Fledglings cocoon, we're Flying in June ... .

[SansCollier]

Welcome to the June 2017 fledgling Fly thread!

Feel free to park your mops and buckets here from the 1st of the month!

This is where we attempt to declutter our homes and follow the 30-step wisdom of Flylady (minus cutesy barftastic language and a surfeit of e-mails) with lots of chat and support and mutual motivation (and of course) along the way.

More info available here, here and here.

As usual we will be following a three-pronged approach - and don't worry - we are all at different stages. (Some of us are still stuck at the decluttering stage after quite a few years ):

1 - repeat or start baby steps (again!)

2 - repeat baby steps + do 15 mins a day decluttering in the current zone

or

3 - reinforce babysteps and/or do daily missions

And those of you who have decluttered and are really enthusiastic can throw some detailed cleaning in to the mix as well!

The idea is that we focus on short, ring-fenced, daily bursts of activity (steps and routines) that will help our homes run (more or less!) on "automatic pilot" allowing us to do far more interesting things instead!

This is a very long-running thread so we may appear cliquey but we really aren't! All newcomers, long-termers, lurkers and intermittent returnees welcome!

Helpful pointers: No perfectionism allowed! If it took a while to create the current C.H.A.O.S. (can't have anyone over syndrome) in your home, then it will probably take a while to reverse the situation (you can't clean clutter!). Small steps are the key! And you are never behind: just jump in where you are at!

Any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Good luck!

good luck Mermaids, hope it's good news tomorrow.

A charity shop is like a Casino in that they always win rather than the punter.

It was a big bag of clothes that covered a fair age range - mainly DD's summer dresses - that should have been decluttered a while ago. I have a few more bags to dispose of yet, but also DD has a dress-up costume needed for the end of the week, so need to make part of that over the next few days.

There was actual real life ice cream, from a posh ice cream palour and you could taste the flavours before you picked, and picked your toppings and it came on a waffle
I'd share but ..urm...well.. it got eaten.

Came back to find ds had been swimming and then took himself to bed.

Going to crash and hope tomo is a better day.

Oh note to above statement re ds - there was an appropriate adult figure supervising him in my absence.

A rather belated "good evening" to everyone! I bloody love this thread!
Where else would you get a fabulous poem about an alien and talk of goats heads in the same place?

I hereby offer an official dispensation from cleaning out your cutlery drawers twice

Mermaids I was desperately hoping for tales of funny handshakes and trouser legs being rolled up in a peculiar manner, but, in their absence, glad to hear the interview went well!! That off the cuff reply was inspired btw; best of luck for tomorrow!!

Zoo what an amazing poem! That has really made my day Your dd2 has a fabulous imagination!!

Toostressy/Zoo/Cag/Foxes Sorry to hear that today was tough going. Hope tomorrow proves to be less stressful

Slightly anxious here. Dh is in London and there has been another incident in Paris. Just waiting for another incident on the transport system here although totally unproductive to think like that!

Thanks Einstein re: the thread - gives me a vague hope that there might be some improvements looming on the horizon. I now have ice cream btw!!

Well done for decluttering the clothes Cotswold! Ha re: the chazza "swap"! Although books don't really count as they are mind improving don't you know and are always completely irresistable anyway! Thanks for checking Cozi missions btw; we'll see what tomorrow brings!

Afreshstart hope return to school/work went as well as humanly poss

Encouraging wing flaps to everyone else!

Links coming up!

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The summary for Wednesday 7th June is available on the Flylady website here under "Today" and via the flight plan which should update itself automatically on a daily basis.

Baby-step no. 7 for Wed 7th June is here. A useful one about laying out your clothes for the next day, the night before.

We are in Zone 2 this week: Kitchen, Back Porch, Laundry Room, Pantry here. (Website still not caught up entirely!!)

Spend 15 mins decluttering the current zone.

When you have finished decluttering, the detailed cleaning list for Zone 2 (if you are at that stage) is here.

Wednesday's mission is here. Clean our your fridge.

NB: I hope to heaven I am not feeding you with the incorrect missions this week but website seems to be stuck or something!!

The daily focus for Wednesday is anti-procrastination. Do something you have been dreading!! Mwah, mwah, mwah ... !

The monthly habit in June is drinking water.

Daily reminders (which should also update automatically) are here.

Keep going everyone! 2 mins is better than nothing!

Zoo take heart from the fact that you have already done Wednesday's mission!!

Foxes btw, I don't think people do do it all whatever Flylady says - esp when you have young 'uns - there are only so many hours in the day. Even with only one older child, if I have a very good week with meal planning for example; then something else slips. I am always in awe of how you manage to bake with a baby! (Something I never managed.) So give yourself some credit

Toostressy I found Annabel Karmel's "After School Meal Planner" quite good for healthy snack recipes. And when dd was really young, and she was starving after school, I reversed things so that she had her main meal when she came in (eliminating the need for after school snacks entirely), and then she had a healthy pudding or a bit of our meal with dh and I later on (although a bit of a faff admittedly).

Mine do not eat fantastically after school TBH

On days they go to after-school club they get a fairly healthy snack there but they don't always eat it, then come home and usually have a junky tea due to time etc

I tell myself it's only half the week and they do all eat fruit ....

Up at 530 with baby ds, joined by dd at 6

Ta Da

Dryer on

Return to work wasn't as bad as could have been however first day of the week isn't usually that horrendous we will see how things are by Thursday!

Love the poem zoo

toostressy I missed after school snack request.at zoo houseine often have
Apple slices and nut butter
Boiled egg wedges and cherry tomatoes/chop pepper (the veg rich in bit c helps absorb iron from the egg)
Mini bagels toasted with butter/cream cheese
Carrots and hummus
Any left over veg(ie carrot puree) n add bit tahini nut butter serve on toast or with bread sticks
Savoury muffins (I have recipes if you would like)
Flapjack type things
Cheese and crackers with grapes

Of course we still have sweets,biscuits or cake few times a week or when it's busy/I'm disorganised some weeks its more than a few times

If you are looking for recipes say and I will dig some out.x

Thanks for the reply the other daysc I guess we're all just muddling through the best we can.

foxes re ironing, I only iron uniforms and dd2s clothes, then iron the rest as I need. I still normally have a huge pile, so I have started doing at least 15 mins in the evening when dd2 goes to bed, if the evening routine is going well ( I like to have everything done by 9pm so I can enjoy a cuppa in peace ) then I up the time to 30 mins. This usually keeps on top of what has been washed, and what we need for the next day. From last week, I have had it as my Wednesday task, so I did an hour extra when dd2 napped last week and today I'm doing the same (usually in 2 30min slots because dd2 des not like to sleep.....ever haha!!) I think I'll be caught up today woohoo!!

zoo love the poem!!

All the laundry room and kitchen is decluttered so I'm onto the cleaning tasks yay!! 2 rooms are now clear!! Window , under the sink and microwave are the tasks I aim to complete by the end of the week.

Ta da

beds made
breakfast pots cleared
kids at school
dishwasher on
washer just finished

to do
fridge
kitchen window
1 hour ironing
15mins putting clothes away
another load of washing
s&s

Morning all! I only just woke up 😳 got pupils today but dare I admit they are closer friends I don't need to rush round tidying up for 😂😳

TBH yesterday the living room ended up worse than when I started. It was a struggle getting DD to bed and then I ended up falling asleep outside her room just so she had me near her (improvement on the night before though when she was screaming the place down and ended up in our bed)

Got some admin to do re: DD's clubs etc

What ho my lovelies!

Gah. Drove dd to school today and we were late because she had left bag packing/hair faffing until very last second (despite being "told") and then we met traffic [harrumph]. Drivers v aggressive here; I have only just stopped shaking!! And I will be truly pissed off if dd goes on report and has to be in by 7.45 am every day next week.

Walked off my angst in the park with the furry one; lovely sunny/windy weather! Feel so much more energetic now that humidity has been blown away!

Zoo Love those after school snacks (have noted); very similar to my list and can add in our perennial favourite; Nigella's sweetcorn fritters (the ones where you beat the egg whites then add that to the mix) which always go down a storm and of course you can't live in this country without waffles and fruit and pancakes and Nutella featuring heavily. They also regard special thin "slices" of choc in a piece of fresh white bread as a perfectly healthy snack

Zoo/Afreshstart Tbh, I think having a proper lunch at school is properly more important than anything else but only posh fee-paying international schools (which dd doesn't go to) have canteens here which is a bit of a bummer as most of the schools were built when those things - including playgrounds or gyms and art rooms - were not considered important. DD's old primaire had hot food shipped in by outside caterers but no where really to eat it properly! So it's mainly packed lunches here which isn't ideal for very young children I think; especially in winter. But they did offer a fresh soup option every day which was open to the packed-lunch eaters too.

Sorry - more detail there than you probably ever wanted to know - it all became a bit of an obsession for me because dd was on lowest percentile of weight for ages and I kept being told by doc to feed her up!

Rosa well done on the 2 clear rooms and very heartening to know that the little and often approach does work with regard to ironing. I need to do that myself this week as my supposedly fortnightly ironing lady has gone awol again!

Cag yay to lovely friends who aren't bovvered by clutter! Hope you get better quality of sleep tonight!

Right, have done the usual routines (too tedious to write down) and nattered to my sister on the phone, now need to crack on with hideous text and find pet sitter for next week.

Have a good day everyone!

ta da
IRONING IS NOW CAUGHT UP ON TOO!! Now I'll have to see whether 15-30 mins everyday keeps on top of it??!!
s&s
another wash

still to do
fridge
something off the cleaning list
15 mins putting clothes away (I've put away all that have been ironed, but still a bit behind from the holiday)

Having a coffee in peace before picking the kids up - a little naughty because I really should get something done, but we all need a bit of sanity here and there don't we??

Hope everyones having a good day today.

Rosa that's pressive on the ironing front.well done!!

I've spent all morning fret over a poorly kitten
Been vets
All pm fielding distressed texts from dd2.joys an all girls school I guess.why are girls so bitchy to eat other?! Hoping it's all blown over by the gets home

Tadas
ERM...cleared dining table
Wash breakfast dishes
One load wash sort,dry n put away

Some days I feel I get no where fast and lack motivation to do anything that's not urgent(is feed zoolets,school runs)

Time to go collect lil zoo and ds...

Bitchy to eat other?!hahaha it's not cannibal School
Each other (I hope)

:o

Off to gym as managed to book DD's place and also for rock climbing tomorrow (because she's changing to this new gym club she can now return to climbing).

And potentially have a new piano pupil yay!

Hope kitten is ok zoo?

Thanks Rosa she's had dodgy bum few days(custard coloured soft poo.today its clay coloured splats(sorry tmi!!))
They treating for worms and giving special wet meat that's gentle on poorly guts.said should see improvement 24-48 hrs.she's not impressed there's no kibble to graze on and keeps miaowing

Dd2 not happy.thankfully she's cleared off to girls brigade-walking there by self(35mins away) and get lift back so least I get break from her angry lashing out at us..

She has second HPV jab tomorrow. First one she turned beet red for 2days and was really hot!!I've heard seconds worse for reactions.time will tell

Not done any flying.debating whether give lil zoo and ds a cereal tea....its been one of those days and I've got no energy whatsoever

This week is out of control and needs and intervention.

Ta da
survive

To do
Way too much

Hope the kitten improves and dd2 is in a better mood
Ironing gets a bit at a time whilst waiting for the kettle to boil, but we can leave the iron and ironing board out with no safety concerns
I love friends who can come over and you don't have to consider the mess because they will ignore it.

I've taken to doing ironing every night while dh gets kids ready for bed but I'm just not keeping on top of it or on top of anything else at the moment! Day to day stuff is fine I just can't seem to get anywhere with any deep cleaning like proper cleaning of floors or some dusting.

Ta das
Daily routine
Ironing
Cleaned out one shelf in kitchen
Dinner cooked and everything tidied
Children to bed!

Got a little bit of work to do after the baby has gone to sleep and then I'm going to flop!

Done nothing. In naughty corner. Annoyed with myself . Going to have 15 minute blitz then collapse.

How do I waste so much time on bloody Mumsnet? I need to disable it but then I wouldn't have this thread .

Mumsnet is a time sink for sure. I don't even post on that many threads nowadays, apart from regular support threads like this one, but I still lurk/read far too much.

Tomorrow is going to be super busy. Sigh.

I did update my tuition income spreadsheet today though. For the first time in several weeks.

Hello from the naughty corner! I don't know how this slipped off my threads I'm on but I'm back again now.

Work has been phenomenally busy due to a colleague being off and me having to be in fifteen places at once. Dh and I have had the conversation about a cleaner again but we've resolved to stick it out at least until the credit cards are totally paid off which (all being well) will be a couple more months. We could do with recovering our savings after a really expensive house move so flylady routines have to fit around both of us being full time.

We did half an hour this evening and managed a good list of ta da's...
Bathroom x2
Kitchen cleaned inc range cooker hob (I miss my old tiny oven!)
Dishwasher on
School work planned and folder decluttered
Mini shop

There have been so many lovely posts on the thread. Waves to all!

Hi all. I've done everything today except the very thing I was meant to be doing [in addition to wasting time on Mumsnet of course ]. I did manage to get dd back and forth to tutoring this evening despite her threatening not to go and fingers crossed I may have managed to find a new dog-sitter too (if our dogs get on) so day not a total wipe out but pretty much.

Foxes I hear you. I can cope with the everyday tasks (just) but never seem to get to deep cleaning or serious decluttering [sigh]. I really don't know what the answer is tbh.

Will catch up with further personals tomorrow because the duvet is calling right now! G'night everyone!

The summary for Thursday 8th June is available on the Flylady website here under "Today" and via the flight plan which should update itself automatically on a daily basis.

Baby-step no. 8 for Thurs 8th June is here. Continue previous steps and if you so wish, start a control journal.

We are in Zone 2 this week: Kitchen, Back Porch, Laundry Room, Pantry here.

Spend 15 mins decluttering the current zone.

When you have finished decluttering, the detailed cleaning list for Zone 2 (if you are at that stage) is here.

Thursday's mission is here. Declutter foil, cling-film, sandwich bags etc in kitchen drawers.

NB: So sorry to list old missions but website seems to be stuck!!

The daily focus for Thursday is running errands.

The monthly habit in June is drinking water.

Daily reminders (which should also update automatically) are here.

“We do what we can today and then we do a little more tomorrow” ~ FlyLady

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