Fledglings Fly back to school & work, September 2017, decluttering along the way ...

[Sandycarrots]

Hello, it's time to brush the sand off our feet, empty out the suitcases, sharpen our pencils, polish our lace-up shoes, and get stuck in to the September 2017 fledgling Fly thread!

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.

Fly stands for Finally Loving Yourself (cheesy but there is merit to it). The general idea is that short bursts of tidying / organisation are more achievable than marathon efforts. Flylady advises 15 minute bursts of effort but you can tweak this to fit your own circumstances.

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!

More info available here, here and here.

Your choice whether or not you sign up to the Flylady e-mails, but we advise caution as there are lots of them!

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!

Not sure what happened there ... the emoji was meant to be hmm not gin!

Morning all.
I can't believe it's Monday again-what happened to the weekend?
I forgot how horrendous it is going back to school and it hadn't been helped by some ridiculous teething problems that really ought to have been sorted by other people over the summer must not throw things. As a result the house isn't exactly beautiful right now. Top of the list is food shop and bathroom since they're in the most dire state...

mercury gin is always better than hmm!!!

Fun and adventures here last night. Ds had a nosebleed, and I put a nail into my hand by falling onto a piece of wood. Which is not what you want at 4:30am All went back to sleep but running late this morning as we are all so tired after it.

Key this to do is figure out where I put the sticky back plastic for covering books last september when we finished with it. Any ideas?

new chick some days are just like that. Its ok. And do you want us to rustle up a wonder woman cape? We could have some fun with that

Purple The start of school routine after the long summer break is hard isn't it &

Right coffee is drunk shower and I must get going on sorting the lounge. I have jam and stuff to make later. And blind to fix if i get chance...

Morning all, bit behind on the threat but hope everyone is coping with the back to school feelings! Hope your day improves Einstein.

SC, re. washing machines. I agree with others and just expect them to break every 5 years or so. We have recently had to replace our tumble drier. The chap who looked at the old one said he spends most of his time fixing washers and driers and he always gets insurance / extended guarantees for his as they break so easily and get such frequent use. Of course he could have just been saying that to me to make me get insurance but it seemed to make sense so we now have extended warranties on both of them.

Ta da:-
Both DDs at school!!
Nearly finished morning routine

Feel pressured not to waste the day!

To do:-
Finish morning routine
Laundry
Decluttering upstairs
DD1 party invites
Prep tea
Make packed teas for DDs
1 hour (at least) on some very boring 'homework' for work.

Gymnastics later with both girls so will be another busy evening - first time we have done it after school and have to drive again so will see how it goes!

I am in a totally foul mood today. Planning to spend the day trying not to disown my kids and/or commit murder

That is always an important goal Cag

I second that einstein as essential goal.((esp if you have health visitor coming today cag.not a good look dd opens door to let her in and you have hands round ds throat))hope theres a stash icecream/chocolate for later

Einstein routine issues are boy related i think .my ds def not has aspies and he a nightmare.i spend my life having nudge/tell/shout/growl have you brush teeth.have you got planner for school.is homework due today.tuck your shirt in.do you have letters for me.make your bed etc.the girls automatically present school correspondance without asking and dont need much reminding once dd2 has been half dragged from pit--.i found letter in his bag as hunting fir planner( that needed signing) i shouldve had wed last week inform me if planned road safety talk fri last week with graphic content(which he found quite disturbing and we couldve opt out had i had the paperwork.sigh)

So i barely slept fret i would oversleep as council were due today.awake from 2 up at 4....
Tadas
Fed cat/kits
Littertray
Bleach lav
Wash on
Tidy front room(3big hitspots in dining table.computer table and by bookcase sorted)
Swept floor
Wash floor
Wash kitchen floor
Quick tidy my room
Make berry compote for zoolets breakfast as last srrawberries looked more meh that hmmmmm.
Realise dd2 drank all milk.run co op at 6 am😡(goid job less 5 mins walking)
Wake zombie zoolets
Breakfasts n pack ups
Wipe bath n sink
Wash up kitty bowls
Wash hall floor
Make beds
Wash up breakfast pots
Recycling out
Empty kitchen n bathroom bins

So we were all suited n booted by 725(dd2 leaves at that point)
Council arrive 810 having text me 805 they en route
Wave lil zoo off to walk round corner to walk to school with fruend and her mum((wibble moment.shes 9 and desperate walk alone but i not ready yet as few hirtible rds to get over.i texted friend mum she on way and she text me once she was there))
I was told workmen be there all day from 730.he was gone in just over an hour having been given a 60min slot fix 5 internal doors that either wint stay close or wont open....

All that fret n lack sleep bout strangers in my house all day.grrrrr

On plus side he didnt have remove the two doors with knob handles(liv to hall and my room) as scoutcat can open regular doors and it means that i can stop him having full run house. And be able let himself in when wet n muddy(if i forget latch door)and go straight to my bed which has vety pale pink and white duvet cover on it at present which shows up kudfy paw prints perfectly...

I have achieved 6 loads wash.5 are dry folded n put away.6 th due out washer shortly

Kutchen surfaces scrubbed
Polish front room and clean windows

Ive just slot in a cheeky 30 min nap and intend do as lityle as posz rest day except make tea and supervise homework.i may even slot in a face pack with dd2 later if she gets alm her homework done without blood be shed...

einstein did i hear correctly you make jam((sidles closer))

Oooh.i hear washer bleeping.my cue shove my beddng in dryer

Happy flying everyone!

Right, HV visit done. As it turns out, she shouldn't have visited yet as she had my due date wrong! I thought it was a bit early :o

Managed a quick stash and dash (one carrier bag worth) and started a new grammar quiz book with the Caglets.

Will get a easy dinner tonight though I think, am shattered

Flapping in that not-actually-getting-off-ground way - tx for encouraging words above! Managed a 15 minute declutter under (my side!!) of bed - pleased with that.

Evening all!

Ta das
Daily routine
Changed ds bedsheets
Changed bath towels
Quick declutter in bathroom

Have given ds a weetabix just before bed in an attempt to get him to sleep longer tomorrow morning...he was up at 5 this morning and so far nothing has worked ! Fingers crossed this makes a difference . On the positive side he will now fall asleep on his own in his cot cuddling a teddy so we don't have to carry him up and down and get backache anymore (although I still give him a huge cuddle and sing to him as I love it and dd never really enjoyed my singing )

zoo hope you got time for the face pack! You must be exhausted

cag quick and easy dinner for us tonight too, fishfingers!

Had a sudden burst of energy after supper and decluttered in shed for 30 mins - off to collapse on sofa now

Ds came home from school hangry. So that was loud and fun truce was called and he is slowly beginning to get the point that he is expected to help around the house.

Didn't get as much done as I had hoped due to energy and motivation. But did put a good dent in the brc stuff in the lounge, swapped summer and winter wardrobes, wash duvet and pillows for my room, did 3 loads of normal washing, all the ironing, most the folding, and 1 batch of jam in addition to some time spent in my room. But looking at my bed it appears I mostly moved stuff onto the bed and now I will be dumping it back randomly as I am ready for bed and sleep although that might be a joke considering the amount of coffee drunk

Decluttered the shed newchick ?

Hi all, hope everyone ok. Sorry, ran out of time so just posting links and crashing. G'night!

**

The summary for Tuesday 12th September 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. 12 for Tues 12th is here. Deleting Flylady e-mails (although we suggest not signing up for them in the first place as there are rather too many!).

We are in Zone 3: Main Bathroom and another Room, this week (Sept 10-16 inc.) here.

NB: The "other" room this week is represented by the various "stash and dash spots" in your home such as a bedroom corner, or a nook in a garage or guest room where clutter has begun to assemble!

Spend 15 mins decluttering the current zone.

When you have finished decluttering, the detailed cleaning list for Zone 3 (if you are at that stage) is here.

FYI the detailed cleaning lists this week cover office, laundry room and children's bedrooms.

Tuesday's mission is: here. Wash bathroom bin thoroughly.

For the "other room", choose a "stash and dash corner" - see above - spend 5 mins gathering up anything you want to give away or donate.

The daily focus for Tuesday is planning.

The monthly habit for September is the before-bed routine: here.

Flykid's challenge: here (hopefully continually renewing itself).

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

Small steps everyone!

**

Morning all! Feeling somewhat bleary eyed. Had to turn bedroom radiator on in the morning and the problem with that is it makes me sleep more as I am no longer freezing!

Not dressed yet but have done maths/spellings, one thing I seriously need to add to my evening routine (if I had one ) is writing out the maths in their books before bed so that at 9am they can get straight on with it.

New pupil in just over an hour AAAAAARGH

And the main point is now DD is actually sleeping (before 10pm last night!) and so I have time in the evening to do stuff. Theoretically.

Aargh pointy stick please anyone? I am still on the sofa in my jammies. Need to at least hoover and stash a few other things away, clear the table (it is still a hot spot but we are definitely improving at not letting it get so awful - it's no longer an avalanche waiting to happen!)... right off I go 😱😱😱

Good morning everyone! Sorry to be awol yesterday - everything suddenly got busier now clients back from hols and have got their collective acts together - have a long work list to plough through all of a sudden.

Thank you for washing machine advice Toostressy/Einstein/Zoo/Mercury

Will definitely be asking for an extended warranty this time! (And noted about Bosch - ta!)

Purple hope you have recovered from the flu! Sorry the start of the new term has been so stressful . I am feeling a bit gloomy about it and I don't even work in a school!!

Whey hey re: shed declutteration Newchick! Belatedly agree with others that constant supply of clean pants is a much underated achievement!! Put it this way, my dh only notices the laundry when it hasn't been done!!

I'd say that was a hugely impressive list for someone with little energy and motivation Einstein ¨Hope your hand is ok, that your ds has recovered from his nosebleed (dd is having quite a few at the moment - think it must be a phase) and yum re: home-made jam!

Einstein Can't advise about boy or aspie issues but as you know, I have been whinging on here about dd not "getting" routines for about 9 years!! (6 yrs - 14 yrs) It's only just very recently things have changed regarding all the very basic stuff such showering, teeth and hair brushing, school prep, getting bag/gym kit ready in advance, was just so hard for her to master. I was tearing my hair out at one stage thinking I was doing something wrong, despite trying charts and loads of different strategies - went from being patient and encouraging to getting quite exasperated and cross - but it does eventually happen so do not despair! Honestly, it just "clicks". DD seems literally as though she has transformed overnight. I can't get her out of the shower now! The only things necessary now are: having mounds of healthy food available at any given moment and a reasonably orderly house (difficult this one) so that friends can drop around unexpectedly. Oh and not be too embarrassing in front of said friends (already failed miserably at that)

The more I think about it, I wonder if it is an "only" thing - maybe it is easier to do the boring stuff - hanging up coat for example - when you are doing it alongside others? Or have the example of older siblings to follow? Or don't want to be shown up by younger ones? Dunno?

Anyway Einstein until the moment of enlightenment comes, you have my sympathies and lots of virtual because I totally 'get' the frustration.

Mercury must admit - when it comes to dd - the helping with household chores and tidying up still needs a bit of work! But I am so happy about everything else that I daren't nag!

Hope the weetabix strategy gave you a few more mins in bed this morning Foxes!

for stash and dash carrier bag's worth full Cag! A bag a day is just the way to do it!

for yesterday's humungous list Zoo (I find having workmen in the house v stressful too).

Hope the gymnastics run went ok Toostressy

CBA to write "to do" list because it is too long but hope everyone getting on well with theirs!

x post

Good luck with your pupil Cag and well done on stemming the avalanche!

Ta da

Tea pots washed
Breakfast pots washed
Table clean post breakfast
Highchair scrubbed
Kitchen swept
Hall swept
Living rooms both swept
One load washed and dry
Dry washing away

foxes how did it go with the weetabix?

Ds went sleep within 15 min of being in cot last night. I nearly fainted. He was still in my bed for 330 though!

Hello all. Very encouraging to hear about your DD SC. Gymnastics run ok thanks, will be fine for this year as long as we are organised but realise I need to find a different place to park for next year when DD1 moved up schools so need to do a bit more parking research! Hate parking for the school run and usually drive half way or we walk the whole way.

Ta da:-
Waiting for opticians appointment so at least will get that crossed off list
Morning routine
Went for short run
Finished DD1's birthday invites and she has handed some out
Finished one of the many bits of work 'homework' that I have.

To do:-
Declutter RBC in our bedroom - is the RBC from both DDs' rooms of stuff. The usual stuff that they want to keep but doesn't have a place...

thanks for shed decluttering comments, I know - I can hardly believe it myself! Have just spent a fascinating 15 mins going through Bowls of Random Crap on top of bedroom chest of drawers. Sorting into heaps of stuff to go elsewhere, putting elsewhere in bedroom, bin. Endless golf tees, guitar plectrums, quilting safety pins, marbles, rugby boot stud tighteners, single earrings, girls' hair slides. It's like our life, in miniature.

I have the tireds. Did not sleep well last night, did not want to get up, had a rough journey into work, no motivation, not enjoying people atm. They breathe to loud and in the wrong way. You know one of those days.