Fledglings polish their pumpkins and do their best, it's time for a Fling Boogie Octoberfest!

[Stewedcoot]

Heartfelt thanks to Engels (and Bitchy!) for leading the thread throughout September (Sept always being a busy one) despite feeling a bit poorly and despite being pregnant. Hope beneficial effects of injections kick in soon!

If you are strugging with C.H.A.O.S. (can't have anyone over syndrome) and S.T.U.F.F. (something that undermines family fun) then this is the thread where we (loosely) follow the step-by-step Flylady housekeeping system (in our own, unique, relaxed style) with lots of chat, support and and along the way.

Flylady link here.

This little-and-often system is designed so that you can follow a series of steps and routines each day (which gradually become second nature) in zones of the house which are designated weekly; defining and minimising housework, which in theory should leave you with loads more time to do something more interesting instead!

At the same time it is intended to reduce that panicky "rabbit in headlights" feeling when you are overwhelmed and everything needs doing all at once. No problem if you miss a day or two; just jump right back in and it will all come around next month again!

It's up to you, but we advise not signing up to receive the Flylady e-mails as you will be inundated! All the information you need will be linked here on a daily basis.

From the first of the month, we will be following Flylady's steps and routines using 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 if you are really enthusiastic and have finished decluttering - you can go on to detailed deep cleaning in each zone.]

More info here on getting started and Flying lessons . Here's the launch pad for more experienced fledglings.

Don't be put off by the barf-tastic language of the site - the underlying system is sound!

Three key points to keep in mind:
(1)No perfectionism allowed - this is harder than you would imagine
(2)You are never behind just start where you are and anything you do is progress.
(3) It didn't get into a mess overnight, it won't get tidy over night - accept it will take time to get on top of things and you will be happier.

If you are new; then trying to spend 15mins decluttering daily and doing the babysteps is a good way to start. Some of us (mentioning no names!) can have scary looking lists but don't let that worry you! Do what you can, anything is better then nothing, and don't judge yourself against others.

If all else fails, a brew + the power of three technique + a bit of support on here can work wonders!

Oh and don’t let it put you off if we appear a bit cliquey – some of us have been on here for years – but all lurkers, intermittent returnees, oldies and newcomers very, very welcome!

energetic? nope no one by that description here. Slept through the alarm and had precisely 10mins to shove child into clothes, food into child, assemble lunch box and shove in bag with homework and get dressed. Ds got to school on time but i have absolutely no idea how!

Safe drive later Castle

Hope you managed a good night's sleep alice

Suppose now i have eaten breakfast. I had better get my coffee drunk, into the shower and actually start the day properly.

Good morning!

So sorry, just realised that some of the links didn't work properly for some reason last night and I didn't come back later on so didn't check! Apologies!

Will therefore repeat ...

Baby-step no. 10 for Friday 10 Oct is to learn the power of 15 mins.

We are in Zone 2: the kitchen here!. Declutter for 15 mins in this zone.

The detailed cleaning list (if you are at that stage) for Zone 2 is here.

Tomorrow's mission (last one in kitchen!) is : spending 5 mins sorting out cleaning materials that live under the kitchen sink.

The daily focus for Friday is: decluttering our cars, handbags and purses.

The monthly habit for October is getting rid of paper clutter: www.flylady.net/d/habits-of-the-month/october/ .

For a summary of the above, see the flight plan : www.flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=-120 which should update itself daily.

Keep going everyone! Even 1 x 15min session of decluttering makes more of a difference than one would imagine!

*

Oh dear, and that should obviously read, "today's mission" now ..!

[Snaffles Castle's biscuits gratefully]

Hope everyone is OK; you've obviously all been very busy!

Good luck today Nightofthecactus and hope you can profit from your child-free time! (Remember to reserve at least some of it to do something for yourself as well!) Glad the Flying is going OK so far but remember our houses took a long time to get messy, so they won't all get tidy in a day! Focus on your achievements and don't get overwhelmed! (Easier said than done I know but small steps and all that ... .) Using a timer for 15 mins can really help sometimes!

Congrats on your long list yesterday Bitchy and hope parents evening went well. We were a bit on the rushed side this morning too! Sympathies over hwk supervision. DD goes to supervised hwk club one night a week and I can't tell you how relieved I feel on Thurs that all hwk is done and dusted before dd gets home. Just one evening makes such a difference! Hope you find sewing machine pedal; that is so frustrating!

Wow Goth your ta da list is amazing!! 40 bags of kale! Hope you and your parents have a lovely weekend!

Safe travelling Castle and hope you have a lovely weekend too with your dm!

Yes, hope you feel a bit more rested this morning Alice!

Big feathery waves to everyone else! Dithering here, there's so much to be done in the house but it's such a lovely autumnal day outside, I am tempted to escape .... .

Have a good day eveyrone!

Morning, about 2 hours before meeting parents Already fallen out with DD this morning. Her attitude stinks. Anyway...

Today's list
Tidy EVERYWHERE -started
Vacuum
Wash kitchen floor
Make birthday cake -cooling on side, ready to fill and decorate
Collect Helium balloon.
Make flapjacks (for Woodcraft Folk walk on Saturday) -cooling in side, needs cutting and boxing
Addition bake of brownies -BECAUSE I'M A MASOCIST
Meet parents at train station (offer Valium to Dad when he sees my purple hair )
Collect DD from school
Take DD to friend's party
Collect DD
Dinner
Plant bulbs /seeds Mum sent that I'd forgotton about -fat chance, will hide packets

Blimey, even quieter on here today than yesterday! You are making the round-ups far too easy! Hope everyone OK!

Waves to Toffee and Goth and everyone else!!

**

PLEASE NOTE: Mumsnet will be off air temporarily tomorrow (Sat Oct 11th) between the hrs of (roughly) 6am and 2pm for technical reasons!! If you get dreadful withdrawal symptoms, I think they are offering a few classic archived threads to keep people entertained instead!

Baby-step no. 11 for Sat 11th Oct is one to ignore, imo, about adding an inspirational page of quotes to your budding control journal, if you have one that is.

Tomorrow will be our last day in Zone 2: the kitchen here!. Declutter for 15 mins in this zone. (If you do zone work at weekends that is!)

Glad to report that October zones can now be accessed via 'Today' on home page (finally)!

The detailed cleaning list (if you are at that stage) for Zone 2 is here.

No missions tomorrow because it is the weekend!

The daily focus for Saturday is: family fun.

The monthly habit for October is getting rid of paper clutter: www.flylady.net/d/habits-of-the-month/october/ .

For a summary of the above, see the flight plan : www.flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=-120 which should update itself daily.

Have a great weekend everyone!

*

Waves to SC - still here, plodding along, not getting anywhere much... Today has been cooking, laundry and swimming lessons, not leaving much time for anything else.

I'm still here, been busy but much more relaxed now that I've got a lull in the statementing activity. My stress had been rubbing off on the DCs, so I'm on a concerted effort to chill us all out a bit now.

Back to decluttering again - I have been through all the DC's stash of artwork and had a big cull and sort out of what's left. They each have two box files of bits now, one from pre-school, one from school and an entire underbed box has been emptied and will be going on Freeycle tomorrow (we no longer have the sort of bed you can use them under).

I tell you what, I'm still on the Marie Kondo thread, lurking rather than posting, but just seeing what others are posting about their clutter has made me realise that I have come an awfully long way under the wings of Flylady and you lot over the past few years .

Oh and I've started my Christmas shopping.

Night all.

done
rushed around frantically clearing up before cleaning lady appeared - felt very low at this point and desperate to leave the house after having told cleaning lady not to go in various rooms on pain of death because they were too untidy
more frenetic exercising with ds2 and socialising with home ed football group
realised that ds2 could hardly read "for comprehension" at all will remedy that [stern]
cleaning lady cleaned ds1's bedroom - a miracle
forced ds2 to strip his bed and remake it
ditto dd if she wants me to buy her any new shoes tomorrow neither I nor cleaning lady are cleaning her room anymore - that is the new rule!
dd had day off today (inset)
cleaning lady cleaned the kitchen
cooked supper, cleared it up

had nap
early morning wakeup for Rugby tomorrow alas..

so essentially have achieved nothing today except possibly fresh air and exercise and lifting ds1's room from the mire..

PS SC forgot to congratulate you and dd for getting through the Winston crisis project so brilliantly. Dd sounds like she has a journalist's flair for last minute improvisation (even when of course supported by her conscientious mama) My head hurts just thinking about my attempts to drill ds2 into being Louis Pasteur and in the end he forgot who he was, and only remembered it was something to do with a milkbottle

Done
Partial tidy
Vacuum flat
Wash kitchen floor twice (must stop wearing boots in the house)
Birthday cake, made & decorated (a rather squished Toothless dragon)
Collect Helium balloon.
Post office
Dropped off charity bag of clothes
Made flapjacks
Made brownies (they were lovely)
Meet parents at train station
Collect DD from school
Dinner
Washing up
Hid bulbs but did plant black grass (Lilly) that Mum bought today.
Take DD to friend's party
Nipped to Lidl
Collected DD (party finished at 9:15! Then 25 minute walk home)
Finally got Dd relaxed enough to settle at 10:30

Cannot see us going on walk tomorrow, such a late night for her. Now she's asleep will get presents etc out of hiding

Meh

Ah. Nice hot shower. Boys showered and in pjs. Done some DIY (stripped walls and put filler in some holes and gouges in the walls, so I can sand them tomorrow and then hopefully paint on Monday). Oven preheating so I can make supper (lazy tonight - having hash browns in oven, and eggs and toast).

So I'm relaxing with a cup of coffee for a few minutes. I finally replaced my broken thermos, so I can once again heat up a kettle full of water in the morning, make a , and put the rest in my thermos for making the rest of the day. That way I'm not heating up the kettle over and over all day. I was told it saves electricity - plus it's nice not to have to wait for the kettle.

The DIY was in ds1's room and some in ds2's room. Ds2 got a bit stressed over me trying to move things to get to some areas of the wall, so I will have to do that on Monday when he's in school.

Hi everyone!

Poor dh has come home to a very grumpy wife and so has kindly taken dd out for the afternoon. So nice to have this thread to catch up with ... .

Bitchy I am with you on the 'meh' ... . I have so much to do and absolutely no motivation. Got to find a way out of the mire ... .

Sounds like you are a bit in the same boat Blue hope everything OK! Plodding is fair description of situation here too.

Congrats on your extremely productive day yesterday Goth (which puts mine to shame). Is it your dd's birthday today? If so, I hope you all have a brilliant time! Oh and everyone knows that squished toothless dragons are by far the best sort!

Thank you Swan (and sympathies over Pasteur but your ds has a multitude of other talents) but I am a bit torn about Winston Churchill last minute reprieve tbh, as she really hasn't learned her lesson about procrastinating, and has got away with it again! And not so easy to replicate at end of year when all subjects combined in to statutory state exams. (But as previously stated, feel very hypocritical advising her on this when I am being such a slouch atm!). Btw, reading your list, you achieved loads yesterday!!

Whoknows so pleased to hear you have a much deserved lull now after all the stress of statementing! Hope you can profit from it and take some time out for yourself! Well done re: artwork decluttering and I am so glad this thread has made a difference [SC looks a bit shifty]. Still haven't quite finished Kondo but had to laugh about stacking carrots vertically in drinks compartment of fridge!! Coming to conclusion that big Kondo-style sort out along with with Flyladyesque maintenance might be winning combination!

... If I can raise the energy and enthusiasm that is ... the thought of hanging up Christmas decorations over crumbling plaster and undecorated walls yet again is really, really depressing me. Think a BIG change is required ... .

Today I have achieved ... precisely nothing other than usual routines, hwk supervision, ballet bun, ballet run, bit of veg shopping, one load of laundry, spoke to sil on phone for 50 mins and tried to reassure her that dh won't catch Ebola on his travels, watched a bit of racing from York and Newmarket etc etc etc... but sending genuinely encouraging waves to everyone!

Must go and clean out ruddy hamster and while dd is out must check that he is merely hibernating and not dead .

x posts

Alice You sound very organised and good idea about the thermos! Also, good going with the DIY! And love the sound of your supper! Coming from the North, we always had an early "high tea"' on Saturday nights, but coming from the South dh has never quite got the hang of it ... .

SC Is it a North thing? I just couldn't bring myself to make a complicated tea, so figured eggs and toast is easy, and the hash browns can just be bunged in the oven. The fact that the dcs are impressed is just a bonus.

Technically speaking I'm not from the North or the South, so many of those "North vs South" things pass me by entirely. Although I do live in the South.

I think it's a North thing, we always did early high tea at my grandparents in Yorkshire. Supper is a biscuit just before bedtime in our house, not a meal (DH from the Midlands, me with Northern parents), but it is widely used in these parts (Hants/Surrey borders) to mean evening meal.

today
lunch from freezer (tuna pasta)
took ds1 to rugby at 7.30am
took ds2 to stagecoach at 10.00am
argued with dd for a while over her room [unproductive]
mooched around for a lot of today, BUT

I did wash 4 pillows and hang out some washing
cook chops for supper with leftover rice
made up with dd (dh took her to buy the shoes though I really couldn't face it)

dh off for a week to Berlin tomorrow, and I have foolishly invited some people to lunch so tomorrow will be high alert hell trying to pretend house is in some kind of order and make an instant lunch. Children seem keen on socialising though so it may turn out for the best.

Ah, the supper vs tea vs whatever it's called messes with my head. Ex called it tea, but I feel like I'm "pretending" to be British when I call it tea. And ds1 thinks I mean actual if I call it tea... and refuses to come to the table because he doesn't like . And ds2 gets irritated because he loves and then is annoyed as it's food. Welcome to my mad house.

So supper it is. Because dinner is lunch... but hot food. hahahahahaa

Are you confused yet?

SC yes it is DD's birthday today, pretty sure she had a good time, she loved her new dragon, has hardly put it down all day (result) Cake went down well too, have to admit was impressed how light and fluffy it was.

Dinner is not lunch dinner is the hot meal served in the evening traditionally for which you had to have a wash and a change of clothes for.

This is definitely one of those regional things. And it is one that can get very heated. much like the bread roll/bun/barm/bap/teacake debate

today has been a bit meh but had a very lovely stitch and bitch meeting that was a lot of stitch and no real bitch. very civilised

Sorry, bit of a delay getting back on here. Just woken up urge to check on formerly poorly rabbit (who is now better).

Oooh snap Bitchy! A friend and I have just started meeting for sewing sessions every other Friday; not sure that counts as a proper stitch and bitch as it is just us atm, but if last time was anything to go by, a lot of nattering was done and not a lot of sewing! Btw, it is ages since I thought of a barm cake or watched Corrie; but confusingly, we always called them cobs .

Sorry for further confusion Alice!! this might help! Agree with Bitchy that dinner is proper, formal, evening meal, supper is less formal version of above and tea is beverage of said name at 4pm plus possible slice of cake or tiny sandwich or biscuit. BUt high tea of my youth was once a week on a Saturday at around 530pm/6pm and consisted of 'naice' proper ham and salad and chutney, with perhaps slabs of Cheshire cheese with fruit cake or (really showing my age here) toast with beef dripping or eggs or some sort of smoked fish. Well that's as clear as mud innit?

Whoknows oh Yorkshire high tea is the very best of all!! [And just to heap on the confusion for Alice, like your dh, I am from the Midlands too but according to my dh who had never been North of Watford Gap when we first met, that qualifies as being from the North!! ]

Many happy returns to your dd Goth hope the celebrations are going well!

Swan good luck with entertaining today (and thank heavens there can be no confusion over Sunday lunch )

Big waves to everyone else and just going to post links while I'm up!

argh, just woken up - with - urge to check on etc ....