Fledglings Flying Frightfully into October

[EerilyDeleted]

A huge thanks to Mogthesleepycat for steering us successfully through September

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 Flylady. 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 brew + the power of three technique + a bit of support on here can work wonders.

Here's the launch pad for more experienced fledglings Launchpad.

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.

Home Bleugh - Flylady's Home Blessing routine

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

And finally "The Naughty Corner" - this is for Fledglings who perhaps didn't get done what they had planned for the day but are in need of a comfy seat, pile of cushions, tasty snacks, stiff drink and friends to chat to.

What a drag Foxes, hope he feels better soon.

Mc - you are excused from housework, but I like the idea of a haughty corner, where we could all gather to make disdainful remarks about things we disapprove of (lack of engagement with housekeeping of DH/DP/DC for example).

Sing - hope your meetup went well.

Bower - great anti-procrastination!

Wellies - hope your busy day went OK and DS3 is a it calmer now.

Apumpkin - impressive list from you too.

I have had an errand day.

Quick coffee with friends this morning, then retrieved DS from school to take him to the orthodontist and take him back again (2x45 min round trip in the car). Sainsburys, Aldi, Wickes, local hardware shop, trade paint counter for samples, popped in to see friend who has just opened new beauty salon and had a gap between clients.

Then home to set DD up for zoom singing lesson, try paint testers, find that everyone likes different colours (it's for the outside of the house so we will be living with it for a very long time), cook dinner, pay a bill.

I'm tired now, but I also managed to clean the filters on the cooker hood and change the lightbulb (that's what I went to Wickes and hardware shop for).

That - hello, hope things have calmed down a bit for you.

Zoo - amazing lists as usual but glad to hear you are taking rest where you can.

I watched Madagascar with the DC today, then we did some Halloween crafts. There’s some fairy houses in the woods so we tried to spot as many as we could when we walked the dog.

zoo no naps here! But 2DC in bed hopefully for the night, and I’m going to settle down with a cup of tea

It was a very busy night! wellies sorry DS3 wasn’t feeling good about school today!

Great ta da list zoo

Welcome back that!

I hope DS feels better soon foxes!

Thank you ed sounds like you had a busy day! . Hope you get some rest.

kcc my fav chocolate is probably the Cadbury Turkish delight that’s been discontinued.

Oh I loved that Cadbury Turkish delight!

My KCC answer though, hmm well I don’t think I could choose one favourite. I don’t enjoy Cadbury’s so much now. I like hotel chocolat and keep an eye out for sales in there :o current fave is the Blondie one. Generally like praline type stuff and some fruity fillings if they aren’t too sharp.

One I keep looking out for though is Green and Black’s milk chocolate with salt. SO GOOD. Can hardly ever find it though.

Today’s visit was really lovely. Nice to catch up and she ended up having very educational chats with DS who engaged surprisingly well. She was a teacher before retiring.

Then DS had his first in person tap lesson since lockdown, which he does with his best friend. He said in the car “I’ve missed this” 🥺 bless him!

DH loved that Turkish Delight too. He's not much of a chocolate eater though, he prefers fruit type sweets. I'm also very partial to a Cadburys Twirl, I like the texture.

KCC usually not a massive fan of chocolate, but I won't turn down milk hazelnut chocolate (the one with whole nuts in there).

Have finally dealt with a task I've been procrastinating about for a bit, will have a chilled glass of pinot to celebrate

Fave chocolate - I like Galaxy or Lindt, but currently consuming large quantities of Milka which I buy from Farmfoods cheaply.

Have clothes ready for tomorrow and school shirt ironed for DD so will check the sandwich boxes are washed (preferably before starting on the wine) to prepare for tomorrow. I want a smooth-running Friday , see you tomorrow morning!

All this talk of chocolate is making me want some! I love Cadburys and Galaxy, Maltesers, Crunchie, oh so many! Of course they are hard, if not impossible to find over here, there's always Amazon I suppose. I do like Ghirardelli and Lindt, milk chocolate as well as dark chocolate with salted caramel. I also make my own truffles, which I'll be doing this weekend - it might be a good time to cheat on my diet!

Foxes you’ve had a hard day of it. Hope little one is better tomorrow or weekend at the latest.
Welcome back That not surprised you fall off the thread sometimes with all you have going on.

Zoo I remember all that I used to get done when not sleeping ...now I sleep in until 9:30am. Mind you DH can do that without medication. I am planning to easy off in January although it is looking like I might be on other tablets for heart. GP has recommended but I wanted to look at diet and exercise however by taking BP every day the picture ain’t looking good! I have sat around on mumsnet and half watching tv went up for (tmi) wee and remembered that I hadn’t taken BP went back down stairs and it is high and pulse fast. I assure you I don’t have that many stairs to set my pulse racing and it certainly wasn’t DH!

Not much done today.
Bed thrown together.
Fed hens
Planted up friend’s pot with another plant and some bulbs.

Made phone call to Macmillan’s and got a lovely young man on the other end whose parents live in a small village where I nearly bought a shop and a flat. DH didn’t think it was a good idea. It needed a bit doing to it and had no kitchen bar a sink and a microwave but you could have used some downstairs space for it by pinching a bit of shop. It had been an antique shop but previously it was a gallery. I thought I could let DDs friends book it, stay in the flat and sell their own work for a couple of weeks. Now she is an artist it would have been good for her. It was only about an hour from here and I thought I could have spent the weekends there sometimes. The village is very old and quaint. DH often throws cold water on my ideas. One of my friends did a pop up shop for three weeks when one of her friends needed someone to look after her shop. She said A could put her stuff all on one side and sell whatever she wanted. She did quite well and the woman had her shop kept open and ticking over.
Bristol sometimes let the art students have an empty shop for a pop up shop. Seems a sensible idea to me as it means another interest in the area. There a bit slow up here for that. I have only seen it leading up to Christmas where they opened a pop up Christmas shop.

After not doing much I had a shower and got changed because we were going out for lunch with our friend for her birthday. We had a lovely lunch( I had a veggie curry) and back to hers for coffee and cake. We are still allowed but I think they will put this area on lockdown soon. Local news was more news on changes for north. I am collecting my tiles on Tuesday so I hope we will still be allowed there, it isn’t Newcastle which has numbers rising. One of my past colleague’s son is at Uni there so she will be worrying. He is in his fourth year I think or fifth🤔 and their only one.
It was so nice to go out today. They are so careful where we went, it feels very safe. Tables a good distance and only two other tables in and some cyclists outside. Hand gel on the way in and in the loos. Waiters in masks. Friend thoroughly enjoyed her day after not being able to see her children. One locally ill, two in Newcastle not allowed over and one down south. She spoke to her daughters on the phone and her grandchildren in the morning and she had three bouquets of flowers and sixteen cards including a funny one with Boris on. Made us all laugh.
Hope you get a bit more sleep Zoo. Hope everyone has a lovely day tomorrow. It was glorious weather here today.

Oh crossed posts👻👋to Hazel mm now I want chocolate.

Favourite: dark chocolate gingers or dark chocolate and mint.

Evening all. Feeling a bit grumpy - DD1 is really pushing all my buttons by picking on DS and acting like she should be his mother and it’s winding me up big time as she’s not recognising how much more freedom she has than him. It’s a very tricky line to tread as it’s hard to tell how much is normal teen selfishness, how much is related to her LDs (ie genuinely not understanding why rules have changed) and if any is actually just plain nasty . I also have no clue how much sibling bickering is normal being an only child who hates any confrontation . Ugh, parenting is HARD and I have retreated to bed with some discounted hotel chocolat to try :o but I have also written some ideas down for a set of house rules to sort the issues out for everyone (I have a feeling DD1 may regret this but it needs doing).

ta da
🤔shower
🤯sorted bathroom
🙄home ed
🤨set up LOL for tomorrow
😑lots of notes for HE planning
🤐cleaned table
🙁reminded DD1 to finish homework
😖got DS ready for tap
😓wrote some rules

At least the visit was lovely! I have also now got some cash for topping up the Caglets’ clothes 🙌😍 so that’s taken a load off - will be organised about it though. Much as lovely auntie said to enjoy a shopping spree I don’t want to fritter it!

FYI, I paused for a while halfway through the post as I got distracted by messenger, and I can announce that the HC macadamia praline is quite nice :o I shall have a second one before sleep I think. Night all! 👻👋

foxes please don't worry you did the wrong thing sending D's in.he was well when you left himhope he's feeling bit better today
MC after yesterday's mammoth list quite right you rested,growing babies at this stage is a huge tada!

Bowertake it steady.glad you had a nice day.had to laugh wasn't DH got your heart racing
SingI don't intervene on bickering unless itfeels like someone's not "fighting back"(D's takes it and gets very upset,so have to watch fork tongued females here)we do have basic rules tho.and apologies for being an arse are universally expected if anyone igets upset once the dust has settled

Lil zoo didn't eat or drink til after-school,had mini tub hummus with bread sticks and few sweets.drank down 50l oasis,followed by large cup oat milk then didn't want dinner as bloated so later had a slice toast and grapes followed by water.worried by volume drinking in one go.she then had doubled over IBS pain

Can't sleep so go feed cats in mo and crack on as been awake 2hours+.would love to smash out deep clean on living room today!

Thanks zoo

All of my everything aches. After 18 months off work i am new doing more walking than i have in a LONG time. Ouch.

I also own several Mount Washmores

Foxes hope ds is feeling better. We didn't get a leaflet. So hard to know what to do. I assume if he seems at all under the weather school will send him home, but will they then want him tested if he is hot?

. Sorry for going AWOL.

I managed my long to do list on Monday, and we had a lovely, if damp, walk (pic attached). I’ve then scraped through three long work days, waved DD off to nursery and I’m on my first cuppa of my day at home alone . Hoping for a good mix of flying and enjoying the peace.

Hope everyone is well. Will catch up on the thread and be back with some personals, and hopefully some ta das.

That was caught corner obviously, and the attached pic was clearly not attached. Perhaps first on my to do list should be go back to bed

Thanks zoo - I think that’s the problem really, it’s pretty one sided. I have a feeling there’s a bit of jealousy and resentment as she does get a tough time at school, and is likely taking out the “picked on” feeling on him :(

Ah wellies that’s a big decision! But from everything you’ve said in the past, absolutely the right one. Needless to say there’d be zero judgment from me anyway :o but you don’t need to justify your decision here, this thread has traditionally been very home ed friendly! I know IRL may be another matter though and it’s hard if family and friends don’t agree. You’d hope though that this year has shown that school doesn’t have to be a big building full of kids! And it doesn’t sound snowflakey. Not doing school art classes doesn’t mean he can’t be creative or appreciate art, not doing school PE classes doesn’t mean he can’t be active and healthy! There’s ways round everything. Hopefully once restrictions ease more there will be other options for clubs too? DS would be so stressed by being in school that he wouldn’t learn, but I could hear him wittering on to DH about composites and polymers over breakfast, unprompted, which to me is one of the many signs that he’s engaged in his education :o SN and uneven academic profiles make school really tough, at home we can do each subject at his level whether it’s above or below age. And actually your DS3 has the advantage that he does online learning with others already, I’ve not really tried that yet with him although I was looking at a philosophy taster yesterday as he’s engaged well over zoom for therapy and scouts! I do wish we lived closer, I’m pretty sure they’d get on well.

Aww love the pic up!

DH has a covid test today, in advance of his injection on Monday. I’ll be collecting Cagletini from nursery and meeting my homestart worker as she had to cancel on Monday. Then I must actually remember DS has therapy too! So we are trying to get more work done this morning. I am very sleepy though. 😴

Lovely photo up I’m still in mine. About to get up. Couldn’t get to sleep then slept like a log.willow That sounds tough for him. If he is doing well the online learning and is happy then perhaps it is the way to go.

Zoo yep it is a long time since he made my heart race other than being annoying. He has decided he is going to move furniture around today. DS2 is getting rid of a bed so he is going to have it and put a large wardrobe from this room into his room. He complained he can’t get to it because I have a trunk in front. I do but I can easily slide it across. This means that I will get the chest of drawers. So I will have my wardrobe and three pine chests of drawers. That will look weird. The two wardrobes don’t look weird. The large wardrobe is a nightmare to move. It might be too much effort in the cold light of day.

I need to get a fair bit done today. Kitchen shouldn’t take long. Hot spot and hot plate to clean.

Sing I used to keep out of teenage quarrels unless violence involved. The mention of clean your room often seemed to calm them down or come here I have a job for you. I wonder why? DS2 and DD really don’t like each other much. Whereas she adores DS1. DS2 remarked about the pictures on Wednesday. He has one DS2 has seven. He rarely keeps in touch with her. DS1 keeps in touch more than I do...or so he says. He told me a while ago he texts her everyday. I was thinking I was awful when DD laughed and said not that often mum. DS1 is known for being a subtle joker she couldn’t believe I fell for it.🤣
That hope things improve today.

He has taken DS1 to the Lakes to start a long distance walk. He will walk for a bit too so house to myself today. Will start in kitchen.

Gave my achey legs a nice soak in the bath after the school run as dc5 was napping (still is!) Have since made some progress on uni work but its making me sleepy

that they have told me that if he is fine again within 24 hours we can assume it's flu spray related and send him back on Monday but they didn't manage to take his temperature and when I took it it was still within "normal" range so I don't know if they would say different if his temperature was well over 38. I'm going to message nursery manager today to check definitely ok for Monday, he is fine today other than lethargic because of lack of food.

Thanks for all the well wishes for ds, it totally threw me off yesterday, you just can't help worry when they are poorly especially at the moment when it raises so many other issues! Anyway, he woke up fine this morning, no temperature at all, no snot, he is just still tired because he hasn't been eating properly so he has no energy. However he did manage to scoot to school and back to drop dd off so not that tired! And he is now eating his lunch so I think he is fully recovered! Must have been the flu spray.

I will be back later to properly catch up because I've now got to go and collect dd, she has half day on Fridays so we have to stuff our lunch in before we go and get her 🙄

wellies it's not snowflakey to know your child and what's best for him.i was bought up in the toughen up and knock corner off teens generation and it pretty much broke me.i prefer to focus on strengths to build esteem and we work round the rest.ds hates pe.we walk,he can ride a bike.i only know one adult who plays team sports and one who regularly goes to the gym.the rest just add activity in everyday life,and there's nothing wrong with that!I most certainly wouldn't be giving any school a third crack if they'd failed previous two.

ThatI get achy a lot and can't bath in day or I'd probably fall asleep in the water!
Up cute pic

Tada
Cats fed
Wash on
Harpic lav
Pull out biggest sofa
Clean the skirting board
Clean under where sofa sits with damp soapy cloth
Take everything out if my me time drawers
Sort and refill
Clean top
Breakfasts
S+s
School run
Realise no milk when D's asked for some on our return
Go get milk
Move blanket box
Clean skirting board
Wipe where it sits
Clean where "my pile" sits(stack stuff side where I sit including books,paperwork,crochet ive not touched in weeks etc)
Put away everything except crochet.its in a carrier bag.might see if I can get a nice bag/holdall to pop it in
Clean around fireplace (electric coal looking fire)
Clean mantlepiece removing all things not ment be there
clean the bit hot air comes out of as gets very dusty with damp cotton bud
Tidy dd2 stress drawers
Pull out and clean behind it
Pull out other sofa
Liberate cat toys
Wipe outside radiator
Spend near hour try retrieve extensive chunks cat fur from inside radiator.trued with pipe cleaners,coat hanger and damp sock on end,piece cardboard,old bottle brush- it's not 100%.think need invest in a radiator cleaning thingy
Collect dd2
Remove field mouse gift from scout cat off front door step and disinfect
Lunch
Wash up

5mimute rest then need drop dd2 back at school.glad it's crisp and sunny!
Should be back about 2pm,which gives me an hour to sort wall housing bookcase and dining table....

Also done 4liads washing,folded and put away as came out dryer!

wellies sounds like you've made a good decision for your ds, education is not one size fits all, my kids are obviously younger so secondary school is a bit of a mystery to me at the moment but I totally understand where you are coming from with your explanation (not that you owe any explanation but you know what I mean!)

Just back from school run, kids have got sweets and TV and I'm going to try and get back on top odd the housework, I was doing well this week and yesterday just made it all fall apart.

Dd said she didn't get her reading sticker on the chart at school because we hadn't done the online reading so I feel guilty about that, I had it on my to do list yesterday but with ds being ill we ended up putting both kids to bed early and forgot about it completely 🤦‍♀️☹️