September Fledglings gather here, let's banish clutter at the start of a new school year!

[CallingAllEngels]

Here we go again- a new month to whip our houses into shape!

If you're suffering from CHAOS (can't have anyone over syndrome) and STUFF (something that undermines family fun) then you need Flylady.

Don't sign up for emails on the Flylady website as you'll be inundated. Everything you need to know will be posted in the thread on a daily basis.

Depending on the stage you're at with FL you'll be:

1. Starting or repeating FL's babysteps.

1. Repeating babysteps + decluttering for 15 minutes per day in current zone.

1. Reinforce babysteps + daily missions if you'vefinished decluttering.

4.Number 3 and detailed cleaning anyone here yet??!

Bear in mind:

1. You're never behind!

1. No perfectionism allowed.

1. Your house did not get into a mess overnight, it won't get tidy overnight.

Some of the fledglings have been chatting and flying on MN for 10 years. I still think of myself as a newbie sometimes (even though I've been here for 2+ years!). Everyone's welcome! Old timers, newbies and lurkers alike, come and share your ta das, to dos and a whole lot more

Sorry for lack of OP links - am posting on the laptop that time forgot and am just keeping my fx that the OP posts!

Will be back on August 31st (pretty late probably!) with links for the 1st September.

And sorry, just spotted my own subliminal unwitting sexism in earlier post

BOTH Swan's dd and Jemima's ds are going to make great partners one day!

Hello all,

I am back after a long absence! I have had BabyLairy and am just now surfacing to rejoin you all.

Ta da
DCs 1 and 2 off to school
Emptied dishwasher
Washing on
House hoovered
Baby fed

To do not being too optimistic as have velcro baby at the moment
Bath, wash hair and dress
Feed baby (repeat every 2 hours at least!)
Sweep and clean utility room
Tupperware cupboard
Have a nap if at all possible

Many, many congratulations Lairy!! Great to have a new Flybaby join the ranks! Take it steady and make sure you get that nap!

:)
Thank you Stewed!

Phase 1 complete - first lot of washing put away, bath run, baby asleep!

Congratulations LairY"!

congratulations on babylairy

this morning between 8 and 8:35 am on my part went:
Morning ds, can you get breakfast and get dressed please
ds have you put your clothes on yet?
Have you had breakfast yet? what do you want?
You need to have breakfast go have some toast or something and put some clothes on.
ffs ds it is half past 8, you have no clothes on. Have you even eaten breakfast yet?
What happened to the NO tv before you are dressed rule?!?
Your clothes are where ever you took them off.
move it
put your jumper on its cold
right put the letter in your pocket don't forget to give it to your teacher.

He managed to be dressed within 5 mins and grabbed a small something to eat whilst he walked to school. morning TV ban is now in place. But i bet it is not the only morning like this. Feel like a blooming broken record and that is despite trying to let him sort himself out and take the consequences.

Went to sort out ds' new training stuff but it was a long wasted journey as the coach who would normally be there wasn't due to an unadvertised special event. Mac D's breakfast was required and i am now trying to focus on essential things like laundry and school letters and I think i might just dye my hair today. it is a nice gentle activity that.

Ds' nose is fine not too much of a bruise and we are going to sort the glasses tonight before he does his homework.

I feel like a broken record too Bitchy! [Glad it's not just me!] Take it steady x

Ta da
Ds' lunch
ds to school with some letters
trip to another town which was a bit of a fail
3rd load of washing on
construct spread sheets and a print
sort out more permanent storage container for the sensory box stuff
Send important emails
sort out blanket mountain in ds' room
Take out rubbish and recycling
15mins decluttering in my room
find all bits for dying hair after the glasses run (old t-shirt and towel reserved for job)
Make ds' training kit up for tomo
Wash hair

To do
drop remaining school letters off at school
ds' glasses
no nervous breakdown
get ds to sign hospital letter for x-ray copy
fasten loose ends on a blanket - no idea why this hasn't been done sooner
finish a half arsed job on a crochet project so that can be put away tidily.
my floor
ds' homework
ring GP
Figure out if have to get anything for school swimming lessons

A busy pottering kinda day.

SC I think that dd does a lot of things not because I make her but because she is at that age where independence and sorting your own stuff out is interchangeable, and she likes to have her stuff the way she wants it. So in a long winded way what I mean is that when your daughter becomes an adolescent they often want to be more responsible for some aspects of their life. However, dd really does not care whether her room is tidy, and after having talked to a few other mums I now think this is for some children an stage that she will just pass through until she genuinely wants it to be tidy for her own sake. and I have to stop tidying it

Had another rather physically exhausting day. For some reason.

Went to tip with ds2, made him do lots of lifting and lugging, and sorting of recycling
Art day here..a real struggle to get ds2 on board but he did a beautiful collage in the end..so desperately anxious about art, and very sensory defensive about textures and smells. Made mistake of getting him to put salt in his paint, and then we both succumbed to a salt allergy!! Atishoo..

He's doing some French with the neighbour's daughter now.

Roofer coming over later so I've swept the path at the front and hoovered kitchen for teenage tutor, also shaken out all the rugs which were making us sneeze every morning (too much cat hair here).

I need to go back to the alley now and do more shifting of rubbish

Links for Wednesday:

Babystep number 10 is to learn the power of 15 minutes. I think this is a great babystep – if you’re feeling unmotivated, just set the timer for 15 minutes and see what you can do.

Wednesday is Anti-Procrastination Day.

Today’s mission for the day is to tidy up your pantry or one cupboard in your kitchen.

Here are the missions for the week.

Here is Wednesday’s flight plan.

Evening all! Been a busy day on the thread as usual.

Sorry to hear you’re having such issues with DD sc . I will admit that I don’t remember my DP’s making us do any housework, though they never had to nag me to do homework or wash. My DM was a SAHM with 4DCs till I was 11 before she went back to work part-time. She has really struggled with housework since she went full-time (can’t remember when, but think it was when I went to uni, so 15 years ago). I bought her the FL book a couple of years ago when I discovered you lot – which is no doubt hidden under piles of clothes in her bedroom! The cooking and washing up or sometimes dishwasher loading/unloading is shared between DM, DF and DBro but cleaning just does not happen so their house is hideous. My DM does washing, ironing and hovering and my DF does or used to do handman jobs or car jobs. DM does the gardening. I have my fx that my Dsis will be a good influence in the house and my DM has recently started more sociable hours which is making life easier (though with DGM passing away, there’s more pressure for supporting my DGF, though carers seem to be coming in now which is what he needs – actually I think he would be much happier in a care home for more social contact, but that’s another issue).

Welcome back Lairy and congratulations! Take it easy.

Bitchy I am jealous of warm MaccyD’s breakfast. I may have to get up 10 mins early tomorrow and make eggs.

Sounds like a successful day Swan

Work was much better today. I felt 100 times better than last week. I think last week was a combination of first week back after so long off in the summer, panicking because I was behind having missed a few days of school, and absolutely exhausted from travelling back from the UK and all the stress and strains of visiting family + funeral.

Also had a very productive free period this morning reorganizing my shelf in the office so everything is a bit more accessible and looks less like a rubbish pile.

My house feels lovely. Even though we have a long way to go with decluttering draws, cupboards, nooks and crannies and a collapsing shelf , I have managed to stick to my most important fly lesson of bedtime routine (washing up done, lunch made, clothing out, cleansing/beauty routine). I feel calmer and more able to deal with everything life is throwing at me.

And am very excited as have finally unpacked my new fountain pen and filled with green ink . I am just about to open a new notebook and start journalling and writing again. Ad it came with a refillable cartridge, which I didn’t know, so I had ordered another one separately. So now I have a spare refillable to use with one of my other ones, which I currently use washable blue in. I’m thinking purple ink would be lovely .

Totally exhausted tonight - the 13 / 14 hour working days are catching up with me. Really empathised with you Engels, I really struggle to go back to work after 6 weeks doing nothing.

But, in good news, I am finally on top of work. My classroom is done, I finished marking by 5pm and dealt with all the paperwork and saw all the people I needed to and got home in time for the kids without panicking.

Then I organised the landscaping that I need for the next stage of the garden - mission 'low maintenance' is progressing well.

DD had a bit of a melt-down so didn't get as much housework done as I had planned, but did supervise DS1's homework. For the first time ever, he came in, sat down and did it without whinging.

Ta Das
Put the washing mountain away
Put beach stuff away
Tidy garden

Tomorrow is a really late night - not quite sure how I do anything then... We'll see - it might be possible to do it early in the morning!

Glad you've had a good day, Engels.

Congratulations Lairy :)

I constantly feel like a stuck record, SC and Bitchy. DS1 is just so easily distracted! He'll wander around with one shoe in his hand and the other on for ages... I've just got no idea how to get him to focus!!

Today I've done far too much screen-staring and typing so need to get off the pooter and go to bed. House is a tip, but at least I've got the kitchen a tiny bit tidier than it was. Small mercies.

Night all.

Swanhilda I am exhausted just reading about your day!

Ta da
DCs 1 and 2 off to school
Emptied dishwasher
Washing on
House hoovered
Baby fed
Bath, wash hair and dress
Feed baby (repeat every 2 hours at least!)
Have a nap if at all possible
2 loads washing
Make flapjacks

To do not being too optimistic as have velcro baby at the moment
Sweep and clean utility room
Tupperware cupboard

Oops

Morning fledglings !

Off to work. Slightly less hectic than yesterday but will still be on the go with students until 3.30 and absolutely must get some marking done.

Have a good day.

Busy day for me today, so I don't expect to get much of anything done. I will catch up and post later this afternoon.

What a few days it has been in Chez Dizzy!

DH was on a downer at the end of last week due to work (no change there) and he was refusing to go to rugby at the weekend (he had won some tickets) as he had no one to go with so I kind of lost it telling him he was pathetic to miss an opportunity he will enjoy just because he has to go alone (He does hate doing anything alone even being in the house without us!). Well he went and texted to say it was fine and that on the way home he would drop in on the cricket team who were playing their last match of the season. All good until the next thing we hear from him is that he has fallen and hit his head but he was "ok" and on the train home!!!!! Then as always his phone loses battery and by 10pm he still wasn't home. We eventually found him in the pub worse for wear with the cricket team! He them rolls home at 1am goes straight to bed and we don't hear a peep out of him until 7am when he was making acquaintance with the toilet bowl!

DD and I are up early on Sunday to go to a gala so leave him dozing on the sofa. When we got home he hadn't been able to face any food all day but was eventually being able to keep down some drinks! Seems like he lost his balance and tumbled down the stairs between the ends of the rows of seats. The first aiders checked him over but he told them he was fine though now admits he can't remember the walk back to the station - just being on the train! So it seems like concussion played a part in him feeling unwell not just excessive booze.

He struggled through work Monday but still feeling a bit off yesterday went to see the Doc. I told him to mention how down he is and he has come home with a diagnosis of mild depression (after answering a questionnaire) and with some very mild tablets to try and help him sleep. As his blood pressure are over 150 he has to go back for a blood test and to have his BP rechecked. He said this morning he only woke once in the night so that is better than normal. I am proud that he talked to the Doc about how he is feeling instead of just doing the "manly" thing and continue to struggle along. Hopefully sleeping better with prevent the need to take some antidepressants (which I think he will struggle with)

As the house had gone to the dogs, and I was due to have the girls from next door round after school yesterday I buckled down to some flying.

Ta Da

• Cleaned thoroughly 4 bathrooms
• RR our and DD's bedrooms
• Hoovered throughout upstairs and down the stairs and 75% of downstairs
• RR Dining room
• Swept kitchen floor
• Laundry load in and hung to dry
• Fed girls
• DD to and from Brownies - subs paid
• Shined sink after washing a whole mountain of dirty pots, pans and dishes

ta da
get shouted at by a parent on the school playground
drink a lot of coffee and have a good rant with Dmum

This week seems to be containing an awful lot of mondays

Hi all!

Thanks for yet more advice re dd and routines/chores! She made a brand "new start" yesterday and she did brilliantly. Here's hoping it continues!

(Blue I am glad I'm not the only one with a dreamer! I've come to the conclusion that dd isn't forgetting to do things deliberately half the time, her head is just somewhere else completely! So have written out a tick chart for her so hopefully I don't need to nag so much. And have separate chore chart on fridge, so she can choose one a day, five days a week.) Here's hoping, as Swan explains, that with adolescence comes a need for independence and with that, a more pressing need for order! Fx anyway!

Ta da from yesterday:
morning routine inc dw, wm, s&s & rabbits
extra clean of kitchen
big clean out and clean of fridge
and finally cleaned out ruddy hamster - poor thing - long overdue - must do better next time!
e-mail to colleague
hung out red washing on line to dry
ballet washing in
finally found school sports bag!
rounded up dd sports kit
wrapped presents and wrote cards
quick lunch with dd
stationery shop
mahoosive supermarket shop
put shopping away
(then quick nip to local supermarket to pick up five items I forgot!)
hwk supervision (learning Flemish poem) and maths
lined cake tins
cooked supper of fish fingers, mash, peas and broccoli
cleared up supper
baked choc cake
made jellies
made ganache and iced cake
bed

Ta da this morning:
morning routine inc dw, wm, s&s & rabbits
fill dw again with baking stuff
cleaned food processor and stored away
wrapped more presents
finishing touches to cake
organised man who is kindly cutting lawn and Karchering terrace
hung up 50,00O pairs of dh's socks to dry (well seems like that anyway!)
more laundry on
(finally) tidied up sewing things
carried a load of boxes upstairs
cleaned kitchen
tidied, dusted and hoovered all of downstairs and stairs to first floor
mopped floors
cleaned downstairs loo
ironed clean uniform for Thurs/Fri

To do:
sort out second floor/see if sheets need changing after this morning's tea spill!
make a game for this afternoon's tea party
lay tables
blow up balloons if time
make sandwiches etc
school run (half day)
hwk supervision
bath & hair-washing supervision
get myself ready
birthday tea party
prep supper
phone dsis1
phone d-sis-in-law
early bed!

Dizzy good to hear that your dh spoke to the doc - hope this improves things for him - and you! Hope the concussion is only minor and that he recovers quickly!

Engels and threeislovely you both sound very organised and on top of things despite demanding work commitments!

Still in awe of your 13 hr days Threeislovely

Engelsit is interesting how family circumstances can influence house-keeping 'traditions' for the next generation. Hope that your dm can get a little more on top of things with your dsis's help now that she is cutting back on work. There were four of us dc at home and my late ma was sahm (although did lots of volunteering/committe/church stuff too). She kept things very organised and clean and tidy for us and produced wonderful meals, despite us living in big old, difficult house, but it didn't come naturally to her and she was cross and depressed a lot of the time I think. Two of my siblings are dreamers/untidy/fairly disorganised, one sibling is mega-organised and her house is always immaculate and I am a bit Jekyll and Hyde; some aspects of house very organised - the rest a complete tip!

Glad you are feeling better too!

[swoons over thought of new fountain pen and green ink]

Swan very impressed you are able to get so much done with child in tow

Congrats on your lists Bitchy

Have a good day fledglings! [Waves to everyone I have missed.]

I am going to assume we have crossed posted SC I'd rather think today's list was a bit of a failure. yesterday was a good day though today is yet again very mondayish

Tooth extracted. Relatively trauma free, but the pain is kicking in now (took ibuprofen, just waiting for it to take over). They had to cut open the gums and use a drill - I heard them use the word jawbone and I cut him off and said "you know what? I don't think I want to know until you're done thanks. Unless you want me hyperventilating here in the chair...." So anyway, tooth finally out. Stitches in my gum. Jaw feels like it's been hit by a sledgehammer.

I'm thinking the dcs are going to be having McD's tonight. I can't eat and I don't really feel like cooking.

Oh, and no flying for me today. Nope. None.

SC I wouldn't say dd was exactly orderly , just occasionally quite directed..

and today we had a row Dh took her phone away from 4.30 till 6pm so that she made an earlier start on her homework and that caused a terrible scene. Hopefully tomorrow it will be a bit easier to extract it. She is just so tired all the time and just glued to that wretched device texting her friends!!! (I bet you want dd to stay scatty 11 SC now that you've heard that)

Ds2 did a tennis lesson today, and we managed quite a lot of incidental geography. He then did brilliantly by going off to the park and found some 10 year olds from his old primary to play football with at 3pm.

Ds1 has returned completely knackered and a bit crestfallen from his camping trip; evidentally he found it all rather difficult, forgot to turn his trousers into shorts, his sleeping bag got wet, he ran out of water or forgot to fill up his water bottle we will never know despite 15 m hike and wore an incredibly hot longsleeved teeshirt despite having a short one in his knapsack. At least he returned alive AND now he has to finish some homework he conveniently forgot about last weekend.

Now I have to drive to dd's school and listen to Year 8 motivational evening. With tired dd [grumpy]