Flying into February. Flylady support and chat thread

[TheMainCharacter]

Are you looking to finally getting into a new routine with housework? Something simple to start that can be easy to add to over time? Flylady may be the answer for you!

This is a long running thread, but we are a friendly bunch and all are welcome to join in.

Do NOT sign up for the Flylady emails - it's an excessive amount sent every day.

There are Baby Steps for starting out, add one thing at a time to start good habits and routines.

There are 5 zones that we will rotate through, don't worry about finishing it all this month, it'll come around again next month! Flylady is NOT about perfectionism!

Daily missions: each day of the week has a different mission.

• Monday: Home Blessing (or as we call it, home bleugh)
• Tuesday: plan & play
• Wednesday: anti-procrastination
• Thursday: errand day
• Friday: clean car & purse out. It's also date night (with your significant other, or friends, or yourself!)
• Saturday: family fun day
• Sunday: renew your spirit

Common acronyms we use:

• LOL: load of laundry (washing is certainly NOT funny!)
• DW: dishwasher, we are not rotating wives by any means, although an extra pair of hands could come in handy sometimes 😆
• LMS: lose/lost my shit
• DNLMS: did not lose my shit

There are more, feel free to ask us to explain something. I'll try to update links every day, although if you can, it's worth downloading the app, you can even have it send you notifications (although I only have it for when the zones change). You can also modify the tick lists to suit your home & lifestyle.

Links are below 👇 if I happen to not add links in time, they do update at midnight in the UK

Launch Pad: https://www.flylady.net/d/new-links/
Zones: https://www.flylady.net/d/zones/
Baby Steps:https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/
New/Most Popular Links | FlyLady.net
https://www.flylady.net/d/new-links

character how did things go at the care home? Thank goodness no more headlice, that's one less thing to worry about.

searching it's nice when DC have friends over so you can get things done. I've done that before in the past. Did your day go as planned in the end?

Work is always there character I work long days (7am-6pm), so I'm out of the house almost 12 hours 4 days a week. When I get home I cook dinner and I'm too exhausted to do anything else!

It's finally the weekend, although it seems like it might end up being a busy one.

Oooh, I forgot to ask you character, what cake did you bake?

Ta da

🧺 washer and dryer on
🧹 washing on radiators rotated
🪣 coats and bags in hall decluttered
🧽 cat fed
🧼 dry dishes away
🧺 dishwasher empty and reloaded
🧹 2x worktops cleared and wiped
🪣 breadbin emptied of gone off bits
🧽 pans washed
🧼 tesco shop ordered

Smallest two DC are in awful moods (2&4 year olds) lots of throwing, shouting and spitting 😫

Hello everyone, sorry for the lack of post this morning, been doing birthday things!

Saturday is family fun day

Today’s baby step is to add swish and swipe to your daily routine
https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-24/

@HazelNotHungryLC that sounds hard, I’m impressed you manage to FLY at all! I seem to only be able to keep on top of my house if that’s my main focus!
I made a chocolate fudge cake, with chocolate icing, sprinkles, and white chocolate buttons and unicorns and rainbows! 8 year old heaven!

We were surprisingly impressed with the care home, got a few more to look at. Still not certain whether we are going to try him at home first…

@THATissoooFETCH hope the dc have cheered up a bit.

The 2 year old is sleeping, the 4 year old is having screen time. DD10 is stomping about though in protest to cleaning out pets

Cake sounds great Character

Sorry your little one has been unwell Pompoms

You've done well getting all that done with grumpy DC That

The spring clean is going well.

❣️ Morning and evening routines kept going
❣️Flat pack furniture built
❣️Shelves and pictures on walls
❣️Fresh cut flowers in the living room
❣️Nooks and crannies hoovered
❣️Rooms shifted round to make better use of space
❣️Spring clothes ready to be rotated with winter clothes
❣️Taps descaled
❣️Laundry and dishes kept on top of

@TheMainCharacter cake sounds fab. Any pics?

Some super satisfying wins today:
🎉 Went through the suspicious damp box (everything inside fine!)
🎉 Took contents (old decrepit curtains) to Dunelm's fabric recycling point
🎉 Managed a Sodastream "gas exchange" at Argos
🎉 Recycled all our Brita filters (Sainsbury's)
🎉 Soft plastics recycling (Also Sainsbo)
🎉 Tidied wardrobes
🎉 Tidied random collection of stuff in B1
🎉 Cleaned (gas) hob and backsplash
🎉 Emptied All The Bins
🌱 Swept outside
🌱 First mow of the year

To do tomorrow:
🎯 All The Laundry
🎯 Flip mattresses
🎯 Test out new rubber brush on Cat Hair Central (upstairs landing)

And I cannot take credit for it but meanwhile DW did all the dishes that had piled up a little so we're down to zero! Amazing. I'm hopeful that means we're all set for a great run of daily evening dishes. So much easier to keep on top of it all when you start afresh.

character the cake sounds lovely 😍
that you were productive despite DC being difficult 💐
Ditzy you've been busy with spring cleaning 🌷
Cabbage that's quite a ta da list! You're right re dishes, it'll be easier to keep up on them every night.

Ta Das:
🌷 cleaned out fridge
🌷 cleared countertops and wiped them down
🌷 wiped fronts of kitchen cupboards & drawers
🌷 threw away flowers (the water was going mouldy and was starting to smell 🤢)
🌷 cleaned kitchen bin, inside & out
🌷 swept kitchen & dining room
🌷 mopped

It's supposed to be nice weather all weekend, so we're planning on getting the outside cleaned up a bit, before it all turns to shit again tomorrow night 😪

Sunday is renew your spirit

Today’s baby step is to read Fly Lady’s Personal Testimonial
https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-25/

@CabbageBearGoat that sounds like a very productive day. Very satisfying things achieved. Good luck keeping on top of the dishes.

@ItsieDitzyBitsOfOnionInTheSoup sounds like you also had a very productive and satisfying day, Bet the house feels much fresher now.

@HazelNotHungryLC well done on all that work in the kitchen, mine needs doing desperately. The floor especially needs a good scrub.

@brightpompoms the cake sounds (and tastes) much better than it looks 🤣 definitely a home baker rather than someone able to make cakes look artistic!

Yesterday afternoon we did go out and cleaned up a bit outside. I swept the driveway and patio, DH & DS raked the back garden by the fence, to remove some of the wood shavings left from the tree being removed.
I did throw away a couple garden ornaments that have seen better days, my watering can that's misshapen and my bird feeder that broke. I'm aiming to replace those things this spring (I have them on my Amazon wishlist, my birthday is next month 🤞).

Today I'll need to work on laundry. I'll air out the house again today as it's supposed to be really nice again. I would work on the front, but we're now out of space in our bins, so that'll have to wait until another nice weekend (whenever that may be).

So far so good with the dishes. Not much else done but at least completing some previous to do list items.

Today's wins:
🎉 Rotated B1 mattress
🎉 Mattress topper ready for washing
🎉 Used rubber brush on upstairs carpets. Horrifying results
🎉 Baked mini cake loaves
🎉 Vacuumed house

Monday is home bleurgh

Today we move into zone 5, the living room. Todays mission is to go round the edges of the floor in your living room with the vacuum attachment or a small brush. Get rid of all the dust and hair that a normal vacuum misses.

Today’s baby step is here
https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-26/

Sorry my post was late again today, had to wake the dc up this morning and then they were on a massive go slow so it was a rush to get to school on time. Then went to the supermarket, unpacked the shopping, hung up laundry, tidied up a bit and vacuumed through. Then went into the hospital and there’s no signal in there!

My one and only win for today is booking the car in for a minor repair tomorrow! Hopefully a longer list tomorrow 😁

Thanks @TheMainCharacter for your info posts - it's so helpful having you post each day and I appreciate this thread so much even when I'm not posting on it so regularly

Tuesday is Plan and Play

Today’s mission is to dust the picture frames, ornaments, lamps etc in your living room.

Today’s baby step is to think about what’s for dinner before it’s dinner time.
https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-27/

Morning ☕️

Hiding in the naughty corner. Hopefully I'll be back soon with some tada lists. The pms symptoms just haven't gone away this month, even though my cycle has been and gone - I'm hoping it isn't a sign that perimenopause is around the corner 😏 the joys of hormones ! So it's survival mode here, anything that isn't absolutely necessary isn't being completed 🙈

character you had a busy morning yesterday!
I meal plan for the week, before I buy groceries, but do not plan what day we're having what. I used to do that, but plans change, I end up being more tired one day than the next so play it by ear.
What does everyone else do?

searching that sounds awful!
Cabbage well done for booking the car in 🏅

I've taken DS to school this morning and currently drinking my 1st cup of coffee of the day. Today is the first Tuesday in a few weeks that I don't have any appts! It's so nice.

Can I have a round of applause please, I mopped the floors! I don’t know why I hate doing it so much but it’s definitely the thing I will leave if I’m out of time/feeling tired. Weirdly I hate crumbs on the floor so vacuum and sweep constantly but mopping just feels like too much effort sometimes 😳

@HazelNotHungryLC I tend to have a vague plan but it tends to be determined by dc’s activities. Eg Mondays we need to eat early so I do something quick, Tuesday and Friday I generally have more time to cook, Wednesday I go to yoga so like to do something fairly hands off so that I don’t have to stand over the stove just before I go out and arrive smelling of dinner, and Thursdays is something like a stew that I can put in the instant pot and leave so that it’s ready to eat as soon as we get back from swimming.

@Searchingforsnow funny you say that, I feel like I’ve been really hormonal recently, I even did a pregnancy test to check it wasn’t that!!

My main win is that the morning routine is going well. I've been getting up, pulling back the covers and have windows open for a few hours while I do breakfast and a bit of work, then when I go to close the windows mid-morning I make the bed. It is so lovely coming in to the room in the evening to a beautifully made bed and I think it encourages me to do my proper evening routine with face washing and all the rest of it. Long may it last. I think I started it last week so it's still in the "novelty stage" but I'm hoping this one sticks.

Today's wins:
🎉Wiped down kitchen counters (still on top of the dishes since the weekend sort-out!)
🎉Car repair done (yay! Working windscreen wipers and washer fluid coming out properly!)
🎉LOL x1
🎉15min tidy in the utility

And an honourable mention to the nap I've been having around lunchtime each day really screwing with my day to day rhythm. But is probably a win for my physical health and evening energy levels for doing the dishes! Thankfully my work can be done at any time of day, give or take a couple of meetings here and there. I'm hoping the fatigue is a good TTC sign but I won't be taking a test for another week or so yet.

@TheMainCharacter definite round of applause from me for mopping the floors! I'm another floor mop avoider so I fully sympathise

Ta Das:
🐇 3rd LOL in washer (sheets are done)
🐇 clean clothes put away
🐇 cooked hard boiled eggs for lunches
🐇 cooked my lunch (just waiting for DH to come home)
🐇 changed out decorations, from valentine's to spring

Cabbage your morning routine sounds good! I wish I could at least pull back the covers and open windows, but I'm the first one up and leaving the house. DH is still asleep when I leave. So I only get to do that when I'm not working.
🤞 for you for a positive test!

character 👏👏👏 well done on mopping the floors. My meal plan is pretty similar only planning on doing the most cooking on my days off!

Hi everyone.
I have missed you all and bound to be some new members.
I gave up as I have constant problems on Mumsnet using the Ipad. It is constantly refreshing or throwing me off seconds later.I am trying a visit using a computer and no problems at all. I don't have any problems on the Ipad with anything else.
I kept up Fly lady for a while and some habits have stuck like the bathroom swish and swipe every morning but I have got in a mess now with lack of decluttering. I am not buying anything new/second hand without a one in one out or essential mantra.
Hope you are all ok.That🤗 I see you are back. Did you get your degree finished?
How old is Cagletini now?
After an upsetting time I left my job.Others did after me and very few staff there now that I worked with.I see a couple of them every couple of months. I lost myself for over a year and I'm gradually doing things again. I was very depressed. I now work as a volunteer in a charity shop once a week. I absolutely love it. I can recommend it to help yourself. I just sort and recently price things (check a lot) and I have put some of my skills into window displays (under guidance) and small organised displays like Valentines. Love helping people find things.
I have also been invited into the village Primary. I did some gardening and the new head trusted me and after a fortnight i was left to work planting and digging areas with the children.She is putting me through my DBS so I can go in again.I also went in with another retired teacher and we made angels for Christmas.The kids are so easy to work with which made me realised how stressed I had become in my old job. The years took its toll especially the last couple.
I have also joined some U3A classes and I am in a concert in a weeks time. I still go to choir and I hope to start walking again as I had a problem with my foot.
DH and I have had quite a few difficulties which I don't want to go but changes will be happening.
I hope you are all well and surviving and I hope to come back again. You were such a friendly, supportive bunch of people. X