March of the Fledglings 2015

[Slingclutter]

Heartfelt thanks to Whoknows for running the February thread during such a stressful time for her (and to Toffee for helping out.)

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 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 on Flying lessons. Here's the launch pad for more experienced fledglings.

Don't be put off by the purple prose and 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 might 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 15 mins 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, regulars, oldies and newcomers very, very welcome!

AAAARGH DD is hosting her first sleepover today. I am absolutely shattered. Should be clearing up a bit more but meh. And the friend is, um, a little high maintenance.

Good thing I'm disappearing for a bit this evening to a retirement sedate buffet party - it's DH's problem :o

SC I would have been just like you with the dd's morning arrangements, honestly - flapping around trying to organise everything and getting very agitated and fed up. The only difference would have been that the other two would have been put on the "pause" button for the duration. Ds1 would probably have been asleep or hiding from my wrath. And there probably wouldn't be much nice food nor am I good at sending cards and presents to anyone. Basically life is less "tarte au citron" and more "can I get away with some oven chips". The other thing is that a certain maternal neglect whilst inducing a few screaming fits does mean that dd now organises her own stuff for outings/classes. Mind you she did give up ballet so maybe I am not the best to advise on these matters... She is brilliant at doing her own hair though. Hours spent on brushing it and arranging it. So that is one less thing.

She went off to Primark this morning and bought three pairs of Pastel knee high socks like in Clueless.

I HAVE FINALLY BEEN TO THE RUBBISH TIP with all the rubbish. Now I stink of cat spray as some enemy cat evidently sprayed the rubbish in the shed - yuk.

My comments about husbands are sometimes very annoying I apologise - in RL my friends complain I am too much a devil's advocate in these matters.

Someone has to be the voice of reason in the sight of [anger] swan it does help to hear another view.

Not sure who ask. I am in the Northwest. No where exotic but just the right place for some fun weather

ta da
convince ds to completely tidy his bedroom floor and windows sil
get ds to put his laundry away incl hanging stuff in his wardrobe
Finish of the laundry mountain
Ironing
folding
collect socks for pairing in proper daylight
put hoover back together
hoover ds' floor

Ds has been doing stuff with his grandfather when he has not been head in technology. He took the warning about thinking he had no responsibilities sufficiently enough to not have to worry about him being near the laundry, as for the washing up, that has been ignored. Might consider it tomo but little energy after the early start. Should put me in good stead for losing an hour's sleep tonight in the move to daylight savings. An early night always is good, but ds will have firm instructions as to when he can wake me up. I have no intention of getting woken up at 6am gmt time even if the clock says 7am due to daylight savings Bitchy is a complete grump first thing in the morning and will happily claim she is allergic to mornings

I am about to crawl into pjs and be ready to head to bed. Not long until ds' bedtime. And I will be pretty much ready for it to be mine too.

Hope you have all had lovely days.

Argh! Between DS1 having an intensely irritating cough that had lasted since half term and seems now to be a habit, especially when on the Wii, and the author of the book I'm working on constantly changing her mind about things I thought were settled, I'm absolutely tearing my hair out this evening!

Still, ta da!
Grocery shopping
Good lot of hardcore decluttering
Lunch at garden centre
Returned library book
Planted bedding plants
Work
Hoovering
Cleaned bathroom
Laundry

Oh dear, another epic fail this month. I even managed to fall off the thread completely this month.
Have a busy week coming up with dd's christening next Sat and lots of prep to do for that and visitors coming to stay...need to get a good start to it tomorrow!

Good morning all!!

**

Remember fledglings that the clocks went forward at 1am by one hour this morning so we are now on British Summer Time!!

*

Baby-step no. 29 for Sun 29th March is here. Schedule in some "me" time with the weekly pamper mission.

Sunday is our first day in Zone 5 The Living Room (March 29-31) : here.

If you want to, you can declutter for 15 mins a day in Zone 5!

The detailed cleaning list (if you are at that stage) for Zone 5 is here.

No mission because it is the weekend!

The daily focus for Sunday is: renewing your spirit. Do something that will refresh you for the week ahead!

The monthly habit for March is the controversial one about getting dressed immediately on rising and wearing lace up shoes indoors etc.

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 relaxing Sunday as possible fledglings!

*

Had a lovely afternoon/evening yesterday watching Dubai World Cup on telly followed by dh taking me out for a delicious plate of spaghetti vongole. Managed to stick to Lenten abstinence but it was hard!

No messages from dd so assuming all well!

Great to see you Castle!! How is the little 'un? How can you say you've had an epic fail when you have been looking after a wee beautiful babe in arms? Honestly! YOu are being FAR too hard on yourself! Just keeping a new born fed and content is a job in itself [SC re-issues official Flying dispensation]. Hope you and your family have a lovely day next week at the Christening!

Oh dear Blue sympathies over flip-flopping author (I remember they are the worst!) and hope your ds1 feels better soon (and that new habit fades quickly!). And well done for such a productive list despite the above distractions!

Hope you had a lovely night out CaptainSubtext and that you've all survived the sleepover!

Swan I was saying that I needed to follow your kindly example so absolutely no need to apologise!! And thanks for making me feel better about my general incompetence yesterday: think leaving dd more to her own devices is probably the key although in this case she would have been about 2 hrs too late I think. Arf at your dd's pastel socks!! (I like her style! ) And congrats on rubbish tip trip!!!

HOpe you caught up on sleep bitchy and that you have a more leisurely start to the day today! And congrats on child-chore marshalling!!

Going to put some laundry on then head back to the duvet for a sneaky 45 min lie-in this morning before church ... .

Morning SC and other fledglings. I've dropped off the thread again and every time I try to catch up a load more pages have appeared! You are a chatty lot

Nice to 'see' you back Castle

Dogsbum - I'm always amazed at your DIY skills, I couldn't do half the things you can. I would definitely recommend taking up sewing, I love it and it is a really useful skill to have. I have the IKEA sewing machine which only costs £45, but John Lewis have a good range as well

I had a tiny, minuscule moment of incredulous bliss this morning where I thought DS had slept until 6 o'clock. But no... I forgot about the clocks going forward.

I've had a busy few days flying, very pleased that along with Mount Washmore and its twin peak Mount Foldmore I have got lots of stuff done including:

Super strong industrial strength sink and drain unblocker put down all plug holes
Dishwasher maintenance: cleaned filter, topped up salt and rinse aid, run a cleaning cycle
Bleach wash on in washing machine
Removed all the science experiments from the fridge
Lots of gardening! (Does this count as flying?)
*weeded the flower beds
*dug over one of the flower beds and dug in a big sack of horse manure (my cats went mental at that!)
*dug out all the large ornamental type rocks that had been dumped down the side of the garage by previous house owners, scrubbed clean and ready to use as edging on the front garden path
Lots of parcel wrapping and trips to the post office
Wrapped FILS birthday present for family party today

I insisted DH go through his shoe stash with me to have a massive sort out: I chucked 12 pairs of knackered old shoes (but only after I took the laces out). So now, the shoes we actually wear can now fit into the box-seat in our hallway rather than make a huge pile on the floor for me to fall over.

I've been eBaying like a crazy woman this last month and have sold off so much clutter its unbelievable! I've made.... wait for it..... almost £400 (before ebay and PayPal fees). I am astounded that my junk treasures are worth so much, but hugely pleased that I can put the money towards my tuition fees.

Happy Sunday's to you all

No flying yet today, but it is Sunday. I didn't manage to do Tarte au Citron yesterday so that will be my job for today instead.

DP is under the weather, which is a rare thing and he'll shake it off soon but unfortunately between that and the weather it has ruined the weekend for him as he was hoping to get out in the garden and plant some flowers/mow the lawn. He hates DIY but loves gardening and it's really good for him psychologically as well, it really de-stresses him so that is a real shame. It's pouring down here and predicted to stay that way.

Swan loving that pastel socks Clueless image, that made me smile. Yuk to evil cats peeing on things. We have cat issues with neighbours' cats using our garden for both bodily movements and trashing our garden in the process so I feel your pain.

Grey thanks for Ikea sewing machine tip and JL, will check them out and it's good to hear that you would agree that it's a useful skill to have. I've been waivering between cost and time of learning and buying a machine versus how useful it might be and it's good to hear a vote in the yes camp as I think I need a couple of nudges to actually taking the plunge. Apparently you can get a lesson in your own home and they bring the machine for a same price as a group lesson where I live so I'm tempted to book a lesson while DP is in India and ask them about sewing machines, etc and then make a decision.

I'm fascinated at the idea of science projects in the fridge and wondering what on earth they could be!

Also well done on ebay sales, that is an amazing amount of money! You must be thrilled. I think I'd have to sell everything I own to raise that much!

Thanks for the welcome back and for making me feel a bit better about it all SC.

Gray that is a fantastic eBay haul. You may just have inspired me to list some of my own clutter...

To do:

• grocery shop
• dinner
• reboot laundry
• some ironing
• dress the bed
• dig out my fly folder (darn baby brain, what is it called?) and reassess the WHB to see how I could spread tasks out throughout the week....

Good luck with your list Castle and take it steady! Lovely though visitors are, they can be a lot of work!

Dogsbum oh I hope your dp feels better soon; I feel for him not being able to get out in the garden - nothing better to lift the spirits! Pouring down here too! Recommend you check out Janome machines too! Mine is as tough as old boots! (Love Bernina but replacement parts too ££££££.)

Blimey Greymalkin! No need to apologise for dropping off the thread; you have been actually 'doing' rather than writing about it like me! What an amazing list! Congratulations on all of that decluttering and selling and gardening (definitely counts in my bk!). [SC hands over golden feather duster award!]

DD back from sleepover; tired but happy. They went to sleep at midnight so could have been worse. She and her friends had made a film and when I asked what it was called she said "the orphans and the sociopath" .

Not much happening here at the moment. I didn't make it to Palm Sunday mass which I feel badly about. Went back to bed this morning but got up again because I didn't/don't feel that well. Hot and cold, tired, thirsty, etc ... think it is just my age ... bit unfair to feel like you have a hangover when you haven't drunk anything for nearly six weeks! Feel worse like down so just pottering about gently while dh destroys the kitchen ... .

argh ... lying down!

Wishing everyone peaceful Sundays!

grrr feeling soo bad tempered and irritable today.

SC thank goodness you reminded me it is Palm Sunday I must go to 6pm Mass as ds2 went to last week's after a long absence and it is of course a very important HolyDofObligation. feeling slightly fed up with formal religion and having to smile at everyoneat moment although I keep reading bits of the Bible and thinking Wow.

Dh took ds2 off to the Barbican and to St Pancras to see Eurostar trains (for fun [confused) I was not best pleased as I was in a very contrary mood where I thought it would be nice for us to go for a "country walk" in some park all together or do some "bonding" DIY together (vain hope) and he scuppered that by mentioning trains..[grrrr]

However most days I am asking dh to take ds2 to precisely that sort of trip so I cannot really complain.

I have been to B & Q and Morrisons and bought drain cleaner (to try again to mend errant dishwasher no 1) and a Microwave for dd. And some delightful plants and seeds for when I am in a better mood. At least everything fitted in the car since I got rid of the cardboard yesterday at the tip. We all got up horrendously late due to the clocks and now it seems alarmingly light for nearly teatime.

SC that does sound a very Chic sort of humeur from dd The Orphans and the Sociopath Or is that the influence of Lemony Snicket?

YAY!!! I won a fledgling award!!!!! Thank you SC

I actually snorted out loud at 'The Orphans and the Sociopath'!!

Dogsbum - by science experiments in the fridge, I mean mouldy broccoli, rotting cheese, coagulated yoghurt, you get the idea...

Swan - what things did you get to plant? I plan to redo my hanging basket and window box with trailing lobelia, geraniums and fuchsias

I seem to be cracking the chores thing with ds. He does love and need his pj days, but is very much a morning person. how the fuck does a night owl end up with a lark? Anyhow, chores are set out and listed for him, with a time after which he can disturb me for access to the computer if he has completed his chores. Technology time stops an hour before bed, and is not every day but on clearly labelled days. So far it is working with only the coming off being a little fraught. Sooo much less arguing.

ta da
Ds has put his washing away, done his homework and physio and made sure he is taking his washing up into the kitchen.
Ds has been working on conquering his fear of heights, he has made it up the ladder into the loft twice today, not bad for some one who was quaking in fear towards the top of the ladder the other day.
Work on knitting another pannel
Work on attaching pannels to separation strips - 2 pannels joined together now and the 3rd is being worked on.

I have read through the thread but i am in need of an early night so have forgotten what i have read. I am struggling to go to sleep and have absolutely no intention of waking up but having to atm

Does anyone else have half a dozen clocks around the house showing various times. The kitchen clocke currently thinks it is about 1am, some are in GMT, some are in daylight, and some, some appear to require new batteries as are doing very odd things. And it appear to have forgotten it is supposed to be spring, I am freezing today. :( Can't get warm at all.

I just remembered about this. Thought you all might relate and thus hate me for to it.

**

Baby-step no. 30 for Mon 30th March is here. Check out your calendar and note birthdays and special events so you can prepare for them in advance.

We are in Zone 5 The Sitting Room for a few days (March 29-31) : here.

If you want to, you can declutter for 15 mins a day in Zone 5!

The detailed cleaning list (if you are at that stage) for Zone 5 is here.

Monday's mission is spending 15 mins getting rid of things that don't belong in your sitting room.

The daily focus for Monday is: the home bleugh.

The monthly habit for March is the controversial one about getting dressed immediately on rising and wearing lace up shoes indoors etc.

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 good start to the week everyone!

*

Oh gawd Bitchy - that one certainly pierces the soul - will print out two copies and stick one of the door of my home office and one on the door of the boudoir!! Well done wrt cracking chores with ds! And well done to him for wobbling bravely at the top of a ladder!! Keep warm!

Greymalkin/Swan yes re: film title. Not sure whether to be worried or not! Definitely influence of Lemony Snicket in there somewhere I think ... Even more when I heard there was a 'clochard' character involved who lived under a bed and drank himself to death (but it was only on Smurf beer apparently so that's ok ) .

Swan I've been feeling fed up with formal religion for years but I keep struggling on. Fortunately no obligation to smile at anyone here. Everyone content to just grunt at one another in the aisles Sorry you didn't get to go on your bracing country walk, the trains thing sounds exactly like something dh would do for fun!! Hope you get some spirit-renewing time to yourself to plant seeds tomorrow!

Swan/Bitchy yes all out of sync time-wise here too!

Apart from one essential load of laundry, I have done precisely nothing today. But I feel much better for it. We are all tired though so heading to bed early now.

G'night lovely fledglings!

PS If anyone is up for running thread in April (if Pushme not available) then don't be backward in coming forward!!

I can volunteer for running the May thread but can't do April. I have never tried posting links before so need some practice. Also, I'm on iPad and when I look at the search bar thingy to see what the Internet page address is for each fly lady page, it just says flylady.net for every single page.... So I need to do some research.

Bitchy once upon a time you sent me an idiots guide to thread leading including how to do links, but it was on my old log-in, so don't have it any more. If you're feeling up to it, can you send it to me again?

I'm willing to volunteer for running the April thread if no one else is available and if I'm allowed to as such a newbie. Will need telling what to do though as I don't know how to post or where you get the info from in advance of the daily emails.

It might be a while before I can do one again due to meerkitten arrival in June so maybe I should get my volunteering in now anyway even though I am a novice. The system all seems to make sense to me now anyway in a way that it didn't at all in the first week or so. I'm sure people can chip in and tell me if I've forgotten stuff anyway throughout the month.

Anyway the offer is there

Newbies are allowed Dogsbum GreyMalin I will have another look, I think I actually posted it as a post rather than pm'ing it. But will get back to you.

SC I know right. First time I saw that my reaction was both 'ouch' and 'dammit it makes such sense'

Palm Sunday went very well. Ds2 enjoyed the church service a lot and so did I so I take back the formal religion comments. We battled our way home through wind and rain - as I pointed out to ds2, who needs Snowdonia when you can walk up a London hill.

Came back to find dh and dd slumped in a sort of hopeless apathy eating a readymeal courtesy of the new microwave and dh was eating a fried egg

I've been having arguments with dh over the fact that ds2 still "writing-avoidant" so we made him do a piece about St Pancras and yesterday he wrote a heartfelt paragraph about how he couldn't spell. So very pleased about that but dh is very concerned about ds2 not being ready to go back to school next year (year 9). This is really annoying me. To put It Mildly. It would help if he had actually been to a Home Ed meetup and talked to some of the people there or read any books on the subject of education or home education. I feel he is taking all the joy out the endeavour by behaving as if we are running some sort of race to the finishing line.

No.

However to placate him I am going to force ds2 to write at least a page every day and wave it under dh's nose. Ds2 rather seems to enjoy reading out his own work so this could be a good new initiative. With ds2 it is anxiety that stops him writing - he is convinced we are going to pull him up on his spelling all the time so he would rather not write at all than be corrected - so again I'm trying the write your most interesting words and then if they are wrong we can go over them later but I won't complain about them when you first show me the work.

Off to Ireland on Tuesday with just two kids and no husband so perhaps a chance for a bit more freewheeling writing tasks there.

Made Tarte au Citron this afternoon and it was pretty good for a first attempt if I say so myself. It certainly tasted like Tarte au Citron even if there were a few aesthetic issues due to me spilling the filling down the outside of the pastry, etc. I think Mary Berry would have said good first attempt and then given me a slightly pitying look and I think that is all you can hope for with a first attempt!

Loving the orphans and sociopath film idea, I just love the honesty of kids, no feeling like they've got to sugar coat it or make a worthy or deep film and all of that adult angst....

I remember my mum getting called into school due to me writing a story in primary school involving my mum collapsing and being carried out across the street to an ambulance, etc and the school thought that something really traumatic was happening at home that they needed to discuss with my parents. My rather embarrassed mum had to explain that it was simply my rather over active imagination!!!

Oops Grey got totally the wrong end of the stick about what you meant by science experiments, I was imagining volcanoes erupting type school science experiments! my over active imagination at work again!

Bitchy ds2 had terrible vertigo when he was 9-12 but it seems to have got much better recently and he is enjoying climbing to the top of things (the Treetop walkway in Kew for example where I cannot even bear to look over the railings - ds2 is merrily walking around) He said he was much too frightened to do a lot of things at Thorpe Park last summer (school trip) so his vertigo is still a bit selective.

Evening all, I have scanned through the last few days but am too tired to do personals tonight, have loved reading all the chat though.

A productive weekend has been had Chez WhoKnows! DH and I have been popping in and out for the odd hour with a DC for various things, but in between we have done lots of decluttering and rearranging. I spent yesterday afternoon in the DCs bedrooms, to finish segregating all their stuff back to their own rooms after their several years of sharing one and using the other for a playroom. Had a good tidy up and throw out of bits while I was at it. Then I wanted to create space for all our sewing stuff downstairs (DD is really into sewing, so we have a machine and various boxes of fabrics, ribbons, bits and bobs). It has all been in her bedroom, then it comes down to the kitchen for use and ends up getting left there. So, all board games moved upstairs from understairs cupboard and all sewing stuff put in it's place. And a nice pile of stuff waiting to go to the charity shop / tip too.

Then today I decided to declutter plastic boxes from the kitchen drawers, as we had loads of ones with missing or ill fitting lids. Ended up completely emptying the stack of 4 drawers, steam cleaning them all and their cabinet, doing the same with the neighbouring cupboard, then steam cleaning the cooker hood too, so those parts of the kitchen look fabulously clean and shiny unlike the rest of it. I have really neglected the detailed cleaning and missions in the last year or so and it is starting to show. Steam cleaner is bloody brilliant though, I only stopped today as it ran out of steam.

This evening, having been indoors all day, we decided to make the most of the increased daylight and I decided to drag the DCs out to a nearby park which we don't go to very often. Lo and behold they didn't need dragging! I have been despairing of their relationship these last few months, constant arguing, but they both agreed to come out and scooted there together very happily, played on the equipment and then pooh sticks in a nearby stream for over an hour and only starting an argument just as we were about to leave. Which proved to be minor. So, that was lovely.