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

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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!

Morning all, oops, I mean afternoon .

Naptune welcome to the thread, feel free to ask if you don't understand anything. I'm posting links to the relevant parts of the Flylady website every day to try and keep us all on track but the best thing is Flylady's motto of "you are never behind" so just start from wherever you are.

Today is Thursday, the mission for the day is to wash bathmats and rags from the bathroom, also to wipe down the washer and dryer. The Flight plan for the day is here Flight Plan

The Launchpad to all the different sections is here

Today's babystep is to read Flylady's 11 Commandments here. Always good to have a refresher.

Afternoon all. Very static morning here followed by a catch up with DD1’s paediatrician, which was a bit difficult, and so I am hiding upstairs still while the enormity of Being A Parent sinks in all over again

Clearly not done any housework or other flying yet, I will move the laundry into the dryer when I go downstairs. Didn’t have breakfast and not sure what to have for lunch despite doing the shopping last night. 🤦🏽‍♀️

I am mostly sulking and pretending the washing up doesn't exist whilst realising that if i don't suck it up there is no plates and cutlery for tea.

I am also pretending that i am not a grown up with responsibilities. Which unfortunately requires the realisation that I am a grown up with rather extreme responsibilities around here.

On a plus note might be un-furloughed in April if things go to plan... Hopefully covid settles down, fewer people are catching it and requiring hospitalisation and the hospitals get to breathe for just a moment of 6. Had almost a year of complete lock down now. It is getting tiresome.

sing did app go badly,or just one of those days
Hills hope April sees you able to escape back to work
Foxes room looks fab!mine love pink carrot salad

Well he rang and complained lost brolly

Nap definitely deserved waders well done for getting the refund sorted!

Zoo it was just a bit... meh. Feels hopeless and reminded me of the stuff we are failing to do to help DD1 because she struggles to engage with it and we are too tired to push it - ironically tired in part due to how exhausting it is trying to see her through this time. Then I got completely overwhelmed at the responsibility of trying to help them and help myself and help DH and that’s without trying to run a house and a school of one and maybe possibly even making something of myself too. I’d love to say I feel a bit better after sobbing pathetically on DH but I don’t 😳

However my friend did set up a chat with his neuroscience nerd friend and we batted around some ideas for making the new meds work better for me etc. So there is maybe something to approach my doctors about, but I think it’s too late today, so I am just hiding instead.

I am having a flat day. My baby had his 3rd set of immunisations, and he is very miserable, either crying or sleeping, and it breaks my heart to see him feeling under the weather.
And then, I had a wee cry with him, because I realised motherhood changed me and I am worried my DH won't love the changed me anymore (used to be hard set career woman, planned only 1 baby, back full time, pedal to the floor etc. Now I don't give two hoots about my job, and I want to have more kids.. but then what about financial independence and all that jazz? In other words, I have no clue where my head is at. )
No flying today as spending the day on the sofa with my baby.

Aw mc 💐 I think it’s natural for motherhood to change you. It must be even harder to know right now when everything is so uncertain. Anyway, maybe in future you’ll want to get back in the fast lane again and this will just be a break of a little longer than you planned. It’ll happen when you need it to. DH will still love you I’m sure! You did bring his amazing little boy into the world and he needs to accept that has a huge effect on you. I’m glad you had a sofa day. Baby cuddles are the best!

I have had a bed day. Everything is just TOO much. The boys are watching some avengers movie, which is not my sort of thing, so having slunk downstairs for a rather lovely salad I have retreated again to finish the crime drama I was watching (well, the first series anyway). I have done absolutely nothing else since the appointment, I haven’t even put the washing in the dryer. 😳

Heya thank you all for welcoming me :).

red yep I think putting a list of what I’ve done will definitely motivate me more especially because other people will appreciate what I’ve done unlike the little people I live with😂

Thank you foxes I love the wallpaper in your little girls room :)

waders I will definitely join in with the chat it’ll give me a bit of adult conversation! I haven’t disappeared under the toys yet but will be sorting them out when my little ones go to sleep so there’s still time to😂

That’s good to hear dancing I’m trying to keep on top of the house now that I’ve moved in I don’t want it getting out of control like my last house!

Thank you ed I’ve had a look through the website and I think I understand most thing. I will start properly following along from Monday I think but for now I’m just going to find places for everything in the flat

Mc- I am so sorry to hear you have been crying its ok to feel like this. You have a beautiful baby and motherhood is a powerfully, strong feeling. Its completely normal to feel this way-to want to be with baby.
I watched superbly strong, fierce career women who were my close friends, discovered they felt the same way too when they had thier babies. They managed to negotiate their new working hours. They were heads of departments.
At my house, I had told my Dh in the 2nd year of my job, that he will be looking after the baby. Things changed when I finally did have my baby, I wanted to stay with baby. Dh supported me 100%, which I was thankful for.

Your Dh will still love you for you. Its completely normal to have a wobble Mc, a big, beautiful and wonderful thing has happened, you have a new baby.

Its the best thing you can do is to give mctiny a hug! They do get fussy after having jabs. They might need more bf but use it as comfort - but thats ok too.
Sending you a huge hug!

Remember by the time baby gets to one years old and abit older, you may be ready to go to work to get abit of you back.

I had friends who had to go back to work while thier baby was 6 months old. My friend said she would scream if she had to stay at home with baby anymore.
I told her I understand. I was happy to be home with baby- if I could have gone part time I would have. Its different for every new mum and that ok.
💖

Sing- lovely sending you a huge hug too. Being a parent is bloody overwhelming and its ok to take time and hide. Giving you another blanket and chocolate. Sending another big hug.
You have a lovely Dh if he lets you cry on him. 💖 Xx

Thanks dancing poor sod just had round 2 😂😳

I’m going to have to bite the bullet and ring the doctor tomorrow. Bugger. I have a rough plan so hopefully I’ll get to speak to someone who agrees. I’m just sad because these meds were meant to be the answer. But they aren’t and I almost feel worse than if I never knew about them.

And now I really will put the washing in the dryer.

Sing- if he let you cry on him again- he's a keeper!
Glad you will ring the docs tomo. Sending you lots of strength. 💖

Yeah he’s a good sort :) we have a hot date to watch some king of the hill 😂

Just watched the Perseverance landing on Mars... I’m enough in awe of the tech that meant DH could have a 360 view of the mission control room just by moving his phone, let alone the tech that actually got it all the way to another planet safely 😂

Waders- hope the nap helped. You too have a keeper of a Dh if lets you cry all over him. Great news that your foot is getting better! Weldone for encouraging the company, gently to see its best if they do a refund 😉.

Sing- wow i will look into the Mars landing. Thats a cool use of tech. I will try and watch it with the kids if I can find it online.

sing parenting is HARD.and that's without illness,MH issues,ASD,home schooling etc...oh and a pandemic!anyone who expected you to be smashing it is delusional.we are ALL muddling along best we can.do we worry we are getting it wrong?I do.can I change it right now?nope.just dig deep and keep everyone alive.the rest will evolve in time.bug hugs lovely
MC I've no solid words of wisdom as I've never had a flourishing career.all I can add is parenthood changes everyone at least a little bit.and that's ok.big hugs for you too lovely

"D"p decided I wasn't allowed at hospital with lil zoo as Im not vaccinated.he argued til I gave up.i said pick up 645 and walk her.her was banging and ringing at 630.he knows he can't come in,so in end I text him she will be out 645.ffs

They're gone now,off for bloods at 810.

Fretting is oversleep ive been up since 5
A nap will be needed later I think

Tada
Wash on
Harpic loo
Feed cats
Scrub surface one and tiling in kitchen
Scrub hob,tiling behind it and all the knobs on cooker top(oven don't work,hob does still)
Wake lil zoo and convince eat a few raisins (no other fruit left but bananas which she hates with a passion)
Pop mini bag jammy Dodgers in her coat pocket to eat just before enters hospital grounds(don't need her fainting!)
Online banking/try ignore bloke banging and ringing early
See lil zoo off

In progress re arranging my me time drawers(puzzle books,scratch art,colouring and drawing stuff)

To do
Wake dd2 730
Pop heron foods (leaving here 750)
Shop,wipe,put away
Shedloads laundry
Wash lower floors
Clean bathroom

Dd1 was raging yesterday when she drop off emergency kibble and the girls are out of wheat free stuff and I can't get it locally

Sing, Dancing, Waders, Zoo thank you very much for your kind words, I really needed that 😘

Sing How are you feeling today? I hope your conversation with the doctor is productive today.
Waders so pleased to read your foot is slowly getting better. Fingers crossed the trend continues.
Zoo sending good luck to lilZoo for her blood tests! Shocked to read about your son-in-law's place of work. What an unhelpful and unreasonable place! How is he (and you all) holding up with all of this?
Naptune hello! 🥰 Apologies for not greeting you earlier.

Right, now it's time for a cup of coffee and then will need to start the day. Shall be back later with, hopefully, some TaDas.

Oh Zoo that’s absolutely ridiculous! And so bizarre that working from home has been fine so far, what’s changed?! Hope they see sense, or he finds something quickly if not.

Sorry the appointment made you feel rubbish Sing. Hope you feel a bit better today. You never sound like you’re doing anything less than your best for DD to me so don’t be too hard on yourself

Aww Mc it’s perfectly natural to feel like that. Having a baby does change you, and sometimes you do need a good cry. Hope mctiny is feeling better today. I had similar feelings when DD was a similar age. I’d always planned on going back full time but then had a complete wobble. Couldn’t imagine leaving her and had no interest in my career anymore. I’ll be honest though, a few more months down the line and I felt differently again. I started to feel more like me again and once she was on the move I couldn’t wait to go back for adult conversation and hot tea . I went back when she was nearly 11 months. She had quite a few settling in sessions at nursery and it helped that she loved it and I felt comfortable leaving her there. Have I remembered rightly that you work in the NHS? They tend to be very flexible on return from mat leave. I do full time
compressed hours and it works brilliantly. Long days but DH is around to do drop offs and pick ups so he gets time with her, and I get my lovely week day off. Give it a bit of time and see how you feel. There’s no right answer, just what feels right for your family

Woohoo at refund Waders! Glad the foot is on the mend (don’t go overdoing it though!)

Fingers crossed that the end of furlough is in sight for you Hills. Hope the adulting went ok.

Dancing cats are funny aren’t they. One of ours adores DD. Sits with her all the time, let’s her cuddle her, play with her tail, put dolls hats on her, just not bothered in the slightest. The other one just hates how quickly and noisily she moves. I actually caught on camera the first time DD crawled and you can see the lock of horror in the cats face in the background and she darts away . She comes and has a good sniff when she falls asleep though.

Yesterday I stuck to my plan and had a lovely relaxing day. I did do a tidy downstairs and hoovered and mopped, as it was much nicer relaxing with everywhere clean and tidy. I also filled the car up with fuel which I am classing as a ta da as it wasn’t even on the red and I don’t need it until Monday. Future friend and all that jazz.

Ta Das today:
✔️ both of us dressed and fed
✔️ chicken out of freezer for tea
✔️ beds made
✔️ kept DD happy with a game of hide and seek (a bit more fun now she’s learnt not to tell me where she’s hiding and not to direct me where to hide)

Will see what else we get up to today. Back later 🍒 👋

Up Thank you. I will hold tight until it is closer to the time of coming back to draw any solid conclusions. Yes, working for NHS, and I will definitely look into full time compressed hours, thank you for the tip! I will be going back to a quite a tight on call rota as well, which will add a layer of complexity to the whole thing as well. I've decided I will enjoy my mat leave now and will try not to spoil it by worrying unnecessarily over returning to work just yet.

Hide and seek with your little one sounds like good fun!

Waders despite her age I’ve been able to get “magic cream” (emla?) prescribed for DD1 due to her autism, I think I’ve also been able to buy it in a big pharmacy cheaply? Which does at least help with the pain side, although I found it took longer to numb her than the instructions said.

Thank you for so much niceness. I phoned the doctors to be told by the recording that no, you must do the econsult option instead of requesting a phone call the same day. So I did that and spent 25min answering a gazillion questions about my history etc... wishing I could speak to an Actual Human (I do get why they’re doing this system btw, it is a great idea and I’m sure it’s very useful for many issues, I was just frustrated at having to repeat myself) only for the answer to a later question to then trigger a somewhat dramatic red banner saying to phone the doctor instead or go to the urgent treatment centre 🤦🏻‍♀️ So after another 20mins on hold I am now on the triage list and not sure whether to phone the psychiatrist as well as there’s a chance the GP might refuse to prescribe anything now. But also not wanting to risk missing the call back so I guess I’d better wait. My psychiatrist only works tues-thurs anyway so would only be leaving a message which I’d have to chase up next week anyway because messages seem to mysteriously disappear there

So that’s my morning so far 😂 will eat breakfast now and see if anyone else is up. DD1 has avoided catching up on her school work most of the week and we’ve been too knackered to push it, which in hindsight was really really stupid. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Morning all,

Zoo - that is appalling of DD1Fiance's employers. We all have our own desks, spread out, where we do have shared usage and equipment surfaces are sanitised twice a day, limits on numbers in rooms at any given time and masks unless you are at your desk or eating. We are fortunate that we have a lot of space but anyone can implement cleaning of surfaces, windows open, SI procedure etc. By the sounds of it he will have no difficulty finding work elsewhere, fingers crossed for him.

Sing - sorry you are struggling ATM, hope the GP/psych etc can help you, what a lot of hoops to jump through.

Mc - I remember those feelings too (I was a professional career person, still am but very much love being home with the DCs too). Through the years of meeting other parents there is no one-size fits all answer. I went back full time after DC1 because DH was in the early days of setting up a business and we needed the money/security but I missed being at home terribly. However we intended having another baby fairly quickly, which we did (23 month gap). I had to fight with my employer for part time hours after DC2 was born and it marked my card, but to be honest it wasn't just me, the whole place went down hill and closed when DC2 was 3yo. I had a year at home before DC2 started school, which was lovely and then found my current job which has always been part time /flexible. I haven't had a real high-flying career and it could have been different without the DCs but it has all worked out OK.

Right, better get on. First LOL is in the machine.

Links for Friday. We are meant to clear out our car and handbag today, I would need to blow dust off my handbag so not going to bother with that, I don't even take it to work any more, just my laptop and packed lunch. I might have a sort out of my laptop bag, although that is work really so maybe not.

Today's flight plan is here flight plan, the mission is to empty all your wastepaper baskets and bins, I did that a few days ago but still haven't done the shower curtain, will do that today.

Friday night is date night, if you feel so inclined. It tends to be collapse in front of the TV and go to bed early (to sleep) here.

I think they have change some of the furlough rules because we are having HR issues at my work too due to homeworking and furlough. Thankfully it does not affect me. But it is affecting other departments.

Hospital is a crock of shite. Adulting sucks. that is all.