Swooping into September - Flylady fledglings assemble!

[MogTheSleepyCat]

First of all, a big thank you to SingToTheSky for leading us through the August thread, (you can park your mop and hang up your duster now)

If you are struggling with C.H.A.O.S. (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) and S.T.U.F.F. (Something That Undermines Family Fun) then this is the thread where we (loosely) follow the step-by-step Flylady housekeeping system (in our own, unique, relaxed style) with lots of support and chatter along the way.

The FlyLady link is here . Don't be put off by the twee language of the site – we all agree that the underlying system is very effective.

This little-and-often system is designed so that you can follow a series of steps and routines each day (which gradually become second nature) in zones of the house which are designated weekly; defining and minimising housework - which in theory should leave you with loads more time to do something more interesting instead.

At the same time it is intended to reduce that panicky "rabbit in headlights" feeling when you are overwhelmed and everything needs doing all at once. No problem if you miss a day or two; just jump right back in and it will all come around again next month.

It's up to you, but we advise not signing up to receive the Flylady e-mails as you will be swamped with marketing nonsense. All the information you need will be linked here on a daily basis.

From the first of the month, we will be following Flylady's steps and routines using a three-pronged approach (dependent on the stage everyone is at):

• start or repeat baby steps
• repeat baby steps + do 15 minutes a day decluttering in the current zone
• reinforce baby steps and do daily missions if you have finished decluttering.
• And if you are really enthusiastic and have finished decluttering - you can go on to detailed deep cleaning in each zone.

There are three key points to keep in mind throughout:

• No perfectionism allowed - this is harder than you would imagine and many of us on this thread struggle with this one.
• You are never behind - just start where you are and anything you do is progress.
• It didn't get into a mess overnight, it won't get tidy over night - accept it will take time to get on top of things and you will be happier.

If you are new; then trying to spend 15mins decluttering daily and doing the baby steps is a good way to start. Some of us (mentioning no names) can have scary looking ‘ta-da’ lists but don't let that worry you. Do what you can, anything is better than nothing, and don't judge yourself against others.

If all else fails, a + the power of three technique + a bit of support on here can work wonders.

Here's the launch pad for more experienced fledglings.

Don’t let it put you off if we appear a bit cliquey, we really aren’t. Some of us have been on here for years – but all lurkers, intermittent returnees, oldies and newcomers very, very welcome.

SingToTheSky put together a glossary of the many weird and might-seem-a-bit-cliquey terms. We have been going a long time but we always love newbies - hopefully this list will help you settle in.

KCC - the Keep Calm Corner, invented by our lovely Fledgling SC back in March, where the OP posts nice diverting links, memes, questions etc to distract us from the pandemic.

Ta Da - instead of a to do list (which is of course welcome too) we often post our achievements, with accompanying jazz hands, in order to celebrate the positives, however small they seem! Sometimes if we want to share an embarrassed giggle/commiserations we also post a ta didn’t - the stuff we didn’t get done!

BRC - Bag/Box of Random Crap. These are usually formed when we are panic tidying and shove anything in “to sort later” which is also known as a stash and dash .

Power of Three or PO3 - the idea that if you’re feeling really unmotivated/overwhelmed by your to do list, you just choose three things to do, and then post when you’ve done them.

DLMS - didn’t lose my shit - in other words, somehow stayed relatively calm despite a stressful day!

SS/S&S - Swish and Swipe - this is one of the key parts of the morning routine, a quick once over of the bathroom.

And a few basics:
LOL - load of laundry
WM - washing machine
TD - tumble dryer
DW - dishwasher
HSL - hallway, stairs, landing

won you are too kindit doesn't feel like that...

Tada
*Scrub bath/dehair plughole
*Scrub toothpaste encrusted sink
*Scrub toothpaste spit encrusted mirror
*4 more loads wash done,dry,fold and put away
*Continue locating dining table-its the tricky don't know where to put stuff stuff left(3/4 clear)
*Had hour nap
*Decluttered last couple multipack of starmix and last jammie Dodgers
*Sort hall clutter

Dd2 stressing so just off for walk walk over nature reserve which I could do without,but if she doesn't go will be fretful and I won't get to sleep later

Welcome Won! Glad you decided to join us. We don’t think you’re weird. I lurked for a bit too.

Bower I was quite pleased with my kitchen blitz this morning but you’ve excelled yourself! Sorry DH is being a grump. At least it sounds like you’ve had some peace.

I motivated myself to get going again. Put the LOL in, carried some bits upstairs and convinced DD to help me clear up the play doh. She wanted me to play for a bit after that, and I lost my momentum. We’ve had frozen pizza for tea, and then I was going to blitz the rest of my to dos while I ran a nice deep bath. Unfortunately it appears we have developed a plumbing problem and there is no hot water and only a trickle of cold coming from the bath taps. So I’ve poured a gin.

Oh and I did make the banana loaf, which given my current mood I am probably going to consume before bed

Lovely first post won and welcome. I hope this doesn't cause worry zoo but there was a strike recently at the Jammie Dodgers production plant. You might want to stock up supplies...

Won - welcome, that's quite a compliment to our thread! It is such a lovely place to hang out. There are (as you have gathered) quite a few of us with DCs with SNs, I have a 16yo with ASD just starting 6th form. We considered agricultural college too.

Thanks everyone for lovely welcome!
Laughing along already....actually Lisette I did panic a little at Jammy Dodger news last week - ds has one in lunchbox each day ( so gathering a few packs in the cupboard)-.
EasilyDelighted, great your ds has managed sixth form. Not so much agricultural college for ds, it's a college for disabled young people where they do horticulture, animals, horses, and also do practice in shop/cafe and reception. Great for him at this time, he's only entry level in education so no education stress now ( thank goodness!)
Today ta das, emptying/ removing /cleaning aquarium from ds room ( last fishy died).Not sorry - was one of those gifts he liked to have but not participate in, so was our job to clean!!
Ironing done, and some pots planted with daff bulbs.
In awe of the massive kitchen cleanings...furtively looks at kitchen which only had a quick lick yesterday, cos ran out if steam!

Good evening everyone and welcome to Won - this is a lovely thread, do join in.
Great to hear from you Zoo, sorry to hear you have been having such a rough time,

I am a crappy thread leader - so sorry about forgetting links yesterday and today.... Work at the surgery has been hard this week, managing without half my management team so lots of extra work to do.

DH was an absolute star today - left me to sleep until past midday! And when I came downstairs the kitchen was cleaned and he had taken the winter duvets to the cleaners.

Ta Da
Dismantled and packed up garden gazebo (which has been our home-office during covid)
Dismantle and packed up hammock
Chicken chores
LOL done, hang out to dry and then brought in once dry
Helped DH hang four pictures
Hoovered lounge
Made beds
C25K - week two run two
Cooked dinner
DS bedtime routine.

Links for Sunday 13th September

We are in Zone 2: the Kitchen

Spend 15 minutes decluttering here before moving onto detailed cleaning.

No missions as it is the weekend.

Baby step 13 is pick one of the missions and do it Except you don’t have to! It’s the weekend!!!

Habit of the month is Before Bed Routine

The focus for Sundays is to renew your spirit

TaDa
take stamps and coins to church hall - yes but they were totally uninterested
gym for weights? - yes
make soup - yes
make Sumsink Nice - yes
finish report - errrrrr
check all school emails - well kinda
ring hairdresser - did online
make boiler appointment - yes
make optician's appointment - yes

Well that's not bad. People doing things online does make my life so much easier.

Made a walnut and ginger cake, and added the ginger syrup to the whipped cream as a filling.

Also did lots of washing up, and a load of laundry. Watched Up.

ToMorrow
do the report (I promised the administrator I'd have it done by the end of the weekend)
ironing

Sigh. Done nothing this evening except think, and overthink. It’s not been a productive day. Cheering myself up though by showing DS the first Black Books episode and enjoying his giggles (I’ll be so sad when his voice breaks and he loses his childlike laugh!)

So my friend mentioned yesterday that her DD, my DD1’s home ed bestie, is going to college next year. They now take from 14 to do a few GCSEs plus vocational stuff. We mentioned it to her today and she’s actually tempted. If she wants to switch TBH I’d be pretty happy overall, I’m just so sad she’s even considering it - she was so ready to go back, she was so excited and loved it at first but it’s worn her down already. We’ve always said what happens next is her decision (that is, even if she hated it we wouldn’t withdraw her - it was different when she was 7!) but I really thought it wouldn’t be relevant as she would be ok. Either way she’s got the rest of year 9 so we said she could get through this year and decide, but she actually said she wasn’t even sure she would last that long. 😭 I’m sure she wouldn’t actually jump ship yet but for her to even say that she must be feeling really awful - she really was so excited to be back, she missed proper school dreadfully in lockdown and was so happy to be back just a week ago. She doesn’t deserve this. 🤬 I’m so sad that the experience she was looking forward to for years has ended up being so stressful already.

Mog you're doing just fine as thread leader. Don't stress 😍

Mog - you're doing just fine. September is a full-on month and no one minds a few missed links happy to chat instead of following any of them. If you'd like someone else to post for a few days, just say, there's plenty of us that can step in.

Sing - that is a shame about DD, but how mature she sounds, she's clearly able to understand her own feelings and think about her future. Maybe in another week or two she'll feel more settled again, the nasty ex BF thing must have rattled her.

Bower - how's your shoulder now? I had an impingement a couple of years ago which physio sorted out but it's back again these last couple of weeks, not much fun.

Zoo - welcome back, I'm sorry things are so hard again, Won is right that you are a giant of a woman (not literally!) and an amazing mum to your DCs.

Won - mine is at special school, he has Asperger's plus a few other impairments. He has a few hours work a week with the business of another school family.

Tada!

Click and collect from Sainsburys
Three LOL, line dried
Ironing (school shirts)
Hot spots (all over the place)
Weeding in the garden
Took DS to work and back
Allotment to pick raspberries
Shopping - bought more masks now DCs need them every day.
Watched Last Night of the Proms

Mog you are doing fabulously. No stress.
Sing maybe DD is just in that settling in period? Any change, however desired, is not always easy. See how she feels in few weeks' time.
ED I watched the last night of the proms too! They've done well, especially given they were working with like a fifth of the usual orchestra numbers.

Thanks lovelies. I’m really proud of her - it must take an awful lot for her to even say it’s not as good as she hoped. She’s changed a lot since starting. I am hoping once they’ve settled back in it’ll be better (she was at school during most of lockdown but there were only about ten kids so it’s still different now). I just said it’s an option so I’m going to quietly research it (the 14-16 provision is quite new there) while she carries on with school as normal and we keep trying to get them to sort the issues. I must say they’re far better than the junior school so far, they have decent SN support and understanding too and that’s not to be sneezed at!

(I mean since starting in December btw, a lot of shit happened in just one term!)

Phoning on Monday is on the to do list.

ED thanks it is aching as I read. I seem to have managed to get it back in quite a bit but not fully. So can’t raise it at shoulder level or more. Going to try and get an appointment on Tuesday. It is the left one so I managed today but everything was slow so took me hours. My right shoulder is permanently out a bit.

I also did one LOL and cleaned the bathroom.
DH told me the Thai curry was good. Well he said it tastes a bit like a Thai curry I said that is because it isa Thai curry. We didn’t talk much more then we watched SilentWitness but he got fed up with it.

The kitchen looks lovely I just need to do the ironing. I didn’t get the floor washed as I was too tired. I am going to make more effort this coming week.
Summerhouse tomorrow as it is Sunday. I will sit and sort. I might start my new book I finished the other one yesterday. It was quite good.

Hope you get an appt bower

Signing in from the small hours going to try and sleep now though.

ta da
🤯lots of planning and resource finding for new joint lessons (DS and bestie)
🤯booked slot for tesco, DH did the actual order though
🤯talked to friend about college
🤯bathed toddler and sorted her messy hair

Not the best day TBH and loads of organising to do tomorrow to prepare for the week ahead. I might try and get out for a bit too.

sing I'm sorry things have been so hard for dd

Been scrolling phone over an hour.dark mornings are not inviting to get up,but my furry overlords are now miaowing impatiently about the lack of service in the caff!
Today I need to
Break back of washing piles
Sort kitchen
Finish sort bathroom
Plan menu and food shop
Plan something for D's educationally
Check diary for this week's appointments

Tada
❤️Wash in
❤️Fed cats
❤️Harpic lav

Kitchen
cupboard one-
❤️Sorted dry fruit/nut supplies

Morning all

Yes zoo i did go a bit AWOL but not for as long as you i don't think! Sorry things are so hard there atm.

It appears that during lockdown / summer holidays i forgot that i am the brain of 7 people and must do all thinking / organising for all 7 of us. So i am now a bit brain fried. The man child is also being a twat.

On the bright side we survived first week back in school ✏ and we have a one year old!

There are atleast 5 suspected Covid cases in DC4s class so i am not holding out much hope there!

Back to work this week 😑

My GCSE course starts monday 📕 and i have received all my uni materials although that doesn't start for 4 weeks i would like to get a head start (somehow) I have read the intro stuff for one module, but still need to do the other

Sing sorry to hear DD is struggling

Bower i hope your shoulder is ok!

I have been really struggling (physically) on the (uphill) school run, i must be really unfit now

Oh and welcome to new people 👋

To do (PO3)

💙 email gcse woman
🧡 renew bt stuff
💜 put whites wash in dryer

Yikes that four cases....there's rumour that one in dd2 year.id turns out to be true be bloody hard getting her in

Morning. Productive start Zoo!

Hope the shoulder is better this morning Bower.

That You are amazing looking after 5 kids (plus man child), studyingx2 and working. Hopefully the suspected cases turn out to be just usual coughs and colds. That’s what we suspect with my relative but obviously wouldn’t take the risk. We did have one confirmed case at a different school last week but no other children seem to have caught it fingers crossed.

Ta Das:
✅ living room straightened
✅ DW set off
✅ breakfast for me, DD and cats. I’ve left DH in bed as he was up early yesterday and has to leave for work at 5am tomorrow.
✅ found DD’s doll’s bib that she could not possibly survive without (under sofa)
✅ cleaned sticky finger prints from glass panes in kitchen door. DH’s not DD’s

Another quiet day for us as still no result. I must get DD out in the garden though, she’s only had 10 minutes of fresh air since Thursday night . We have beef for Sunday lunch and I still need to clean the living room and hall. No work tomorrow so ironing can wait another day.

✅ renewed home insurance (Forgot that on precious post)
✅ LOL in
✅ worried about sound of water trickling in utility
✅ Hung out last night’s LOL
✅ worried about huge puddle outside utility door
✅ Fixed plumbing, trickling and puddle issue in one fell swoop - turned off the hose DH had left on for who knows how long .

Ta Da

💙 email gcse woman ✔
🧡 have argument with bt ✔
💜 put whites wash in dryer✔
💚 wash on ✔

We are not isolating (yet) as no cases confirmed as positive. Two of the class have tests today, others waiting on results.

Hi Zoo, hi That! Glad you are back! Sorry you guys have soo much going on.

Hi Up, glad you found the dolls bib, its funny what the little one cant live without.

Hi won, welcome- its lovely what you wrote.

Sing- sorry to hear DD is finding it tough.

We survived getting 2 fraggles to fulltime school. If anyone shows me a piece of school uniform i will start crying....

Zoo, My kitchen is possibly worse then when I joined this thread. Its messy with things not put away so that is todays job. I might have to set up my laptop in the kitchen- Lovejoy tv series on....then hope I have the nerve to stay there and sort it.

Both my 2 are sneezing and little fraggle has a slightly raised temperature. Does that mean they stay at home?