May the Fledglings Fly with you

[EspeciallyDistracted]

Hello everyone, and welcome to the May Flylady thread! I have shamelessly copied the OP from the April thread, thank you Sing

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!

First!

Sorry about that. Bit over-excited and got a flashback to a forum I was on a dozen years ago...

Oooh, shiny new thread! Thank you Sing for keeping us going in April, especially with the update!
Thank you ED for running the May thread.
I'm really hoping I discover more motivation to get stuff done around the house. There's stuff everywhere that needs to be put away and I seem to be the only one who knows where everything goes 😡

I didn't do much today:
🎬 watched 3 movies with DH & DS, ready for Dr Strange
🎬 removed and re-gelled my nails
🎬 grocery pickup order placed, picked up and put away
DH & DS rotated DW & DS did 1 LOL

Back to work tomorrow for me, where did the weekend go?!

Thanks, ED for taking on May and thanks Sing for steering us safely through April!

Hello merry have you got over your New Thread excitement? 😁

Hazel oh yes, being the family brain for putting things away. So irritating!

So, my aim for May is to get back to running the house properly - morning, after lunch and evening routines, home bleugh, decluttering, cleaning missions. I can see in my head how it will all work, but the actuality may be different as I also want to build healthy habits for me around walking and good sleep hygiene, without running my entire life like a railway timetable.

Hey ho. Babysteps, I suppose. Starting with waking up the morning routine again, properly, and doing the planning / diary and calendar updating I didn't do yesterday. Thank goodness for Bank Holidays as a dot-day in the process!

Morning all,

Today is a bank holiday in England but not everywhere else. As it’s the beginning of the month we are in Zone 1, entrance, porch and dining room, or variations on that to suit. The launch pad is here

flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=-60

Our mission for the day is to spend 15 mins tidying the entrance hall, letters, coats, shoes etc put it all away. Monday is also Home Blessing Day where we are supposed to vacuum, dust, empty bins, change beds all in an hour, again do what suits you best.

The habit for May is moving more. I made a bad start yesterday by spending most of it in the car, same on Saturday but in general I am making more effort with exercise at the moment.

I have decided that part of my morning routine will be, whenever possible, having a morning cuppa and/or breakfast in the garden. The sounds of birds chirping and a bit of natural daylight / fresh air is a great start to the day. Also we have spent the last week or so blitzing the garden and have some new patio furniture so it is nicer out here than it was, the patio was a bit of a dumping ground before. On Friday I took a car load of garden waste and other assorted clutter to the tip and it felt so good, of course as soon as I got home I spotted more stuff that needs to go, so I have booked another slot for next Friday, I think I might make this a weekly habit for a while and see how much I can get rid of.

Oh my! Can I join please? I've never been the best but recently my house has gone to absolute shit. To the point where I started cleaning yesterday, did it for maybe an hour and hadn't even finished the kitchen. Every room makes me sick. But once I do clean, it lasts 10 mins.

Morning everyone, happy May. Thanks so much for the shiny new thread ED, and thanks to Sing for doing April with so much going on.

Cuppa in the garden sounds lovely ED, I might try and adopt that one. I’m still in bed with mine at the minute but from tomorrow I’m going to try and have a set wake up time, ideally before everyone else, so I can have a bit of time to myself and get back into an exercise routine.

I have the same aim as you Willow. May is going to be the month I finally get back on top
of everything after a year of being off track (I’m blaming pregnancy and newborn, no excuse now).

Merry

Sounds like a nice day Hazel. I also seem to be the only one who knows where things go. Although they don’t seem to have a problem finding the things to get them out 🤔

We’ve had a nice weekend. Got the pizza oven out last night and I did most of the clear up, although I’ve just remembered I didn’t finish clearing up the flour (made a start, but lost the will) so I have that to finish this morning. I gutted MiniUp’s room yesterday as it had somehow become a dumping ground again. It’s now clear and will remain a functioning room, even if she doesn’t sleep in it yet. DH is heading out this afternoon so I’m not expecting any major flying wins, just making sure school uniform and bag is ready, reading etc done, and hopefully some time playing with DD1. No home bleurgh on a bank holiday Monday (impossible with DD1 at home and no DH anyway). Enjoy the day off those of you in England. Hope it’s an ok Monday for the rest of you.

Hi Duettino! Of course you can join us, the more the merrier.

Hello everyone!
Welcome duettino of course we’d love to have you here!
Thank you for braving the hosting role this month ED (loving the name change too!) with the update chaos still very much present (I still get frequent error messages and cookie requests anyway, driving me a bit mad!)

I am still in bed, managed a decent amount of sleep. Haven’t got home so late in years 🤣 but the gig was absolutely incredible. Really lovely afternoon just three of us too. Glad it’s a BH today 🤣 DH is off to volunteer at an event, the rest of us will be lazing at home.

I NEED to join you...

Welcome @Duettino and @MagnoliatheMagnificent , good to have you along with us. Jump in wherever you are! If you want a readymade routine, I've gone back to the Flylady app to give me Things To Tick Off (easily pleased, me) and a basic structure again.

Duet it sounds like you need Flylady's crisis clean! It's on the website somewhere if you google. Or, just start with shining the sink.

Up I remember the dumping ground DD1’s room was before she moved in there :o we never ended up using it as a bedroom actually as we moved just before her first birthday and just moved her into the new house’s second room.

Hazel it is exciting about the new Dr Strange film! DH and DS watched some marvel last night in preparation for a themed quiz night at the comic shop next week.

<awards medal to merry for speedy thread joining>

I have cleared the weekly planner board as didn’t have time yesterday. Will fill that in later. It’s a very busy week work wise, with the assignment due on Thursday. Glad the essay is basically written!

Sing- that you for leading last months thread 💎
Ed- thank you for our shiny new thread.

Sing- great you had a lovely time at the concert.
Willow- I too need to add healthy routines. I partly dont mind doing this course as my brain is currently functioning and sadly the level 2 doesnt start until sept and I dont want to wait. I have started my course and they have said if I change my mind I can come off the course- no probs. Its nice to have a routine after so long so it will make me get ready, be organised and get out the house. Plus take steps to be independant from 'd'h.

Merry- 🤣

Welcome -Due and Mag !

I am thinking the same as some of you - this month i hope to hv routines in place.
Uniforms all washed and dried and packed in sets.

Must meal plan- i made a slow cooker lasanga- it was brilliant- 2 days of dinner sorted for the adults- kids cud see tomatoes so they said no. 😑

Tadas-
Wash on.
Cleared floorspace in ds room so he can play lego In His room - not the 1/3 of the sitting room floor I cleared yesterday.

To do-
Shower/dress
Tackle sitting room floor of doom- must get part clear.
Make all sandwiches for the lunch boxes for whole week- and make up lunch boxes for week-8 little paw patrol lunch boxes - ready with sandwiches, mini yogurt, small choco bar, spoon. (Must get more teaspoons.) Got to pack half packets of crisps in plastic tubs. Will chop apples, carrots, cucumbers fresh in the mornings for the kids.
Must make sure I wash out the water bottles.

🍒👋 everyone

Hi magnolia! Welcome, lovely to have you with us!

Aw dancing it’s lovely to hear (read!) your posts, you are sounding more positive. And especially glad to see you are making yourself less dependent on DH the D doesn’t stand for Dear

I am DETERMINED to relax properly today. Since I’ve started work (almost seven months ago now!) I’ve become so much happier and more productive, but the flip side is that I do get more anxious about how much needs doing and how little time there is to fit everything in!

I will definitely write the week up on the board later though as that will get the proper week (since we are in England today doesn’t count!) off to a better start than if I don’t bother.

Hello!
I decided that I would actually do some zone work before I came on the thread and joined. I am so pleased I did! I've just cleaned the front window, front door, porch and hall whilst listening to an audible book.
I've barely managed to get past the perpetuals (laundry, dishes, tidying, swish and swipe) for far too long now and I have never managed a proper routine - feel like I have hope now 😃.

Thank you all for being so welcoming!

I have just finished the kitchen. Everything is spotless and shined to high heaven. I even got high praise from DP. "You've done a good job". He is the worst. Since working from home he smokes in the dining room where he works (I'll be honest, we don't use it to eat) but there will be a pile of cigarette ends on the table which is now marked with 1000 burns. He also did that to my best of tables. I told him off. He also eats nuts and leaves the shell in a pile or a glass. I can't tell you how many ash trays I have bought for him. He will stub the cigarette out next to it. A bugbear as you can tell. He is studying every night and Saturday mornings for the last few months and the next few years so can't help as much now. I don't mind that but he has now decided that if I tidy, it makes too much noise to concentrate. Argh!

Thank you for recommending the crisis clean. I will have a look. I've had a quick gander through a few pages of it and it looks good. My entrance hall is tiny, no cat swinging. I started painting it 5 years ago but did an awful job and never finished. It's on my very long list. I could use this as a time to get it done. I would need to sand the woodwork.

Looking forward to getting to know you all better

@TidyHouse2022 is that for the queen? Our school have done that later in May.

Good going on the kitchen Duet! That would drive me insane about stubbing cigarettes out on furniture, do you want a borrow of the Fledglings' Shovel to bash him with? 😁 Plenty of space under the Fledgling Imaginary Patio should you need it!

MrsTidy have you possibly slipped a week or two? We have an extra Bank Hol on Thursday 2 June for the Queen, that I think is UK wide, then the Whitsun one on the Friday here (may be England only). Because DD is on half term that week, she had an extra day off in lieu... on 18 February 🤷🏼‍♀️.

Welcome Courante, do you want to come and do my Zone cleaning next? 🤣 I am trying to plan things but DH keeps WhatsApping me questions from elsewhere in the house and I had to dash off to Tesco on a prescription hunt for DD, so my plans for World Domination have gone a bit bendy, again.

LOL @GreenWillowAndCatkins ! I've now finished the zone and done half of the weekly blessings. Unfortunately, I'm now knackered! Feel like a nap but a coffee will have to do.

Great job on the kitchen @Duettino ! My DH is currently watching his sixth hour of TV today and I have to admit it is starting to grate, especially as he decided to order something non essential that is arriving at some point today so we can't go out somewhere (he WFH so it isn't like he couldn't have ordered it to come tomorrow).

Thanks Sing for April's thread. You managed superbly with the forum changes to deal with too.

Thanks for May's thread ED. Breakfast in the garden sounds fab.

Courante I'd go out without him!

Oooh so that's what the naughty corner was originally for Willow, taking a rest after lots of digging to "lay a patio" 😁

Duet maybe DH needs to find somewhere quiet to study so the rest of the household doesn't have to tip toe round him? Like the library, for instance.

Up glad to hear you're adjusting to motherhood and ready to get on with sorting your life out.

Magnolia I felt the same way when I first found this thread. I've only been here 3 months but it's made a difference already.

They know where it goes Hazel, they know, looking blank and claiming they don't is all part of their masterplan to get you doing everything. You have my sympathy.

Good luck with the course Dancing I hope you enjoy it.

Today has not gone to plan. I need to get cracking. All I've done so far this month is change my username.

Forgot the prize for Merry ...Here you go! 🏆

Welcome courante :)

Oh my word duet that is beyond disrespectful of him 🤬 yuck!

DH is finally home so I’m going to read for a bit. Got pizza bases for dinner. Trying to get more of a rhythm to the week especially with meal planning. So far we’ve agreed:

Monday will always be top-your-own-pizza night
Wednesday will always be sausage stew and rice
Friday will always be pasta bolognese/garlic bread

Veg/salad can be varied according to what we have!

Right, need to sweep up the bunny rug with Cagletini as she just spilled some pistachio shells 🙄