Fledglings Flying into June - In or Out we'll find out soon.

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeG0es]

Welcome all - and thanks to CotswoldStrife for leading us through May. It's going to be a momentous month on the political front, but this is where we can concentrate on the domestic front instead.

If you are struggling 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 support and chat along the way.

Link to the Flylady website Flylady

Don't let the somewhat sickly and barftastic language of the site put you off: the underlying system is sound!

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 swamped with masses of bumph. 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):

• start or repeat baby steps
• repeat baby steps + do 15 minutes a day decluttering in the current zone
• 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.

There are three key points to keep in mind throughout:

• No perfectionism allowed - this is harder than you would imagine and many of us on this thread struggle with this one.
• You are never behind - just start where you are and anything you do is progress.
• 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.

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 ‘ta-da’ lists but don't let that worry you. Do what you can, anything is better than 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!

Here's the launch pad for more experienced fledglings Launch Pad

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

Links...

Babystep 2 is the controversial getting dressed to shoes - some do, some don't...

Thursday is errand day

Mission which should hopefully update tomorrow, is to declutter the dining room.

Hope you feel better tomorrow, WhoKnows.

The boys and my parents had a great day at the Sealife Centre, crazy golf, arcade games and suchlike, despite the cold, and I had a productive and quiet day at home... Got quite a lot of work done, and went to Zumba too. So feeling smug. :)

Night all.

Good luck today with your exams Whoknows! Fingers crossed for you!

Thanks for links Blue! Good to hear that the weather did not stop fun being had!

Lovely to see you Shannara! Sorry to hear about your ds's exzcema flare up; hope it is not long lasting.

Einstein sorry to hear work stressful and good luck with all the pre-trip tasks [proffers strong coffee].

Have a good day everyone!

Right I did absolutely nothing on that list apart from the write report bit. Arrggggh. Too much to do. Car bits first.

Just arrived at the exam centre. So much for an early night, off I went at 10.30 and didn't get to sleep till 3 .

Thanks for doing the links Blue.

Good luck Whoknows

Good luck whoknows

I achieved my goal of shelf decluttered last night, I felt that I couldn't sell them though so they went in the loft. Whilst up there I looked at the eleventy billion empty boxes up there from everything from dyson Hoover to iPad, to printer boxes. Dh did a 15 minute blitz and about twenty got crushed and put out for recycling today. I'm slowly getting him on board now. :)

Why do children feel you have to look after their lego in your room?

Yes I never understand how people persuade their dc to play only in designated playrooms. I never managed it. DD only ever wanted to play wherever we were. Hence there being toys on every level of this house waiting to be decluttered.

Oh poor you Whoknows wrt lack of sleep! I am sure exam adrenalin will see you through and I hope you can have some well deserved rest afterwards.

Good work on the decluttering front Ratbag!

Hello everyone, welcome to all the newbies!

for you Cotswold for leading last month and fortifying for WhoKnows for this month.

WhoKnows - really hope your exam is going / went well

Great decluttering there from both of you Ratbag

Shannara and Mercury - lovely to see you back again, hope you're both well.

Hows the back SC?

We've had a busy day here at GreyTowers:

Looked at two houses we saw potential in, one was pretty bland and just didn't do anything for me. The other one I loved everything about it on the inside and it has a lovely, private garden and home office. The only downside is it is on a rather busy junction and close to the road. However, the road is a 30mph zone and has plenty of traffic calming measures in place so I think we could live with it. So, we put in an offer and now we have to wait......

Ta Da
Fed cats
Made two beds
Dishwasher on
Wash load put on, tumbled and folded ready for cleaner to iron tomorrow
Folded and put away three loads of dry washing
Decluttered a rather large electric organ that DH no longer plays - we donated it to a school and they collected it this morning.
Various phone calls made to make appointments
Wrapped eBay parcel for sending

ToDo
Meal plan
Online grocery shop
Wash cat litter trays
Maybe some eBay listings

Always wondered what this is all about, so curiousity got me reading. Tried Kondo, but think this is more me, except I have been sorting out our bedroom and clothes, so will be starting properly tomorrow. I have two laundry baskets that are overflowing, and that's not including towels and bedding. I have 2ds aged 13 and 10, whose house jobs will have to try and fit in.

A warm welcome to MadSprocker! lots of people on this thread Kondo to start and Fly to maintain.

Fab organ decluttering there Grey and v. best of luck with new prospective house no. 3. The cycle of house-hunting/putting in offers/waiting for responses is terribly draining. Hope you are bearing up!

for Whoknows for later!

May I join?I used to fly many moons ago(when dinosaurs still roamed)my kids at home are now 12,10 and 8 and are seriously messy Herbert's.we all need direction as we are overflowing "stuff" and I am not great at motivating myself

So my sink is shining, and the dishwasher is on.

Thank you for the SC, much needed. Exam went pretty well I think. House is a tip. Very tired. Will do links in a bit.

Well done Whoknows! Glad to hear it went well!

A very warm welcome to Stilllivinginazoo! We all struggle on here with motivation from time to time, so you have come to the right place!

Well done MadSprocker!

I haven't quite caught up with the thread yet, but welcome to all the new and returning Fledglings, good to have you on the thread.

Links for Friday:

Mission - declutter for 10-15 mins in each room of Zone 1.

Babystep - explore the Flylady website.

Daily Focus declutter your car and purse, plus date night.

Well, I did my bag yesterday, the car is in dire need though. Date night? We might get a takeaway I think.

ta da
empty car
deliver car to garage
Conquer mount iron more (over 2hrs worth)
boil up handwarmers
tip 4 boxes of stuff over lounge floor
created a large box of recycling
a full bin's worth of rubbish
a tub of stuff for the tip
a tub of stuff to burn
2 loads of laundry
collect car
check plants and put one outside to dry off
install a new bathroom sink plug.
sorted through training clothes.
put together flat pack furniture
put big things in small car
catch up with a friend
hoover car
rescued plant from outside.
considered what needs to be done tomo
pretend to know nothing about how long tomo's to do list is
collect out of date meds
make shopping list

Probably forgotten to do something important but too tired to even think about it. Bed full of paperwork and floor covered in stuff to deal with tomo. Busy day if you then add on laundry, packing and trip shopping

Welcome aboard to newbies.

Glad to hear the exam went well, WhoKnows, and good luck on the house, Grey.

Another good day out and about here, despite the weather, which is pretty similar to Minsmere for anyone watching Springwatch... Was about to say no flying done, but laundry is always done, and DH and I have booked a table for a rare meal out while my parents are here to babysit, so that's date night sorted. :)

Welcome newbies!

I am away from my house for a few days, so no flying (woo hoo!). I will attempt to check the thread so your efforts will inspire me to hit the clutter on my return!

Morning everyone

Not going to be much flying for me today, we go on holiday on Monday so it's packing time

To do list;
5x wash, dry and put away laundry (got a bit behind)
Wash up as I go along
Declutter living room
Write instructions for cat sitter

Sink is less shiny than last night as DH had to leave early for work and put his cereal bowl in the sink.
White wash to put on.
Children's PE kits to put on.
Ds13 had a friend sleep over last night, so will be tidying general debrie left by them.
It is really cold here, so no wiping down the front door until the sun arrives this weekend.
Also enjoying cups of tea.
We are hoping to extend our house in the near future, so last night I wrote my DH a list of things he needs to do by the end of June, so we can get the ball rolling. He works really hard, but is a procrastinator, so hoping this gets going!

Thanks for welcome everyone.

Morning all

Back in kitchen on phone again as can't concentrate with Dan TDM prattling on YouTube😠
Will get the computer back soon and do a proper post. For now:

Ta Da
Last nights washing up
Clothes washed and dried
All breakfasted, ds only just as he lay in until 8:30!!

To do
Put washing away, might iron but probably not
Get Dd to decorate her glass jar for school fete - knew the coloured pack of sharpie permanent pens accidentally bought would have a use eventually.
Find Ds's homework and force him to do it!
Attempt a healthy lunch, diet has gone out the window this week, along with FLYing.
General 15 minute walk around with bin bag throwing things out unnoticed!

Back soon with catch up.

need to produce a huge ta da list today, but lungs hate me after all the dust so decided to spent the morning in bed. Unfortunately this decision will only mean that I have to get everything that needs doing in less time Ah well. At least as of tomo I am on my trip and I can relax happily in the knowledge that in the last week I have sorted and culled 10ish boxes of stuff so that there is only around another 10 to do the first week back. And then there will be no more boxes of unsorted/random stuff lurking. A really nice feeling even if i know I need to return to the sorted boxes and do another cull at a later date when some things have sat in time out and the guts to get rid has been found. Although i might just build a giant track of wooden railway over the floor because I can, because it was never really for ds. I just loved to build fancy tracks.

Strong coffee for Whoknows! Thanks for links!

[Feels slightly faint looking at Einsteins ta da list from yesterday]

Fantastic going with box decluttering !!! and aw at the trian tracks! Hope you have a lovely trip!

Enjoy your child-free date night Blue!

Hope you are enjoying your time away Cotswold!

Enjoy your trip too Kruck! And good luck with all the prep!

And sounds like you are making good progress MadSprocker! YY to 13 yr olds (I own one too - well nearly 13) and trails of debris everywhere!!

Good luck with your list today Shannara!

Encouraging wing flaps to eveyrone else!

In difficulty with back today as spent rather too long seated yesterday ie more than 10 mins! Have a very long list but only able to work through it frustratingly slowly by starting at crack of sparrows and lying down in between tasks and continuing to do that all day and through the evening! Still, better than nowt. Busy weekend ahead with guests on Sat and dh off again on travels Sun. Have had to book furry one in to pet-sitters while dh is away as I can't do all the bending involved with dog walking atm and of course he pulls from his harness just where it hurts!

On the positive front: have 'filched' the office cleaners who have kindly agreed to come and give the house a good 'do' tomorrow before guests arrive. Loads of tidying and picking up (and dog bathing) to do before then though!

Have a great weekend everyone!