Let April Spring Cleaning with the Fledglings commence (hopefully Dogsbum wont turn it into too much of a shower....)

[Dogsbumhair]

The fledglings is a long running thread based on the Flylady cleaning/tidying principles. Personally I’m a newbie with only a couple of months flying under my belt but some members of the group have been on the thread for a number of years, so the thread is a mixed group of more and less experienced fledglings. I have found myself to be very warmly received as a newbie so please don’t be scared to join the gang.

Flylady link link here.

The system initially seems quite confusing so my advice as a fellow newbie would be to just go with it and accept that you will probably feel a bit confused for the first couple of weeks and then it will start to come together and make more sense.

The basic principles are (very) loosely as follows:

1. No perfectionism allowed (it is your enemy and it is stopping you getting anything done)
2. Little and often is the way to go (your house didn’t get in a mess in a day, it wont get sorted in one)
3. You are never behind, just jump in where you are (We are in a different zone of the house each week and all the house zones come round once a month, so all the tasks will come round again soon)
4. The point of this system is that by doing little and often your life isn’t dominated by housework and you have more time to do the fun things that you’d much prefer to be doing

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.

Later on today I will be posting up the links and information for tomorrow’s tasks

The advice from the wise and experienced members of the group is not to subscribe to the emails, but I have to confess that as a foolish newbie I do receive them I have learnt to ruthlessly bin anything beyond the actual flying tasks though.

Hopefully I haven’t missed anything too important off this introduction, but I’m sure someone more experienced will pop up to supplement this information if I have.

Good luck and happy flying through April!……………..

Right tomorrow’s links……

Baby-step no. 14 for Tues 14th April is here

We are in Zone 3 The Bathroom and an extra room this week: here

If you want to, you can declutter for 15 mins a day in Zone 3!

The detailed cleaning list (if you are at that stage) for Zone 3 is here

Tuesday’s mission is here

The daily focus for Tuesday is: Planning Day

The monthly habit for April is making your bed

For a summary of the above, see the flight plan: here

Happy flying…..

captain so sorry you have had such an awful day - at least you can't blame the home edding as it is still holidays

we too have a bit of a insufferable assortment of stray children not doing what they were meant to dd had the NERVE to appear looking wistful at 4pm and say she hadn't done her RE homework and she couldn't understand what to write TWO WHOLE WEEKS after it was set and it is due in tomorrow... I am sorry to say I dictated the entire thing then and there with biblical references..my knowledge was woefully thin and every time I looked something up I kept thinking oh that is fascinating. dd was scowling and saying is that meant to be a full stop or a questionmark there..

I took ds2 first thing to Parent Partnership but we are still missing some vital papers - anyway at least he recorded his views. I AM SENDING OFF THE PAPERWORK TOMORROW if the ed pysch sends a copy of the report back then. I feel much calmer about the whole thing so that is the benefit of going over it again and again with the PP lady. I think I finally understand what I am doing now I was reading through the info of that meeting we went to nearly three years ago Toffee and Whoknows and I actually understood what It all Meant - I think it was incomprehensible to me at the time.

Went shopping at Morrisons on way home and used up my coppers voucher on a lot of protein for the freezer. Ds2 went home by himself on the bus (I keep practising his independence skills)

Long walk for me and ds2 in process

Cooked lunch

Talked to neighbour about the fence and tree.

Felt extremely tired and wanted to slope off at this point only dd then appeared with her RE!!

Then tried to lie down but had to sew on various badges for ds1 on his new blazer - see him off to Confirmation class

cook pork with prunes rice and spinach

wash up

give up and collapse (house still tippette)

SC what a poetic menu - words like lemon butternut squash tarragon and blackcurrant all together in one paragraph
Dog must be making your heart sing! take it easy though and acquaint him with the sofa too - watching telly with a dog curled up next to you is my favourite excuse for sitting still.

Congratulations WhoKnows on your declutter and household shift, I bet that is a good feeling, especially the DCs and DH being on board too.

Toffee sorry to hear that the dress saga continues and I hope that your DH can enable you to get a trip to the shops. Have you got far to travel to get to a good range of dress shops?

Blue London Book Fair sounds fun, I hope it's not all work.

I'm pleased to say that I got a pretty good nights sleep last night so I feel much better today

ta das
Stripped bed and washed bedding
Washed bathroom mats and mattress protector
Small bits of plastering in bathroom and my study
Made bread
Made pea and ham soup for tea
Assembled and fitted new lampshade in bedroom
Emptied bins
Hoovered front room, kitchen/dining, stairs, landing, my study
Food and DIY shopping

It might not sound like a lot but it felt like a pretty full day and I'm quite pleased with myself.

DP asked me last night what DIY things I was still hoping to achieve before meerkitten arrives and I sense I might be in trouble if I try to do too much. I handed over my list (which was ridiculously long) however I did also highlight the only three or four items that I viewed as essential (although in my head and on my own copy of the list there are a couple more items on the essential list ).

However, once I finish the plastering and the painting in my study (calming down the crazy bright yellow) I will be done upstairs so that feels like a major step forward and it will also mean that I don't have a load of DIY items upstairs making the place look more untidy. So I'm hoping to be done upstairs by the end of this week, fingers crossed Finally I see the light at the end of the tunnel......

Just try not to climb too many ladders dogsbum

I know Dark must be careful on that one! That could definitely get me told off by DP! I'll have to tell him about you painting the ceiling at 8 and a half months, he'll think we're twins separated at birth

Ds has decided he wants some hexagonal shelves, told him I will teach him how to build them. the worst bit is going to be calculating the angles, he is not a fan of maths and angles. So he will be doing it

Blimey Dark that sounds ambitious, how old is your DS?

10 but he is almost L6 in maths so it is not beyond his skills to measure the angles in a template shape if we use a word shape to work out the dimensions. It is just 6 pieces of word and 2 cuts per piece, glue and clamp, and stablising nails. Not hugely difficult if he is helped with the cuts, but he has been allowed to 'play' with bits of off cuts since he was younger and as he has now mastered a soildering iron i think he is capable even if we need a few practise cuts first. But it will depend on whether we use mdf or floorboards, safety issues with the fibres really rather than skills.

All this DIY talk is beyond me. Am hopelessly impractical at things like that.

Dogs - if DH drives me (and he's still deliberating about that because he's busy and also baffled by this fuss over a dress), it is just a 15-minute trip there. If I have to go on public transport, it'll take much longer. At the moment, I have a possible child-free slot on Wednesday afternoon.

The other option is that I take DS2 with me, but I don't think I can face that.

I'm very impressed by all the jobs you are hoping to get done before MeerKitten arrives. Although you mustn't overdo it, it is true that everything grinds to a halt when the baby arrives. DH and I were saying the other day that we wish we'd decluttered before we had children, as it is only now that they are older that we're having time to tackle all the stuff (and have, of course, acquired so much more in the meantime).

Dark - you are very good teaching your son to make shelves. I worry about DS1 not learning any of these practical skills.

Swan - well done on completing your DD's RE homework. And good news that you are so near to sending off the paperwork for the EHCP. I think that meeting has proved useful to all three of us over time. I certainly went back to my notes when I applied for DS1's statement.

Blue - hope you have a good time at the London Book Fair. I used to go every year when I was in the trade.

Off to bed in a mo.

It helps that ds has interest and will ask to learn. Hard to teach someone who is not interested or shows inclination. Which is why I am good at DIY but my siblings less so. They have learnt as they have needed though. I just think it is a sneaky way of high jacking interest for maths skills practice

DEM It's great that your DS is interested in DIY; like Toffee, I'm useless when it comes to anything practical. It's not helped by the fact that DH is very good at anything DIY-related so I have no incentive to learn, but even before we met I've always relied on other people - when I was at university, for example, I had to get friends to wire the plugs of anything electrical I bought.

WhoKnows I will admit to being woefully ignorant about diabetes; I seem to be hearing a lot about type 2 atm but know very little about type 1, although a couple of the others at the book club I went to last week were telling me about people they knew who developed type 1 as a young adult. It was useful to hear about your DH's experience, anyway.

My life seems to be an endless round of medical appointments at the moment. I had the results of my annual MOT last week; all fine apart from low iron levels (which I was expecting), although it still took up nearly half the morning as I had a longish wait and the doctor went through everything with a fine toothcomb.

Dentist's was on the agenda yesterday; DC all ok, but dentist decided I needed a filling replacing (tbf I think she mentioned it at my last check-up but I'd repressed the memory). I suddenly realised she was about to start drilling so shrieked "What? You're going to do it now? Without an injection?" and she grudgingly gave me a local anaesthetic (I had to pay €15 for the privilege). Considering how long she was drilling for and the amount of pain I was in for the rest of the day, however, I think €15 was a small price to pay. Austrians are a bit masochistic about that kind of thing; DH says he didn't realise you could have a local anaesthetic for dental work (and he had a lot done as a child) until he met me.

DD2 is still drinking more than usual but has stopped complaining about being constantly thirsty and about needing to get up at night, so I don't know whether things have improved or whether she/I have got used to the situation. We should find out more at the paediatrician's tomorrow, anyway. She was drinking a lot all day over Easter, but you're right DEM - she very often doesn't drink much at school and is then very thirsty when she gets home so I need to encourage her to drink more in the morning. Last time I asked her, on Friday, she hadn't drunk anything at all at school - although as she finishes at 11.15am on a Friday she hadn't even gone the entire morning without water.

Ladies please may I join the thread? I'm just about keeping my head above water at the moment. I really need to get myself in to a routine. I have the day off today so I am on a cleaning mission

Hi Chuffing welcome to the thread. It can take a bit of reading and going with the flow for a bit before the flylady way makes sense but stick with it and you'll have your routines sorted soon

The shelf project sounds like a lot of fun Dark and a very cunning way to get him to do maths [evil smirk]

In terms of the fibres and safety issues, I believe there is a type of mdf that has been designed for kids furniture that doesn't have the formaldehyde glue in it and hence is much safer. Although I have to confess that I've never seen any in local DIY store so I don't know how easy it is to come by or how much more expensive it is than regular mdf. Just a thought anyway.

Toffee I hope that you are able to get a lift to get your dress situation sorted and that you don't have to take DS with you as that doesn't sound conducive to relaxing and taking your time choosing a dress!

In terms of decluttering I feel quite fortunate in that I did the huge de-clutter of my life about 5-7 years ago when I got rid of the stuff that I'd been carrying around since uni, etc. You know the boxes that have moved house six times but never been opened each time you move!

In fact when we did that clutter I found a large box that I didn't recognise anything in and I showed it to DP and he didn't recognise anything in it either and we realised that we were carrying round a box of stuff for someone who we used to share a house with! We returned it to him and he'd forgotten all about the box, he did concede that it was his stuff but clearly he hadn't missed it!

So de-cluttering this time round is only a case of de-cluttering the last five years, which means there isn't as much stuff of sentimental value, etc. so it has been a lot easier. Also having done the painful de-clutter once I have found that my mentality has shifted and I find it much easier psychologically to let stuff go (realisation that the sky wont actually fall in even if I do find that I regret throwing something later on! )

Linzer so sorry to hear about all the medical appts. I'm a bit shocked about all the Austrian children having dental working, including drilling, without any pain relief. They much be a hardy breed in Austria

I must have still been more tired than I realised as I slept in until 11.30 this morning, I did have another disturbed night though, so that's probably part of it too. So I'm definitely off to a slow start today. Washing up is all that I've done today.

My plan today is to buy something for tea and to get a first coat of new paint on at least half of my study (the half that I can get to without moving heavy furniture). Plaster patches also need a little bit of attention.

Will report back later on my progress

Hello!! Positively Mediterranean here! (Which is quite nice seeing as that is where we should have been right now!)

[Sorry to rub it in for all those who have gone back to school/work this week. Hope it is going ok.]

Followed Swan's advice to the letter (without having read it yet! ) and, aside from a long walk in a forest with dog, we did absolutely nothing yesterday; pottered about in our pjs and ate leftovers. I felt a bit ill/on edge/tired but much better today having rested!

So far today we have assembled a dog kennel for terrace (for occasional day-time use only!) brushed dog, and I am doing a spot of washing and have cleaned and tidied kitchen surfaces and brushed kitchen floor. About to go out for another long country walk!

Hope everyone who is still on holiday is enjoying it! And anyone who is ailing is feeling a bit better!

A very warm welcome to Chuffingelves (love the nn!) Good luck with today's chores!

Anyone want to join me in signing a virtual petition to get Toffee away for the day (child-free) and in to those dress shops?!! Go on Toffee! The force of the fledglings is behind you!!! If ever anyone deserved some 'me' time, it is you!

Whoknows your post about your house is truly inspiring to read! I am no where near at your level yet (even after 5 yrs +) but things are gradually improving and it is so good to know that it can be done and that one will get there eventually!! Congratulations !! And glad wedding went well!

Good to hear that your medical tests have come back clear Linzer but [shudder] at masochistic Austrian dentistry! Good luck at the paediatrician's tomorrow and my dd does that late drinking thing too - drives me nuts!! (Think it is a pattern developed at school as they are not allowed access to water during lesson time. Then they are too occupied with friends/play at breaks to remember to drink!)

DEM V. impressed by you and your ds and the hexagonal shelving! Hope his hay fever is a bit better!

Toffee/Blue wierd that I also went to the London book fair and to Frankfurt when in the trade! Have a good time Blue!

Yes, take it steady Dogsbum all the DIY work sounds fantastic (as does the pea and ham soup!) but don't overdo it!

Swan sounds like you need a rest too!! (Hope you get good marks for 'your' RE hwk btw; sounds like just the sort of thing my dd would do too!) Good luck with all the PP paperwork!

Dog, btw, is definitely making the hearts of dh and dd sing! And I love him but I am definitely less sentimental about animals than the other two who are as soppy as they come! (Hence, I am in charge of training!)

I do like it when he sits quietly beside me as I scan my cookery books of a morning (I'm usuallly first down!) but he is still a bit 'hyper' in other ways and needs to steady down a bit more. And although it sounds ridiculous, I am still getting used to having such a distinct 'presence' in the house - very much used to my own company during the day - it takes some adjusting having 'someone' follow your every move!

But I am sure that will settle down too as he gets used to our routines - it is still very early days - and he feels a bit more confident about being here. Again, sounds utterly ridiculous, but could have sworn he went through a bit of a 'sad' half hour last night when he was missing his former owners ... His ears went all droopy ... .

CaptainSubtext sorry you are still feeling rotten and hope you managed to get through work yesterday ok! Hope your dh's interview went well!

Waves to Seaside Mercury Pushme Greymalkin Feetheart Engels Castle Honu and everyone else I've missed!

xposts

YY Dogsbum about those boxes that follow you around from move to move! I still have them unopened in the roof Arf at carrying someone else's clutter around with you too !

Well, it's comforting to come on here and find Dogs and SC urging me to get some me time to choose a dress, especially as DC and I are prisoners in our own home today. Or, at least, that's how it feels. I told DH this morning that I would take DS2 on the bus and make a day of it in the nearest town: a day out for DS2 and, hopefully, dress crisis solved for me. No, said DH, you can't leave DS1 (15) for that long (personally, I think he'd be fine for a few hours, though I wouldn't make a habit of it), plus there is a delivery for work coming to our house today and I need you to stay in and wait for it.

We have waited all bloody day, looking out at this glorious sunshine through our rather dusty windows, and still the delivery hasn't come. Have just had 'words' with DH on the phone, complaining that it's not fair that I can't take DS2 out for some sun and exercise. He complained that it wasn't much to ask as he is stuck at work and has to take his DM to hospital later, so he's not having a very good day either .

I just don't think it's fair that he assumes I'll be here to take the delivery. I was actually planning to take DS2 to the GP (possible urine infection), but can't do that now either. What if I had other plans? Like trying to find a dress in the local shops.

Actually, I might see if our next-door neighbour is in and then leave a note on the door suggesting deliveries go there instead.

Hello everyone and welcome to Chuffing

It is a gloriously sunny day here, so hot in fact it feels like August!

Ta da
Beds made
Dishwasher emptied and reloaded
Washing machine on
Washing pegged outside on the line for the first time this year
Walk to post office to send off ebay parcels and post a load of letters
Cat litter trays dealt with

On the weekend I was washing my washing line if that makes sense! I must have looked insane to my neighbours! It was all sticky, presumably tree sap of something, so I had to wash and dry all the stings. Much better now.

DS has the worst case of horrid nappies I have seen since he was a newborn. I suspect it might be another round of teething, but dear lord! The mess...

I agree Toffee that your DH should ask first rather than just assume you will be in. Not helpful and a very restricting on the rest of the family. IF your neighbours would help that would be good I wouldn't trust my neighbours as far as I could spit

Our landline is down again I'm afraid, DP currently on mobile trying to get it sorted. Sorry to ask again but can someone cover doing the links for me tonight as I can't see it getting sorted tonight. Thanks

That sounds like a right royal Pita dogsbum Will sort it.

ta da
Lie in
collect and create mount washmore - consisting of peak towel, peak stinky kit and summit normal clothes
Start working way through mount washmore
finish sorting out a craft set that ds was given. (beyond his skills and patience so I have ended up doing it )
Unload dw
Reload and run dw
consider what the plan of action is for tomo

Spent morning in doing Home Ed with ds2 (trying to teach him how to write descriptions of places using Dickens but it slightly backfired as he ended up writing something utterly bald and menacing There was a chair and on that chair was a knife sort of stuff.

So a brief scuffle over Art which he refused to do even for ten minutes (we were looking at some pictures) because he was desperate to get to the Meetup. Which admittedly was very bucolic. Hot sunshine breezes lots of gambolling teenagers to wrestle with. Felt a bit stressed by various things though - ds2 talking too loudly at one stage, the drive home (hot and we went in the wrong direction) and continuing kerfuffle over EHCP/garden landscaping project in future

managed the washing up twice
supper (sausages with a veggie bean casserole accompaniment and potatoes)
hung out washing
driving practice
exercise
vitamin D

Toffee how tiresome of dh to play the ds1 cannot be left alone card - you surely are the judge of that anyway!
SC a big change for both of you - needs a fair amount of downtime together. I feel so sad for the dog even though he has this lovely new home - do you think he is wondering if they are on holiday? More likely he is dreading going back to them and worrying that this wonderful life with you all is going to come to an end! That is the way to look at it

LINKIES**

Right tomorrow’s links……

Baby-step no. 15 for Wed 15th April is here

We are in Zone 3 The Bathroom and an extra room this week: here

If you want to, you can declutter for 15 mins a day in Zone 3!

The detailed cleaning list (if you are at that stage) for Zone 3 is here

Tuesday’s mission is here

The daily focus for Wednesday is: anti procrastination day

The monthly habit for April is making your bed

For a summary of the above, see the flight plan: here (automatically updates at midnight irrc)

launch pad

Happy flying…..

Wonderful NNDs agreed to take in our delivery if it came (which it didn't), so DS2 and I went out and had a long walk in the local park, with lots of tree climbing (him) and sitting in the sun (me), then walked into town, looked for dresses in local boutiques and bought treats to eat on the way home. DS2 was my fashion adviser, although this did mean he kept recommending dresses which were completely unsuitable ("Mummy, you'd looked lovely in this one!" Fluorescent orange? No thanks.). Again, I felt utterly dejected at the sight of myself in the two dresses I tried on, so will be having a last bash at finding something in the Big Town tomorrow. Am so bored with this long and sorry saga.

Welcome to the thread, Chuffing. How did today's cleaning mission go?

Linzer - good luck at the paediatrician's tomorrow. Please let us know what the outcome is.

SC - it's early days for you and the dog and I'm sure things will settle down in time. I know exactly what you mean about the other presence in the house and being followed everywhere: the cats often follow me from room to room and up and down stairs. It drives me a bit bonkers sometimes and reminds me of that needy phase toddlers go through, when you can't even go to the loo on your own. On the other hand, there are lovely compensations - like having furry hot-water bottles cuddled up against you on the sofa, purring happily. As with all relationships, there are pros and cons and compromises have to be made.

And yes, please, to the petition to get me out of the house. Although it does now look as if DH will drive me to the shops tomorrow and I also have a hair appointment on Thursday, which I always regard as a mini-break, so I'm not doing too badly.

Swan - your description of DS2's writing sounds so much like something my DS1 would do. He used to write blood-curdling stories at school. I was quite worried about what his teacher would think, but she was unphased by it and encouraged him to read them out to the class. Anything that gets your DS2 writing is a good thing.

Dogs - how maddening about the connection. Hope it gets sorted soon.

Dark - is your DS better today? Thanks for posting the links.

Busy day tomorrow, so need to get to bed on time tonight. Will report back on the dress saga tomorrow.