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?

Morning all, and welcome to new people

So, I'm having a good day so far, have done my morning routine already. In case anyone is interested, this is get up and get dressed, make bed and open blinds, swish and swipe, dishwasher, wipe down table and work surfaces after breakfast and empty washing machine (I set it on a timer to finish in my evening routine )

To do:
Take DC to cinema to see Tinkerbell
Lunch and shopping on way back
Clean out car
Pick up abandoned shoes and coats in the hallway
Afternoon and evening routine

Thanks nicknacks I haven't been on here for AGES! DS Is ok for the mo, thanks. He's a year off treatment and still fighting off the side effects but getting stronger every day. He had a routine MRI before Christmas and we get the results on Monday so will know more then. Meanwhile I'm employing distraction techniques and feeling generally nauseous :s

Well I did nothing yesterday - hoping for better things today. Not too much though - baby steps and all that

To do
Reboot laundry
15 mins decluttering hall
15 mins tidying in living room

Glad to hear things are going ok Trazzles. Fingers x for tomorrow .

I think my last post underestimates the magnitude of rebooting the laundry! I am expecting it to take most of the day

Trazzles - I'm so pleased Ds is doing so well. The tests must be stressful for you, though. Hope all goes well on Monday.

Went to bed too late last night and have woken up late this morning. Must get my sleep sorted by next week, when we resume home ed.

Have an appointment booked at the hairdresser at midday. I always regard it as a mini-break because I enjoy the pampering and hot chocolate. Meeting up with best friend later, so nice day planned overall.

Bedroom looks as if a bomb has exploded in it - might be an idea to tackle that this morning. Maybe I should do the 15 minute thing.

Anyone else here doing Dry January? I started yesterday. Will be challenging today as I always share a bottle with my friend and now DH has told me he's not going dry till we've drunk all the Prosecco in the fridge. Am aiming to buy lots of interesting soft drinks in Waitrose today.

Hi, yesterday I cleaned my bathroom and my kitchen sink so hope to keep both nice as my baby step 1.

Done today: cleaned kitchen sink and draining board ( while letting the dog out)

To do:
Get up and dressed
Vacuum living room
Get quiche out of freezer
Encourage DD1 to take down Christmas decs and put away.
Buy bread and milk
Attend a funeral
Take DD1 to stables to ride

If possible: meal plan for weekend/next week
Make amendments to my dissertation proposal

Good morning everyone,

I'm enjoying meeting you all and reading your suggestions too. It feels less lonely stuck out on this little branch .

Big Hello to Rufus - Great to read you here and Happy New Year too. :)
Your house is tidy and clean . That's great . Here, in the summer I started a big re-arranging of cupboards which I am still carrying on. I don't like the thought of doing it, but when I start it's ok.

Trazzletoes - 15 min stretches of work interspersed with up to 15 mins play or rest sounds a lovely way to organise time . Wishing your son well.

Thanks for today's missions Bitchy. So, it's onwards and upwards for me.

Today's To dos
Get dressed to slippers
Shine sink
Vacuum
Sort computer and dvd stuff with DH
2 X 15 mins decluttering kitchen
Ironing + watching film

PLUS ...
According to Friday's Fly Party List
15 mins decluttering car
15 mins decluttering bag
15 mins decluttering entrance
15 mins reading book
1 hour MN

Morning all.

Everyone is still in bed so the house should still be looking ok. It's our last proper day off here so dressing will happen, just not right away!

To dos:

• get dressed
• shine sink
• clear out rubbish from car (I did my purse and handbag on NYE )
• go into town to return some things
• walk dog

To Do

• Empty bin
• Clean kitchen (as much as can be done without another dishwasher load on)
• 15 minutes declutter of the random crap drawer in the kitchen
• Take some books/DVDs to charity shop on way to taking DD to park (sort of done; three bags in the pram ready for when I go out)
• Hoover entire house
• Mop kitchen and bathroom floor
• Put on another wash, towels probably

Still to do

• Unstack and stack dishwasher
• Wipe down kitchen surfaces
• Put away tonight's dinner (was in slow cooker)
• 15 minutes declutter (why do I keep putting this off?)
• Get some bread going in the breadmaker
• Sort lunch for all
• Go out

DS is demanding attention again, so looks like it's time to take a break

Hi all

Happy new year to you to saymwa !!

DH and I Have taken living room Christmas decs down and cleaned the living room

Wiped kitchen work tops down, DH has emptied dishwasher and bins

Purse and car are fine at the moment as they had a clean out pre Christmas and I haven't used them since

DH is going to wipe down the tops of the children's wardrobes as they have done their holiday big clean but can't reach the wardrobes (I am taller than DH but I tell him he has longer arms)

Will look at everything else I am supposed to do after lunch

Hope your days are going well so far!!

Oooh I've put a wash on!!

I do one a day with two on a Saturdays and one or two on a Sunday

Morning.

Lazy morning here, as ds is off to his dad's again later. mostly we have just been in the same room chilling out. But so far have ignored babystep 2. However:

ta da
deal with science experiment
internet admin type stuff
check 2 pairs of grown into trousers (hand-me-downs for ds)
pack ds' stuff for later
put a load of washing on
check my diary
partial finance check
air the house out
find cards that were put in a safe place
find the christmas present I couldn't find (which will wait until his birthday in just over a month)
Put my crochet hooks away in my new crochet hook case (my favourite present this year)
Sort out delivering blanketgate no#2 last two blankets. - ds was rather fond of his.
sort out book report and make a list of school stuff needed for monday.
find coin bags and sort the shrapnel ready for bank on monday
Consider what important bits of paper I need to find for various meetings this week - make a list for a game of hunt the paperwork later

Right and now I am going to attempt to get up. Having found the safe place I put my bath towel after I washed it new years eve. - We had a pjs day yesterday. It was lovely. But i did bleach and shine my sink

God this thread is starting to gallop along.

Done
Beds
Windows
Laundry on
Ironed yesterday's laundry
Fed DD
Helped DD count piggy bank change
S&S
Litter tray
Mop bathroom floor (cat missed tray)

To do
Go for walk between hail showers!
Visit goats
Get bread
Dinner
Washing up & SS
Assist DD with this year's science kit present (glowing gunge)

Waves to everybody, BBL

Hi all, I was on this thread sometime last year but was a bit rubbish and let it all slip. Have been fluttering on and off for a few years and it has helped I think. I do certain things most days (shine sink and wash up, make beds, swish and swipe) but need to make them daily and add to them. We also wage a continual, albeit slow and slightly hoardy, war on clutter. There is far too much 'just in case' stuff in our house still though.

Have switched days about this week as car/changing bag already tidy from Christmas trips. Have no purse at moment, can't find one I like.

Ta Da
Exercised
Cleaned sink and washed up
Made beds
Swish & swipe x 2
Put on load of laundry
Been shoe shopping with DC's
Been to bank

To Do
Take DC1 to doctors
Try to sort playmobil mountain into order
Put clean washing away
Date night? Board game and takeaway with DH if I'm awake past 7!

Ok - today has been quite successful for me as I'm still off work till Tuesday.

Tada:
3 x loads of washing (washed and dried)
All wastebaskets emptied
Dishwasher emptied from last night and re-filled with breakfast and lunch stuff.
Homes found for 80% of the Christmas gifts
2 x bags for the charity shop
Final Christmas decorations boxed up and awaiting dh taking to loft.
Pile of paperwork in kitchen sorted.
'Enabled' ds to catalogue all his Skylanders that he wants to sell.
Supervised (vaguely) 1 lot of homework.
Made and eaten lunch
Cleared out 3 small cupboards in sitting room (see Skylanders and charity shop stuff).

To do:
Make tea
Shine sink
1 x load of washing
Put away clean / dry washing (well, instruct ds and dh to move theirs).
Write important letter

So - very good day here but as I said, I'm still on leave.

Does anyone know a good app for planning jobs / tasks? I need to 'share' with dh what needs doing each day / week so he can get on with stuff after he gets back from work (he's home a couple of hours before me)? Ta.

Oh - forgot. I've tidied out my handbag too! Couldn't do the car as dh took it to work today (instead of cycling).

Sounds like a productive day! The cozi calander through fly lady is quite good, it ore fills with all the tasks and missions. You can add your own stuff to and assign each family member a colour. They can then view the full list or just the ones assigned to them. Notifications and emails too.

I love Home Routines, although it's only available on Itunes, unfortunately.

Spent the day on an independent mission, sorting through the "gym" (previous function by previous owner. By the end of the year it should be a glorious master bedroom, but at present, it's a dumping zone. Baby things have been put up to the loft for possible future use. Several bags of clothes and other paraphernalia have been donated to a charity shop including the box of my wedding flowers that I never wanted. They're in a nice wooden box so I hope they make someone else happy.

Wow, everyone has been busy and chatty!

Today is a work day for me so my ta da list:
Fed cats
DS to nursery
8 hours at work
Made beds
Emptied purse of old receipts and pennies into DS money box
Long conversation with DH about possibility of me quitting my current job, which I hate :(

Once DS is in bed I'm going to pack away all Xmas decorations - am sick of the sight if them!!

I also use the HomeRoutines app on my phone, it follows the fly lady system very closely and has a to do list feature

So finally:

• Unstack and stack dishwasher
• Wipe down kitchen surfaces (Bit half-hearted but done)
• Put away tonight's dinner (was in slow cooker)
• 15 minutes declutter of kitchen drawer(DONE! It didn't even take 10 minutes in the end. What on earth was I putting it off for?)
• Get some bread going in the breadmaker
• Sort lunch for all
• Go out

And I managed to get another wash on. Not a bad day at all. Tomorrow I want to make a start on decluttering the crammed wardrobe in the spare room, and there's a big bag of DVDs under the stairs that needs to be taken to the charity shop. Oh, and I really should get all my library books together and clean the bathroom. And the oven if I can be arsed.

I could have sworn I posted earlier

Aaanyway, ta da:
Took DC to cinema (film was better than expected!)
Lunch and supermarket on way back
Afternoon routine done
Half of evening routine done
Picked up some shoes and bags, need to have a proper sort tomorrow though

Didn't manage to do car as it was getting dark as I was getting back, will do it tomorrow as it is one of my zones until Sunday.

I use the Home Routines app, I find it really good, and really enjoy getting the stars big kid

Ok so to add to my ta da of earlier
2nd load of washing
drive over the hills to drop ds off.
get ds to do his homework

I haven't actually managed to clean out my car but not worried as it will come around next friday or I will get it done when there is time.

Evening all. Another productive day here..

Ta das

Fifteen wok jobs, all done now till next week
Organised diaries
Sorted conservatory and re-homed all craft materials
Shopping, restocking all socks etc thrown out in the great purge
Got dh to move boxes to the hall to go to charity shop tomorrow

To dos

Sort out brio
Rehome games into chest
Take tree and decs down
Take things to charity shop

Looking forward to getting these jobs done tomorrow and finally regaining my house, just in time for normal life to resume at work and to lose control again!!!!

Evening all! Welcome to all the newbies, lurkers, returnees and regulars, and thanks for the links bitchy .

Very little flying here today.

Does getting a new handbag for your birthday count as clearing out your handbag?!

Ta da
mw appt and finally a sweep
family walk round children's farm
washing up