Bitchy takes on the January Fledgling Thread. Buckle in and enjoy the ride...

[BitchyTakesOnManagement]

Ok. Welcome to the January Fledglings thread. Before we get started we have Some important notices

1. The fledglings are a long running thread, We are might seem clicky but that is what happens when some of us have been on the same thread for up to 5 years
2. We are rather partial to new blood Pull up a seat in the naughty corner
3. Don't assume you can march in and impose your way. We follow the fly lady way and we adapt it to suit our lives and needs. You are welcome to come join us for support and chat, don't assume you know best.
4. There is more to us than cleaning. If you want to be obsessive about cleaning you will find us and and our interpretation of fly lady frustrating. You might be happier else where.

Right, as harsh as it might seem, it is important to get that out of the way as we expect this January thread to be busier with newbies and there has been problems in the past.

So the fly lady system there are rules and we have adaptations.

1. NO perfectionism!!!
2. Something is better than nothing and sometimes good enough really is good enough.

3.This is not about the housework, it is about having more time to do fun stuff. Don't ever feel guilty about doing stuff with the kids over doing the housework. The kids are more important.

And the practical adaptations. We have discussed the Marie Kondo book and the approaches within on previous threads. We are all agree two things: the author does not have kids and that the principles are very good for decluttering and that they can be used to in conjunction with the fly lady system (Marie Kondo to get in control, and fly lady to stay in control). As for the fly lady system there are some of the babysteps and things that are advised that are either "huh, why?" or just don't fit in with the household. We advise a pinch of salt and discretion with a dash of reality thrown in. E.g. if you are a no shoes household then clearly the wearing shoes in the house part of babystep 2 is going to make you go This is where adaptations come in and if past threads are to be gone on this will be discussed and there are various takes on it as and when they arise.

Also for the over enthusiastic newbies to the fly lady site and system everything you need will be posted here in the form of links. There are 3 levels:
Newbie: babysteps - get into these habbit
student: Missions and babysteps once the habits are habit the missions are a piece of cake.
Expert: deep cleaning, missions and babysteps - forget this if you have clutter, seriously.
Oh and for the love of all sanity do not subscribe to the email alerts. Seriously. Just don't.

Jump on board, buckle in and lets kick the butt of January.
Bitchy special brew on the naughty corner bar, natch
do we warn the newbies about the special brew or let them find out for themselves?

Welcome to Dogsbum and Outinthegarden. I am fairly new myself so still finding out where everything is .

I have had so I can't remember what I've done today. I do know that my car is fixed (though apparently I need 3 new tyres at close to £100 each and I got my extension for my dissertation, yay!

Toffee Hope you are having a fab birthday and that everyone else enjoys their Friday eve!

What's your dissertation on Bless?

I've had a cakey day instead of a shakey one today.

Took the car to the body shop this morning, damage is minimal, couple of hundred pounds, so waiting for the other driver to get back to me with whether he wants to go through insurance. The main thing is that it can be done in a day so I won't be without it for long.

Cake wise - baked a birthday cake and cupcakes for DD's party tomorrow, and also helped run the school cake sale this afternoon, so I really am all caked out.

Also did the food shopping for the party, she wants Dominos pizza but needed a few nibbles to go with it. Then a bit of tidying, dinner, two loads of washing, DCs to their evening activities, DCs to bed. Still need to do a bit of tidying and activity planning for tomorrow.

Trazzles - sorry to hear about the drain dramas, I hope it gets sorted without too much more bother.

Toffee - hope you are having a fabulous day.

Ellie - hope you are OK, sounds as though things are tough at the moment

Blue - hope the evening has gone well, I missed posts saying whose funeral it was, but am sorry for your loss.

Well done on blanketgate Bitchy!

Okay, totally lost the plot today, was that a yes to me putting the links up for tomorrow? As it will have to wait til the morning (v early if the DC have anything to do with it ) as I am already in bed
Honestly, I had one job

Hope you had a good birthday Toffee. How horrible for you Trazzletoes :(. Welcome Out and Doghair.

Saying thankyou to Bitchy ( for putting up all the info - plus links - Bitchy , since you ask ). It's been a great help for me this week.

This weeks ta das
1)Getting morning routine , pretty routinish.
2)Developing and working on evening routine.
3) worked on bathroom and one other room all week.
4) clearing one hot spot regulary.
5) got bed all sorted .
6) much less procrastinating

This weeks to dos.

1. car
2. bag
3. me-time.
4. work on recognising and changing negative voices.

All then best to you all . Hope the week-end gets off to a good start.

Ok, first things first, the links:

Baby step 17 is to get to bed at a reasonable hour

launch pad

Flight plan

Saturday is family fun day

Fly kids challenge

Morning all,

Nothing much done here yet today.

To Do
Take DD2 shopping for new school shoes as the soles have come away on the freebie F&F ones we got via MN.
Take DD1 to stables this afternoon.

Apart from that, I'm going to relax and chill!

WhoKnows my dissertation is entitled "diet and nutrition in the peri-conception period of a subsequent pregnancy following a congenital heart defect (CHD)-affected pregnancy". It is a bit of a compromise on what I really wanted to do which was purely look at the use of high-dose folic acid wrt heart defects but I could not get ethical approval for that.

Morning all

Not good morning - come bowling but 6 birthday parties so none free until 1pm, 2 hour wait no way so chips then home. Might. Stop at Toys R Us to spend last of Christmas money

The problem this week has been staying up until a reasonable hour! DH and I have had some long days at work so in the second half of the week, housekeeping wasn't on the agenda. Admittedly trying our new log burner was!

I've caught up on the kitchen today, so that feels good. I've been to my circuits class which is my me time.

The success of the week has been laundry and trying to get it directly into the basket without contact with the floor. Upstairs is looking better as a result. Also trying to get DS (4) to do frequent, small tidy ups is helping. We had a big tidy up in the holidays and it's refreshing and unusual that the effect hasn't been totally obliterated by now. I'm really trying to put more stuff in the right place at the time.

Right, time to put a little laundry away...

Evening all, thanks for the links Whispers.

Bless - that sounds interesting, not something I have any experience of but I like sciencey-medical stuff (I work in life sciences).

Well, party is over, all went very smoothly, only three attendees so more of a playdate, they played and did Minecraft colouring for about an hour, then we did a treasure hunt for 1/2 hour, played Minecraft for a bit then pizza and a film. Did Minecraft themed nibbles - here's a picture (and thanks to Toffee for help with ideas). Amazingly the carrot sticks were the only bowl to get completey eaten.

We've survived DS1's party too. Vaguely Moshi Monsters themed, but mostly involved them running round madly for an hour, scoffing down some food, then running round again until their parents took them away.

We've got home, opened the party presents, tried and failed to see anything of interest through DS1's new telescope, got DS2 into bed... Just got to get the birthday boy to bed then we can collapse with leftover party food and

Cheers Blue. We arranged for DS to go to my parents for a sleepover tonight as he would have hated being at home with all the girls there but we're missing him now. DD and I are watching last week's Great Allotment Challenge, she looks tired, I certainly am. Re Moshi Monsters, my two have suddenly got back into them, they were obsessed a couple of years ago, but lost interest totally and suddenly they're back into it.

Flying wise though, we had a very good tidy up everywhere except our bedroom this morning and I managed an hour of ironing upstairs while the girls played by themselves, it's definitely getting easier hosting parties as they get older.

WhoKnows, that looks brilliant, glad the parties went well for you and Blue too :)
Kids do like to surprise us with the stuff they like. For DD's 3rd birthday, I decided to do a 'cake' made out of fruit and watermelon, my mum pooh-poohed the idea, telling me that there would be anarchy when 20 three year olds realised there was no cake. I went ahead anyway, and they were like a plague of locusts over the fruit, there was not a scrap of fruit left at the end of the party, whereas normally we have to take home a tonne of cake!

Will do the links in the morning as I can't stay up late enough for the switch over to tomorrow, so the links would be wrong if I put them up now :(

Will also catch up properly tomorrow, it has been (pleasantly) busy the last couple of days :)

Links, hope they are not too late for anyone :)

Flight plan

Sunday is the day you should do something for yourself

Launch pad

Missions for next week

Babystep 18 I'm not even sure what this one means

Anyway, will be back later to catch up properly, hope everyone has a good day :)

Morning fledglings! Sorry I haven't been back on the last week. Thanks for the many congratulations. DS2 is 10 days old and we are slowly getting used to being a family of 4. Bf is getting there. DS1 is playing up something chronic. DH is now off for the next 2 weeks so we can get out and about together.

ta da
wash on
emptied upstairs bins
ds1 and 2 up, clean, dressed
breakfast for me!

ILs coming round with DNs for coffee later.

Had lovely kraamzorg last weekso bathrooms are clean. Now I have to get used to doing my own washing and washing up again!

Excuse lack of personsls. Lovely to hear from you Engels. Glad all is well.

Now DS is better, DD has a fever. You couldn't make this up. I suspect she has a chest infection too. DS has an important hospital appointment tomorrow, all my work for last week has been shunted to this week and it won't be welcomed for me to shunt people again. DMis due to go home in minutes. DH doesn't think there's any reason to ask her to stay or rather, he doesn't like her being here and is less concerned if my career dies on its arse.

Afternoon everyone

Thank you for very much for the links Whispers!! (Just so you know for future ref; it is possible to post links for next day without staying up until after midnight (or after 1 am in my case) but it is indeed a bit more faddly. You have to search around a bit on the site. Can send you further/better instructions when I'm next running thread if you are interested; can never remember unless until I am actually doing it!!

Btw, I did wobbly version of this for dd's dolphin-themed party last year, stuffed mouth with variety of fruits, and it went down a treat.

Bitchy hope you are having a good time away and hurrah to completion of Blanketgate2!!

A warm welcome to Outinthegarden!

Oh Trazzles I can't believe what an unbelievably horrible time you are having right now. Two dc ill in quick succession, plus plumbing problems, and attendent work issues. It so bloody unfair after everything you have already gone through. Can anyone else come in and help? It's too much to cope with on your own.

[I second Swan's PigletJohn recommendation btw; that man/woman is a true wonder! Helped me twice on here with DIY issues. Should receive some sort of Mumsnet award.]

Hey Engels so lovely to hear from you and that all well. So glad you had some cleaning help last week and that dh is off for the next fortnight. (Hopefully, he can step in to kraamzorg role.) Aw at 10 days old!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whoknows that party spread looks absolutely wonderful! Glad everyone had a good time!

Blue glad you survived party too. Must have been tough combining it with travel and a funeral but glad both went well.

Swan I always get miffed when dh uses my specific kitchen brush for sweeping the terrace (when there are perfectly good outdoor brushes downstairs, but he can't be bothered to go and get them) so then I have to go and buy a new one. Not that he sweeps the terrace that often, it has to be said!

MrsMook congrats on clear floors!! And very noble to use your 'me' time doing circuit training!!

Hope you enjoyed drink archery Greymalkin that's always something I've been interested in taking up properly.

Bless v. impressed by dissertation!!

You sound v. organised Sayma!

Hope you have managed to rest a bit this weekend and now feel less exhausted Swan

Hope you are OK Ellie x

No word from Toffee then? [Prepares fluffy pillows, paracetemol supply, Tiger Balm (for headaches), cucumber rings for eyes, bacon and egg sandwich (hangover cure) in naughty corner for her return.) Hope you had a lovely time celebrating!!

Waves to Shannara Linzer Castle and everyone else!!

All OK here. Dh returned yesterday (with hideous cold/flu) from business trip and stop off at his father's who is still deteriorating .

DD still rather ill (nose running non-stop) but hopefully now on the road to recovery. Up to her eyes in school work.

And [drum roll] I have got my Flying mo-jo back!! It was an extremely painful process; brought on by the impending visit of dd's teacher who very kindly dropped around on Friday evening to deliver missed work. I cleaned and tidied steadily from 10 am through to 5.30pm throughout the day and everything (especially downstairs) looks a lot more uncluttered and cleaner for it. First floor has suffered rather a bit though so need to do the same up here. Slowly getting back on top of laundry but still more to do!! Will be back tomorrow with long list!

Enjoy your Sunday afternoons everyone!!

Congrats to Engels on making it to 10 days! Glad you have a couple of weeks now with DH.

Trazzles have you set out the problem clearly to DH and asked him what his solution would be? Can he take any time off?

Slow Well done on the full day of flying! It is so nice when everything looks better, isn't it?

I have to say thanks to you all for being so lovely and welcoming me into this thread as it is making a difference and I feel just a bit excited about feeling my habits start to flutter into life! For 2 weeks now I have had really properly clean bathroom and kitchen sink/draining board, have kept a couple of hotspots mostly clear, have been picking other stuff up more often and things are just gradually improving .

Yesterday I took DD2 shopping for new school shoes - can't believe she is a size 5.5 and she's only 10! We had a lovely time and lunch out .

Ta-das
Morning routine
Vacuumed whole house
Changed my bedding
Meal planned next week
Put meat in slow cooker for tonight
Supervised DD2's music practice

To do
Straighten DD1's hair
Take DD1 to stables
Home for dinner
Take DD1 to cinema

It is, I think, all sorted Bless. DM has driven home. We are going to see how DD goes (she's still getting high temps at the moment) and DM may get the train back up tomorrow so I can work, God love her. The hospital is geared towards kids who have contagious diseases so I'll call them first thing and see whether they want DS badly enough to haveDD in as well.

done
big bag of rubbish from bedroom
cleared floor
3 loads of laundry

and we ran out of pants this morning again [sigh]

cooked lunch (fish, leeks potatoes and chorizo but I was the only person who ate the leeks and chorizo

went to a 4th birthday party with ds2 (cousin) but it was a bit stressful. I think 4th birthdays fall between social occasion and military exercise whereas 3rd birthday parties can be a bit more "freeflowing" with adults milling around. Certainly the poor hostess was tremendously stressed and hadn't really anticipated all the minutae of handing things out and organising party games. I am sorry to say her husband was not being very useful although friendly and genial etc. I am not surprised people resort to softplay. thank god I never have to give another children's party ever again

Went out for a drink last night with friends. Their house was immaculate but she told me it didn't stop her children have meltdowns so maybe mess is less important than just being happy.. I sometimes feel that if my house was tidy everyone would behave better but I know it is not necessarily co-correspondent or whatever the phrase is. Although I'm sure dh thinks the mess definitely makes us in a worse mood.

Ds1 has gone to Mass after a great day yesterday on his outward bound course for the Confirmation programme (although he told me got stuck in a giant "potholing" plastic tube - I think the "team building/bonding was to pull your comrades out when they got stuck ) Dd has covered her wall with a giant collage using old records and computer printouts So much for the sophisticated look she said she was after...and why oh why did I bother to have her room painted

Ds1 was helpful at the party (although a bit loud and bull in the chinashoppy) and is now playing poker with dh. New craze. Still haven't found something he likes doing by himself though.

Back from the trip to find that my specialist appointment next week has been cancelled. Huge disappointment. :( :( And has basically wiped out all of the positive things from the weekend :(

Hopefully you all fared better over the weekend.

So yet again it is monday and thus home bleurgh

The mission

The zone

the launch pad

and the babystep. It's a fluffy one you can skip it.

Hello fledglings,

Big waves to Engles, lovely to see you pop in, sorry there are some sibling issues, hope things settle soon.

Trazzles so sorry things are so hard still, surely things can only get better? Hope so.

Bless, glad you like the thread, I've been on MN for almost three years and never found my 'home' on here, not even in the antenatal and postnatal threads. This is where I feel happiest!!

SC, that watermelon looks amazing!

Swan, I know what you mean about the tidiness and mood correlation. I feel the most fabulous sense of calm when everything is neat and clean, when I walk into a bomb-hit style room, I feel myself tense up and a mild sense of panic kick in. It's silly, but I just can't help it!

I saw some if Whispers beautiful bead work on a craft thread today, she is a talented lady!

My ta dahs:
Up at 6am with hyper DS yawn
Cats and DS fed throughout day
Took DS to a lovely play centre
2 wash loads on and hung up
Beds made
Lounge hoovered
Some ironing
Dishwasher x2
My work clothes ready for tomorrow
DS's clothes ready for tomorrow
Bags packed for tomorrow
Science experiments removed from fridge
Meals planned for the week
Food shopping done
Kitchen bin and food waste bin emptied and washed

I was also sorting through some bedding in DSs room and found a stack of cot bumpers. I think these are the most pointless invention ever since the advice is not to use them. So I've decided to up cycle them now I'm more confident on my sewing machine.
This afternoon I've ripped all the seams out of one of them to reuse the fabric and internal padding to make a pillow case and insert . Feeling quite excited to get stuck in!

But not tonight... Too tired. Early night for me, catch up with you all tomorrow

Just seen your post Bitchy, how deflating for you :(
Despite that, I hope you did manage to enjoy some of your weekend

Caught up with some friends and had no chores and no cooking. It was a nice treat.

Oops, I seem to have dropped off the map over the weekend, I promise that I haven't dropped the flylady way already!

I have been busy on the house but it doesn't all seem to fit the template exactly. I think that the system is helping me to develop habits already though which is good. I'm definitely keeping on top of the sink and maintaining the bathroom work that I did last week. After months of thinking about starting to de-clutter the worst room but never actually doing anything I managed to do some de-cluttering on Saturday which felt really good.

I think this system will really help me to avoid doing what I normally do, which is keeping the kitchen/dining area and front room fairly clean as they don't have much in the way of clutter. I then use the fact that they are ok to deny the hideous amount of clutter lurking upstairs which I think about dealing with but never actually do anything about. Having a system that forces me to move about the house and do little bits of de-cluttering in each room will really help me to deal with this rut of mine (aka total denial).

I've read everyone's busy weekend updates but feel a bit too brain fried to comment, sounds like lots of busy family stuff going on though.

I'm quite proud of myself today having put together and put up a light pendulum on the landing today as I couldn't buy a pre-assembled one that was long enough. DP helped due to bump and ladders not mixing too well, I forget how much he hates DIY as I normally do it all, so I felt a sense of achievement afterwards and I think he felt stressed and depresssed, bless him!