Neat and clean in 2017 - it's the January Flylady thread

[CotswoldStrife]

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Welcome to the January Flylady thread, where we try and maintain our nests in good order by following the Flylady method. We'll post links each day to the Flylady website for the babysteps, daily focus and extra missions in the current zone. The habit of the month is shining your sink (or whatever other place in your home motivates you).

If you are just starting, Flylady recommends decluttering the weekly zone before doing the detailed cleaning and not to do too much at once!

All are welcome, so feel free to join us anytime.

Plan for today

Sort and put away (this is always the hardest bit) all the washing I got done yesterday

Blitz kitchen including cupboards and fridge removing all out of date food!

Meal plan for week ( and shopping list)

Chill with kids for a bit ( if they stop being so 😡)

Hello again. Gizlots, what's the secret to chilling with kids? I hardly ever manage it as they either want to be doing something or I have to seize the moment to put washer etc on.

Ta da:-
DD1 done dance class
DD2 at dancing
DH unexpectly free so we have gone home with DD2 and he is going to occupy her while I do half an hour of study with the door shut
Party invites pretty much all given out

To do:-
Study
Pick up DD1
Lunch
Laundry
Meet friends at soft play

I am really struggling to keep on top of the house while spending all spare time on assignment. Does anyone, or even Flylady, have any tips for doing the bare minimum while avoiding the house plunging into chaos?

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

afresh times nearly up!!
Ta das
Liv floor swept and wiped
Coffee table clear and wipe
Dining table clear and wipe
Kitchen floor swept and wipe
Surfaces cleaned and bleached
Sink clear of cat fluff scrub,bleach rinsed thoroughly
Bath wipe
Sunk wipe
Bleach lav
Jacket potatoes in oven, along part bake rolls,sweet potato and a beet(these will be mashed to make a soup for dd2 supper)2nd load wash just on final spin.1st load dry fold And put away
Cats been given stiff warning that they won't tak anY bloody notice of
They are both snuggled up together on sofa snoozing
Dd2 finally surfaced at 930!(unheard of)

Umm to be honest we normally watch a film.. or go for a walk...or they play whilst I am in the room and vaguely involve me.. since Christmas board games have been a hit too!

So washing sorted ( but not put away)
Kitchen blitzed...just floor to do.
School Shoes polished
Bags organised

Hi everyone. I am crap at flying during the week and the thread is so fast that I have a hard time keeping up. Sorry.

Ta-da today:
Made bed
Made pancakes in the morning
Washed it all up
Took smartlet for swimming (he no foolet)
Cooked lunch
Washed up
Cleaned kitchen: wiped counter top, shined sink using washing powder, swept floor
Bunged tea towels into washing machine
Made apple crumble in the afternoon
Washed it all up

To do:
Hang up washing
Put away yesterday's washing
Make smartlet early tea as we are going out and he won't like the food
Shower!

toostressy we snuggle up on the sofa and watch a film together. It's the only time smartlet is not on the go.

I tend to do the bare minimum during the week because I am so tired. I have my non-negotiables that I won't let slide, otherwise it has an effect on my mental health. So for me is: make bed (30 secs), tidy living room (we have a living/dining room which when messy is just too much), quick clean of toilet (2 mins), not have more than 1 load hanging about waiting to be put away (this can take up to 10/15 mins because I fold it all up KonMarie style DP refuses to do this and laying out clothes for the next day (

Hi everyone! We had our family fun as we went out for pizza and ice cream which was lovely. Another terrible night's sleep although dh was able to help out so that made it a tiny bit better.

Ta das
Done my daily routine
Dh cleaned the oven

To do
Polish mirrors
Dust last bit of furniture upstairs

I have just has an idea for my bathroom...I was just cleaning the sides and moving all the bottles out of the way and thought I'd buy a couple of little baskets to put things in so when I clean the sides I only have to lift the baskets out of the way. Is this a good idea? Does anyone do this and know where to get some small baskets that won't get mouldy or anything? We don't have any cupboards or anything in our bathroom, just two shelves.

foxes we have little grey baskets in our bathroom sink drawer, one for each of us. Perfect as you say as only need to pick each basket to clean and keeps everyone's stuff neat and separate. From John Lewis.

I'm much later posting today as have been busy

Ta da's
Town with DD - she has actually spent some Xmas money, she is quite tight with her own funds!
Dishwasher loaded, ran and emptied
Other dishes washed
One load of washing and dried
Another load in
Made lasagne for dinner tomorrow
Pack up for swimming gala tomorrow for DD and I
Cut potatoes into chips for DH to cook
Sink shined
Living room hoovered

To do's
Muster up enthusiasm for another swimming gala
Summon up nerve for M1 drive tomorrow

Sunday will be a write off in terms of flying so will double my efforts on Monday!

I love the idea of bathroom baskets!

Ta da:-
Tea eaten for all of us
Dishwasher on
DH did home bleugh
Car MOTd
30 min study so have two short essays ready to edit tonight

To do:-
Bath and bedtime
Study
Laundry
Dishwasher
5 mins declutter

Car cost £££ at the garage so we think we might have to cancel our day out tomorrow . We had been going to go somewhere which for once we all wanted to go to and would all have enjoyed but we will have to tighten our belts a little over the next few months now as not sure how much longer DH's car will last. So planning a quiet renew your spirit day at home instead.

Forgot to say thanks for the tips! Gizlots, I am guilty of using the time when they are watching a film to get on with stuff but thinking about it DH will sit with them and watch a film and they all enjoy that. Would love to get into board games with them but DD2 is just that bit too young yet I think (3).

Fooland, I like the idea of non-negotiables. Think mine will have to be the before bed routine as it has such a massive impact on the next day and I have been slacking on it.

Hello hello, again I've missed loads on this thread. Will try to catch up

Finished my nights yesterday then took car for mot. Needed new tires but I kinda thought that was going to happen.

Ta da's
Kitchen surfaces wiped down
Dishes washed
Curry Base made for tomorrow
Fridge cleared.
Two washes down.
One dried and put away, other to be dried
Living room hotspot cleared the cluttered up again by "helpful" dd
2x15min decluttering in my bedroom.

I have plastic baskets in the bathroom, I will check the make - they are on offer in various sizes in most of the supermarkets ATM, in cream or brown. I think they are Curver but I'll check.

Very little flying done today, luckily every other fledgling on here is far more productive than me and the thread is running itself

Hi all.

Today I've not done much except type up the notes for my PIP form. Ugh. And we put away aaaaall the clean clothes.

The daily summary for Sunday (also available on the Flylady website at flight plan which should update automatically each day.

**

Baby-step no 15 - make your bed each morning

No zone work or missions at the weekends – woo hoo, enjoy!

The daily focus for Sunday is: renew your spirit

The monthly habit for January is shine your sink

daily reminders

Oooh if the thread runs itself if that could keep going to help me out as a newbie writing the February thread that would be great .

Ploughing through essay here. On the plus side, much easier to edit and cut words when grumpy and fed up with it.

Just de-lurking to respond to toostressy. We started our DC off early on board games. I can highly recommend "Snail's Pace Race" at age 3, as it's kind of non- competitive. And "Never Smile at a Crocodile" (Orchard Games) because the board is so colourful and interesting.

I was on this thread for a few months four years ago, and then I moved to Germany and never got back going again. Keep thinking I should rejoin. Maybe soon.

Morning all

hangs head in shame

Sorry I never came back zoo If I had a decent excuse I'd give it but I don't even know what I was doing lol

My dd has been playing board games for a while now toostressy She is 3.9 now. If your dd can count games like snakes and ladders are good. You can get giant floor ones with characters on which I found less fiddly for her. I think it helps that we have older DC (7+8) I can't remember if you do!

She can now play snakes and ladders (and similar games like frustration) games like kerplunk, operation and buckaroo, oh and she has even mastered uno lol

Orchard games are great for little ones, we had the shopping list game and various matching games

So yesterday's ta da's

Bed made ( well duvet thrown back on it)
Kitchen cleaned and decluttered ( cupboards still need some work and floor needs mopping)
Larder cupboard and fridge cleared
Kids playroom sorted and toys organised

Today have a fairly hectic day
Littlest one to Rugby training then onto a party
Eldest off to fun splash with daddy and a friend later
Homework to be finished/started
Bags to be sorted for school and dance tomorrow (including snacks for in car)
Kids for baths and family film
Shopping list (so meal planning to be done)

We have the jitterbugs game and the bus stop game which 3 yo loves. Also Thomas the tank engine snakes and ladders type game and dominoes. Oh and she also likes playing pairs and snap with her peppa pig cards.

We have just woken up here. Ds sleep pattern is totally weird at the moment and it's stressing me out! He slept a couple of hours in the evening then was awake basically from 12 until 4 am then slept until 8.30! Argh!

Morning everyone. Thanks so much for all the board game suggestions, especially for delurking lifebegins . Sounds as if I haven't given DD2 enough credit then and I will investigate some games once my assignment is in.

Ta das:-
DDs have had (amazingly) a lazy morning and are now (even more amazingly - watch me jinx it now) playing nicely together. We have taken full advantage of this and I have done loads on my assignment and DH has had very mini lie in and prepped dinner . I am very excited about all of this as I have two parts of assignment to a reasonable level so think I will use tonight to tidy up (work papers need organising) and actually take a night off and watch something on telly etc. Can only do so
much and I need a rest!

To do:-
Unfortunately vacuum cleaner (on it's last legs) has broken this morning . Need DH to look at it but don't eant to nag as he has made us all dinner so he is going to look at it later.

Tumble drier fluff filter full so can't get any further with laundry until can get hoover sorted .
Really hoping we don't need to go out and buy new Hoover
Breakfast- must get on with DD's breakfast now!

foxes, that sounds very miserable with sleep

Turns out the vacuum cleaner is officially broken

toostressy that is excellent news about your assignment! Well done. Not so good about the vacuum cleaner.

I have had two cups of coffee and a fry up this morning and feel much better now. Even going to attempt some housework and stuff so I don't wallow and feel even worse. I should have a nap but I always feel so groggy when I wake up that it puts me off.

Anyway

Ta das
Dishwasher emptied
Kitchen sides wiped
Rubbish to bins

To do
Finish daily routine
Possibly do some ironing / dusting
Party invitations

Hi all

The sinusitis continues...currently if someone offered me a way to remove my own head I think I'd accept it. I'm giving it a few more days to clear and if not I'm off to the GP.

Dh is doing a great job of doing a the stuff I don't feel like to keep the house at a minimum state of tidyness. I'm really hoping to be feeling a bit better tomorrow.

Really well done with the assignment toostressy. I bet you can't wait to see the back of it.

foxes we've got some nice white plastic boxes with coloured insides for our bathroom bits and pieces from B and M bargains. I think they were about a pound or two each and look really smart.

cag those pip forms are absolutely soul destroying so well done for getting it done.

Exceedingly unproductive day today! I've barely moved off the bed. Combination of being knackered and having no comfortable seating downstairs (no sofa). I have decluttered a fabric stash though, cutting squares from old clothes and binning the hems etc.