Fledglings assemble for the nurturing November thread!

[foxessocks]

Thank you to EerilyDeleted for being an excellent leader on the October thread! Time to put your feet up for a well earned rest now!

This is my first time running the thread so sorry if the links below don't work I'm learning as I go!! If they don't I'll come back and try again

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

Here's the launchpad 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

Well DS, touch wood, has not developed a temperature or cough. Runny nose still. Painting finished. Door handle on tomorrow.

Ohhh we do actually have a dunelm that opened as soon as non essential shops were allowed. I’ve not been in yet, it had massive queues at first 🤣 and I miss the HMV it replaced 🥺

Really must stop faffing on MN (I don’t mean this thread, which is always worth it!) and read. I’ve been neglecting Wuthering Heights. 😳

Ooh! Very seasonal dress Willow. And cushion.

We don't have Christmas cushions but we do have Christmas bedding and a Christmas throw on the sofa. Also Christmas teatowels and mugs. Mostly Asda / Primark. Oh and Christmas kitchen roll and loo roll .

We got rid of our slow cooker a few years ago (replaced it with the Instant pot. I used to cook whole joints of meat in it, gammon, chicken etc, braising steak with lots of carrots, onions and gravy, that sort of thing. Not so keen on anything with minced meat because it lost all its texture and became like baby food. It's good that both your DC liked the sausage casserole Foxes - nothing on earth would make DS eat something that had baked beans and potatoes in it. A silly question. I have never made sausage casserole because I like my sausages crispy and well browned and I imagine they would sort of go flabby with soggy skin, am I wrong? I am going to attempt a sausage traybake tomorrow, but with balls of sausage meat rather than actual sausages because DS won't eat sausage skin.

woolly that dress is gorgeous.lil would would ADORE it.she loves anything 50s(esp music and clothes).loving the xmassy pictures too

Foxes I keep wondering if a slow cooker would be worthwhile for us...

Sing we have tough decision of do we let "d"p in over xmas.i don't really agree in a "5day let anything go" and under our tier he cannot now,or come Tuesday
And just to add another spanner in the questions works dd2 asked why deaths are still high but Xmas is ok when Eid wasn't.....I'm uncomfortable the likely answer is there are more who celebrate Xmas so don't want the masses rioting

Woolly- Ooooo Iove your Christmas dress! Its looks so luxe and Christmasy! I have never seen that one before. Is it red velvet?
I did order a dress for me. I hardly wear them but I couldnt resist.
I like your Christmas candle tin, its reminds me of the Tardis from Dr Who.

Sing- i love your colourful leggings!
Asda do great cushions at cheap prices. The range or Home bargins if you have one near you.
If you start a thread about frizzy hair, please let me know. Frizzy hair here.

Foxes- so glad you are discussing the slow cooker recipes as I am falling flat on my face when it comes to dinnertime in the evening. A slow cooker meal might save the day here.

ED- I feel like I did cook something like a sausage cassarole...but I pre cooked the sausages in the oven to brown them...then added them in. Otherwise the sausages would look naked.
One of my fraggles had a chopped up sausage and mash for dinner. They ate the inside soft pieces of the sausage as they didnt like the skin. 🙄

Hills- Rest you need it.

Zoo- hope you are ok after all that painting?

Tinselette- aww its good your Ds hasnt developed a temp. Hope he is snuggled up somewhere cosy.

I will have a listen to that too.

Dr Ranj Chatterjee book, take 5 mins and he has some brilliant podcasts and chats.

Ta das,
💖 actually cleaned the kitchen. Wiped the ceiling with a wet cloth on the kids mini broom.
🧡wiped side and all doors.
💛washed dried dishes
💚wiped kitchen floor
💙preped dinner for evening
💖got after school food out
💖watched Christmas movie to celebrate.

Funny as this morning I was praying for a Nanny Plum, Nanny Mcphee or anyone to come and help me out of my kitchen slump. I honestly cant believe my kitchen is sort of tidy.

Hiya, It’s tier 3 where I live. I’m starting to panic a bit now as it seems that everything will still be closed when I have this baby and I think I might go a bit crazy with a toddler and a newborn. DD is still poorly, so I haven’t done anything other than make breakfast, lunch and dinner and wash up. I’ve also put some new bedding on. I feel a bit bad that I’ve joined and have no housework to tell you about!. I’m exhausted, DD hasn’t slept very much because she’s being sick /having the trots most night and bump is making it uncomfortable to sleep. I have managed to find a few baby names though. Happy thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates it!

Thank you for the well wishes for DD!

I hope your DS is okay tinselette

bower I’m glad to hear that your sisters son was able to visit her.

Thank you wooly, I hate flu jabs they always make me feel a bit crap. I love the Christmas decs and dress!

Glad to hear you’re still at home hills

I’m sorry CAMHS chat has upset your DD zoo, I hope she feels a little better. Hope your DS feels better too after his panic attack and I hope you haven’t had any more funny turns tonight.

DD won’t sleep, she’s watching Arthur Christmas with me in bed. I’ve just ordered her birthday and Christmas presents. Still thinking about names.

I make a good tomato sausage and chorizo stew thingy in the slow cooker with potato, sweet potato, carrot, pepper and some kind of white beans?! I do take the skin off the sausages and cut them up, I use Heck because they’re gluten free. I must do that soon as it’s one thing the Caglets will lower themselves to eat 🙄 (easy enough to avoid the bits they aren’t keen on).

Love the dress willow I am now intrigued about your wedding dress! Mine was turquoise.

ta da concluded
💥forced myself through two more chapters of wuthering heights. I wish I was enjoying it but I’m not!
💥booked for home ed thing tomorrow
💥set alarm for DD1 to give up phone earlier tomorrow night as she had extra time tonight (watching a film over FaceTime with friends)
💥ordered the group present - thankfully she found the missing fiver - and made a note of when she next gets her pocket money, to allow for her contribution to said present
💥had a nice evening watching Truth Seekers (just got one episode left) - nice to share a laugh with DH instead of being phone zombies all evening!

Speaking of phone zombies - would love some advice on DS. He’s got so much more reliant on screens this year, he’s really struggling without the social side of home ed (it was so busy before the virus). I think although he still plays with toys especially transformers and Lego, he’s finding it depressing to do on his own unless he’s working on one of his creations or FaceTiming friends, and in the last couple of years DD1 has outgrown a lot of the wonderful imaginative games they used to play together. :( He does like board games so I should try and play those with him more but it’s tricky when Cagletini is around! He’s so bored and restless in his downtime and I’m not sure what else to suggest other than maybe getting more jigsaws and puzzle books. He’s unfortunately not a keen reader other than a narrow range of graphic novels (will take him to the library to try and widen his options a bit once they’re open). He did write a story early in lockdown but he’s not generally arty/creative other than Lego (his strength and future career, he hopes 😍) and designing the odd Pokémon - that sort of thing he does when inspiration strikes rather than when bored IYSWIM. Sooo I’m wondering what everyone’s preteens do when bored really, that doesn’t involve a screen! I hate this darkness and cold, it all feels very limited 🥶🥶🥶

Anyway. All ideas would be welcome!

We love Arthur Christmas! My favourite bit is when he can’t remember the lyrics to Silent Night.

Must sleep, DS has plenty of work to get through in the morning before we go to the home ed meet for code breaking!

Lovely dress.

Just going to do my list as tired.

Ta da
Stripped bed.Remades bed
Lol clothes
Breakfast
Washed up
Spent one hour in bedroom dusted tops of beside and chest of drawers parts of bed.
Cleaned kitchen cupboards while waiting for kettle to boil.
Polished other work top.

Went for a walk with DH and took litter pickers.
Picked up twocarry bags full of rubbish and 49 bottles.
Made Late lunch / afternoon tea for DH.
,made DH leftovers. Made scrambled eggs washed up as I went.
So got quite a lot done oh two more LoL.
Tired so cherry waves to everyone.
Shin

sing D's does latch hook,Lego,colouring,we started a mecchano type thing,drawing.hes bored and lonely as the girls don't really play with him anymore(lil zoo was his bf til puberty hit)
Lil zoo edits online.nothung gets her off screen except crime documentaries
Dd2 colours,scratch art,moh doh,writes,draws,puzzle books
It's hard knowing what to do for the best for them all

Sherin I am sorry to hear your DD is still poorly. I hope she recovers soon. I was really uncomfortable when sleeping pregnant. Had a massive pillow fort propping up various body parts plus a spare duvet to sleep on underneath a bed sheet. I feel for you.
Will you have help once the baby arrives?

Sing code breaking - that's a cool subject!
Bower that's a lot of rubbish you collected.

Loving the wedding dress talk - turquoise, 1950s.. all sounds very fabulous. Mine was your typical strapless princess ballgown, I loved every second wearing it 😁

Ta da from past few days:
🎉Morning routine
🎉 Evening routine
🎉LOL X1 per day
🎉 Managed to get out for a walk every day

Happy Friday, everyone!

ED as others have said, yes, I brown the sausages first which helps with the texture but they do taste a bit different in a casserole / slow cooker I think. I love them like that but dh not as keen!

Links and then I'm up for the day and will be back later
flight plan
Friday is declutter you car and bag day and our mission is to re make our beds.

Sherin you don't need long lists of ta das on here and it sounds like you are doing tons as Florence Nightingale. Your poor DD. I hope she's feeling better soon. Pace yourself. You sound so tired.

Am going to check ds now but I think he's on the mend.

This is a bit of a moan. I just need to get things off my chest, and no-one IRL can listen or change things.

I've realised I have a pattern through the week. Mon, Tues, Wed, I get things done. But Thursdays are often awful. The LOs are sick of school by then. I've started dreading the pick-up, and yesterday was one of the worst. Things picked up later when they look forward to the weekend. They have been distraught over a teacher leaving. The new one "smells in the afternoon".

Think I might make Thursday my "day off" while they are at school. Give myself something to look forward to. I was so weary yesterday that I went to bed, watched a daft film and slept on and off for three hours. Be better to get out for a drive and a change of scenery.

Apart from that, the routines are going well, and I refused to enter the netflix passcode yesterday. They were much calmer later on without the cartoons. If I could, I'd delete the app from the bt box.

I got lots of fairy lights to string up in place of blown lightbulbs that I can't reach. Also brought old table and desk lamps from shed, to plug in around the house. Need to add lightbulbs for them from tesco.

MrsT that’s an excellent idea. I did similar for a while last term - I made Wednesdays much less ambitious to give me a break as I was always burnt out by the end of the week.

I am not very good generally at taking a break before it is too late for it to be really effective. Too much mum guilt 🙄😂

ta da
🍉got DS started for the day
🍉quick walk to catch Pokémon and try my step counter yay! Feel a bit better for the fresh air.

ta didn’t
😳wake up in time to take Cagletini to nursery - one minute it was 8am, the next it was 8.49 and they’d already left. Had planned to visit the small tesco on the way home.
😳have a shower, boiler playing up AGAIN

mrsT no harm altering weekly plans to accommodate rough patches.some days are all fed no one dead days.thats enough
Sherin how's DD today?caring for poorly DC trump's flylady for gold stars as much harder work
Sing I forgot to mention origami,D's did it when wellbeing was open at church.loved it!the leggings are funky.im losing my confidence with colour lately,retreating into grey,khaki,navy,brown/tans...
Tinselette how's the poorly boy today?

Tada
Cats fed
Wash on
Harpic lav
Realise no bread/milk
Take lil zoo co op(20 min walk away)lovely frosty views over nature reserve.wish I'd taken gloves as poor fingers had hot aches on my return!
Wipe and put shop away
Feed everyone
Realise D's doesn't have teacher training(girls do)chivvy him to chase up lesson almost completely missed.whoops

To do
More painting in front room
Quick tidy house as escalating into chaos where attention is elsewhere
Tackle laundry,incl bedding cat hairballed on last night
My energy levels are very low,do be a music on and try power thru kind of day

Also where's the sun gone?was beautiful here yesterday.bright,frosty and cold most of day.grey today and frosty.that lack sunlight really is making a difference to me at mo..

Much better zoo, thanks. Normal temp again today.

I totally agree about Thursdays!!

I took a half hour -45min nap before tea. And then slept 122 hours. Still feel like rubbish though.

ta da
move car for builders
cook just roll cinamon rolls for breakfast just because
put 2nd load of washing for today on
clean cooker top down
set up 4 lots of bread dough to rise
take cheese out of freezer for Pizza
Check ds is still alive (he slept through tea last night and straight through to this morning)
Collected laundry from around the house
collected washing up from around the house
check emails
Get grown up to retrieve stuff that should be living in the linnen cupboard so know what needs to be accommodated
find significant damp issues in that corner and deal with situation
dump pile of school books from various years into room with teen for him to sort
Bring up laundry basket with my clean clothes in it for putting away

Next up:
mount ironmore
oh my goodness how much for the charity shop? pile
the are the tips even open? pile
And the where the fuck is that going to be long term stored? pile
Also put away the shopping from the stop and drop quarentine zone