am not really on track as to my plan atm. Just keep pinching myself to remember there is really no school for ds2 next term, just ME!!

Oh no, and now we have Titanic Theme tune being blasted from dd's Adele like lips..

Alice ds2 has the same massive tantrums over screen related stuff. We give in quite a lot, and hope that we can use it to bribe him to take more exercise the rest of the time. I hope your day is getting better; you must be feeling so tired. Does ds1 like sitting in the bath playing with toys at all as a relaxing activity? That is often ds2 favourite default.

oh yes,

done
wiped table
put out milkbottles
unpacked some clean clothes and put them away
hung out some clean washing
fed cats

we are off to Ireland (twins and me only) on Wednesday. Ds1 is staying to do a theatre course. Dh is staying to work. So suitcases can stay on the floor downstairs and I don't need to worry about much, except bills and trying to imagine what I will need in Ireland which once I get there I cannot get hold of, as shops are a long way off, and I don't drive or have internet there.

todo
send cheque to godson
electricity bill
Amazon?
look at tent in shed for transportation to Ireland?
Euros?

Awwwww I want to go to Ireland. I would LOVE to take the dcs there. But sadly, I'd have no idea where to go or anything. I don't really know anything about Ireland, other than the fact that FIL was Irish and moved from Ireland to England when he was about 20. Not even sure what part of Ireland he's from, although I understand he has family there still. (he's passed away, so can't really ask and MIL is a bit preoccupied with stbx's recent incident to bother her)

Well, I'm not fully back into the swing of things but

Done
Bags unpacked
Clean clothes away
Laundry sorted
Whole flat vacuumed properly (even under the beds)
Litter tray emptied
Bathroom S&S
Bathroom floor mopped
Lavender plants (from parents) planted up
Walked round to croft to see what DH has been up to
Grocers for few bits of veg.

Just trying to work out what to do for dinner tonight.

I'm just waiting for the mac and cheese to brown up a bit in the oven. Comfort food tonight.

Hello all. Summer holidays are finally in full swing now after DS completed summer school at his new secondary and i completed jury service. DMum has gone away so have the house to ourselves. Yipppeeeeee.

Things still plodding along here. 2 months on and I absolutely know it was the right decision to split from stbxh. Things are still amicable between us and dc's are adjusting well. This sounds horrible but I am finding I don't really miss him. I thought I would but I am much happier on my own (if I wasn't loving with DM).

Dc's and I are going away on Friday to Filey for most of the rest of the holidays. Back for GcSE results and ds's bday the day after but other than that am planning on spending the rest of the time at the caravan. Cheaper and easier to amuse the dc's there and beach on doorstep.

Will have a small list later. I think.

For clarity's sake, I can 100% confirm I am not loving with DMum, merely living. .

elliepac oh, spending a few weeks at a caravan by the beach sounds lovely!! Have a nice time!

Ta da:-
Cleaned out car
Cleaned kitchen
Washing
Putting away
Picked the kids up from STbxh
Cooked Sunday roast
Cleared away roast
Watched DVD with DCs

Hope you have all had a lovely day. See you tomorrow.

dd has spent the rest of the afternoon/eve at friend's
I've seen my friend for coffee
ds2 has continued being a bit boring
ds1 did some RE (not geography) and some singing
sons played badminton
ds1 and I did Star Jumps
we had pizza for supper and carrot sticks

feeling very tired now, and have done very little really, tis that holiday blur kids watching closing ceremony of Commonwealth Games, and Ds1 watched Rushmore with Dh earlier

A quick roll call of the fledglings who have dropped in this month:

Engels, Nicknacks, Shitatusernames, BlueEyes, Feet, Mercury, Kia, Lairy, Trazzle, WhoKnows, Coffee, Alice, Sootballs, Swan, Carpe, Bitchy, Goth and Ellie.

I hope I haven't missed anyone out. Lots of fledglings are on holiday this month, so it's a bit quieter than usual.

I have failed miserably on round ups recently, so it's high time I did one. Here goes:

Engels is determined to kick her house into shape before school starts up again and before she's too huge to do more than flop on the sofa (*MiniEngels is due in December).

NickNacks was last seen heading off to her brother's party and hasn't been seen on the thread since. Must have been quite a party!

Shitatusernames is managing four kids ranging from 18 down to 4 weeks, so she has her hands full. She was hoping for a well-deserved lie in this morning.

BlueEyes has left us her mop and bucket whilst she goes on her summer holiday. (Hope you're having a lovely time, if you see this, Blue).

Feet is failing to observe Babystep Number 17 by staying up late to watch the games (but this probably counts as renewing your spirit or pampering, so you're allowed). Her son deserves a medal for raising £130 for Macmillan by getting a red and blue mohican for their Shave or Style Campaign. Well done on weathering the judgey looks, Feet. Have you embarrassed anyone by asking the judgey pants to donate to the good cause yet?

Mercury is having a tough time, coping with her DM's BF dying and with worries over her grandparents. I hope your DGD is improving and that your DGM has settled into respite care. And I hope you had a restful and restorative day with your BF today.

Kia is sewing, batch cooking and arranging summer tea parties, as well as looking after a sometimes feral child . (Am hoping there will be some leftovers from your tea party for the fledglings).

Lairy last posted on Saturday morning and was hoping that MiniLairy was on his/her way, as she had been getting twinges. Very sensibly (for post-birth photo shoots) she had her hair cut first. Am hoping no news is good news and that you will be back to update us soon!

Am just going to post this in case I lose it all. Back in a mo with Part 2.

Round up, Part 2

Trazzle had arranged a playdate for her DS with a prospective classmate and was doing a crisis clean. She hasn't been seen since . Hope it went ok, Trazzle.

WhoKnows marked a place for her return from her holidays. Hopefully, she is enjoying as relaxing a time as it's possible to have on holiday with small children .

Coffee is finding our thread motivating and is already seeing a difference in her house .

Alice has had a really stressful month (very sorry to hear about your STBX and his family). She had a sleepless night with DS2 last night and was coping with his meltdowns today, so I hope she is getting some catch-up sleep tonight.

(Please remember, all those of you having a difficult time, that this thread is a support group for so much more than just housework. Lots of us struggle with housework because of other stresses as well as just finding it bloody boring ).

Sootball had a manic weekend, but managed to get the house and DC sorted within half an hour of getting home . She is clearly getting the hang of Flylady.

Swan is back from a wonderful holiday in Spain and will be off for her annual trip to Ireland on Wednesday. She has made a start on home educating DS2 already. (My DS2 still doesn't have a place at his prospective school, so i will also be continuing to home ed next term. Am enjoying project planning!).

Carpe needs to POAS and let us know the result, as we are all waiting to hear .

Bitchy made the excellent point that it is not, as I said, Fuck Friday, but Fuck Fun Friday. An important distinction! In spite of flouting Babystep Number 17, she still posted a list this morning, albeit quite a small one by Bitchy standards.

Goth came back from holiday and handed me a gold medal . She has been catching up with post-holiday jobs.

Ellie is enjoying having a house to herself and her DC. She is feeling positive about her difficult decision to split from STBXH and looking forward to spending the rest of the summer holidays staying in a holiday caravan with her DC .

I think I've included everyone, but, if I have missed anyone out, I'm very, very sorry.

Back in another mo with linkies.

Newbies and regulars who are starting over: tomorrow is time for Babystep Number 4: write your reminders on sticky notes. This is to help you build up your new routines.

Everyone: this week's pamper mission is to use music to make daily routines more enjoyable.

The rest of the links are meant to be for those who have completed the babysteps and are now used to their new daily routines. Having said that, I just started doing them right away, alongside the babysteps, so do whatever works for you.

Monday is the day for our Weekly Home Blessing Hour or House Bleugh, as we prefer to call it.

Our missions this week take place in the kitchen. The sneak peak for the week is here and Monday's mission is to clean your kitchen rubbish bin.

Your flight plan for Monday is here.

Goodnight all.

Wow Toffee, I'm impressed!!

I've not slept, as I've kind of gone "past it" IYKWIM (plus when I'm stressed, I tend to get insomnia). I have, however, last night and tonight, been sewing on simple cushion covers (as much as I don't like hand sewing it's actually been rather relaxing) and finished 2 of them now. One more to go and they'll be done. Well, the basic part of it will be done. I plan on embellishing them slightly, but that will come later.

So tomorrow's to do includes:

• patch wall in living room that plaster fell off (and hopefully patch a few other areas around the house as well)
• paint second coat of paint on the staircase/trim
• sew third cushion cover
• budgeting to spend £20 per month for house decor items - aiming to find as much secondhand or charity shop or make things, so want to make my £20 go as far as possible. Making a list of things I want to look for. This isn't for DIY, this is for actual décor - pictures, frames, any decorative bits and bobs that I'd like to put up throughout the house.

Oh, and looking at the links for today, I will play some music while working tomorrow for awhile anyway - the boys like my Elton John CD.

I cleaned the rubbish bin today so I can skip that one tomorrow.

Well, I'm not sure how I'm supposed to sleep NOW!! One of those huge fast spiders just went running across my living room under my sofa. Thankfully, he was not very bright and wandered out one end (and was squished!). But eeewwwwwww....

have I mentioned I hate spiders? Seen a fair few in the house lately, not sure why now.

Alice - I hate spiders too! Has it been raining where you are today? They always come inside when it rains. Sorry you can't sleep now, by the way. You sounded like you needed to catch up.

Am impressed with your £20 a month budget for home decor. I'll be looking out for tips.

I fell asleep from 4 till 7pm today (still feeling rough with the tail-end of this cold), so I'm fairly awake now, but am intending to go to bed soon so that I'm not too tired in the morning. Tomorrow, I need to do chores to get the house tidy again, work on the wording for the statement (meeting with LEA on Wednesday) and do something fun with DS2 (swimming, maybe).

Toffee yes, some rain this morning and a bit cooler, which I suspect is what did it. I hate just sitting there (sewing, in my case) and glancing up at the television and seeing something big scurry by.

Little fast spiders, annoying, but not huge deal. Big slow spiders, again catchable. Big fast ones? sheeeeeeeiiiiikkkkkkk!!!!! (and then go mad with the fly swatter)

Ah, yes, it's the rain then. They hate it. I was reading this webpage about spider control the other day and wondering when I could afford all the anti-spider measures it suggests. They even do a Spider Control Pack! (I actually went on the website to find out about moths (lots in our house at the moment, which is worrying), but ended up reading about silverfish and spiders too).

My main Spider Control Pack at the moment is DH.