Lost the plot with clutter? Want sparkle(r)s in your sink? Come Fly with flare on the November Fledgling thread!

[Sludgecolours]

If you are strugging 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 chat, support and and along the way.

This is where, from the first of the month (seriously, HOW is it November already?!), we follow – loosely – the rules of FlyLady [see website here ]. (Pls ignore the barftastic language, and we suggest NOT signing up to the emails as there are rather a lot of them. All the info you need will be posted here on a daily basis.)

Helpful info on getting started here!.

We adopt a three-pronged approach:

-start or repeat baby steps

• repeat baby steps + do 15 mins a day decluttering in the current zone or area (yes, just 15 mins focused work a day makes a difference!)

and/or

• 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.]

NB
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 not only welcome to join in but positively encouraged to do so!

Another NB
Start where you are. There is no need to worry about being perfect – perfectionism = paralysis! There is no such thing as ‘falling behind’ with FlyLady, if you miss anything, just move on and continue as normal the next day.

Any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Good luck!

Good evening! So sorry, haven't caught up with rest of thread as today has been a bit hectic and you have all been v busy!

I am shattered but ending on two positives (a) dd came home on the dot of the agreed time and we have negotiated a plan for rest of week and (b) shower situation sorted and dh resigned to it taking a bit longer and costing a bit more so thanks v much for support!

Huge thanks to Cotswold for posting links over what was a very busy weekend by the looks of it! and a wee tipple of

Will catch up properly tomorrow I promise!

Links coming up and in the meantime to Hills for mega-humungous list!!

The summary for Tues 21st 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. 21 for Tues 21st is here. Check out the Flylady q & a on the website.

We are in Zone 4: The Master Bedroom, Bath, Closet (November 19-25) : here.

Spend 15 mins decluttering the current zone.

When you have finished decluttering, the detailed cleaning list for Zone 4 (if you are at that stage) is here.

Tuesday's mission is: here. Spend 15 mins tackling the clothes pile: sorting, chucking, folding, hanging up etc.

The daily focus for Tuesday is planning.

The monthly habit for November is menu planning here!

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

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

Holiday missions here!

Small steps everyone!

***
G'night all!

Whoa. Epic progress on the home ed front today. Caglets actually did stuff I didn't even ask them to! 😱 WTF?!

Made it to taekwondo too, I did get easy food for dinner (chose carefully, ate it with fear but touch wood no pain) and we got a taxi back which was a right faff so will have to rethink that in future.

Caglets have put their clothes away but ours are still in a basket. But I also really need to sort out the changing bag and buggy as between various trips out and swapping between carrycot and car seat and adding the buggy tidy (nifty invention that hangs off the handlebars and holds stuff) it is a complete mess already!

Also want to write out the Caglets' maths for the morning and find the DVD we will watch before leaving, and must order Tesco, thankfully list is already written.

Hills I remember the boys in my year pulling threads out the side of their ties to make them thinner Happy days!

Homework negotiation - mine is slamming my fist into my opposite palm in a threatening manner. Usually works.

Also wasted spent the best part of half an hour making two phone calls to Virgin Media as the 5G service was unavailable AGAIN! This is the third time recently, I asked for an email address to complain to and they gave me a web address They think it might be the hub/router, I think it's a pain and a joke that we don't get what we pay for. Their customer service is utterly dreadful.

Some laundry and washing up done, cakes decorated for school project/homework thingy, have invited children round for a play date later in the week so some panic tidying to be done, I think. I am hoping they come, whenever we arrange to meet up disaster strikes so it's not a certainty!

SC a furious DH does not sound good, perhaps he'd like to take the job on himself? No? I thought not

Nothing done as Yr 6 left a mess 😤and I had to tidy it up after school because I needed to teach yr 5. I ended up making a behaviour chart for my room as well. I saw one on Pinterest from an American teacher and altered it slightly. Went to The Range on the way home for items for other Yr 5 as teaching them tomorrow and it is DT. Didn't get in till 7:30, microwave tea then off to pub quiz. Came second again. Not bad since our joker round was a flop.
Can I ask you: How would you feel if someone asked about the cost of a wedding present? They asked me would you give £50 or £100. I said it would depend on the person, how well I knew them etc. turns out it is for our neighbour ( the one we water plants for) we haven't been invited. A) how much do people give in vouchers?
B) how would you feel if you are on good terms but not invited?

The person that asked me dog walks with her occasionally

Great flying today.

If i wasnt invited i might send a card but no money or vouchers!

If i was invited £25 max.

If they didnt invite me i'd not be that fussed. I cba getting dressed up these days!

I'm about the same. I don't go to many weddings, when I went to best friends' weddings it was £40/50 but I wouldn't be able to manage that now I think. And yes I would not be fussed about a neighbour and wouldn't do presents if not invited TBH

Messed up early night again. Caglets got to bed late - they were busy doing non verbal reasoning tests and kept asking for one more page?! Then Cagletini was asleep so I should have taken her to bed but I had to do the huge Tesco order. By the time I got to bed I could only doze for a few minutes and then she woke up. Really need to make the effort tonight as DH has physio Wednesday morning so won't be able to take baby downstairs while I catch up on sleep!

I also managed to prep the Caglets' maths, so they can crack straight on and then watch a film (basically everyone else going to friend's birthday lunch is going to the cinema first, it's a free film screening for schools/home ed but we didn't book as we didn't know what was happening with baby. But we have it on DVD anyway so I've said we can watch it at home).

After lunch I'm considering popping to mothercare for an initial shopping spree (I will have to do it over a few trips as no car, also they will keep getting new stock in and maybe reduce further...) but we also have tap class later which I really can't be bothered with, I hate these dark evenings

I would send a card to a neighbour, no present if no invite.

DS has turned the corner. No calpol last night, tucking into breakfast. It has been such a marathon. It was Monday last week that he started to be unwell.

We have a day off from activities after school and DH is off tomorrow. I think we deserve a treat.

To do
I'm going to have a go at the home blessing bleugh. We don't really do magazines, DH does the bins, so the other stuff should be doable in an hour.

If I have the motivation I'm going to try and have a bedroom blitz.

Didn’t get chance to update last night, ds managed to achieve his 600 metre badge at swimming last night but it gave him a horrid migraine, which made him sick, poor boy. Dd2 has hardly slept, then whilst taking dd1 to school this morning, I noticed the outside of her ear is swollen and red so I’ve got a funny feeling she may be starting with an ear infection .
I have a friend coming over this morning - visitors always fill me with dread because of the state of the house, dd2 is clinging to me whilst watching twirlywoos so I doubt I’ll get much done before they arrive really must figure out how to pop her on my back in her Tula so I can get jobs done while she’s clingy.

Apologies for the long whiney post!

Ta da
Kids to school watered and fed
Most of the morning routine (just got to s&s and pop the washer on)

To do
Try and get 15 mins in the bedroom
Afternoon routine
Quick tidy before visitors arrive
Meal plan for the week
Start looking for the final gifts from the list made at the weekend

Hope everyone else is ok today

Oh dear Rosabella that sounds like a tough day you are having; hope your ds and dd2 are ok. A true friend will be pleased to see you and not bothered by state of house x

Hope everyone else ok. Sorry for not catching up with thread and individua personals as promised; woke up with migraine so going to keep off screens for a bit.

Waves to all!

I had a last minute trip to the UK over the weekend to take dd to an open day so none of the planned decluttering got done. She couldn’t get back herself as she had to be back to get the coach to leave for Amsterdam with her year group. The coach took forever apparently. We could have brought her back with us and driven her there!

So sorry to hear all the negative things happening to everyone. One of the reasons we went to see dd too is that someone in her year is being intimidating and she is feeling rubbish. She is a sensitive thing and it’s difficult being in another country. She has spoken to people about it so they are aware to look out for it. I thought this sort of this happened at school not uni!

I sympathise with the gallstone issue. The first time I had pain it woke me up at night and I thought I was having a heart attack. Apparently I have a lot of little stones rather than one big one and the attacks are very infrequent so I’ve just been putting up with them over the past couple of years. Hadn’t had one for months but had one Saturday evening when we were at dm’s (open day wasn’t far from hers so we surprised her with an overnight visit) which was a shame as she worries about us all too much.

sc if you fancy a nice warm shower, you’re more than welcome to pop round here!

I decided to make a timetable last night for the week to try and keep me on target. I found it depressing how quickly my time will be swallowed up so I’m sitting her on mn instead of doing any of it. I realise that’s not very helpful so it’s the naughty corner for me!

I think today is going to be a washout. We were all excited to go out and then I find out that one of the families also going have sickness bugs at home. But they're still going. So I have made the decision not to risk it and we are all upset. It's so risky for a tiny baby (she's not even 4 weeks) but everyone there would be wanting to cuddle her and I just can't stand it, what if she got sick?

I never know if I have a balanced view of these things though as I have so much anxiety and it's getting worse since baby arrived. At the moment I just feel like never leaving the house ever

cag i wont go either. Very selfish of the other family

I wouldn't go either. What is it with some people being so thoughtless?

Thank you, I never know if I'm being reasonable about this stuff, as sickness is a big issue for me anyway. It's really unlikely that we would catch anything, there isn't even a guarantee it's norovirus or whatever (but with two different family members it seems likely). But I can't do it.

This is the second thing since baby arrived that we've had to cancel, the last one it was because people were going despite it being less than 48h since being sick.

Ive barely stopped crying all morning, even DD1 is fine now despite being disappointed, I just can't seem to pull myself together

I'm so sorry to hear that Cag. Is anyone nearby who can pop round in real life? Make you a cup of tea and just listen for a bit? I'd be round like a shot to a friend with a newborn who told me that they'd been crying all morning. Especially one who's got as much on your plate as you.

I am not remotely stressy about that kind of thing (despite my username - I stress about other things instead ) and I probably wouldn’t go either Cag .

Bless you cag and second what callme said!

I don't really want to see anyone TBH :( friend (not the one with the bug) is dropping off something later after the party but I want to tell them not to either, I won't but I'm still panicking, and the stuff they are dropping off is going in the wash ASAP.

Never did chase up that preliminary diagnosis of OCD

I wouldn’t go either cag I think it’s really selfish when people with contagious kids still take them to meet ups.

Ta da
Bit of a tidy round
Load of washing
Made a pasta sauce for tea
Ordered a couple of Xmas pressies

Hello all.

Rosa, hope you are all feeling better. 600m is fab swimming!

Ta da:-
Changed sheets (just need ours to dry then can make bed later)
Decluttered a shelf, a cupboard and a drawer.
Bag of stuff to charity
Found suitable Christmas cards for DH and my parents - not bought as ran out of time but at least some of the thinking for that is done
Tried to hoover but it seems to not be working
Researched where to sew Brownie badges - this is all new to me. Have vaguely figured it out so can sew them all tonight.
Researched some work stuff

To do:-
School pick up
Tea
Homework etc

cag sorry about your rubbish day I wouldn't have gone either and have done similar to that before.

Ta das
Half of daily routine
Picked up parcel
Got some groceries
Looked at some shoes and a top in store so I can order online for the wedding (wanted to check I like them but wanted to make use of online cashback!)

To do
Declutter bedroom
Clothes pile
Finish daily routine
Order top and shoes online
Make dinner (some sort of spinach pasta bake )

Thanks all. I tried phoning the GP in case there are any cancellations (appt on 30th but that feels a long way off) - no luck though.

Cag UANBU at all!

So sorry to ask again but would someone kindly do links tonight pls? Battling migraine all day. Had to get up because lovely friend coming to supper, can't cancel for various readons, trying not to puke. Ta xx

Waves to Longtime and everyone else!

Apologies!

Hope you feel better soon SC I can do the links tonight. Will warm me up ready for December.

Today has not quite gone to plan but but but I found a thing to get me organised... It is a book that is divided daily with spaces for tasks, appointments etc for the grand sum of £1 hoping that it will help to enable to keep track of stuff and stop forgetting things because my mind is so busy trying to remember stuff. Even better the paper feels nice to the touch stationery snob

ta da
empty washing machine
make 2 pints of jelly
convince ds to remove washing up and laundry from his room
clear the top of the book cases
go through christmas present plan list - only 3 to buy and waiting for christmas lists for 2 little people for hints and clues and know what getting for the 3rd.

Currently pondering where to start on the to do list for tonight. I don;t want to is a theme. Unfortunately I need to being a grown up is not fun!