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

Mog I like The Archers too, and Farming Today, and anything about the countryside really. I tend to binge-listen when I'm on my own, for company and to drown out all the rubbish that rattles round my head. Also plain old-fashioned story-telling from Librivox.

merry I might give it a watch. I like a mix of what you and your DH like so it might be quite good, I feel a bit lost as I don’t have anything I’m properly watching. I’m re starting life on Mars but I know what happens so it isn’t necessarily the same. I do like a good northern man though and there’s plenty of them in life on Mars, so that’s getting me through the colder nights😂.

lisette he’s awful, we broke up when DS was 3 months old and he just hasn’t bothered since. He goes great for a while then gets a new girlfriend and doesn’t care until they break up.

How old are your DS’s cineraria?

upholder a pisstake is the best way to describe him. I could understand if there was a real reason but there just isn’t!. It’s so frustrating having to keep on a happy face for the DC and make excuses for him. Sorry about MIL, the silent treatment would really frustrate me.

wellies I second the fit bit.

DC have woke up and are both in with me. They’ll be up in a few hours and then work again for a week!

Finally falling into bed, hardly the sensible start to the new academic year we wanted. DD1 really stressed (my sitting in peace and quiet in town didn’t happen either) poor kid. And Cagletini is under the weather so won’t be going to nursery yet anyway. Sort of ready for DS to be back to HE, not as much as I’d hoped, but looking at it really there’s enough for a gentle start back. House is a tip and I only just managed to clear the HE shelf as I’d planned to do back in, what, June?! 😳😂

Night all.

Good luck with getting back into the swing of things with HE sing I'm sure things will get better around the house once you're back into routine. Hope DD finds it less stressful once she's back at school, and that cagletini is feeling better soon.

orange good for you for not talking bad to the DC about their dad. They will see it all in good time and they will know who was there for them 100% of the time. That was really shitty of him though so feel free to rant away on here, or might make you feel better.

zoo I hope you are doing okay!

Up Hopefully MIL will see your side soon and stop acting like a child. Maybe she needs some other ideas on what she can do with DD. Does she do anything else with her other than shop?

I've had a fairly full day again today.
🍁 Skyped mum
🍁 Grocery pickup ordered and picked up.
🍁 3 LOLs.
🍁 made blondies to take to a BBQ.
🍁 went to BBQ and saw people we haven't seen in months. It was nice to get back together again.

🍁 Came home early from BBQ to start working on dinner.

It feels like I had a busier day than that, although I know I liked through my tea shelf in my pantry and discovered tea with BBE date as far back as 2011. Clearly I don't drink it!

First task of the day: phone up sick for Cagletini - she puked in the night (although it was more phlegmy than puke apparently... she’s not coughing though?!). So definitely not going until Wednesday at the earliest. She’s told me in her tiny toddler voice that she feels much better :o but is still subdued watching Little Einsteins. DS isn’t up yet which is good as I haven’t actually finished putting the work together even for today so I’m currently arranging aaaaaaall the angles work into two books to bind. Loads more printing to do today as well.

It really is his loss orange. It must be very frustrating for you.

The outside of the house is being cleaned at the moment. Then I can get the facade painted. We have decided to leave the back garden until the spring. It's untidy but I'll live with it. The people who are here are going to clean the patio for me so we can create a little oasis there from which we can view the glorious weedy wild of the rest of the garden with grassless bald patches and molehills plus the rotting decking area at the end of the garden which the unfortunate landscaper put his foot through.

Meanwhile inside the house it's the kitchen zone so I might wash down the cupboard doors. I'm meant to be doing the home cleaning hour today but it's hit and miss for me too! I will change the beds and empty the bins and do a quick swish and swipe. I am working today so will have to squeeze it into lunchtime.

Cherry waves to all fledglings ( welcome to all newbies - cherry waves is an autocorrect of cheery waves and was brought to us by SC many threads ago.

I'm sorry to hear about Cagletini. I hope she is feeling much better. I remember babysitting for a little 3 year old girl (who is 30 now - goodness!) and she used to announce if she had a cold - 'I'm not at all well!')

Have you tried Phoenix comics wellies they put a load of their regular features into books. DS loves bunny vs monkey and evil emperor penguin.

Those juggler emojis you’re using as bullet points are far too relatable 😫

Unfortunately lisette a few months ago she worked out she could sweetly say “a biscuit would make me feel better” 🥺 🤣

I can tell she’s not quite right yet as she’s not rampaging all over the place, but she’s a lot better than last night at least.

oh the little rogue! I'm glad she's a little bit better.

House is sparkling outside but our painter can't do the facade job so it's a mad rush to find a new painter this late in the year.

Right I am stopping Wednesday with today. Ok.

Mog hens are lovely. My friend used to have Marans. She said they were great layers. I would love a pair of Wyandotte’s but I haven’t seen any for sale near here except one cockerel.

I am sick of people making appointments and not keeping them. Currently waiting for the chimney sweep.

Why can’t people phone or text if they aren’t coming. The number of times this year that we have made arrangements or booked items and it has been agreed and not followed through. We are currently wait for tiles( potter) order one year ago and a coal and log stores booked in Feb/March. I want to scream.

Then there is work. I want to scream about that too.
I spent hours listing and rewriting stuff this morning I am so so sick of it.

That's very frustrating Bower - I've some small sense of how you're feeling. You just want people to show up and to be able to tick stuff off the neverending list.

Bower

That must be so frustrating, I hate this myself. here's so much you could be doing rather than sitting in waiting.

I've done very little today, I'm so naughty. I was up but not dressed to shoes, still had slippers on.

I've tidied the medicine cupboard, cleaned the fridge, cleared some clutter from the kitchen.
Made my bed, no laundry today as wet and meant to be nicer tomorrow.

Then I was going to clean the bathroom but made the monumental mistake of logging on ancestry, why do I do it? Have been there for the rest of the day.
So, I'm stopping to prep and make tea, then will do evening routine before settling down to more work on my tree.
My excuse is I will use the info in future paid work, hopefully.

Devlesko slippers count as shoes I think! Whatever it is about waiting in for someone I just can't relax. It's not the same as a normal day.

I know exactly what you mean.
You daren't start anything needing more than 5 mins in case they turn up.

Sing
I hope your dd is finding it easier now. Kids can be so cruel, there's a past student at dd school who managed to get the numbers of new girls starting, as they all had an induction day before lockdown.
She is telling them all sorts of lies about dd, even though she's left the school now.
I told her to block the girl and that the new girls would soon see how the other past student was making stuff up. Mine is very popular, I wish she wasn't tbh.

He arrived at 4:20pm so late but very pleasant and had a young uni student with him. They were done by 4:50🤩so a pair of star in the end. I was mainly cross because it keeps happening and we really needed some shopping. I have no butter or margarine. DH went to the garage to buy some bread🙄and came back with two baguettes and some crisps.
Two fire engines have gone past with lights and sirens as they got to our house. Not good. If they had been here they might have jumped on.

No flying because I am wrung out from “stuff” I will do twice as much tomorrow. I may do some flying in the kitchen now as I don’t have to cook. Reheating cottage pie.
Didn’t do LOL as it is wet but forecast sunny tomorrow so may as well wait.

Hope Zoo is alright does anyone know. Sorry no personals because I have now forgotten who said what - interruptions doesn’t glance in the direction of DH 😱 oh no I wouldn’t.

Off to shove cottage pie in oven.

Morning all!

Yes I know... but I have had a hangover so am just starting to feel human again

We learnt canasta last night (I played it once or twice aged about 11 but had forgotten almost all, others not played before). S1 and I won, but (apart from one minor oversight) that was entirely due to chance. Then we sat and chatted for quite a while and went to bed about 12:30. Total damage two parsnip sherries, a bottle of wine, two Baileys and an espresso Martini (so a small headache and a bit of langour was quite a good result really).

H managed to get up briefly to say good morning to S2 off to the gym, and I managed to be up when he left for school (period 3 start on Mondays... but I bet he ends up having a tuba lesson early).

Managed exercise class (Steve promised he'd give me an easy lead-in, but I'm not sure that lasted more than two minutes). While he was explaining V-sits (having watched the other regular student do them not very well at the weekend) I was thinking "well no wonder I can't do these: my core is terrible and my fast movement muscles don't appear to exist". Then I actually had a go at what he said and it turns out that I couldn't do them because I haven't been doing them properly! So that was cool. Only managed about six, but it's a start.

H started the washing up but there was plenty to share.

TaDa
exercise class
shower
picked rocket and celery, made lunch
took lamb out of freezer
interim shop
sorted stock we made from the duck legs yesterday
lots of washing up
chopped and froze bag of peppers
made curry, rice and naan breads
emptied compost bucket
recovered

TaDidn't
any actual cleaning

To Do
put recycling out

Dev I can spend days at a time on ancestry! I'm determined to work out how all the [surname] branches fit together. Unfortunately their spelling algorithm doesn't easily encompass a couple of variations used quite often... and of course a lot of records just aren't on there.

Parsnip sherries merry? I'll look at parsnips in a whole new light now!

Hi everyone,
Big cheery wave to you all. I cant remember any personals, i am so sorry.

Its been crazy here at fragglerock.

We went on lots of day trips before school opened. So vitually no flying got done.

I had a massive panic attack the day before the kids started school and could barely move. (It terrified me. I thought i was over them.) Managed to get the fraggles to school in uniforms the next day- phew.

My house honestly looks like a bomb has gone off in every room. So i was hoping to focus on tidying while the kids were at school.
But a job advert has come up for a Midday supervisor role in a primary school, its about an hour a day, mon- fri.
Part of me wants to do it as its hard finding jobs around child care, but other part of me is terrified i wont cope with the my fraggles, housework and cooking with this job.

I need alittle advice please or thoughts...i have to hand the form in by wednesday and i have got the form half way finished. I am abit scared.
help.

merryhouse

Yeah! another ancestry buddy.
I'm Romany Gypsy, but didn't inherit the cleaning gene.
I've been working on mine for 30 years, have done DNA and have cousins all over the world. Many in America, Canada, and Australia, but a significant in Eastern Europe.
This is why my house and life ended up like it is, you can take it too far.
I'm sure you have a better balance than me though.

I've shined my sink, tackled a hotspot, will get clothes ready next time I go up.
Kitchen is one room I've already decluttered and it's all newly painted. So, I will be mopping and wiping cupboard fronts tomorrow.

My cousins trailers and vans are absolutely immaculate and everything shines so bright and polished to an inch of its life.
Stand still and you too gain a shine.

Lisette that's such a pain painter couldn't do the job, hopefully you will find someone else to do it this season.
Bower glad your chimney is sorted
Merry sounds like a fun night you had there!
Devlesko shoes..what shoes? Since I've been working from home I have barely worn them 😬 only when actually leaving the house.
Dancing I've got no experience with raising kids, so take the following with a huge pinch of salt. I'd say if that job is something that you really want to do, I'd say go for it. Yes, the life logistics might need to change a bit, but you can make it work. Don't let the fear hold you back.

Ta da for today:
🎉Ladies, I finally decluttered and tidied my 3rd, and last, kitchen drawer of random crap. I feeeeeel gooood!
🎉Cleaned the kitchen including wiping down cupboards and all. Then DH decides he wants to fry scampy type things for dinner and there was oil splatter all.over.the.place. So after throwing a crying hormonal fit because of an unrelated comment he made earlier cleaned the kitchen again, he helped this time around.
🎉 Usual morning and evening routines.

🍒👋 To everyone!

Thank you TheUpholder. Hope your MiL comes out of her sulk soon.

My DSes will have their fifth and third birthdays in about three weeks time, orange. How old are your children? Sorry to hear their dad has a habit of letting you all down, especially as you made the effort to go along with his plans.

So exciting to hear about your renovations, Bower and Lisette. Its lovely to see things improve even if it's frustrating at the time.

Dancing sorry, I'm not sure if I know you under a different name or if we just haven't been on the thread at the same time before. I would suggest that you start completing the application because you can always change your mind and stop applying or say no thank you right up until you sign the contract and start work but you can't change your mind and decide that you do want the job now if you didn't apply. An interview is just as much for you to find out whether you would like to take the job as it is for the employer to see if they want to hire you so maybe you can think of some questions to ask them that would help you decide if you want it or not. There is nothing wrong with saying "Thank you but I don't think it's the right job for me." if they make you a job offer. Good luck.

Ta Das
🧹S&S
🧹2 x LOL
🧹2 x DW (one normal one and one for big things like the hob fittings, microwave plate, trays and now empty cake and biscuit boxes)
🧹Downstairs home bleurgh but forgot cobwebs
🧹Daily mission to clean appliances. That makes such a difference and takes less time than I think
🧹Decluttered kitchen cupboard with oils, stock powder, vinegars, sauces etc. and cleaned it.
🧹Packed up a bin bag full of baby bedding from the clutter in the boys' new bedroom to go in the loft
🧹Sorted out all the age 3-4 clothes ready for DS2. (looks like he just needs a couple of hoodies, warm hat and mittens plus some summer shirts) and made a plan for what DS1 will need this year (almost everything apart from socks).
🧹Made leek and potato soup for lunch and baked potatoes for dinner

I'm also trying to make sure I do something nice one-to-one with each DS each day while not doing anything else:
🌱Had a lovely walk in the park with DS2, who was picking and eating blackberries as we went. He found a pine cone but keeps forgetting its name and calling it a pineapple or an ice cream cone!
🌱Had fun with DS1 taking half a dozen selfies of faces for different emotions and about a hundred of him just dissolved in giggles because he couldn't hold the expression and press the button at the same time. He also managed to have a conversation about what he did at school (his communication skills are an area of difficulty).

Ta didn't
Posting a recipe booklet DS1's preschool made, with a recipe from each of the children, to each of the grandparents.

Not caught up yet but dancing sorry about the panic attack x

ta da
🔴phoned nursery
🟠printed more HE stuff at various points
🟡arranged maths topic work into books
🟢fully sorted HE schedule for the week
🔵ordered new thermometer (it’s got a wall mounting thing so we can stick it to the inside of the medicine cupboard and maybe it won’t get left lying around... maybe)
🟣chemistry with DS
🔴wrote HE to do list for the rest of this week’s prep
🟠finally learned how to organise into folders on Pages app and rearranged some to tidy it up a bit
🟡set up audiobook and related task for DS
🟢punched/bound some maths stuff and had a strop as it wasn’t working
🔵arranged phone appt with work advisor
🟣printed out evening routine
🔴prompted Caglets through routine (self care etc)
🟠cleared random crap off table
🟡bathed Cagletini
🟢moisturiser for DS (trying to keep on top of eczema before winter)
🔵booked next week’s yoga
🟣DLMS (despite numerous opportunities, frankly)
🔴shower/defrost

Going to attempt to bind another maths book now and then read as I’m wired and grumpy and need some form of sleep before yoga tomorrow.

Dancing that would be very rewarding. I'd go for it. It would fit around school term time. 🎒🚸