Flip, flap, the Fledglings are back! April 2022 Flylady thread, all welcome!

[SingToTheSky]

Hello everyone, and welcome to the April Flylady thread!
We welcome newbies and returnees - if you are curious about the system feel free to ask questions or lurk! We do follow it, erm, loosely to say the least. So there is a lot of chat about random life stuff as well as housework, decluttering and organising.

A key element of flylady is not being a perfectionist!
I don’t think the regulars would mind me saying that most of us here are not naturals at housekeeping etc, so please don’t feel we are some intimidating group who demand perfectly shined sinks. We are human. We fall off the wagon. We commiserate and help each other climb back on, and we stock the virtual naughty corner with snacks and blankets for the days when adulting is just too hard.

So, the system:
🔹Some baby steps which are designed to help you build up a routine.
🔹Daily missions to help with sprucing up particular areas in the zones, for example the first zone of the month is the entry/porch and dining room if you have one.
🔹Try and do 15 minutes decluttering a day. It didn’t get cluttered in a week so it will take a lot longer to clear it!
🔹Daily focuses to help shape the week.
🔹Here on the thread many of us post to do lists, but also “ta da” lists of things we’ve achieved that day.
🔹We also recommend the Power of Three technique - if you’re overwhelmed with too much to do, just pick three things and don’t think about the rest.

Anyway, I will post some links each day (hopefully) but whether you follow the system or not - many of us just take the bits we like or build our own flylady style system to suit our own lives - do join in if you want a place to chat about keeping a house and family running!

Finally, thank you hugely to the lovely willow for steering us beautifully through March! 💐

Thank you for the shiny new thread Sing.

Willow thank you for the lovely thread leading through March.

Thanks Sing and willow

🍷to Willow - muchas gracias amiga! Sing thanks for el thread nuevo.

Will try to be more present on this thread. Was in work today until 2 - left in swirly snow.

I need to keep up better this month too!

Should really go to sleep. It’s been a long day. Had a looooong conversation with DSD2, it’s just like when she lived here before, putting the world to rights :o so nice.

Very proud of DD1 as well - she had to man a collection on her own all day as friends bailed, and DH was at the other collection. She was cold and bored and frustrated as far fewer donations this time. She wanted to come home but my friend dropped round an extra jumper and she stuck it out. She said this evening that she told herself the people she was collecting for were dealing with a lot worse so she could put up with a bit of cold. She really doesn’t tolerate feeling uncomfortable and bored etc well at all and tends to back out of things easily, so this is quite a big step for her! 💕

Night folks. Busy day with a school visit, then need to get a dress for DD1’s ballroom exam 😬😬😬

Thank you for March thread willow
Thank you for taking over the thread in April Sing

We got our steps finally finished today! So now we can actually fully use the French doors, just in time for BBQ season to start 🥳
Must go start my nighttime routine: shower, moisturise etc. get clothes out for tomorrow, take meds, start DW, go to bed. I may even stretch!

🍒👋 to everyone

Fairly new to Mumsnet and this is a great idea! I was need inspiration and a big push when it comes to organising/tidying the chaos around me! Will definitely be following this!

mummy welcome to the thread!

Placemarking! New mum here- lots of de cluttering & house organising to do, having not been at home much prior to starting a family. Now off work with bubba for a year so want to get things organised! Also we have new roof being done from May so the de-cluttering needs to get seriously serious because once new roof is on, we are converting the loft which currently resembles an Oxfam donation storage depot! Talk about overwhelming. So will be following with interest and feeling inspired by all your posts on getting things ticked off! 💐 Xox

mummy & sjxoxo welcome to the thread! We're all about starting with baby steps and making small changes. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

I went ahead and actually did some yoga! I did better than I thought, although my hips are tight. In bed, going to sleep now. Have a good day everyone

sjxoxo crikey I just about remained upright during the first few months of ds's existance. Declutter a little and often (and sleep when the baby sleeps!). The new roof deadline will help spur you on and delegate too.

🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇

Morning all! And an especially warm welcome to sj and mummy! Great to have you on board.

I’m just dropping a few links while on the way to a meeting (don’t worry I’m not driving 😬🤣), apologies if it’s a bit haphazard.

Also before I forget - those who are new to Flylady may be tempted to sign up for the emails… all we can say is, don’t do it!!! Unless you enjoy digital clutter anyway.

So we are now in April, and the habit of the month is making your bed. Whether that’s airing it or whatever.

As mentioned in the OP we are in Zone 1 - the entrance and of you have one, the dining room (if like me you don’t, you could always do the dining area, which for us is the table in the living room, which is a major clutter magnet!). In this link there’s also a link to the detailed cleaning list - but the advice is not to be tempted by that if you are still in the decluttering phase. You can’t clean clutter!

In the zone we also have missions (weekdays only). Today’s is to go in a trash hunt!

The daily focus for Friday is to clean out your car, handbag, purse etc (coat pockets are a big one for me!).

We also have baby step number 1, which is to shine your sink. This is one of those steps that looks different to all of us. You could literally shine it, or just clear it, basically it comes down to not leaving it full of washing up overnight! It feels much nicer to come down to a clean kitchen.

In fact, while I probably won’t get round to having a talking point every day, today I’m bringing back a phrase we’ve not used so much in the thread lately - be your future friend! Try and remember that even if you don’t want to do something right now, your future self will thank you!!! We have talked a lot about self care in previous months and always concluded that sometimes that actually means doing something you don’t necessarily want to do, but does help you in the long run.

So, while we are all (hopefully!) feeling motivated for the new month, what are some things you could start doing to be your future friend? Or what are some things you already do that might inspire the rest of us?

I will think on this myself later - about to get off the bus!

🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇

Morning. I got a proper night's sleep. Feeling more rested and ready to hit the books once i am up and breakfasted. MUST get slow cooker on for tea today. Poor ds was left to fend for himself last night Thankfully he is more than capable if a little frustrated with how often that happens. Today's slow cooker risoto should feed people for today and tomo which buys me some time to figure stuffs out.

Tomorrow is a busy day and technically i am still due in 2 places at once so will need to fix that mess out before i sleep.

ta da
In box zero
Appologise for falling asleep mid txt conversation
consider the to do list
remove duvet from washer after extra spin

To da
wash up the pots that were in the sink
throw stuffs into slow cooker and turn on
weight, peak flow, meds etc
check on ds who is probably about to hit bed
bring the milk in
Chapter 4 of 7 lesson videos,
Chapter 3 consolidation notes
And if i get time chapter 4 questions

I need to be completed by 7pm tonight as i have put aside tonight as a no study time, ditto tomo. I can see tomo evening being a failure on that but still. 10hr study days are taking their toll a little.

Thanks so much for the new thread Sing, love your intro. I’m going to try and keep up a bit better this month, both with the thread and the zones. DD1 did so well yesterday to stick it out, no wonder you’re proud!

Willow thanks for a lovely March thread. You did a brilliant job, especially with everything you’ve had going on.

Hi mummy and sjxoxo, lovely to have you both with us. How old is your little one sjxoxo? My second is 3months old and I’m also trying to get everything in order while on mat leave.

Hope all covid-inflicted fledglings and mini fledglings aren’t feeling too shabby and are free of it soon.

I didn’t make it onto the thread yesterday as I had a shopping trip and then some visitors. It was nice, but a bit of a peopley day, so today DD2 and I are having a relaxing sofa day. I know I just said I was going to keep up better, but I’m comfy in the naughty corner for the foreseeable . Scruffy clothes on despite managing to find some nice things that actually fit yesterday (bras were an issue but I hit the bravissimo website when I got home). Might start the new season of Bridgerton. I have at least done my morning routine. Should really really do something with my car though…

@StillUp hello! Baby boy is 11 weeks so same as yours! @BeanAnTae haha yes I am struggling to get things done for obvious reasons.. I have no choice though with the loft because we can’t insulate it with all the crap up there, let alone do the conversion. I’ve got some good motivation in that DH is wfh and currently takes up the dining table- plan is to have some office space in loft so I need to get up those stairs ha ha.
Xx

Morning all, just marking my spot. Big thanks to Willow for last month and Sing for the new thread

Morning, and thanks for taking over Sing! I can't believe it's April already, where is 2022 going?

Welcome to sj and mummy - I first found Flylady when DS2 was about 3 months old and I was drowning in chaos. He was 19 last week and I am still plugging away, although we are a lot less chaotic than previously nothing to do with the two eldest DC moving out.

It's cold enough to freeze the clutch pedal off a Renault 4 here again so I am staying indoors except for running DD up and down the main road to school. She got in for period 1 today and goes back for period 4 at 1.35. The school have invited us in on Monday morning to "discuss her provision", which should be ... interesting. I think we're going to pull the teacher / parents' eve trick of opening with "so, how do you feel support of DD's additional needs is going?". It is Autism Awareness Month after all.

Red I hope you are taking it steadily as you recover.
Still sounds like a lovely day out, but you thoroughly deserve a sofa day with MiniUp.

Hills good luck with the study.

Ta da:
💖 Up, dressed, etc in case Vlad The Decorator came at 7.30 to do the final bits. He didn't.
🧡 No LOL to go in. A bit concerned.
💛 Everyone fed, DW dealt with, DD walked WillowHound who is perplexed by the lack of Vlad's Guys.
💚 Sat in the newly decorated study for a while, wondering where to put all my Stuff. DH is struggling with everything being all over the house so I need to get stuff back in there.
💙 Collected DD from school and took some extra socket covers back to Screwfix on the way home
💜 Booked DD a counselling appt

To do:
🧹 Major dusting of bookshelves before I put anything back
🧹 Consider acquisition of library steps for my new picture-rail-height shelves
🧹 Put Stuff back in Places

Found you all. The day has not got off to a good start and I need the pointy stick to complete my morning routine. Anyway new month, new name, call me what you like.

Now that my morning and evening routines are going quite well she says, sitting here in her pyjamas still my focus this month will be getting to grips with the weekly plan "each day for a different thing" or whatever FlyLady officially calls it. I shall remain studiously ignorant of "zones, missions and detailed cleaning", whatever they may be.

Ta-da's: nothing
To-do: everything

Willow I feel the same as you with how quickly this year is passing by. The last two pandemic years everything seemed to blur into one very long very miserable time.

Up I'm joining you in the naughty corner today. Have done nothing.

Hills 10hr study days sounds like hell. I admire your dedication.

SJ and Mummy welcome to the thread.

Thanks for the new thread Sing. I've never heard of be your future self's best friend, I think it should be my new mantra.

Hi blue!

I am home and under a duvet - I think the cold snap has made me more achy.

Just thinking about the future friend thing. One I struggle with and often regret not doing is packing my bag ready the night before if I’m going out to a meeting or something in the morning. It was fine today as I didn’t need anything specific, but often I’m dashing about like a mad thing trying to find stuff.

My mind’s gone blank so I can’t think of anything else! #threadleaderfail 😳🤣

Willow fab leading in march,esp with added stress of decorators at chez willow
Sing thanks for April lovely

Well DS is now officially"with the malady"(his words)2 down...
Lil zoo not impressed her lft was negative today,dozy mare as we start school hols for Easter!
Hoping that anyone going to drop gets it over and back up to speed before dd2 18th in the 13th if April..where did all those years go?☹️

Not much done here today except a video call with potential post 16 sen placement for D's.need rethink his perimeter of what that will look like a little,but they've not given me a solid no so hopeful still as I've not got a plan b!I've 2week hol to talk it over then get back to them...

Must tidy up and wash up.ive just eaten pancakes feral style from the packet as no clean crockery

In my defense I have been,and still am not well but still ...

Wishing all poorly fledglings and mini fledglings (even the ones taller than their mums!) well!

I keep thinking I can totally relax now. DSD (who moved back in with us last week while flat hunting) has an extra week off, and I also did my timesheet yesterday which so far has usually coincided with the start of a holiday. So I’m all thrown by the fact that I still have another week to go!

So DS also has another week of home ed, which I’m a bit stressed about ATM as I don’t feel we are doing that well with it. And if DD1 can take up her school place after Easter, we only have a week to sort out visits, meetings etc. Aaaargh!!!

to do list - completed
I have also done
clean the cooker
chase people down for tea
wash the pots
wash the random weirdly shape stuffs
put plates, cutlery and cups in to soak
remember person who went awol that we were supposed to have been running errands tonight (will have to now be done tomo - arses)
Check schedule for tomo

I know i have forgotten stuffs but atm I cba so am going to go curl up and be done for the night.

Happy April everyone, welcome back Dancing and welcome on board to SJ and mummy

I'm actually finally getting somewhere which is good seeing as I'm leaving for the airport at 5am on Monday. House is gradually looking better in little bursts of seemingly not achieving much but it accumulates and makes a difference. A long way to go but looking much better downstairs and I finally put the chair that I was given then never found a place for on a gifting page and someone collected this evening so that's one less obstacle downstairs at least.

Need another productive day tomorrow with housework and finalising packing and must remember to do advance passenger information and check in and get documents together and get ds packing too.

Building Kallax and reshuffling everything is realistically not going to happen till after holiday. Embarrassed to think how long ago it was that I went to Ikea

No work for two weeks! I'm behind on marking but it is just tough - I can't work through every single holiday and this one I don't have time to work at all because we're finally getting to go away and I am not going to feel guilty about it!

Hi Fly! Leave the marking and enjoy the holiday! Wonderful you can go.

Red- ! I am so sorry you have covid. Its horrible. Resting will help. Sending you a big hug xx

Hope everyone with covid or recovering with covid feels better soon.

Tadas-
Cleared half sitting room so it looks lovely (shoved all stuff to the other side of the room 🤣.)
Assembled ikea tv stand and fixed shelf so boxes can store sitting room things.

Emptied and reset dh wardrobe- alot of decluttering needed.

I have made great strides in organising and sorting my house. I am 50% there. I have some rooms lovely and some are 30% cluttered.
Hi mummy and sj.
I have only just managed to let go of my extentsive collection of happyland stuff. It was a huge huge collection. I managed to donate 60%. Now I dont even miss it.
My kids are 7 and 5 years old. They barely glance at toys they have after school clubs, watch iplayer ot play computer games with their dad.
(I must admit, I dream of getting skip and throwing it all away. All toys.)

I went out with the kids to a music event with pop up food tents. Kids ran around with new friends. I listened to music. I cant believe i did something that I like. It was so nice. I cant stay awake.

Up- aww congratulations on babyUp! 3months already! Dont do too much, cherish all the snuggles.🤗

Damn right fly! You need and deserve this break. How long are you away for?

ta da
🐰shower
🐰school meeting for work, was nice as I don’t normally work on this project
🐰fruitless traipsing round nearby town with DD1 looking for a dress for her ballroom exam, the outgrown one will have to do for one more session! But we did have a nice pub lunch together and I got more PJs for Cagletini which she needs
🐰put last few bits in DW and switched on
🐰made sure DD1 found and shook out her old dress and hung it up for tomorrow
🐰put Cagletini to bed (I’ve decided to put this sort of thing on the list from now on)

I don’t think I actually managed anything else today TBH. Quite a lot of hiding under the covers watching Hoarders.

I am trying to console myself that the last two weeks really have been crazy and after tomorrow there’s an awful lot less going on even though we have one more week of term. So hopefully I can do a bit more decluttering etc instead of leaving it all till the holidays.

Going to bed now to finish the episode and then sleeeep!

Thank you for the April thread Sing
Thank you again Willow you did a sterling job leading us through March despite the hiccups of changes to your own home and the decorating capers. Yes, I’m taking it easy and slowly and think I am starting to recover now.

Welcome Mummy andSJhope you enjoy our thread.

Dancing thanks I have had it about 10 days now. Still feeling exhausted and sleeping a lot more than usual. Getting up for a couple of hours a day but not doing much.

Fly enjoy your holiday.
Hills That sounds hard work

Managed to tidy and sort a BCR( bag of random crap) and burnt the contents of two boudoir bins. The area in the boudoir is quite small now. A small trunk and a washing basket( curtains and cushions) and a basket of stuff. If I can get rid of these I would have a fairly tidy room.
Sitting room needs three bags removed- handbag, lovely bag I got from bf for Christmas and contains a few presents that I need to find homes for, a bag of wool that needs putting away.
I have made one fingerless glove. I am quite pleased about that. I have random kits from charity shops or craft shops. I am starting to complete the kit. So far they are quite easy and I am learning a new skill.