Welcome to the December (dare I say the Christmas?!) Flylady thread. This is a really lovely thread where we loosely follow the Flylady system (see the Flylady website ) in the hope of having organised homes and lives.
Every day I will post a link to the launchpad which has everything you need for that day if you do want to follow the system strictly. Plenty of options to follow the system more loosely as well :).
Please do familiarise yourself with the Flylady website, especially if you are new. The Flylady is (understandably) keen that people do look at the website.
On the website there is information for beginners. You can also sign up to the Flylady emails but we would advise not to 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.
Be kind to yourselves, jump in where you are and be careful not to crash and burn!
Any newbies are very welcome 
.
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Flylady also does Christmas missions which I will link to each day. They are really useful and nearer the time she does super missions which help you if you have not managed the regular missions. They are just there to help and as Flylady says... do not worry as you do not need to catch up, just jump in where you are .
Link to the holiday cruising is
here
December’s habit is usually [[http://www.flylady.net/d/habits-of-the-month/december/
pampering yourself]] which is much needed this busy time of year. This can be as simple as taking two minutes to have a cup of tea, if long pampering sessions are unachievable.
The website will update to the December missions etc in the next few days so I will link it again if it is different.
A daily summary (which should update automatically every day) is available on the Flylady website at flight plan here.
The link to the current zone and missions is [[http://www.flylady.net/c/sp.php#missions here].
Re. zones, do what works for you. I don’t always stick to the zones myself and do what works best at the time!
daily focus
missions for the week
Flykids mission
beginner babysteps.
The best place to look for an overall summary is the launch pad.
Happy flying everyone.
Please note that while there is lots of information on the website, from a security point of view we would advise caution with putting any personal details in or downloading anything.
Also a huge thank you to Ghoulette for the November thread.
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Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.
Housekeeping
Festive fledglings flying through December - the Flylady thread
TooStressyTooMessy · 30/11/2019 15:03
So am I Castle. I don't mean to be off-putting or unhelpful to newcomers or returnees, but I must admit that, I am struggling right now with the concept of "you are never behind" (in terms of Christmas/guest prep anyway).
Not one single task today has been straightforward. All my past cluttering sins have come back to bite me on the bum. Need to finish clearing out wardrobe and drawers before I can clear boudoirs properly. Need to clear out in-box again before I can send many more e-mails. Need to clear out pantry before I can put away things I decluttered from kitchen on Wed. Need to clear dossier before I can start on Christmas cards (still waiting for one last letter). Need to clear desk before I can wrap presents. Can't walk on floor in "dressing room' boudoir. Yaaaaarrrggghhhh!
I also did order some "treggings" for myself to wear with boots for Christmas. I think I must be the only person in the world not to hear of treggings before!
I've bought all the chocs (yesterday) for sending to UK but had to go back today because forgot it is St Nicolas tomorrow! And have done 2 clothes parcel returns.
Have also temporarily sorted out collapsed book-case crisis by going to a brocante and finding another old shabby specimen but at least it's shelves are solid! (I hope anyway!)
Deffo hovel status here Zoo and every time I start to clear it up, the phone rings, a courier is at the door, the office rings, someone texts me, the dogs want to go out or dh or dd call up the stairs seemingly every 10 seconds for me to find something or because they are hungry. Sounds totally ridiculous when there are only three of us I know but they we are.
Wow, they organised that quickly, good luck to your dd on Monday Laputa I hope she loves it 
! Sorry that things are tough with your mh right now though 
and I hope it improves soon xx
Bugger. Forgot to make hair appt! Must do that tomorrow. Thanks for reminder! 
Yes I have to agree that of course it is possible to be behind 
. I think it’s better just to focus on the ‘jump in where you are’ bit
Wow for Monday Laputa 
I hope all the preparations go well!
This week hasn't gone as smoothly as I'd hoped, which is a bit disappointing tbh! I am hoping that tomorrow we'll have a good day and that some 
tonight will also help.
Have a tricky conversation lined up with DD this week, so hope that goes well. I think we need to change her tutor for an after-school activity so I'm hoping she will be willing to have a trial with a different teacher. Not something I wanted to spend time on this week but it could work better in the long run.
I had to clean the filters in my vacuum today, that wasn't pleasant either! Does make it work more effectively though!
DD has an inset day tomorrow so we have a nice day planned - we'll see if that comes off, probably not if we finish the week the way it's gone so far 
A good thing to look forward to is an investment which is maturing and should arrive in our account over the next week or so - woo hoo! After this week, I'll be drinking it all
Good luck to your DD on Monday Laputa - hope she enjoys her new adventure. Sorry everything else in your life is so hard right now. Mug of 
?
Castle, our fence is up and the dog has (mostly) forgiven us for keeping him in for 2 days. Hope keeping yours in and dealing with a tiny baby isn't driving you insane!
SC, Stressy and others I think we have to separate out the "you're not behind" messages. It's completely true for the day to day running of the house - just jump in and the system will roll back round eventually - but Christmas is different. I guess there, we just do what we can, hope for the best, and reme
Ta Das from yesterday
- all Christmas gifts in the house now wrapped and labelled
- got DD to the orthodontist
- got DS3 his flu vaccination
- DH finally hung 2 pictures and put the handles on the kitchen drawers (only been waiting 3 years!)
To Dos today
- morning routine
- pay for drumming lessons and driving lessons
- bake and ice DD's birthday cake and pick up the balloon
- poke DS2 to sort his room and his life out
- help DS3 with homework (this is likely to take most of the day)
- hunt for the Missing Christmas Present, which DH bought and put somewhere safe!
- muse upon the nature of time and how on earth my tiny baby girl can be 15 tomorrow.
But first, coffee
I see it as brew Willow! Yes, you are completely right actually about your are not behind’ being more of a useful day to day house running thing.
Tinselette I think “we get there in the end” needs to be our thread Christmas motto .
Ta da:
hung up overnight washing and put on X 2 more
emptied DW
rubbish and recycling
cleaned down kitchen surfaces and bin
took all papers off fridge door and scrubbed down
ditto tiled wall behind kitchen door
scrubbed another section of kitchen tiles
Willow happy birthday to your 15 year old DD today! 🎂🎉🎁 I hope she has a lovely day! You are doing brilliantly having all Christmas gifts in the house wrapped and labelled! 
And yes isn't it often the case that lingering small tasks like fixing drawer handles often get tweaked in the run up to Christmas! ( I am trying to sort out curtains atm
and hang up a few more pictures to cover up cracks in paint work.)
And yes, I suppose we can only do what we can do wrt Christmas prep! (And yy we always do get there in the end Tinselette! 😂) suppose I am getting in to a bit of a flap because we are having a virtual stranger staying for Christmas (along with other other family) and I am seeing the house through their eyes! The view is not very pretty right now! Plus with aching joints etc, don't have the energy I once had to whip things together at last min ifyswim! Really wanted to avoid 1am present-wrapping and stock-making this year!
Times10 I would be the same if a window cleaner turned up right now! It is frightening how quickly things return to chaos !
Chic hope you have a nice time with your DD today. DD is off school here too (no exams today) but is deep in revision mode/ teen cave. Good luck with difficult convo.
Good to hear about your ds's creative time with his tutor Zoo!
Aw re: Playmobil crib Tinselette
Castle Ooh you have a foal! 💕! And glad to hear your dhorse is still going strong. We have lh daschies. Great characters both
. Both adopted after difficult puppyhoods. And thanks, I must admit it was a long long 23 year wait to have a horse of our own but it was very much worth it! DD rides him mainly although I do occasionally get on board (with the help of a winch!) but I am in poor shape after op earlier this year and have totally lost my core (what little I had anyway). Trouble is he was very unfit and docile when he came to us, but after running around with tb at his livery, he can now keep up with the rest of the herd, and is as fit as a flea and is feeling his adolescent oats so to speak!. Really lovely boy though. Amazingly agile for one so chunky too! DD mainly hacks him in school holidays and she'll be off to uni in a year or so, so he is currently being re-educated for timber work (not by me!) in between being ridden but is only just at the very start of this process. Good luck with getting back in to the saddle! Not an easy task after childbirth! I used a book called "nine weeks to riding fitness" something like that, was really good - will see if I can find it! Take it very steady though! I hadn't realised your new baby was quite so tiny!
Mahoosive waves to everyone else!
DH has tried to take out reluctant furries in pouring freezing rain but they refused to go and have gone back to bed! I must dash and do something complicated with doc rdvs and flu vaccines (currently in our fridge which is the system here). Also must make hair appt and must order gammon ham and turkey too!
Have a good and productive day fledglings! 
👋👋👋
Forgot one more ta da:
cleaned interior windows panes between inner and outer hall and glass doors of kitchen cupboard
And one to do:
find and wrap presents for colleagues DC
Good motto Toostressy (with gin emoticon attached!)
Ooh I like the idea of SC . Can we make it our thread motto Tinselette?
Happy birthday for tomorrow to your DD Willow!
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Oops so sorry Willow all at sea here - got the day wrong - happy birthday to your DD for tomorrow! 
!! Speed reading as usual 
Good luck for Monday laputa!
I've had a child free non working morning which is pretty rare. Got to pick ds up soon, not sure I've achieved as much as I'd hoped and I'm actually a little bored I don't need to be bored because there's so much I could be getting on with or I could even just have watched a film or read a book but I just dithered about too long😂
Anyway a small ta da list
Tidied up breakfast, made beds etc
Wrapped two Christmas presents for dh
Dusted and cleaned mirrors in bedroom and bathroom
Washing on
Watched a bit of TV and realised it's all crap anyway!
Scoffed a doughnut
Im going to spend my last bit of time writing a list of jobs I need to do over the next few weeks, try and get a bit organised!
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