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Housekeeping

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Fledglings prepare to fly their lockdown nests and jump into July - join us for the July FlyLady thread

998 replies

KTCluck · 30/06/2020 21:50

Welcome all fledglings, newbies and lurkers to the July 2020 flylady thread, where we try and follow flylady’s system to keep our homes in order and our lives organised. We are a friendly bunch and like a bit of a natter, amongst posting our ‘To Do’ lists for accountability and celebrating our ‘Ta Da’ lists no matter how long or short. No fledgling is left behind, just jump in and join us wherever you are at - whether you are a lazy slattern living in chaos or a fully certified domestic goddess wanting to keep up the motivation. Most of us flit between the two depending on the day. The threads tends to be a supportive corner of MN, and we readily provide listening ears for woes and rants when needed.

Flylady is a system based around morning and evening routines, with babysteps to get you started and a daily focus, such as planning and family fun day. There’s a weekly home blessing (or ‘bleurgh’ as we prefer) which is a basic clean to keep the house ticking over, with short bursts of decluttering or deeper cleaning in weekly zones once you are ready. Flylady also suggests short missions each day. Feel free to adapt the system to make it fit in with your life.

Link to the launchpad is here (I hope) and the baby steps are here. From the launchpad I like the ‘flight plan’ for a reminder of the routines, and ‘sneak peek of the week’ for a list of the week‘a missions. You can sign up for emails, but be warned, you will need to regularly declutter your inbox!

As thread leader for July I have taken possession of the thread pointy stick —> for anyone in need of a sharp prod of motivation, but I’ve also set up a chilled quiet naughty corner, complete with comfortable day beds, a gentle sea breeze, and unlimited fruit platters, ice creams and cocktails to any fledgling who is in need of rest and recuperation or is just on strike. No partners or children allowed.

I’ll also try and keep the ‘keep calm corner’ (KCC) going. Originally introduced by our lovely SC, it’s a little daily dose of respite we’ve been using to help us get through these strange times.

I’ll do my best to keep us all motivated and flying throughout July. On work days I may appear with the larks, or not crawl in until the end of the day so apologies in advance if I’m late with links.

We start tomorrow in zone 1 (hall, porch, dining room). Here’s the missions. Habit of the month is ‘swish and swipe’ which is a daily 2 minute wipe of our toilets and sinks. Tomorrow is anti-procrastination day where we tackle those tasks we’ve been putting off.

Anyway, enough waffle, July we are coming for you! shortly, I’m just checking the naughty corner is ready

OP posts:
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71
Stilllivinginazoo · 13/07/2020 11:23

Monday's motivational quoteGrin

Fledglings prepare to fly their lockdown nests and jump into July - join us for the July FlyLady thread
LaneBoy · 13/07/2020 12:01

First list done (although I haven’t sealed the envelope yet as I need to phone her later), DS through half of his work.

PO3.2
❗️Declutter of bathroom windowsill/bath shelf, clean them and scrub door handle area while I’m up there
❗️Go through book shelves and pull out any activity/colouring books to either put in Use Stuff Up box or put in pile for Caglets to decide on, and while I’m there pull out any home ed books and shelve them with the rest (might get rid of some of those too)
❗️Do one of my puzzles in a book

Hoping DH will take the toddler’s hints at going to the park and I’ll also get to finish watching the dvd I started the other day. And I need lunch as I didn’t have breakfast!

xmummy2princesx · 13/07/2020 12:05

That’s gr8 ur bathroom is finished bower! Thank u it has been gr8 seeing her. Sorry u didn’t sleep well.

Good list lane!

Happy Birthday foxes🎂🎉🎁

I’m sorry about ur dd zoo❤️ great list btw!

Thank u meg put lots of after Sunday’s on it and is better now. I luv this age he’s like a proper person but still a baby don’t want him 2 grow up lol.

I’m feeling rly drained 2day the kids are being rly needy and I just want 2 crawl back in2 bed.

Ta Da
❤️Made beds
🧡Got dressed
💛Breakfast
💚Washed bathroom rugs
💙Washed curtains in the boys room
💜Home bleugh
❤️S&S
🧡LOL
💛Made lunch (avo and banana purée 4 Sullivan)
💚Washed up from breakfast and lunch
💙Cleaned bathroom light

JigoloHarMegiddo · 13/07/2020 13:01

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for personal reasons.

Stilllivinginazoo · 13/07/2020 13:09
LittlemissAWOL · 13/07/2020 15:02

Happy birthday foxes 🎁

Ta-da's
🐷 fed DC boiled eggs and soldiers plus orange and pineapple
🐷 dusted bathroom
🐷 took down light fitting in bathroom, cleaned and put back up. Was a bloody nightmare to put back up. Also it has been dirty so long I thought the outer part of it was frosted...turns out it isn't 🙈
🐷 schoolwork
🐷 uploaded last weeks work for DS2&3
🐷 scrubbed cord of light switch in bathroom
🐷 checked time of online tutor session to find it started 15 mins later. Ran round tidying up a bit and brushing my hair and making sure me and DS3 were at least dressed on the top half (yeh I had pj bottoms on but she didn't know that 🤣)
🐷 online tutor session with DS4 with lots of technical issues 🤦‍♀️
🐷 made DC lunch 2 x ham sandwiches, babybel and 3 yogurts each. It was late because of tutor session so they were all starving apparently
🐷 cleaned dining table
🐷 more schoolwork
🐷 cleaned bathroom window sills
🐷 cleaned laptop and printer
🐷 bought bathroom scales because by some miracle despite having 3 takeaways this week I've managed to loose 6lb so I have decided I'm going to log what I eat on MFP and actually try properly to loose some weight. So far today I've only had 3 coffees 👍
🐷

TooStressyTooMessy · 13/07/2020 15:41

Happy birthday foxes BrewCakeFlowersWineSmile

Great news on bathroom Bower

Ta da:-
Zoom lessons x2
School thing for DD2
Takeaway Costa as a great for the girls (and me!)
15 mins sorting something for work
Unproductive 15 mins trying to get work emails sorted from home Angry.

Going to make a coffee now. Girls having some screen time so I am hoping to seize the time to start tea.

Cherry waves to everyone. Thanks for keeping the thread going KT!

JigoloHarMegiddo · 13/07/2020 16:10

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for personal reasons.

LaneBoy · 13/07/2020 16:30

Oh bugger. So I thought it was the stair rail they were doing this week but actually they will be looking at the bathroom etc to see what they can adapt.

I will now attempt to be a bit more thorough in my decluttering up there when the film has finished! (We are watching the king and the mockingbird.) Thankfully it’s not too awful up there really. But we now have to do the landing (where most of the toys are and the top of the Trofast is a death trap!). And they may need to look in the bedroom. Fuuuuuck.

ChicCroissant · 13/07/2020 17:07

Just skipping in to say happy birthday to foxes, my housecleaning has slowed down due to a stiff neck which I get from time to time. Only lasts a couple of days so I'm using it as a planning opportunity instead!

Will catch up with the thread properly later.

LittlemissAWOL · 13/07/2020 17:10

Not much else done other than schoolwork and made lasagna (domino job) and HM garlic bread for dinner. Had to wash a few dishes so we had something to eat off 🙈. Going to do the DC some ice cream cookie sandwiches for pudding then I'll get back to the next job on my to-do list which I think was cleaning skirting boards in bathroom.

DS3 teacher came round before to drop off the DC school reports which was nice because the rest are being posted but she said it seemed daft since we are only next door. DS3's could be describing a different child all about how well behaved he is and a pleasure to teach etc, 🤔 I didn't find it a pleasure to teach him at all 🤣 , DS 2s was fab, DS1 behaviour let's him down, 2 out of 3 ain't bad right 🤣

foxessocks · 13/07/2020 17:33

Thank you everyone, had a great day, we went to a garden centre and even went to the cafe! My mum and dad came over this afternoon and had some Pimm's with us so a good day all in all 😊

I am now very well stocked in cake, chocolates and gin so will be keeping the naughty corner well topped up Grin

LaneBoy · 13/07/2020 19:03

Finally got round to finishing the second list. Feeling quite out of sorts but mainly because I’m hungry 😳and got a bit stressed overthinking an email earlier.

So I need a kind third list I think!
❗️Eat a slice of granary toast and chocolate spread while watching Better Things
❗️Phone author (or try to anyway)
❗️Fill the charity donation collection bag (YAY!!!) with some unwanted clothes. I can put the correct size stuff aside for a friend’s DS at the same time.

Lisette1940 · 13/07/2020 19:20

zoo I don't know - if life is filled with joy then it will need to be unloaded and put away 🤔😁

Lisette1940 · 13/07/2020 19:21

We have a small wasps' nest in the garage. Someone is coming to remove it tomorrow.

Lisette1940 · 13/07/2020 19:30

lane I've just filled a bag with clothes that were too big for me. Very satisfying 😊

merryhouse · 13/07/2020 19:44

meg because it's not just a plateful, it's a Brexit-stash-style Emergency store-room with a heavy-duty lock and a password. Millions of years of evolution are working against us Grin

My sewing is just mending at the moment - I have got some cross-stitch but it's been sat for a couple of years now...

Hipy Papy Buthduth Bthuthduh Thuthdy foxes

TaDdddd...
s&s x2
lol
made bed
exercise class, shower etc
fed S2 early
made lunch, cut and froze rest of sandwich loaf
did Massive Shop
made chilli, washed up from H's making burgers
put recycling in bin ready to go out
made S2's sandwiches for tomorrow (he has school am, then is spending pm with The Girlfriend)

Back still hurts though appears to be neither affecting nor affected by the exercise class (fortunately). Slept better last night, except when someone's alarm went off. Took me a while to realise what it was, all jumbled up into my dream. Didn't want to move to see what time it was but it hadn't started getting light. H managed to sleep through it which I suppose is better than nothing...

Started my new jigsaw. Going to see how far I can get without examining the box lid (I'm still on the edges at the moment).

KTCluck · 13/07/2020 20:49

Sorry for being absent for most of the day. Had a very busy and frustrating day at work so I’m setting up camp in the naughty corner and not budging. I know I will regret having to sort the kitchen in the morning but I don’t care

Ta Das:
✅ LOL and s & s
✅ DLMS at work
✅ ate extensive amounts of cake.

Haven’t fully caught up yet, but happy birthday Foxes 🎂🍾🥳

OP posts:
TooStressyTooMessy · 13/07/2020 22:29

Meg, regarding your second question about having it all etc, this is a particular bug bear of mine. Answers (in my humble opinion only Grin): 1.Having It All is not possible. Not all at the same time anyway.

  1. Life Admin is a real thing. So I am absolutely with you in your questioning there.

KT, sorry you had a frustrating day.

Glad you had a nice birthday foxes.

Hope you get wasps nest sorted Lisette and well done to you and Lane on clothes sorting Smile.

Am midway through a school uniform sort out and it is at the stage of confusion at the moment!

Have had weird anxiety dreams the last two nights so can sympathise on the sleeping merry. One night I dreamt I had been redeployed back to intensive care at work but it was particularly stressful and unusual. The next night I dreamt that the kids were in school but it was weird hours and I got confused and lost and then forgot to pick up DD2 as I had gone on a girls’ night out instead Hmm. So doesn’t need a psychology expert to tell me I might be a little worried about the logistics or work, school and missing my friends and rare nights out Grin.

Off to decompress and watch rubbish telly.

EasilyDelighted · 13/07/2020 22:46

Evening, a belated Happy Birthday to Foxes, glad you had a nice day.

Mummy - my DCs are teens and still like a game of Pooh sticks.

Zoo - hope DD2 a bit better now, anxiety is such an awful thing.

Well, when I got hold of Dcat this morning her wound seemed to be healing nicely, all clean and tidy, she was eating well and playing as usual so we decided no vet visit was needed after all. I'll keep checking her though in case she scratches it open again.

Tada!

Not much. Work, dinner, went to meet a friend in the park, there's a coffee kiosk so we got a drink and walked round for 2 hours.

LaneBoy · 13/07/2020 22:47

ta da
🪁weigh in - lost over a pound, not really celebrating that as I’m still losing what I put on the last few weeks
🪁shower, hair
🪁home ed through the day - quiz went really well!
🪁reading
🪁changed ink cartridge
🪁printed, stapled and packed up manuscript
🪁wrote brief covering letter
🪁healthy lunch and rest watching the rest of the dvd and then doing a puzzle
🪁quick “sweep” of bookcases, grabbed some bits to recycle, gathered some home ed stuff and made a “might sell” pile separately
🪁caught up with a couple of sort-of-friends via email and text
🪁went through GC with DD1, wrote list of what she needs to do at school tomorrow as much of her stuff is saved on their computers
🪁moved everything off bathroom windowsill, threw away stuff like empty bottles and stuff we don’t use
🪁scrubbed bathroom door (mainly around the handles) and windowsill
🪁reminded DD1 to bag up the handmedowns she doesn’t want. Several times.
🪁phoned author
🪁packed clothes into donation bag and sorted others into bags for DS’ friend, and upcycling acquaintance
🪁messaged a couple of friends about whether they wanted specific items
🪁went through toddler toys a friend randomly gave us with the clothes (I would’ve said no thanks if I’d known) - whyyyy do people think it’s ok to give really manky stuff? I’m all for handmedowns believe me, and I am not fussy with condition generally, but there does come a point where it’s not a favour but a burden! I salvaged a couple of planes she can play with for a few days but then I’ll chuck those too
🪁edited tomorrow’s Tesco shop
🪁booked more Tesco deliveries, all using the Malibu trick. Chin chin!

Power of 3 has really helped today as I felt pretty grumpy and unmotivated at times but definitely got stuff done that I wouldn’t have if I’d done a massive to do list.

If I go to sleep now it’ll actually still be a comparatively early night, so, cherry waves Fledglings!

LaneBoy · 13/07/2020 23:18

I also just wanted to say that your salad with goats cheese sounds like my dream lunch. I’d never thought of having it with pomegranate! 😱

HungryHazelEyes · 13/07/2020 23:52

Happy birthday foxes 🍨🍰🎂🧁🍦🍷🍸🍹

LittlemissAWOL · 14/07/2020 01:00

Brilliant lists lane and merry.

I wouldn't have the faintest idea what to do with a wasps nest lisette. I would absolutely be leaving that to DH if it was me.

Sorry you've had a shit day KT.

Had a bit of a dash round after dinner so more ta-da's
🎓 cleaned I want to call them skirting boards but they're not like the pipe boxing but in the bathroom. I keep things on there. Anyway have the tiles on whatever that is called a wipe
🎓 bath mats, towels, flannel in wash
🎓 scrubbed bathroom floor
🎓 fixed a drawer whose front was hanging off
🎓 cleaned shower and glass
🎓 cleaned the toilet seat thingy DS3 uses
🎓 went round upstairs with rubbish bag collected rubbish and emptied bins. DS1 (after I'd asked if he had any rubbish) went to fill the bathroom bin which I'd just emptied so he got growled at. He had to walk right by the rubbish bag to get to the bin fgs
🎓dusted & polished littles room
🎓 sorted drawers littles room
🎓 stripped all beds (bigs did their own and remade)
🎓 flipped our mattress and put sheets on
🎓 have decided that I have too much washing to keep doing curtains so I'm going to hoover them instead to help with dust. Hoovered curtains in DC rooms. Can't do ours as I still haven't put them back up from over a week ago 🙈
🎓cleaned windows in DCs rooms
🎓 cleaned bath
🎓 polished our room
🎓 sorted bookcase in littles room
🎓 cleared some crap from top of drawers in our room
🎓 bleached bath toys
🎓 cleaned toilet
🎓 polished LR
🎓 sorted drawers and wardrobe in our room
🎓 cleaned windows and mirror in our room
🎓sorted toy boxes in littles room
🎓 encouraged bigs to do their room including under bed,in wardrobe, skirting boards etc.They did a really good job actually but we'll see if it's still like that in the morning
🎓 finished tidying littles room and properly hoovered under bed etc
🎓 went round whole house to make sure all toys/books/ games etc were put away
🎓 hoovered bigs room
🎓finished bathroom- windows, sink new mats etc in

And that's all.
Got my results from college today. Needed 18 merits and 27 distinctions and I got 45 distinctions 😱

Did go to bed a couple of hours ago but couldn't sleep so got up and had a bath but still wide awake so I'm going to write tomorrow's to-do list then read for a bit. DS3 has a bad dream so he's pinched my bed anyway.

KTCluck · 14/07/2020 06:20

There were some epic lists yesterday fledglings! Well done on the weight loss and your distinctions AWOL

Love the quote Zoo, hope you had a better night with DD last night Flowers

launchpad. I’ll be saving the mission for tomorrow, and will not be extending my flying to work thank you very much Grin

KCC - after my rubbish day yesterday (wasn’t that bad on the scale of bad days really, I’m just being dramatic), what’s your idea of a perfect day? Mine is the full day at the beach, warm enough to swim, with a picnic and ice cream, followed by a baby sitter and a posh meal and cocktails with DH or leave him at home and go with my friends

Ta da:
✅ last nights kitchen disaster zone sorted
✅ DD’s packed lunch
✅ LOL and clean stuff carried up

Catch you all later 👋

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