Festive fledglings flying through December - the Flylady thread

[TooStressyTooMessy]

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 .

**
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.

Especially for Zoo (see what I did there? ), I give you... radish cake!

That’s a lot of photos Ive!

I loved your post Consider . Excellent Christmas preparation there .

foxes, totally agree with SC, a lazy morning with young children sometimes just has to be done.

Festive wing flaps and cherry waves to zoo (hope you are feeling better), Christmas, Tinselette and everyone else.

KT we don’t have to buy many. We bought them nearly all at the fair. So I now have DS 1, DS3, College friend, Secret Santa and some decorations.

zoo thanks it went well. Off to get changed for the concert. I’m quite excited.

Toostresy first half did now off to the concert in fifteen minutes.

hello all, can I join you? I used to do flylady and was on the thread many years ago...then sort of fell off the wagon! Anyway, have just done some renovation type work on the house (roof repairs, new boiler, new flooring downstairs, decorated lounge and dd bedroom) and have spent the last couple of weeks blitzing tidying and cleaning ( I know, not very flylady!) but now feel Im at a place where I can get back into Flying to keep on top of it all. I used to find it really helpful tompost my to do and ta da lists, and always found these threads super freindlt.
Anyway, Im just off out now but will check in with lists and to catch up on the thread properly tomorrow.

Ooh hope concert goes well then Bower!

Welcome marvelous .

Launch pad

Christmas missions

‘We get there in the end ’

Have enjoyed reading everyone's lists! It's getting very Christmassy around here! I am very much on the back foot here wrt Christmas preps. I will look at the Christmas missions tomorrow and make a list!
Today has seemed very long with not so much achieved. It seems to take me all day to get simple routines done with three smallies (I've they are 4, 2 and new!) underfoot and weekdays are even worse with the preschool drop off and pick up thrown in (35 min round trip drive plus the inevitable chatting to teacher/other mothers), and Foxes I find the very same thing happens when I have child-free time!!! I rarely achieve much, and I feel guilty about that but the luxury of the pressure being lifted for an hour or two is lovely!
SC I cannot believe your daughter is almost off to college!

Ta Da:
Morning routine
Dog walked
Dd1 ballet class
Made contact with dog trainer to begin after Christmas
Exchanged two baby presents for nice giftcard to spend instead
Ordered baby thank you cards
Hotel booking made
Off to sort out today's babystep for myself and the 3dc. Mornings are so much easier here when I do this!!! I recently bought a little dressing rail for the girls' room to hang out their clothes for the next morning on, but I haven't followed through very well .

Struggling to keep up with the thread! Will try and catch up with personals tomorrow.

Christmassy day here. Off to the Christmas tree farm this morning, then Christmas Fair at DD's school, supermarket shop and then into the nearest big town for Christmas shopping, it is so much less crowded now so many shop online. Then home to decorate the tree while watching Strictly (DD did most of it), cook my first ever Christmas pudding and some dinner. Will be more Christmas shopping tomorrow, hopefully will also get cards finished.

willow that darling!

I am amazed a couple of you are SO organised re Christmas! I have bought 75% of presents, wrapped 0, bought 90% of cards, written in 0.

I find the 6.5 hours between me dropping dc at school and picking back up again FLY! I dont fly. The time does.

The baby has slept all night! I have woken feeling fuzzy in the head! Trying to wake myself up while dc3 and 4 squabble over the remote

Morning all,
I am very impressed at all the FLYing you are all managing to do, especially those with young children. My youngest is 11 now, so that definitely makes things easier. I do work full time though, so things can get a bit busy!!
My oldest, ds1 921) returned from Uni yestrerday. he is devastated bless him as he has just finished with his girlfriend of 3 1/2 years. It breaks my heart seeing him so sad and not being able to do anything for him. I think it is worse when dc are older and things are out of your control, sometimes you just have to watch them be so sad. Anyway, enough misery for one day!
todays to do list:
good clean downstairs tiolet
s&s upstairs bathroom
nagencourage dh to take rubbish to the tip
put away ds2 clean washing
pack ds2 pe kit for tomorrow
mop floor in dd3 and 4 rooom
build dd4 new desk

also I MUST go for a run. It is the one thing I do for myself and really helps both my mental and obviously physical health. I have been lazy this week and only managed one run, must go today cause I know it will make me feel better.

right....first coffee!

Morning all! Didn't get any of my To Dos done yesterday at all. But I did take DD up to town to see the Christmas lights and played a board game with her and DS3, so I'll have my Good Mum badge now!

So now I must add to today's To Dos

• morning routine
• dog walk
• get lamb into the oven for 9.45
• roast lunch not dinner today - will need to concentrate hard on timings!
• get Christmas tree built and decorated
• DH's gift, again
• financial moving around - all the money is in the wrong place!
• poke DS2 to do some work

DH is in charge this evening, because I'm going to the theatre! I can't think of the last time I went out out on my own, so I am very excited. I'm meeting an old friend in London for a proper Christmas Outing.

Thanks Zoo and Too () we had a lovely afternoon. It was as busy as expected but as we didn’t need anything in the shops it wasn’t too bad. DD loved the window and the rides at the market.

Welcome Marvellous. What a shame for your DS, hope you succeeded in cheering him up a bit. I also feel much better when I run but I’ve got right out of the habit. Just bought myself a new sports bra so maybe that will spur me on to get back into it in January

Sunday for us is visiting family day. Not sure if we are bothering with a roast today but if we do it’ll be a later one rather than our usual lunchtime.

To Do
Drag my lazy arse out of bed (DD slept until til 7:50, record for her!) then DH brought me tea and toast.
Ironing
Bedding washed and beds remade
Dishes from breakfast / yesterday. We ate out last night so the kitchen didn’t get done and the odd plate and cup has mounted up into much more.
Write out some of my Christmas cards, and do all of DD’s ready to take to nursery
Shopping. Should be a proper supermarket shop. In reality it is likely to be a dash to the local coop for a survival shop.
Piles of paperwork / junk mail from yesterday’s to do list that I forgot about.

Oh and love the cake Willow!

Also love the cake

My dc just get supermarket cakes

After my last post i developed awful stomach and back ache while feeling sick. Was so bad i took some pain killers, fed baby and then curled up on the sofa for best part of an hour. It has either gone or i am numbed up to not feel it!

The dc are all up now except dc1 (11) who i will wake shortly.

Need to start doing things now i think

DD1 has ballet exam today. I am nervous but trying not to show it. She is definitely nervous.

Thankfully DH has taken DD2 to her activity and then is taking her out, probably to a garden centre to look at Christmas decorations. I asked him to make sure he requested today as a day off because it is much easier to manage just one child for the exam so am grateful for that!

Have done about half of morning routine. Going to do as much as I can for the next 20 mins then help DD1 do her hair.

Ive, I very rarely make cakes. Our DDs have homemade cakes but that is because we have a friend who is an excellent baker (she sells her cakes) and we get mates rates . Hope you remain feeling better!

KT, I did the emergency coop dash yesterday .

Realised yesterday that, as per bloody usual, I had not booked food delivery slots for Christmas. Have booked last night but could only get 20th Dec so will have to physically go into a shop to get the fresh stuff. Will worry about that later.

Cherry waves to everyone.

Meant to say marvelous, for you and your DS.

Welcome marvelous and good luck with the ballet exam for your DD stressy - they usually come skipping out saying the examiner was nice and it was better than expected.

DD has gone down with a really bad cold/virus here, will have to see how she is tomorrow. Still playing catchup! Need to make some lists myself.

Thanks Christmas. I have just made a bit of a hash of doing her hair but it’s at the stage where if I try to fix it then it will look worse. Going to just go I think and see whether the helpers / teachers say it needs redoing. Eeek. Thanks for the reassurance; hopefully they will all skip out .

Hope your DD feels better soon

I always get the teacher to do the exam bun, I am hopeless. Where is zoo the bun queen when we need her? I wonder if Ned could do it

I have been hopeless for the last two weeks, distinct lack of MNetting from me. Will try harder! Got about another 10 days of madness before it calms down a bit.

Very best of 🍀🍀🍀 luck to your DD for her dance exam today Toostressy! Hope it goes well for her and that she can enjoy it too!

I hope you feel better soon I've that pain sounds a bit wretched, I hope it has gone away permanently. And if it's any consolation I'm in the same position as you re: Christmas prep and I only have one child! Have wrapped two presents but they were to give someone who is travelling. Wouldn't have done them otherwise!

Not only am I behind with Christmas prep but major tasks outside of my control keep being added to the list! Argh!

And I think home baking can wait until your youngest is about 8 or 9 and then they can follow a DK step by step book and have fun doing it all together! DD and friends used to love doing that! Before then you are doing heroically well imho just getting to the shops or having the time to do an on-line order, in order to buy them cake ifyswim!

A warm welcome back Marvelousways! Sorry about your ds1's heartbreak. It is so difficult having to step back and watch them go through it . I'm sure the comforts of home will help.

Have a lovely evening out Willow! Love the radish cake! . And what a lovely post about your DD. It's so lovely that she was able to enjoy her birthday for the first time. Had to dab my eye a bit reading that.

Enjoy your busy Christmassy day Expletive! (Love the new nn btw.) Good luck with the Christmas pudding making! Wow you get lots done in a day!

As do you KTCluck ! Hope your festive afternoon went well yesterday! I love Newcastle! And thank you very much for your very kind encouraging comnent, I usually feel my ta da lists are lacking tbh mainly because there is always so much more to do!

I always frame the annual class photo btw which takes pride of place on our sideboard.

Aye the time has passed so quickly Castle and for me only one shot at getting parenting right. Judging by the snippy attitude and eye rolling I have had to endure just this morning, I'm not so sure I have... . And her suitcase from half term week in October is still on half landing. It took a lot off nagging to get it from ground floor to there mind you. And now it's "stuck" again. I haven't the energy ... .

DH was also very difficult yesterday and I feel sapped of energy with all the battling. He works extremely hard and very long hours and he is very tired. But , for once, I needed his help with some DIY tasks yesterday that were too physically difficult for me and although he never raises his voice or refuses to help, he is so passive aggressive about it somehow I felt like crying at the end of it. (Bloody didn't though because I was seething as well .) It's one weekend of the year when he is forced to pay attention to his home in a non food related way fhs! I come from a large Irish family , and would so much prefer it if he just said "ach feck off I am not doing that" rather than being oh so frigging polite but somehow resentful underneath. Sorry that probably makes no sense at all! And sorry for bad language! I never used to swear - ever - and then I got menopausal

Hope you are ok Laputa and Zoo and sorry for my constant whinging about minor battles. Hope you are both ok. . This time of year is tough going.

Glad you had a good break away Bower and that concert went well!

Waves to Tinselette Honu Times10 Shannara Foxes Chic and loads more Fledglings I've forgotten (deffo some newcomers I've forgotten -apologies) and everyone else!

Only done Mass (glass recycling on way back) and dog walk so far and put roast in late, so far!

Must get off the tablet and go and face the horror show!

Have a good one everybody!

Xposts

Hope your dd feels better soon Chic

quick check in.
stressy good luck for dds ballet
christmas hope dd perks up quickly
sister DIY is a constant source of stress between me and dh. he never says he wont do it, always says yes, of course Ill do it, then never actually does. drives me mad!

So my current to da's:
been for a run ( 6 miles)- felt loads better for going
ds2 clean washing away
packed ds2 pe kit
put wash load on

still to do:
s&s upstairs bathroom (teenagers have been hoggin it all morning!)
good clean downstairs tiolet
mop dd3 and 4 floor (dd3 has only just got up ....teenagers!)
build dd4 desk

Dh has decided to lay the new flooring in the kitchen, even though I wanted to wait until after Christmas. Whilst this is sort of good, it means I now have to sort all the various rubbish out the front of the house (from house projects completed last week) and take to tip, and he had also promised to put up our outdoor christmas lights today - which now wont happen so we will remain the only miserable non lit up house on the estate

DS1 is baring up bless him. We had a big hug this mroning and he cried a bit. but he has been for a run, which is good. He hasn't eaten any breakfast though - I keep trying to tempt him with homemade mince pies but no - I know I need to leave him to have some space, it is so hard though.

right...nearly at end of break time, off to tackle bathrooms.