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

We had a lovely day in Stratford today. The weather was great as I was worried it’d be awful. We stopped in at my dads on the way back, he’s bought some clothes for DS4. He’s always wanted a boy, he’s never treated me or my sisters any differently because of it and I know he loves us but I think he’d have loved a son especially as there’s mostly girls in our family. So he’s absolutely chuffed to have four grandsons, they’re spoiled rotten!.

Happy birthday to your DS’s hazel and foxes!🎉🎉🎉

dev welcome! I do zones like this,
Zone 1: entrance and upstairs landing
Zone 2: kitchen and dining area
Zone 3: bathroom and box room
Zone 4: master bedroom and DC’s bedroom (all 3 share)
Zone 5: living room
I do my garden when I feel like it

Mc my DF has starting teaching my sisters chess, they’re really enjoying it. I don’t have a clue where to start.

mog yep! This is my 4th now. I’m quite excited, I just hope he’s healthy and that he’s a he😂. We had an early scan which said he was a boy so I’ve not worried about clothes or anything as we have hand me downs, but I’m worried they’re going to say he’s a she and I’ll have to buy some stuff!

bower I’m sorry your shoulder is sore. Your cottage pie sounds amazing.

Definitely mc! It’s all counting downwards from there, I’m just hoping I don’t go overdue.

upholder Aww DH sounds great sorting everything out today!

sing oh I’m so sorry about DD. That’s just awful, is it a group of people on the chat or just one or two? Can she leave the group chat?.

Thanks howl yes she has left the chat and blocked some people.

Loving the teen years so far 🙄 gaaaah! I know school will likely bring up some new anxieties but hopefully overall she will just be happy to be back to some sort of normality and the excitement of new lessons (the dance teaching was one of the main reasons she wanted to go there!) and also all the extra physical activity will tire her out a bit so she can sleep a bit better.

She’s on a call with her really lovely bestie now, phone would normally be in the kitchen by now but I trust this friend to actually cheer her up. I’m just going to take her meds up and check how she is as I've just seen the time 😳 I’m a bit too wired to sleep now so I’ll finally start some printing I think.

Just added calendar check and reminder setting to tomorrow’s list as well.

sing teens can be so horrible, bless her. I hope she feels a bit better talking to her bestie. I saw when I was reading through that she has a physical activity most days so hopefully that perks her up a bit x

DS2 is in bed with us as his belly hurts because he ‘feels like he needs to trump’😂. It won’t be long until the other 2 wake up and realise that they’re missing out on the fun and come in with us too!. I moan but I’ll miss it when they’re too big to share our bed (or not, I still get in with my mum when she stays over😂)

TaDa for both me and dd.
We have sorted the whole of her office, just finished.
8 bags of paper rubbish, including artwork, sorted all stuff for school and packed.
All her music catalogued and important stuff put in those black cover things.
Off to school tomorrow and we're always last minute.

Thank you for the birthday wishes for DS, he had a great day. After his friends went home we got ready for a wedding for my coworker. Wedding went well and he made new friends.

Ta Das:
Friday night
🎁 Wrapped presents for DS
🎁 Played laser tag for DSs birthday party
🎁 Got as many blankets out as possible for a temp bed on the living room floor for the boys to sleep on
🎁 Picked DD up from work at 1am 😴 and was finally able to sleep at 1:30am.

Saturday

🎈 Made boys pancakes for breakfast
🎈 Made 2 lots of frosting for the cake, chocolate buttercream and German chocolate, assembled cake. Pictures attached.

🎈 Cleaned up the kitchen and started DW

🎈 Dropped boys off after presents and cake
🎈 Swept living room and kitchen
🎈 Got cleaned up and ready for the wedding, including ironing shirts for DH and DS.

I'm on a 4 day weekend right now, back to work on Wednesday. It's labor day over here so Monday everyone else is home as well. After talking to DH I think we will finally get a few little jobs done around the house that need it.

Sing I'm glad to hear he is exbf! It sounds like your DD is having a hard time right now with everything. Hopefully things will get better for her soon.
foxes I'm really going to need to find the motivation soon to look up some workouts, this past week has taught me that I'm not as fit as I once was.

Oh I forgot a ta da, from Friday lunchtime. I spent 20 minutes of it cleaning up poop from my ILs dog! It was so nasty, and not how I wanted to spend my lunchtime.

Falling asleep now. Hopefully I'll catch up a little better tomorrow.

I have been feeling like crap. Having really bad headaches where i just have to go to sleep because they make me feel sick. I do not know why

Oh no That. I get those occasionally, usually triggered by strong fragrance (some air fresheners do it to me) - could it be anything like that?

I don't think its air freshener. I am now wondering if its my anti bac spray though as changed that recently and it does stink

that open window and let fresh air in and cease and desist with cleaner. Hopefully that will help. Mind you I had two headaches recently and think it is as related to cleaning the shower. Could be weather related either. Landscaper unfortunately was enthusiastic about inserting sleepers into garden which was not what I had in mind. He wasn't really listening to me and I had asked if he had some plant knowledge before he came out. Turns out he knows nothing. I think I need a gardener - I wanted an extended bed with tree bark to replace the fabric and stone arrangement but he kept talking about sleepers and stones! Nice man but he went off on his own tangent!

How close to menopausal are you that? Possibly that?

I am only 32 so i hope a fair few years away!

Theses are my girls Bower :
In their pecking order, Delta (white Light Sussex) Echo (black French Marans) Blue (grey Blue Rhode) and Charlie (brown Heritage Skyline).

They are so full of personality and their antics keep me endlessly entertained!

Oh Sing your poor DD . Her school does sound great with all the dancing at least.

Lisette, it definitely sounds as if you need someone who actually knows about plants!

Belated birthday wishes for your DS Hazel.

Hope you feel better soon That. Would be worth contacting GP if they don’t clear up / you can’t find a trigger. Have you had your eyes tested fairly recently (I know unlikely you have done with COVID restrictions)?

merry, a stamp collection actually sounds really useful.

KCC, I plan out my days in my calendar and also watch telly. Plus started a tap class pre-lockdown. Hoping it can restart soon in a socially distanced way. I realised during lockdown that even if we have nothing going on I like planning things out. A desperate attempt to feel in control I suppose even if it is only writing down meals and zoom calls.

Ta da:-
Calendar check
Meal plan
DH is helping DD1 with homework
I’m at gymnastics waiting for DD2 to come out.
Asked to be notified when a top for DD2 comes into stock that we realised is too small and is now out of stock.

To do:-
Help with Sunday lunch (DH will make)
DD1 homework. Started yesterday so hopefully will not be too painful.
Family phone calls etc.

Afternoon all! I had a crap day yesterday. The DC’s dad said he was definitely coming over for tea and then he wanted to take the kids out (he can’t take them out without me) so I’d have to come along. So I got myself and the DC dressed and waited by the door for him for an hour. He then called to say there was traffic, which is fine he is coming from the centre of the city. He ended up turning up at 7pm, we had been waiting since 12. The kids go to bed at 8, they’d had their tea they were no way in hell going out. So I let him put them to bed and then told him that if he turns up late one more time without a very valid excuse then I will be taking him to court. I hope it kicks him up the arse a bit but I know it won’t, he just doesn’t seem to care about making an effort with them anymore but will take them out once a month to take pictures with them and post it all over Facebook so people think he’s dad of the century🙄. And to top it all off I started my period today!. Sorry for my rant!

merry is the boys any good? I’ve been planning on watching it when the kids are in bed but not sure if it’s my cup of tea.

mc the playroom usually looks worse than that!!

bower that cake looks amazing, I’m sorry about your shoulder.

Welcome lurch

Congratulations on your pregnancy howl!

dev my zones are like this,
Zone 1: entrance and landing
Zone 2: Kitchen and dining area
Zone 3: The bathroom and both kids rooms
Zone 4: My bedroom
Zone 5: Living room and playroom

mog that’s like our playroom, I just let them do what they want in there. I’ll clean it once a week, I can’t deal with tidying it every night for it to be a bomb site again before 7am. I was wondering if your username is inspired by that ad.

Happy birthday to foxes and hazels DS’s for yesterday.

upholder can you send your DH this way? I need someone to sort my house out.

sing oh your poor DD, teens are so horrible sometimes. I hope she’s feeling better this morning.

that I hope your head gets better soon.

KCC I like to read and have a long bath. I generally like reading history books, I’m fascinated by it. But I will read almost everything.

I did no flying yesterday due to the crap with my ex and I’m at mums for lunch today so probably won’t get up to much until tomorrow.

anorange I'm not really the best person to ask about The Boys - I'm not actually watching it myself! It does have some decent eye candy Every now and again a conversation grabs my attention and I start to get invested, so on that basis I should probably say it's good. And it's nice to have a superheroes backstory that doesn't involve the Nazis (seriously Marvel, it was seventy years ago, at some point you will have to let go).

I don't have the mental power to properly watch this kind of series: H has recently watched Spooks, Line of Duty, The 100, American Gods and The Expanse, and is currently working through Preacher and The Handmaid's Tale, and what I've caught from the next room hasn't made me regret avoiding them! No desire to watch Breaking Bad either. And even Lovely David hasn't made me want to watch Broadchurch.

I like things like Dr Who, Star Trek, Agents of Shield and Lucifer. Oh and I would probably have enjoyed watching The Hustle properly (there were a couple of episodes when I came in and sat down in order to catch the end).

Oh, practically every character appears to have violently killed someone - not all of them by mistake. Except maybe the cute young woman.

orange he arrived at 7pm? 😲😤😠 And you had to manage dc's expectations all day?! Really not on. I hope you're rewarding yourself with a cup of tea and a few biccies.

Ah that you aren't of my vintage then. I had regular periods up to January then I got that weird fluey infection that lasted a month until February. Hot flushes in the morning since and poor DH is riding the rollercoaster of my emotions. Exercise seems to help. One period in March but a barren wasteland since. Heigh ho. Hope your head is better today

Ta Da for today:
🎉3 aquariums cleaned and maintenance done
🎉Bathroom cleaned
🎉LOLx4
🎉Hoovered upstairs and downstairs
🎉 Nails sorted (whilst sitting in front of the telly)
🎉Legs epilated

Now sofa time!

Hello! Hoping to rejoin you this month. I couldn't really keep up with the threads during lockdown but now that DS1 has started school, things should be a bit more settled. I am surprised at how much time I have with one at school just in the morning so far and the other one napping in the afternoon. I thought they entertained each other well and I would lose time to needing to occupy them more. Turns out that they play really nicely solo and I don't spend as much time resolving disagreements, plus they both like helping me so I can still get on with things.

I feel like I kept up with daily routines and focuses ok in the meantime, plus some decluttering of visible mess, but not the missions or any of the bigger tasks we had planned for the house (although, we did well with things we had planned for the garden in the hot days of the early summer). I remember that just before I dropped off the thread we were supposed to be moving upstairs rooms around so DS1's boxroom nursery became a study/visitor bedroom, DS1 and DS2 moved into the bigger, very cluttered spare bedroom and we got our bedroom to ourselves again but then we had to set up DH a work from home office overnight and could only do that in the room I wanted the boys to go in. We have only just started the move round today by emptying the boxroom of DS1's nursery furniture and setting up a futon and DH's desk in there! The boys will sleep in our room while I pack up all the clutter in their new room and try to find someone locally who wants the nursery furniture and our bookshelves but at least now I can get in that room during the day.

Now I'm hoping to get the boys' room ready and do better at the missions and decluttering stuff that's in cupboards rather than just things I can see all the time.

I hope you are all well and that the start of the new school year is going nicely for those who have children at school, plus good luck to those whose children are starting tomorrow.

Links for Monday 7th September

This week we move into Zone 2: the Kitchen

Spend 15 minutes decluttering here before moving onto detailed cleaning.

The first kitchen mission is to clean your small appliances Decrumb the toaster, do a proper clean of the microwave etc.

Our seventh baby step is to pick out your clothes for tomorrow This is an excellent habit to add to you before bed routine. I get DS’s clothes ready too, right down to underwear, shoes and socks.

Habit of the month is Before Bed Routine

Monday focus is the beloved [snort] home bleugh Essentially spending 10 minutes each on seven key areas of housework: hoovering, mopping, dusting, polishing, changing linens, empty bins and chuck old papers.

I will be the first to hold my hand up and say I never do the Monday home-bleugh. Too much going on for a start, it’s not my rubbish collection day, I always change my bed sheets on a Saturday and towels on a Tuesday, and frankly, I work through the other jobs as and when I can fit them in.

I can’t be the only one?!

What bonnie hens Mog. I split the home bleurgh up too. Upstairs one day, downstairs another, and sheets are a Sunday or my week day off depending on how manky they seem.

Orange. How awful for you and your DC . Complete pisstake by their dad.

Hope the headache is gone That.

Good to have you back Cineraria!

Mc you’ve been a busy bee.

I haven’t been very busy at all today. In fact I’ve spent a fair amount of time in the naughty corner, so my ta da list is looking a bit sparse.

✅ LOL
✅ pile of ironing
✅ evening routine done
✅ Sunday night planning.

I seem to have pissed my MIL off this morning over her excessive buying for DD (asked her not to this weekend when she wanted to take her to the shops, as behaviour hadn’t been great and she’s bought loads the last few weeks. I wasn’t rude or confrontational or banning her from ever buying anything again ). She’s great 99% of the time but every now and then something small seems to annoy her and we get silent treatment for a week or so. I don’t mind, I just crack on til she comes round, but it was difficult to explain to DD why she couldn’t see her. Felt “because she’s being a stroppy mare” probably wasn’t appropriate . We did manage a lovely family walk via the ice cream van this afternoon which cheered her up. Considering a glass of wine before bed though.

Stressy I also enjoy planning as a way to unwind and de-stress.

Lisette sorry to hear the landscaper wasn’t what you had hoped.

Wellies I have an alarm on my fitbit that buzzes on my wrist therefore not disturbing DH at all but I ignore it, set subsequent iPhone alarms and disturb poor DH every 10 mins til I can drag myself up

Lisette that's a pity about the landscaper.
Mog I do my bleugh by room, the exception is hoovering and mopping (once I get the hoover/steam mop out, I just do the whole lot/as much as I have the will to do).
Upholder she will come around. I am glad ice cream therapy helped!