Fledglings flying into the Roaring Twenties! January 2020 Flylady thread, all welcome.

[LaneBoy]

Welcome to the first Flylady thread of the decade! This is a friendly ongoing thread where we follow (loosely. In some cases, very loosely. ) the Flylady method for sorting out our homes and lives!

Newbies are always welcome here! It’s a long running thread so please don’t worry if we appear cliquey. There’s a lot of chatter and support for all sorts of things, alongside the housework stuff.

Over recent months we have agreed that big lists of daily links aren’t necessary - on a daily basis I will post (if I remember... it is maybe 18 months since I last hosted so please forgive any screw ups ) a link to the launch pad, which is where you can access the information for that day - babysteps, missions, daily focus etc. But if you’re confused about anything, please ask!

Check out the website too - but we suggest not signing up for the millions of emails.

Information on getting started here.

The great thing about Flylady is that you jump in where you are. Everything you do is progress. Don’t worry about not “keeping up”. Any achievement, however small, means progress.

Anyway, huge thank you to Stressy for running our very busy December thread!

And... HAPPY NEW YEAR FLEDGLINGS!!!

21st Century Gloucestershire sounds less fun than the earlier version - very cold, windy and rainy here today. Our mini greenhouse (waist-high wooden frame one) has blown down the garden!

Enjoying an hour at home before taking DD out to her activity tonight. As it's over teatime, must remember to take snack for myself to eat waiting in the car give her a second snack before we go. Hopefully DH will cook while we are out.

Not much flying today. Put petrol in car

lane it’s just the older set, the younger set will start nursery in September though. I’d have cereal for every meal if I could

willow I’m very prepared for some fights to break out as they get older.

ironing that pastry sounds gorgeous!

fox my lot are worse on their own. The boys had my room before I moved them all in together and it ended up with them screaming because they wanted to be with the girls. They all talk before bed but they end up falling to sleep when doing it. It is lovely that siblings love each other so much.

My meal plan is

Monday-
Lunch- tomato soup and cheesy bread
Dinner- homemade fish fingers, peas and potatoes.

Tuesday-
Lunch- Cream cheese and cucumber sandwiches with grapes
Dinner- sausage, mash and beans

Wednesday-
Lunch- cheesy pasta with peas
Dinner- spaghetti bolognese

Thursday-
Lunch- jam sandwiches and strawberries
Dinner- fajitas

Friday-
Lunch- cheesy beans on toast

Saturday-
Lunch- leek and potato soup with soldiers
Dinner- chicken casserole

Sunday-
Lunch- guggy egg and soldiers

Friday we have chippy and Sunday we go to
Mums for a Sunday roast.

Love the meal plans and also talk of siblings getting along .

Ta da:-
30 minutes decluttering in study / spare room
2 drawers tidied in boudoir
Morning routine etc
Sorted out my emails on my phone but not my computer - keeps locking me out somehow?
Sewed two badges
School pick up
School shoes cleaned after misguided trip to muddy park
Tea nearly ready
Homework planned out for after tea

To do:-
Tea
Strongly encourage homework
I have my dance class tonight so need to get ready

I am loving the organised mum method so far. To be fair a lot of it is the Flylady stuff that I just wasn’t doing. I think having a different zone each day works much better for me than one zone per week. However, it is early days so I think I am still in the honeymoon phase . Plus I am definitely doing more than she says to but that is because I couldn’t face doing a full declutter and boot camp first. So decided to jump in a la Flylady and do as much extra decluttering as I can.

Had better go and sort tea out.

Enjoying reading the meal plans. Currently waiting for the Gas man for boiler check. House looks like a slum!

Day 5 of temperatures now but I'm getting better. Hopefully it will break overnight.

Loving the meal plans

Cereal is always acceptable,mine would eat it for every meal

I love fennel,can't eat orangesso I tend to just roast it with med veg,or use in salads with fish.i have a squash and sweet potato soup recipe that has fennel in.the flavour is extremely sutble

toostressy I prefer the zone per day thing as well, that worked better for me. But then I gave up completely as got totally overwhelmed but I think that's more to do with building work at the moment. I'm sure I'll come back to it!

To be fair I've done absolutely loads of decluttering recently but I can't see the point doing much deep cleaning of rooms that are about to be redecorated, bathrooms ripped out etc...so I just continue to do the surface cleaning and that's it!

Finally catching up. It’s been a mad few days, I’ve been useless lying on sofa since returning from the pool.

I just got to “yappy pillock” which made me laugh. Hope you’re feeling less overwhelmed willow I so relate to that not-keeping-on-top-of-things feeling.

Going to check out that nightlight link too thanks. Annoyingly we found out that our bedroom light is not a screw or bayonet (sp?!) fitting? It’s some weird square thing with pins on the side and I’ve no idea what that’s called in order to find a replacement (it was here when we moved July 2018) let alone a dimmable version :( I will attempt google at some point.

ta da
✅shower
✅got to my course. This morning went so wrong, including the bus being early so I missed it. Amazing friend saved my bacon and picked me up (it’s in the next town and taxi would be a fortune) ❤️❤️❤️
✅checked about children’s centre open times and made plans to get the previous bus in future weeks and take my art stuff while sitting in their comfy warm chairs!
✅swam 500m despite really struggling (it was so so crowded and anxiety was high)
✅made some decisions about tricky stuff and emailed accordingly
✅added dates for another course into my diary (a parenting course 🙄 that I have to do in order to get DS accepted by CAMHS) - in a couple of weeks I’ll be doing the trauma course on Tuesdays and the parenting course on Wednesdays every week until the end of March! 😖

Not a productive day. But I’m allowing myself to chill now. This week has been tough so far. How is it only Tuesday?!

Did some of the boudoir last night and a bit more today and vacuumed some of it. Need to pull out boxes and do under bed tomorrow.

I took tablets earlier last night so was up earlier. Didn’t feel so foggy and because a visitor /someone I know who is coming to do some tiling and relaying the path was arriving at 10am I got cracking and DH did once he got up.
Feel better in myself and feel we achieved quite a bit today.

Ta da
☑️Fed cat
☑️Washed up cup from upstairs and plate from DH. I am mostly trying to wash strays and wipe worktop. Shine sink before I go to bed.
☑️Vacuumed all downstairs, stairs and bedroom. Think DH did his room.
☑️Cleaned bathroom. Used Lakeland cleaner on tiles. Amazing if you leave it for 30 mins.
☑️ Sorted a bag and box of items from the loft. DH mum collected brass. My family things were cutlery, candlesticks and some beautiful little spoons. One had a date of 1917 with a beautiful, tiny bird on the top. Another had an elephant. Both are Indian.

I didn’t feel like doing it as I know DH wants to decluttering it and I find that difficult when it is family stuff. However we agreed to keep some pieces of brass and the rest will go to Cancer Research. His mum died from MS but we don’t have a charity shop up here for them.

Visitor changed time because he needed to pick up his DS unexpectedly. So came in the afternoon. We kept tidying and cleaning until two. Lunch at one was toasties.
Spent about half an hour chatting about house. He is such a pleasant lad and is going to do the work starting the end of the month.

It is interesting looking how people meal plan. I would plan in more detail and used to but now DH is home it is more difficult.
Loosely we eat two fish, two meat, two veggie plus one ? Might be a takeaway or something easy like stir fry.

Fran how lovely that they want to be in together. My aunties house was like that two sets of bunks.
If it is a large room you could divide it with shelving open both sides. I have some and it has four drawers (2+2)at the bottom that slide through. I bought them from a crèche I worked in that was closing down. That way you could keep your room.

I loved Gloucester cathedral when we stayed on the way to see DD

Foxes I like the fact that they are in the car. I need to do that. I might plan a trip to town to take charity bags I have two so far.

bower I’d definitely consider dividing the room as they get older. In an ideal world we’d move to a bigger place, but at the minute it just isn’t doable.

Ta Da:
Cleaned up from bath time
Wiped down the kitchen from dinner
Washed up and put away
Tidied up living room

Ooh I also love fennel. DH does a delicious ragu with fennel and pork mince. I’m sure it was a slimming world recipe originally although DH has most likely adapted it to be less slimming.

Zoo I hope you aren’t overdoing it mind!

SC my diet has also not gone as well as planned. I need to get cracking, I’ve got 12 weeks until my girls weekend in the sun. I currently have a couple of dresses I fit in comfortably and a couple of pairs of jeans I can just about fasten. Nothing else fits

Your day sounds productive to me Lane. It sounds like you’ve done what you needed to.

I’m also enjoying the meal plans, and also the tales of siblings getting on. I’m currently trying to convince DH that DC2 is a good idea (he’s an only child and originally wanted 3, but has changed his mind after meeting DD ). I’ll have to share the stories with him.

Foxes surface cleaning sounds fine to me.

Fab decluttering Bower and Too.

Another work day for me. I got up earlier than yesterday and managed to get a load of washing in and s&S. Exercise didn’t happen, and then realised I needed fuel and to fill the windscreen wash up so ended up running late again. Just clocked in on time.

I got some fruit and veg on the way home from work. Went to unload the dishwasher while DH was doing dinner and realised I’d forgotten to set it off this morning. I’ll try harder tomorrow...

KT my dh is an only child and he struggles a bit sometimes with the dc and sibling stuff. He just doesn't get it

Stopped at the chippy on the way home from work 😋
Washed the dishes
LOL
Made lunches for tomorrow
Ironing but I haven't put it away yet because DC are in bed.

Can't be bothered to do anything else so I'm finally sitting down to watch peaky blinders about 4 months after everyone else.

I dont even know what fennel is

You're not missing anything that it's awful 😂

Thats good. It sounds green. Definitley not chocolate or cake

it’s an aniseedy vegetable (is it a vegetable?!) and while it’s very nice it’s nowhere near as good as chocolate or cake!

Ugh. Fennel. No.

We3 I keep seeing LOL on your epic ta da lists and I’m wondering what it stands for! (Sorry if I missed it)

It might be a herb. Well it is in my garden as it lives in the herb garden. I like it but it can overpower some dishes. I like it sliced in a tray of aubergine, courgette, peppers, tomatoes, onions, a bit of basil drizzled with olive oil and roasted.

It is green that. Hows that gorgeous baby today?

My DH is also an only child.
We have four. He would have been quite happy with one. It was easy to persuade with two. The third took a long time and at least one early miscarriage undiagonised but I say two. Number four was a complete surprise( and a large gap ) although after three I wanted another he didn't. Who is his favourite?
I'm one of five but my first sister died at 10 days old. Five girls.

Your ticks are naicer than mine Lane!
I want green ones.

Evening all,

Falling behind with both the thread and the Flying, my new longer work hours are
definitely making it harder.

Foxes we have three bedrooms so the Dcs have to share when we have visitors. When they were little we kept DS's cot bed mattress so he could sleep on DD's floor. When they go to about ages 7 and 5 we bought bunkbeds for DD's room for this reason, DS voluntarily moved into DD's room and stayed for about 3 years. They are still happy to bunk in together on holiday amd for guests age 14 and 16.

All these meal plans make me a bit envious. My two and DH are fussy and we have a fairly restricted menu as a result. There are only about four meals that we all like so we do a lot of mixing up of different things and the DCs often just cook for themselves now. DS won't eat potatoes in any form, eggs or white fish, DD isn't keen on spicy food, DH isn't keen on pasta. None of us are keen on roasted veg (too sweet). My DCs are great in many ways but eating isn't one of them.

Baby is good ty bower currently awake after a 3am bottle though! He has learnt to roll and is fast turning into Mr Mischief! Because of this i did not get dc4s bedroom fully blitzed yday as originally planned! It is much easier to do things when they do not move! 👶

How funny, my DH is also an only child! Both his parents were too, so he was very much on board with the more-than-one-DC plan, as he saw how hard it was for them. My FIL is one of only 2 children in his generation (him and his cousin) and they had to support the entire generation above of 5 siblings plus spouses. DH was very keen to avoid that for our DC, so we have 4 (although DC4 was a lovely Anniversary Surprise while we were still in discussions about the idea!).

Lane, thank you, things are better although it's the 5th anniversary of DDad's death tomorrow, which is hard. I really hate the third week of January. Hope you can keep all your courses straightened out

Stressy, Expletive, foxes I'm finding the "back to normal" aspects of Flylady very tedious at the moment.

To Dos today

• morning routine
• bathroom clean
• hardboil eggs for lunch
• hoover upstairs and down
• defrost chicken for tea
• wash and sort out extraneous tupperware lids
• Lidl? Can't see where it's going to fit this week, otherwise.

16th century Gloucestershire was great fun, but I'm chasing a particular family through the parish records and Elizabethan handwriting is giving me a headache! This particular parish goes all the way back to 1538, and I've got the family definitely to 1590, so I'm getting there. It's reaching the Get The Maps Out stage, which I always enjoy. Still can't link them to a family of the same name in Hertfordshire, though, which was the aim!

Argh lost a post 😡

Is LOL load of laundry?

So sorry about your dad willow anniversaries must be so tough 💐

I hear you on the meal plan envy expletive I would love to be able to pick a random recipe and try it without fear! DS is the toughest (his SPD scores were in the top range for all but one area ) but DD is what I call deceptively fussy as although she eats loads more veg etc she is quite restricted and if anything is slightly different from usual she won’t eat it.

I’m an only from a somewhat dysfunctional family and that made me decide young I wanted more than one if possible. 2y2m between the first two, they were super close (always got comments on how lovely their bond was) and it’s only really been as DD went through puberty they started growing apart. He can be quite intense with stimming, bouncing etc (ADHD and autistic) and DD found this more difficult in the last couple of years. This made me sad but actually DD returning to school seems to have helped as they laugh and play fight and muck about together again in the evenings like they used to.

Cagletini was a happy accident after years of thinking I’d love another and she’s unleashed chaos and a lot of extra laughter and love into our lives!

Lane in meaning load of laundry. It's just easier that saying put a wash in.

My 4th was also a surprise. I was on the pill but I had quite a bad vomiting bug. Didn't think to use any sort of backup contraception 🤦‍♀️ I wouldn't send him back though even through he's a PITA at times 😂.

He's actually not very well at the minute just a cold but oddly when he's poorly he sleeps better? Odd child.

My house was freezing again this morning but I braved a bath since I didn't have one yesterday. Didn't even take my makeup off last night 🙈. I can't understand why it's so cold. The heating is on as high as it goes constantly. I think the upstairs radiators may need replacing as they are the old type and have probably been in since the house was built.

Ta-da's
Put ironing away
Sorted odd socks
LOL
S&S
Chucked 2 old mascaras and a lipstick away.

DC2 took it upon himself to get everyone a glass of chocolate milk and a biscuit while they were waiting for me to get ready. (They will have a proper breakfast at the childminder). He then wiped up a spillage and washed and dried all the glasses bless him. It's not the healthiest pre-breakfast but he's only 8.

I’ve definitely struggled with going from 2 to 3 though - just as the older two were more independent (autism related needs aside) it was tough to go back to the toddler phase especially.

Cagletini not going to nursery today as she was really hot all night and feeding loads and lethargic this morning although of course now she’s perked you 🙄. This changes plans for DS as well because we were going to try out the Turing Tumble this morning! (It’s a sort of physical coding type thing which includes little pieces and marbles!)

ta da
✅printed timetable for DD as she lost hers 🙄
✅found a forgotten tub of clean laundry and added it to the pile to put away someday 😳
✅delegated nursery phoning to DH. Normally it doesn’t bother me but the last few days has been too demanding in terms of peopling and new things. This is the kind of thing that makes me hate being autistic TBH.

I am planning an easy morning (luckily the work for DS is already printed so he can get on with it) as I managed to score a free half hour with an ed psych today so I need to go to that (yet more peopling!) followed by a birthday lunch for a friend. Must get DH to pick up a card (he’s off to Asda because we realised we don’t have a thermometer 😳).

I was a wibbling mess again last night worrying about DH, and how on earth I am meant to carry the family now he can’t (I know that’s ridiculous compared to what some are dealing with). Having a PoTS flare up as well (I collapsed last night) and that’s brought things home about just how precarious things are. Feel quite alone really.

Whinge over sorry 😳 must go and supervise DS doing some work and actually prepare for this EP meeting.

Have a good day all. Daily focus is anti procrastination 🤔

Perked up not you 🤦‍♀️

Sorry for epic ranting. In other ways things are good and getting sorted (nursery, home ed, meds etc) but the reality of the difficult stuff hits sometimes.

So cute about getting everyone refreshments we3 :o