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.

Afternoon all and apologies for mentioning the C word

Am off work today so have done:
Taken DS to nursery
Had hospital app
Got shopping delivered
Collected DS
Rang pension company to update with new address and finally change into married name ( man on phone kept congratulating me didn't have the heart to say I got married 4 years ago )

Still to do:
Go and buy some car seat covers for DH new van
Try and stay awake as DS had me up at 4am. May fail at this one ...

We've done school shoes and haircuts. Phew. Was let down by the factory shop and had to pay full price for school shoes AND trainers for DS1 [weeps] and DS2 was a pain at the hairdressers, but we survived.

Anyone for a ?

can I join please really need to get this house sorted.
going to make a start this week but my official start day is monday as DS1 is back at preschool.

DS is 3.8 yrs and DS2 is 5 weeks so might be limited but going to set small relistic tasks

having work done in the bathroom so that is effecting all the other rooms upstairs but decluttering is a must

so far today I have
got a load of washing done and dry
got all the ironing done took ages!

this week I would like to make a start in master bedroom (the easiest way to declutter would be to chuck DP out)

Waves to all regulars and newbies! I've been AWOL for a few days trying to catch up on the new thread

Not too much flying going on here, my DS has been a bit poorly, we all had a terrible nights sleep, but he seems a bit better today.

I am so ridiculously happy as I have bought an 'Organised Mum' family diary and calendar and they are truly amazing!!! Am convinced these will help keep us all sane and organised. They have stickers!!

Links for Thursday:

Babystep number 4 is start using sticky notes on your mirror. Again this is a Marmite babystep. FL’s thinking is that you should start leaving reminders for yourself of your routines to build good habits, and this will eventually become your control journal, but some people just find it clutters up the place, and your OH and DC will start looking at you as if you’re a little doolally.

Thursday’s mission is to tidy the entrance area of your home. All the missions for the week are here

Thursday is Errand Day.

Here is Thursday’s flight plan.

Remember, if you're a newbie just focus on the baby steps. Anything else is a bonus.

Back soon with round up.

Wednesday’s round up:

Swan is easing herself into home schooling and dealing with a leak. Hope you’re able to get it sorted soon (and in the meantime, mushroom soup anyone?).

ellie did indeed survive her first day back, and has negotiated routines with DCs. Fx they stick to them says me looking at dirty pile of washing up

standing is off to a cracking FL start.

catg is following the babysteps.

blue has had a painful day shoe shopping. I can sympathise. Shoes here are outrageous. A pair of Clarks that is 30 pounds in the UK can be 60 euros here We try to get DS’s shoes when over over in the UK.

bitchy didn’t get a very good sleep and has lots of things on her mind.

three is feeling motivated.

ellis has been updating records with married name. I’ve been married for 3 years and have NOTHING in my married name. My passport still has 2 years to run so will think about sorting it all out then!

Alice is planning her next big project and has freed up some space no humping required

sc has some very long lists and is a bit misty eyed at saying goodbye to school fish. I love to hate the daily mail

Welcome mamachelle and blamenargles !

toffee has a broken down dishwasher, is trying to get her OU essay finished and is chasing round after kittens

dizzy is enjoying DD’s home made cake and a few more months of financial stability (my sympathies. DH HATES his job and keeps muttering about quitting and starting to do something he knows nothing about).

coffee is excited about her new diary (I have one too!)

newlark has set a decluttering goal – good luck!

nicknacks has been visiting DS with his lunch at school.

Ta da
Work
Shower
Laid out clothes for tomorrow

have left washing up and not done lunch yet. Currently watching The Holiday and thinking about biscuits.

So many things to think about, but will wait until the working week is over before engaging my brain

Back to school knocked us for six this week if I'm honest. Tomorrow I'm back on it. My sink is always shiny so I'm going to stick with the mission thing (real name?) rather than baby steps.

I want to catch up so, am I right that by the end of Thursday I need to have:
-(from Monday) spent 15 minutes cleaning outside front porch and front door.
-(from Tuesday) spent 15 minutes on a hotspot near the front door or dining area (don't have have separate dining room).
-(from Wednesday) spent 15 minutes on the walls and window around dining table.
-(from Thursday) spent 15 minutes near the front door tidying shoes.

I may be delegating some of these tasks.

This post comes with thanks to CallingAllEngels and ellie for their motivating name-checks.

OK, here we go

• uniforms and PE kits all ready for the morning. Shoes cleaned.
• delivered "stuff to do around here" list to new neighbour and had lovely chat and cuppa. DSs were super well behaved, proud of them.
• kitchen sparkly
• entrance hall tidy
• no loom bands on floor
• managed to squeeze in a run
• entertained MIL & FIL, kitchen, lounge and hall were all tidy (result!)
• Shined my sink :)

Loving that Wednesday is No Procrastination day....got a few more jobs to do before bedtime.

Thread is helping, lovely to check in and see all these achievements

Have read through thread but everyone is so busy and I am too exhausted to get the name checks right sorry! So I'll just post my list and collapse.

Ta Da
Morning wipe round bathroom, downstairs loo and kitchen
Pegged out 3 loads of washing that I washed last night
Packed 3 DC off to school without too much drama (including DS1's first day at secondary)
Went for a swim
Full day at work
Nipped to the supermarket in my lunch break to pick up some bits we've run out of
Came home, listened to all 3 DC talk simultaneously about their school day
Cooked dinner
Brought washing in, ironed, put away
Got DS1 to phone both sets of grandparents to tell them about his first day at secondary school.
Sorted out PE kits for tomorrow
Photocopied DS1's timetable so we have a spare if he loses it. Added his PE lessons etc to the calendar.
Added DS2 and DD's primary after school clubs etc to the calendar from their school letter.
Washed and dried my swimming kit for tomorrow
Put the school uniforms on to wash

To do
Make mine and DH's packed lunches for tomorrow (sandwiches for him, greek salad with couscous for me).

I need an early night!

BTW Engels my OH and DC already think I am doolally. They may have a point. I love a good checklist and I have them pinned up all over the place - a dinner menu for the week on the front of a kitchen cupboard, music practice tick sheets, before leaving the house checklists, DC's chore checklists. I am the queen of lists.

Evening all.

Ta da:-

Survived second day a work
Survived first swimming lesson of the term (they were on over the holidays...i just cba'ed to go)
Packed bags/laid out clothes for the morning
Dinner
DW on
cleaned down kitchen
got washing on and washing in
planning done for tomorrow
changed cat litter for dmum
swept floors

I have no wine so have resorted to ice cream instead.

DS is pooping his pants about tomorrow bless him. He will be fine, I know he will be fine.

No time for personals as have got more work to do .

Have a lovely evening.

Thanks for the welcome. Just a small progress report from me, dd5 (7 wks) wanted to feed most of the day so i didnt get too much done.

Ta da:

cleaned kitchen, lounge and hallway
bathed me and 4 children
labelled 3x uniforms and packed all bags
hoovered lounge
got the girls to try on all their clothes (while i sat on their floors and fed the baby)
washed the 0-3 month clothes from the loft
washed 2 other loads of laundry

To do:
finish lunches
iron uniforms
decide what time to set alarms
sleep

night all

Well, after a good start this morning by getting up earlier, I was determined to keep up the good work, including keeping the DCs in line WRT their chores (I ease off on them a bit in the holidays).

So, tada!

School run
Chat with friend about allotments walking back
Work
Sainsburys
School run
Make DCs unpack lunchboxes
Unpack my own lunchbox
Strip guest bed and wash sheets, left on line overnight.
Sweep and mop kitchen floor
Cook dinner
Cook batch of tomato pasta sauce
Eat dinner
Take DCs to trampolining
Home and make tomorrow's packed lunches
Reading/handwriting etc with DCs
Shower and wash hair
Exercises
Bed.

Evening!

A warm welcome to Mamachelle and Blamenargles Really admire you and others on this thread who are attempting to Fly with babies and toddlers (or both)! I don't think I did any housework for the first three years of dd's life

Thanks for another lovely mahoosive round-up Engels

Good luck for your ds tomorrow Ellie!! He will be fine Remember to take a photo!

Hope your ds1 is enjoying secondary school Jemima I write loads of lists too I just never complete them

A warm welcome to Mamachelle and Blamenargles

Glad your little 'un on the mend coffeeandcream

No Vivacia! You need never worry about being behind! Flylady is adamant that you don't have to catch up! Just start again where we/you are at! I may have taken this theory a little too far in the past (Of course you can catch up if you want to (adapt system to suit yourself) but it is designed so that it will all come around again at the beginning of next month anyway ifsywim.) Of course if you can delegate the tasks though, so much the better !!

standingonlego bravo to your polite dss!

Got quite a bit done today but frustrated because needed to do so much more. Started well but school half day and dd was a bit hyper this afternoon so gave up and we went for a bike ride which was time well spent in the end, esp as very sunny here. Still didn't get the ruddy hamster done! Haven't finished dh's present (I'm sewing it) although in better position than I was this morning.

Ta da
finish cleaning rest of kitchen done
3 x loads of laundry done
cover school books done
call window cleaner done
still need to clean out ruddy hamster; getting very urgent now [grrr] NOPE
poss dye Barnet Fair? NOPE
downstairs needs another hoover (holiday mud still making itself known) done
prep for dh's birthday ie frantic sewing nearly done
cleaned bikes and washed and dried wicker basket done
exercise/walk bike ride with dd
shopping for ingreds for cake NOPE!
think of something for supper and prep tuna fish cakes & salad
put away ironed clothes NOPE
boudoir/home office NOPE
school run at lunch time (half day today) Done
afternoon routine done
hwk supervision done
run around house with large net and herd dd in to bath done
supper and clear up done
texted friend about arrangements for we done
watched GBBO done
early bed BIG FAIL!

G'night all!

Evening. Very impressed by how much everyone gets done.

Toffee - I particularly empathised with your kitten exploits - I have spent two days trying to be brave enough to let my kittens learn how to climb DOWN the tree. They mastered up really well and then mewed a lot until one of the boys climbed up to rescue them! Tonight, they learnt how to climb down which I was very grateful for!

Ta Das:

Put washing away
Got new Roomba - set up, charged and used!!!! V exciting and will revolutionise life
Cooked two dinners
Washed up twice
Did work in the sun
Cleaned kitchen
Organised lounge
Got kids ready for school tomorrow
Laid out clothes
Bathed all kids
Had lovely dinner with DH
Sent work emails

For tomorrow!

Sort out new underbed storage in kids rooms
Hoover upstairs hall

Night

threeislovely - have you seen :o

Toffee - loved 'Took kitten out of the fridge' :)

Lots of very busy people on here today, well done everyone. We spent all afternoon in the park as the weather was great so very little Flying has been done and now I should be in bed but am procrastinating however washing up is done, kitchen is clear and tomorrow is another day.

DS goes back to school in the morning and DD starts high school on Friday. She is SO excited which is lovely to see as she is usually one of the quiet ones. DS is his usual laid-back self :)

Todays plan of action:

Ta da

washed wet bedding
empty dishwasher
drank lots of tea (bad night with babies)
made beds, pulled curtains

To do

Dress babies and tie girls hair
go to school
sort 3x black bags of clothes from yest
fill a black bag of rubbish from all rooms
buy extra protection on dryer
nap with the babies
clean bathrooms
school run
cry at scuffs on brand new school shoes
cook a roast
school work
general tidy and next day stuff
early to bed

Have a good day!

To Do
CAMHS

that is enough for today. Was going to do laundry but due to building work have no washing machine and stinky kit stuck in the lounge

Must dash we are running late.

Bitchy - best of luck with CAMHS.

The kittens are crazy things this morning. They are playing a bit more roughly with each other too, which worries me a bit, but should calm down after they've been neutered (I hope). The tabby always leaps into the fridge when I open the door, Feet .

DS2 has a friend round all day, so I'm hoping to have time to get some more reading for my OU course done.

Hope everyone is coping ok with back to school/back to work. And that home ed continues to go well, Swan.

I have peeped in here but am only joining in with you now. Have a big family party in two weeks in my house so have to try and get it into some sort of normality. Will be dipping in and out regularly now.

Welcome, Larry. Always good to have a deadline, I find. Good luck with the preparation. I always find a crisis clean is a good place to start - that, and a very long 'to do' list.

Hi Larry come on in!

Back to school today here - DS2's first day in reception. He was really excited about it, but got rather daunted on getting into the classroom where everything was different. It's a big change after rocking merrily up to nursery for the last 18 months and he's often rather slow to adapt. Hadn't realised how much of a change it would be for him so hadn't prepared for it. He'll be fine though.

It's so lovely and peaceful, and I don't have to do the nursery run any more!

Ta da!
Sorted out 2 craft/scrap paper drawers
Chucked loads of stuff
Laundry done and on line
Sitting room hotspot
Piano hotspot
Hoovered throughout
S&S

To do
Work
Reschedule routines around school days
What's for dinner?

Sorry, have been a bit absent for a day or so. Lot on my mind. But have offloaded a lot of it now and feeling much better. So.....

ta da
usual morning routines
school runs
washing up
tidied up living room
tidied up kitchen
checked bank
went to appointment
filled out some school forms and sent back in

to do
fill a few plaster spots (just when I think they're all done, I find more)
tidy up dining room
shred today's post as it's nothing exciting
load of laundry
vacuum (this evening - if I have to use a hand vac and a broom, by god, I'm just doing it once a day!)
getting things prepped to put up the rest of the wallpaper in the living room tomorrow (finally!!)

Blue - fab that you have no nursery run anymore! I'm sure your DS will be fine at reception. Hopefully, the teacher will do a good job of helping them all settle in well.

DS2's friend has arrived and they have bored of playing with the kittens and started playing Minecraft instead. All is quiet, apart from the scampering of mad furry things downstairs.

Going to work on my OU stuff now and I will not click on 'Active Threads', oh no.