New year, new organisation! Fledglings fly in 2018.

[TooStressyForMyOwnGood]

Hello all and Happy New Year!

A warm welcome to the January Flylady thread. This is a lovely friendly thread where we loosely follow the Flylady system (see the Flylady website) in the hope of having organised homes and lives.

Every day the thread leader (me this month) posts links and missions from the Flylady site and also some friendly (!) personal comments. This is quite a ‘talky’ thread but we try our hardest not to be cliquey and new members are very welcome! Typically there are a lot of new members in January so I will do my best to keep track of everybody .

Old members, as you know there have been a few issues with links at times so if there is some chopping and changing over the month with the links then that is why. Please note that Flylady is (understandably) keen for people to click on her site so please do have a look around the site and the links.

On the website there is information for beginners. You can also sign up to the Flylady emails but we would advise caution as there are hundreds of them.

We post our achievements (ta das) and our to do lists and any other general chatter about life / flying.

Information on getting started: www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/

The launch pad is also a good starting place:www.flylady.net/c/lp.php

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

I’m sure lots of you have New Years Resolutions to be organised and to declutter, as I do every year . Be kind to yourselves and careful not to crash and burn!

I am risking making two:-
Go to bed at 11pm unless decent reason why not.
Spend less time on my phone.

Here are the links for Monday 1st Jan. although I am linking these then if you are treating today as a holiday (as much as is possible in real life anyway!) then feel free to take today off.

*
Here is the daily summary for Monday (also available on the Flylady website at flight plan which should update automatically each day).

I’m afraid I start the year confused . I’ve just looked on the Flylady website and the link to the zone and missions is here which indicates we will be in zone 5 which is the living room. I would have thought the month starts in zone 1 but I know this has happened before, I think SC explained? TBH after Xmas I think most living rooms could use a bit of work so it won’t hurt . Apologies if this is confusing.

Re. zones, do what works for you. I don’t always stick to the zones myself and do what works best at the time, with varying degrees of success!

Spend 15 mins decluttering, or whatever you can manage, in Zone 5.

When you have finished decluttering, the detailed cleaning list (if you are at that stage) for Zone 5 is here.

daily focus

missions for the week

Flykids mission

January’s habit is shining your sink.

beginner babysteps.

Happy flying everyone.
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Good morning lovely fledglings!

DD doesn't have to be in school until 1.50 pm so bit of a leisurely start today - I'm only just up washed and dressed - a leisurely three hrs and 30 mins later than usual (bearing in mind I'm an hour ahead of you lot!). DH however is manfully pounding away on a bicycle at his cardiologist's office with electrodes stuck to his chest! (Annual check up!). Off to walk the furry.

Whispers your day obviously has an eye for colour/ design looking at that lettering. (We are in sunny Belgium btw.). Sustaining (cake) for your long day ahead.

Bowerbird your Sunday day of rest sounds quite busy to me! We usually go to Mass on Sat evenings now and I try and combine Sunday lunch with entertaining every other weekend.

Right, lots to do today, but first must walk furryvwho is crossing his paws and looking at me with pleading eyes poor lad... .

Have a great start to the week one and all!

Good luck Hills (my GSM is on its last legs too and only works intermittently now, it's funny how we've come to depend on them).

oh there isn't anything wrong with mine except i forgot to charge it. It is turned off unless i know i am going to need it or i am going to do some driving where it is either long distance or isolated. I don't rely on it at all. Mobiles are the work of the devil people might be able to get hold of me. the horror

Morning everyone! DD is safely deposited at nursery school, ds is busy playing with all her toys while she is out...so home bleugh is calling me! I have about an hour of time before we are off to a toddler group so I need to use it.

To do
Daily routine
Shine sink
declutter in kitchen
hoover
mop
dust
change children's bed sheets / sleeping bags etc
change towels, tea towels etc etc
polish mirrors
swish and swipe downstairs toilet
buy bread
don't forget dd has dentist later!

Have a good Monday everyone!

Oh and empty all the bins - forgot that one!

Morning all. Thanks again for all the kindness. A day of rest sounds like a good plan.

I think I also need to remember there are some things I need to make sure are done before DH goes to work (whether by DH or myself). As of this week DH will only be doing four days a week usually, his contract is staying the same but he is going to take some leave. The job is wearing him out and consequently is bad for all of us. More time will be good in many ways.

Feel slightly better this morning anyway as Cagletini had a fairly decent sleep, although I’d feel even better if I’d managed to bring her to bed earlier! But still. I am only just about to get up and can hear the Caglets helping DH to tidy up the living room, having done maths and spellings to start the new term. I’ll think of more things we can do later, as I told them if they get a certain amount done they can watch a particular thing on catch up.

I’ve also decided to record the home ed stuff. In the new diary there’s a month to view section at the front, so I’m going to jot down all the little things we do, just regular stuff like literacy planet etc. I’m hoping it’ll help me see progress and motivate us all, and also if the ‘inspector’ visits this year it’ll be easy to show her.

Morning all. Whispers, what a lovely choice of quote from your DS .

Ta da:-
Girls at school
Quick food shop
Poster given in
Token amount of exercise done. Pretty icy here so devastatingly too icy to go out running , did a little exercise routine at home.

To do:-
Carry on organising living room
Get stuff ready for gymnastics later
Do calendar

I hate sundays. Mainly because i leave everything until last min to do!

Cag when youngest ds is grumpy i often use the older ones particularly ds1 to sit with him etc. Sometimes he just wants to sit with someone but it enable me to do things and ds1 doesnt mind as he cab watch tv at same time. Having bigger ones can be helpful and i dont think you should feel bad about them helping. Families help each other. Its not like you leaving dd in sole charge while you go to the pub!

Ds3 slept better, i gave him nurofen before bed last night and although he stirred a few times he stayed in his cot until 530

Ta da

Me and 4dc up fed dressed and out for 840
Two packed lunches made
Three uniforms ironed
Picked up some shopping
Washer on
Dryer on
Bath while ds napped

Both ds1 and dd are at school so it is just ds2 and mr at home today. It is really nice to have a return to normality. I am hoping to be able to get back into a routine today.

Ta da
Big 2 to school
Beds made
Washing up
Ironing hung up
Dry washing taken off radiators
Washload done and hung out
Popped to the shops to get bin bags
Party at playgroup
Lunch
Ds2 down for a nap

To do before afternoon school run
Empty bins
Pile of ironing and put away
Prep dinner (fajitas)
Tidy bedrooms
Sort another washload
Dust

I agree that some relaxed time is definitely needed Cag
We usually have Saturdays as a lazy day and try to have a productive Sunday (not that you would believe it if you saw the state of my house this morning)

Ta das
Got bread
Toddler group
Ds down for nap
Shined sink
Emptied kitchen bin
Filled dishwasher
Changed teatowels

To do
Finish daily routine
Hoover
Mop
Dust
Empty upstairs bins
Swish and swipe downstairs loo
Change towels
Change dc bed sheets / sleeping bags etc
Declutter in kitchen

first though and a mince pie (we still have some left!)

Ta da

Me and 4dc up fed dressed and out for 840
Two packed lunches made
Three uniforms ironed
Picked up some shopping
Washer onx2
Dryer onx2
Bath while ds napped
All pots washed
Highchair scrubbed
Recycling out
Bin empty
Utility room quick tidy
Dry washing away

Cag I have a DH who works at the weekends too, and in a customer facing role, so if someone comes in five minutes before closing he has to deal with them (can take hours) before he can shut up and set alarms etc.

I find it quite hard. Most friends are busy with their own families at the weekend, and my two are so far apart in age that activities that are suitable for one aren't for the other. Thank goodness for my parents, who we pretty much see weekly. At least he does get some Sundays off.

Ta da
Three loads of washing
Dishwasher on twice
Swept kitchen floor

To do
Home bleugh
Put away washing

Waves to everyone. Will get back into the swing of things soon, new year, new start and all that.

ta das
Mopped downstairs
Dusted downstairs
changed towels downstairs
decluttered in kitchen, cleared all the surfaces and decluttered the medicines
tidied up toys in the living room
dishwasher on
washing up
swish and swipe downstairs loo
polished downstairs mirrors

to do
Finish daily routine upstairs
Hoover
Mop bathroom
Dust upstairs
Empty upstairs bins
Change towels upstairs
Change dc bed sheets / sleeping bags etc
polish mirrors upstairs

Well done on lists everyone and thank you for reassurance. I am pleased that the Caglets are old enough to play out now, it does help if they’re getting stir crazy and on weekends it’s nice for them to see school friends; they can’t much on weekday evenings as we have clubs. So in a way it’s nice that DH is more likely to have weekdays off as we can do more as a family (and go to places when they’re quieter) although sometimes it feels like we can’t do much due to aforementioned clubs. It’s a mini resolution to try and get our attendance up - as previously mentioned we did miss a fair bit, I think we did pretty well considering the baby chaos (certainly I got a good deal of “wow you’re doing well out and about” type comments!) but then the clubs that are more awkward to get to tend to suffer, like tap, and she may have an exam this year. So I’m hoping to sort of chivvy myself along a bit more with it, while also being kind to myself if we can’t.

I feel a lot more positive as the others did plenty in the morning between them, DH did stuff like washing up while DD held baby (before I came downstairs, I didn’t sleep but I am quite sore in the mornings so take a while to get up) and then they all tidied while I fed her. She then went to sleep so they cuddled her while watching something on catchup that I saw yesterday so I got to dash about doing more housework. It felt like the right kind of approach really, all pitching in, so hopefully we can have more days like that. It still feels like a massive achievement just getting the bare minimum done though!

I’m determined to post a ta da list every day so here’s mine so far:
ta da
✅wash on, now in dryer
✅spellings and maths
✅lots of random tidying
✅laundry mostly away
✅history and a bit of a workbook
✅put away some outgrown baby clothes
✅charity bag started
✅decent lunch
✅cleaned a whiteboard

Taekwondo later, at least I assume it’s on, can’t find term dates anywhere but it’s local so won’t cost anything to walk. It’s prime “pick something up from coop for dinner” territory but there are mini pizzas in the oven and plenty of veg so I have no excuse. They can take a snack and water too so maybe we can avoid it altogether.

I need to order Tesco and try to do better this week with planning for meals and snacks.

Oh also following on from my hallway diagrams last week, I can say that now the Christmas tree is down and the buggy is in its place in the living room, it’s soooo much better! It’s a faff getting it into the living room due to a tight turn but it’s much better overall as the hallway is clear! Just need to get on top of shoe storage now.

Basket!
See you have loads done today.
I always had to help at home and at aunties if we were seen idle for a minute we weren't for the next hour but I loved going there. We fed babies,took prams out collected shopping and dog meat, walked dogs, hung washing out,cleaned kennels. As well as have 10 kids 8 living and adopting a child my Aunty also bred dogs so she had kennel and stud dogs in two breeds and she was a top show judge. Our family are still really close even though we are thousands of miles apart. Sometimes one will turn up on the doorstep to stay. Families that clean together stay together! Seriously my kids had to help out and it has done them no harm. They were able to cook, clean and have grown into lovely caring adults. They support and look out for their friends and I think it is partly because they were expected to help and share with others. Let them help out you will reap the benefits.
Don't forget you are feeding too. That is a job in itself.

Hi all,

Well done for improving hallway Cag and on home bleugh foxes.

At gymnastics and have failed as forgot to bring leggings for DD1 . Must put some in her bag as soon as we get home. Also I let her get a game for my phone but as I can’t remember the passcode for restrictions on my phone I can’t let her play it as can’t disable in app purchases. So it’s all going well here .

Bower, I love that saying about families cleaning together . Good list Afresh. Hope your trip went ok Hills. Hope your DH’s appointment went ok SC.

Hope back to school not too painful Fooland.

Wing flaps to lisette and everyone else

Done my list but dinner has been delayed due to ds fiddling with the oven timer and temperature while I wasn't looking and now the chicken is not cooked (aware this also makes me sound like a terrible parent that he touched the oven without me noticing! I turned my back for a minute!)

foxes i swear we have the same child....mine tried to stick his hand IN the bloody oven before

It was an INSET day today and so sat around a lot doing boring stuff that we always seem to go over every effing INSET day. I'm not very happy at school at the moment and I'm now actively looking for another job. Still, it was nice to catch up with some of my lovely colleagues.

Ta-da
Bit of a failure today as far as ta-das are concerned. I think it's my PMS that's making me feel all bleugh and negative about everything. Best just to ignore me I think.

Stressy I spend less time on here and still not more productive. There isn't enough time in the day sometimes.

Foxes 10pm is a good bedtime, mine used to be 10pm but DD stays up late so had to push to 11pm and I struggle. It's a constant battle between catching up on sleep or having some downtime.

Cordelia early starts are hard I don't envy being in work for 6!

Hills not sleeping until 4am sounds so hard, I hit the pillow and I'm gone.

Today I have caught up with washing and dishes and tidied the bedroom a little. DH and me both off the next two days and DD in nursery on Wednesday so plan is tomorrow to take DD out and finish playing catch up and Wednesday have a day out as a couple.

hit the pillow and gone. that I would love experience. not even when I was a child did I manage it.

Stressful day, which is going to lead to worrying in the night which is going to result in lack of sleep again, which is going to lead to over tired and grumpy which is not going to end well And the best bit, I know there is no point worrying and that there is nothing I can do so worrying is pointless but it isn't going to stop my stupid brain running 1001 possible situations and outcomes Ah the joys of being an over thinker. Perhaps I should just try to preoccupy it and be productive instead

Flying = fuck all as predicted.

Busy day here fledgelings!!

I've had so here
Dd1 was 23 on Fri so we saw her after pick up this afternoon.i made cake(sponge with jam in. buttercream sprinkled coconut on top)And gave her some gifts.lovely to see her.theyre thinking of having the wedding next may.shes super meticulous so gives her lots planning time.shs already looking at dress pictures.stunning dress she's seen for herself with lots lace and back is sheer and low.shes a size 8 with legs from here to yar yar and 30ff so she's starting if with a good canvas iyswim.....

Not much flying done lots errands sorted

Curled up on sofa horrible really bad period pains at mo feeling sorry for myself