It's February - Fledglings are Flying (let's face it there's not much else to do).

[EventuallyDeleted]

Here we are on the February 2021 Flylady thread - this time last year we were just starting to realise that the world was going to change in a big, big way. The Fledgling threads have pulled us all together and been a great source of comfort and distraction from it all.

This is a friendly housekeeping thread based (loosely... Extremely loosely sometimes 😂) on Flylady's housekeeping system . Welcome one and all, lurkers and long-time posters alike. Join in, hang out, but above all remember you are not behind, just jump in where you are.

The beauty of Flylady is that you don't have to flatten yourself trying to get your house clean to begin the routine upkeep; the first - and only - thing she asks you to do is to shine your kitchen sink. Routines - morning, afternoon and evening - are built gradually through her Baby Steps. To those, you add a Daily Focus and a weekly area to concentrate cleaning on. By the end of a month, your whole house will have had some attention. If you miss a bit, never mind, it'll come round next month!

For this month, I'll be posting daily links to the Launch Pad on the Flylady site so you can follow the daily focus and cleaning missions. You can sign up to receive emails from Flylady, but we suggest you don't - she sends masses, which will clog up your inbox and drive you insane into the bargain.

Because this thread has been running a while, there are some acronyms we use to make life easier
S&S - swish and swipe, round the bathroom to keep it acceptable daily
LOL - load of laundry. No, we don't find washing that funny!
Ned - born of a typo, a mythical being who assists with laundry mountains
The pointy stick ----> to motivate people
PO3 - Power of 3, if you can only face a few tasks. People often find groups of 3 tasks stack up over a day!
The Naughty Corner - where we head when it's all Too Much. Usually stocked with fresh coffee, fluffy throws, delicious snacks and the opportunity to sit quietly with friends or build a blanket fort and sulk in it if you need to.

During the Pandemic, we have also been using the KCC or Keep Calm Corner, invented by long-time poster / thread leader SC. This is a regular dose of memes, questions for discussion, random trivia etc to distract us from the rest of the world. All contributions welcome!

Remember - No Fledgling Left Behind!

Red I'm glad to hear you took a few breaks while working in the RoD. Sounds like you are making great strides in there. My head is doing much, much better. I just needed a nap and a couple glasses of water. I hope you are doing okay. It can take a lot out of you when you fall. Is your head any better?
Sing sorry to hear about your hard conversation. We had one with DD the other day, she was wanting to do it over text, but we had her talk to us in person instead (she was out with a friend). It went well, she is very mature for her age so it can go either way (thinking she knows better than us, or actually listening to what we have to say). I am very proud of her.

Speaking of DD, she made dinner tonight. She makes a deviled egg salad with potatoes, kind of like a potato salad, but lots more eggs in it. It was delicious 😋

My ta das:
❄ 5 LoLs (including 2 towel loads I mentioned earlier)
❄ DW rotated
❄ Clothes mostly put away, other than ironing
❄ Started to pack up pantry (things we don't use very often, no food)
❄ Thrown some old food out of said pantry
❄ Started a box of donate
❄ Helped DD put together a good basket for SIL, we are having her birthday dinner at our house Saturday
❄ Put gel on DDs nails

Today was a good day, felt productive, but also lazy, it's hard to describe. I get my hair done tomorrow, need to do grocery shopping/ pick up & wash bedding and whites. Anything else is a bonus! I didn't get the bathroom S&S done today, so I really should get it done tomorrow as well. I just want to make the most of my 4 day weekend.

Morning,you are such a chatty bunch I've read thru and completely forgotten all key points except waders exam email..any reply lovely

Well I did home bleurgh yesterday.dd2 was due walk with dad.freaked out so I offered to come along,and bring other two walking behind so they could talk.it was intended to be a walk thru old railway line track to a little lane used by a farmer that cuts thru swathes beautiful countryside and back.we ended up doing full circuit past a reservoir and the "d"p deduced whine he knew a shorter way back when we were on a verge and a local villagewe minutes away.cue diversion down dirt track with flooding at bottomsaid track had high hedges and no verges and multiple fast cars with aim cutting chunks of route out pass us.three big hills then onto a road I avoid at all costs after nasty incident when zoolets were just in primary if twat driving at us on country lane for fun in his vauxhall astra and I had literally throw D's and lil zoo up a verge into a cornfield as dd2 scramble up ..anyway by this point we all exhausted and we trail along as no alternative route D's and dd2 border line hysterical.mw eminating fury and pain...up another steep hill and round more corners than you would ever think necessary until on familiar ground and can negate way back(which involve two more hills).we did a circuit passing Res last summer.took 6hr incl 3long breaks and slow amble as was warm and became quite hot.on thus occasion I had taken first aid kit and adequate snacks for all.luckily I had bankcard so I was able to at least acquire chocolate and drink eachI took 61/4 hrs,no break
My hips were agony and I went loo sec got in in knowledge I would not be able to mount stairs for a lengthy while once I stopped.thus assumption was correct.poir zoolets got lunch at 430,then lil zoo ate rolls and crisps and wouldn't eat again so serious calorie deficit yesterday.he went home tail between his legs after heated discussion in which he claimed the first option for fasterwould've Def been quicker.my forked toungue lashed him into submission and he text me later hoping I was ok.i am still til furious to reply!

In positive news,D's DLA claim review is back.continued award as before!

Great news about the DLA Zoo.

I can't keep up with the chat! I haven't been putting my laptop on in the evenings since I finished the swimming club stuff, then not getting up early enough in the morning to post links before work. Just having a quick now so here we are:

Tuesday: Flight Plan

Tuesday is (apparently) Plan and Play Day. The mission is to spend 15 minutes (timed) going through your office or whatever passes as an office.

Sing- hope that chat helped everyone.

Ed- dont worry, you sound like you have alot on. We will still be here! I cant believe i actually s and s yest. Miracle.

Hazel- what a lovely dd to cook such a yummy dinner.

Zoo- 😱 that sounds like a nightmare of a walk. Hope you are ok lovely? Yay to dla!

Red- are you ok? Ouch! To bashing your head, hope you have put something on the mark. It does sound dangerous keeping chickens. I am sorry to hear you have fallen so many times.

Foxes- great you did pilates? Do you follow anyone? Great list of tadas. Did you do your meal plan? What is it this week? I need to do this.

Hills- i hope your hospital appt went well and you teen is back around to keep things light hearted.

Mc- thats a really good list of chores you have done. I dont know how you manage with such a young baby!

Up- hope you are ok? Hope its warmed up around the coast!

Half- hope you are ok?

That- hope you are ok too?

Waders- sending you strenght about the email. You did loads yest!

Butta- hope you are ok?

Yestadas
⚡breakfast
⚡shower
⚡get kids in bath
⚡smoother dd in special bath lotion
⚡empty bubble bath bottle into bath
⚡kids had super bubbly bath!
⚡ss the toilet and sink
⚡dressed kids and lounged with them
⚡lunch
⚡kids on ipad
⚡i cracked on with dd room. Toys everywhere. Its tidy now! Yay.
⚡started on ds room its half way done.
⚡filled dw and ran
🔥put away 2 baskets of clean clothes
🔥put 2 large shopping bags of books near book case...got to find somewhere to put them.
🔥listed the pushchairs
🔥treated myself to a rare cheeky drink of pear cider with eating a packet of crisps
🔥go to bed at 10pm exhusted

To do today;
🚀need to put away 3 laundry baskets of clothes
🚀wipe the ceilings with a broom covered in a wet cloth and get rid of dust and cobwebs
🚀wipe down walls this way
🚀lunch for kids
🚀clear junk in hallway
🚀possible make a start on junk in main bedroom
🚀and do bits in dining room junk filled sofa.

Any tips please on a bathroom sink that keeps getting blocked?

I am not missing the school run and and loving the time I am getting to sort the house out, its looking the most normal it ever has...i could invite you all round for a cuppa and a large slice of cake. ☕🎂🍰☕ oh i have learnt how to operate the coffee machine so I could do you a fancy coffee too.☕

🍒👋 to everyone I have missed and any lurkers!

Waders- sorry cross post
Great news you can point your toe!

I’m assuming DD has had iron levels checked? I was told DD1 couldn’t have hers checked until a year of heavy periods but thankfully the doctor trusted my instinct and bent the rules, and I was proven right that she was anaemic.

She’s only just woken up so no chance to see how she is following the conversation. It’s hard to know with her as her processing ability is so low, she can appear to understand something but the next day it’s like the conversation never happened. I just have to hope that deep down she has a good sense of who she is and keeps her “screw you, I am who I am”. God parenting teens is so hard. The chat included a lot about how the pandemic is making it harder to hold on to our identities in the real world and too easy to be consumed by who we are online.

(She says, while talking on Mumsnet!)

Gah. Anyway. Today is clearly going to be a write off. Tempted to give up on the new meds but asking around tells me it could get better and I need to give them a chance as I’m not sure what other options I have for treatment.

Sorry that wasn’t remotely flying related 😳 must do more laundry 🤔😂

Waders- i am so sorry your dd has to suffer so much with period pains. Hope she is ok today.

To the mums out here, have you noticed any patterns....did you have bad period pains? Have you noticed if its passed inheritidated (sorry i cant spell today...think the fumes from 'toilet duck' loo cleaner are affecting me! 🤣 i do hv windows open too! Hate the smell.)
I only ask as I want to be prepared about my dd for when she get her period.

Does anyone have a recollection of a book possibly printed in the 70s, 80s 90s or 2000s. It talks about reducing the sugar consumption in the body leading to less pain in periods. I tried to find this book.
I never actually saw the book.
A horrible coworker suffered from endriometresis (sp?) talked about this book and I begged for a copy of the muffin recipe she was telling me about it. She photocopied the page of the cookbook, but she made sure no name of the book was on the page. I asked her for the name...nope she just didnt want to share it. She knew I was trying for a baby and was looking for any helpful book. I wondered if anyone had hear of this book by chance?

Sing- i dont mind you posting things that are not cleaning related because you all are helping me be prepare for the future when my kids grow up. I have seen teenagers in school context. I remember what parents used to say to me...'what...he helped tidy up in class! He nevers does it at home!' 😊

But I was dreading having children esp at the teen stage and esp because of all the online bullying shit that I saw progressing into the lives of the children. Its actually put my sister off having children.
I really would like to instill in children, its ok to be you. You are unique. You dont have to look and act a way you are expected. Be you.

I am sure my kids wont listen to me. But I hope there will be someone one day who is kind and honest that can show them the right path.💖

Sorry for the waffle.

I have no idea of the book but i do have a recipe book that is gluten and milk free (with some no nightshade reciepes) that I got hold of recently that the author has a whole heap of books including on dedicated to treaty foods. I will share later.

Ds is not back til sunday

Hospital tests are ongoing. I feel like crap which means i should hopefully get answers. No idea what the answer are. But will have to see tomo with the next round of appointments.

Hills- i hope you get some answers fron your tests soon.

This is the recipe page i have got...

Well dancing for that time period it's deffo an American recipe,given in cups and farenheit oven....

My first thought was No More PMS book by marylon stewart.she advocates low sugar and food rotation to detect intolerances due to hormone imbalances.its comprehensive (and works but if you suffer bad,it's strict)
Hmmm I will put on my thinking cap for you

Also I'm afraid in my foot periods are inherited as nightmarish.mine started at 13,and by 16 nothing eradicated the pain for first 12-24 hrs.i had two kids without any pain killers as it wasn't much worse than period pain to me😔
Dd1 periods started late(17) and agony from the off,also heavy
Dd2 have worsened over past year or so- pain day 1-2 in tummy,back and legs.period stops 4-5then pain on return day 6.heavy enough needs ultra night now

Zoo- oh hadnt spotted that it was a American recipe! Doh.
Please help yourself to the recipe and if you zoom into the photo you can see some annotation the book owner did. I think this was a book passed onto my unhelpful co- worker.
The cookies are yummy!

Oh no, that you all had so much pain during a period. I cant believe you gave birth without pain relief!

I started my period aged 9, I had regular periods. By the time I was trying for a baby, I think I had used up most of my eggs! I struggled to get pregnant and I know my mum had problems too. We were old for our ages in trying for babies. So I think I would say to my dd, dont wait, if you want them and you can. Try while you are young. Things like fertility and periods where rarely talked about in my family. Such a shame.

Dancing I am lucky DS is quite happy being in a sling/carrier when I do housework, and for bits I can't do whilst wearing him (like cleaning the bathroom or playing with the rubbish) I put him in his bouncer where I can see him and he plays with his toys in the meantime.
Sing I hope Big Conversation was a success.
Red I hope your head is OK.

Ta das (not many at all):
💥Watered plants
💥Cleaned the kitchen and rotated DW
💥Went for a walk. Snow finally melted! Very happy about that.

I have read through the thread, but all other personals completely escaped me. Apologies.

Hoping I’m over the worst of the meds adjustment. Guess we will see in the next few days. Managed to do some laundry and a bit of tidying/cleaning.

Morning all, I'm very behind on all the chat I'm afraid after a couple of very busy work days. Day off today so will hopefully catch up on things a bit!
Still in bed with a coffee, kids haven't long been up actually, they seem to be enjoying not having to get up for nursery run this week as much as I am!

Dancing I think it was you that asked about pilates, I use fitness blender which I think someone on here (sing?) recommended to me!
Oh and meal plans, yes I did do it, yesterday was spanish chicken and roasted veg, tonight is mascapone pasta bake which I make a lot to use up any veg we have left, and tomorrow is sausages with roasted veg (we have a lot of roasted veg at the moment because our hob is so useless, roll on the new kitchen!)

I don't want to get out of bed because the house is such a mess...

Morning, I’m firmly in the naughty corner after a couple of busy work days. Have been dipping in to read the thread though. You’ve all been very busy bees! I now have 5 lovely days in a row off work stretching in front of me (and DD will be going to nursery on one of those days 🙌🏻). Hopefully will have plenty of ta das to post.

Dancing I also worry about social media etc when DD is old enough. She’s only 3 so I’m hoping that things will have improved by then. I’m already trying to teach her that appearances aren’t important and not to care too much what people think, but there’s so much outside influence. I think we just have to hope like Sing says they have a good sense of who they are.

Hope you get the money back soon Waders. Sorry DD is suffering.

Waves to Red, Zoo, ED, Hills, That, Tidy, Foxes, Hope, Mc, Butta, Hazel and Chic and SC if you’re lurking.

Right. Another cuppa and then morning routine, a walk, and some baking with DD 🍒 👋

Morning all, at work again today (usually WFH on a Weds but covering for someone in the office today).

Wednesday - Flight Plan

Today's missionis to check your bathroom, so you need to top up on toothpaste, shampoo etc? Chuck out empties and loo roll middles etc. I'm actually ahead for once as I did the empties and re-stock at the weekend and tossed out loo roll middles (again!) this morning.

Wednesday is Anti-Procrastination Day - is there something you keep putting off?

Babystep 17 is bedtime. Set a bedtime and stick to it. I am hopeless at this.

Morning all, I took a while to get out of bed this morning but I’ve sorted some laundry and loaded the dishwasher which I couldn’t manage last night. Shower was being a dick so that’s not happened yet!

Must put the teddies back in the dryer for a bit, then have breakfast.

I think I will then try and get some of my assignment done, and email my tutor about the overall deadline as it’s just got away from me now. I’ve kept saying “I’ll do it when I feel ok” but TBH having it hanging over me is probably making me feel worse about the anxiety anyway 🤦🏽‍♀️ So I need to just get on with it. The work is easy so I can’t let procrastination win!!!

We also need to get DD1 to go through her Google classroom which we’ve put off with everything else going on. She’s only just surfaced though so I will get on with my own work first.

up enjoy your well earned break!

Sing good luck with your work , sending you anti procrastination Wednesday vibes! Totally understand what you mean about the anticipation of doing the job causing more stress than actually doing it 🤦‍♀️ you are not alone!!

Ta das
Had lengthy discussion with the kids about whether we should just leave the house in a state and get out to the park instead but eventually we all decided it was raining too hard for it to be any fun, will try again on Friday!
Eventually got all of us ready, showered, dressed, breakfast etc...
Dishwasher on
Cleaned kitchen sides
Took food waste bin out / recycling out
Tidied living room, put scaletrix away (although some of it I can't get apart so annoyingly I will have to ask dh to try, hate it when I can't do stuff like that!!)

Then we were on to the big job. Kids bedrooms. I originally planned 10 minutes in each of their rooms , they were told they have to help me, but ended up we did 40 minutes just in dd bedroom (and the kids sort of helped me, dd fetched bin liners and cloths and then told me not to throw anything away even things that were clearly rubbish but we did agree on a few things in the end 🙄)

We have stopped for a snack break now, I'm happy because dd has tried grapefruit again and decided she does like it, I feel good when they choose something healthy off their own back.

Not feeling so good about my own choices...snack for ds was a fruit winder and then an apple, snack for dd fruit winder and half a grapefruit. Snack for mummy? A creme egg 😂😂😂

I cannot believe the state of the dc bedrooms, please send out a search party if I don't return later

Just typed "off their own back" and thought no it's definitely "off their own BAT" but now I'm questioning myself. Had to Google it and then ended up down a rabbit hole 😂 . But yes I clearly meant she did it off her own BAT.

Just dropping in quickly.
Haven’t caught up on all the posts from yesterday.

We went shopping and it took longer than usual. Stocked up now with meat and fish and some groceries at other small Sainsburys. Very quiet and much better than M&S and that hasn’t lasted long enough though I think we have fish in the freezer from there.

Thank you head is a lot better I can touch it now without wincing. But have a dent in my head. Will look forward to showing GP who will laugh if I get to see him before he retires the way things are going. Hope he doesn’t go for early retirement.

ROf D is coming on I actually have some enthusiasm for getting it sorted not sure where the stuff from my bedroom and the hall are going to fit back in. The plan is to do the desk/ table today. I did wool so trying to compartmentalise ( wasn’t sure if that was a word but it came up as I was spelling it) it as I figure it won’t look so daunting that way.

DH is getting his jab today. He gets it on age. They are down to the 60’s here. I have high blood pressure, asthma and dodgy immune system but younger. He gets it because he is older and healthy🤷🏼‍♀️
At least he hasn’t refused. I wasn’t sure before but think I will go ahead and hope I don’t have a big reaction. Some of DS3 friends have.

Will drop in for read later in the meantime 🍒👋🍒👋🍒👋🍒👋🍒👋

Hope Mr red jab goes ok!
Foxes chocolate eggs are made of cocoa beans which are a plant,which makes it like salad,right🤣

Mad here today,had call from eating disorder unit.they go assess lil zoo.i was to ring g.p Fri for baseline assessments
Our useless surgery RANG ME 15 mins ago offering app as they'd read email e.d.s had sentbooked in tom at 1.40 for an ECG,height/weight and b.p
Rang hospital with link doc sent.bloods booked for Friday at 810.pity surgery won't do under 16s.shes easy,hates the gel and hospital is much longer walk(1.5hr,surgery,30 mins)oh well

Tada
4loads laundry
Dd1 charged her battery for hoover and lent me.ive ran it out de fluffing hallstair and landing.had empty the tiny cannister