December Flylady - Fledglings fluttering towards the Festive Season

[ExquisiteDecorating]

Well, here we are — Christmas is this month. Yikes. But fear not, lovely Flyladies — we’ve got this (mostly).

This thread is our little corner of calm amongst the chaos — a place to cheer each other on, share small wins, and occasionally moan about the state of the laundry mountain. Whether you’re shining your sink for the first time or just trying to keep the kitchen table visible for more than an hour, you’re in good company.

The Flylady system is all about baby steps — 15 minutes at a time, routines that mostly stick, and being kind to ourselves when life happens (because it always does). Pop in, post your list, or just lurk with a cuppa — everyone’s welcome. Let’s make things calm and cosy as we head into the festive season proper.

Kettle’s on. Who’s flying today? ☕🕯️🧺
This is a long running thread, but we are a friendly bunch and all are welcome to join in. Please ask if you don’t understand anything.

Do NOT sign up for the Flylady emails - there are too many. I have done this so you don’t have to. The Flylady website is not working very well any more so I will copy over from the emails in the mornings and we will get through together.
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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!
Zones:
Entryway, porch and dining room
Kitchen
Bathroom and one other room
Master bedroom
Living room

Daily missions: each day of the week has a different mission. Then there’s:

Monday: Home Blessing (or as we call it, home bleugh)
Tuesday: plan & play
Wednesday: anti-procrastination
Thursday: errand day
Friday: clean car & purse out a week. 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, there is an app, but I don’t think it’s working very well either.

Given the broken-ness of the app and website I would advise you not to spend any money on Flylady apps or purchases (we are mostly UK and she’s US based in any case). Sorry Flylady.

Links are below 👇

You can also check out the Facebook page Zones:https://www.flylady.net/d/zones/ Baby Steps: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/

Thank you ED for volunteering for December, you brave soul! Thank you also for taking over the November thread for Alwayslearning25, running the thread can be overwhelming at times!
Let me know if you need any help with adding links, and I'll see what I can do.

This weekend was nice & long! Thursday was Thanksgiving, Friday I put my tree up, then went to see lights get turned on in the next town. Saturday we went to a Christmas market, then had dinner at my ILs.
We had our 2nd Thanksgiving dinner with DD today, it was a success! Kitchen is a cleaned up as much as it can be, not ideal, but better than it could be. There's just a small stack of dishes to go into the DW tomorrow, it's full right now. Handwash dishes are done and countertops wiped down.

This month is going to be busy, so I'll need to plan carefully.
By the end of the week I want to have the following done/started:
🎄 create & post my treats for sale (I've already had multiple people asking if I'm making my treats for Christmas)
🎄 get a package ready and mailed to my mum for Christmas we'll ignore the fact I still haven't written any cards out yet!
🎄 start working on my truffles/caramels etc for my orders
🎄 finish putting my Christmas decorations up. I've started, but there's still more to do, like hang the stockings, and more lights
🎄 put away totes for my decorations
🎄 start figuring out what food & games to have at our annual Christmas party
🎄 maybe wrap a present or two

It may be a little much, along with my full time job, but I'll see what I can accomplish!

A list for the week is a good idea @HazelNuttyElf, I’m working Mon-Thur but have volunteeering for half of Friday. On the flip side I am going to have the house to myself for several days and think I might take half a day annual leave.

My list will be.
🎄get cards written
🎄 order turkey
🎄 get DDad moved into a new nursing home (I know, not really Flying)
🎄go to choir
🎄get car booked into garage

Ok, so it’s Monday today, 1st December, time to open those Advent Calendars

It is also home blessing day, 10 mins each on changing beds, dusiting, vacuuming, emptying bins.

We are in Zone 1, the hall, porch, dining room and the mission is to put away the autumn decorations, we tend to do Christmas decs on the second weekend in Dec so going to leave my autumn wreath and stuffed pumpkins out a little longer.

If you are new to the system and/or don’t have autumn decorations, 15 mins of decluttering in the zone is suggested, put away shoes, any mail that’s been left out, that sort of thing.

The babystep today is the foundation of Flying - shine your sink. It lifts the spirits seeing an immaculate, sparkling sink when you walk into the kitchen in the morning being the theory. www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/

Hello. I’m sneaking back in under an old name 😁

It’s been waaaaay too long! DD1 is now 18, DS 16, Cagletini just turned 8 😱 not sure where that time went.

Life is more chaotic than ever as I’m still adjusting to being a single mum (but much, much happier, so it’s worth it!) - I need to get my house under control, so here I am!

Not that I’ll be getting much done today, I’m off to see my colleagues from my previous job too as they’ve invited me back for their Christmas team day/lunch.

I’m really not a morning person so I need a power of three:

po3.1
❗️breakfast/meds/water
❗️shower/dressed
❗️get secret santa present ready

Have a great day everyone and thanks ED for the thread! 🍒 👋

Thank you for the new thread ED and to ActivelyLearning for November. I was reading regularly although not posting.

Hazel I saw your snow photo, looks lovely. Cagliostro good to see you back and that things are going well.

The boxes of Christmas decorations are down from the high shelf, and I’ve a to-do list that might be a bit ambitious.

DH’s electrical things are piled up in the front hall, and I’ll get them into the garage as a start to this week’s zone.

Yay Cag’s back! Good to hear from you, how can Cagletini by 8 <faints>

@Scourgify good to hear from you too.

Well, I got zero flying done last night but I was out from 8am till 9pm and was shattered when I got home as quite a lot of tricky family stuff to deal with and a lot of driving in the dark and rain. Back to it today hopefully.

Our mission for today is to clear out clutter in the entrancce to your home. I really must sort the hall table, it has become a dumping ground and I want to put my lego Christmas village out on there.

Babystep 2 today is https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-2/

Getting Dressed to Lace Up Shoes. Now, I do see the point of this, I have a mother who does the very opposite and is very inefficient in the mornings, so get up, get dressed but maybe only put slippers on or go barefoot, the point is to be ready for the day, and staying in your PJs is a sort of procrastination.

Tuesday is plan and play day, I tend to plan on Fridays which is my day off, it is also my errand day, but it’s good to have some planning and some playing at least once a week.

Thank you for the thread @ExquisiteDecorating. I’ve been following for the last week or so to see how this system works. I am going to give it a try. I’m not completely disorganised but I think there’s some room for improvement. I do tend to put things off. I started yesterday with the cleaning. My sink is shiny! I was initially pleased that hallway was today as mine is tidy, but that’s because we all use the back door, which is a tip. So I do have some work to do.

Thanks for new thread @ExquisiteDecorating
I'm in the naughty corner/sick bay, amidst the squalor.
My cleaning day didn't happen at the weekend for various reasons.
My dining room is still full of the junk from under the stairs. I'm only keeping one box of stuff, the rest I'm waiting for DP to sort through. It's mostly camping gear and my camping days are definitely over.
Keeping up with the LOLs.

Cagliostro so good to see it back on here again. I can't believe cagletini is already 8! I think she had just turned 2 when I joined the thread 😱

ED I haven't got anything done on my list yet, but yesterday was super busy at work and I was exhausted by the end of the day. I plan to get some done today.
I have pumpkins out in the front still, I best get them gone today as well.

Cherry well done for keeping up with laundry, I'm behind so need to play catch up today.

Welcome @narniabusiness 👋! We also don't use the front door at our house, but the side door. I need to get things cleared away that have been dumped on our bench.

Scourgify the snow has just about all gone now, but I think we're supposed to get more today. We'll see! Good luck with your to do list!

To dos:
☕️ create post for my truffles/caramels
☕️ put mum's package together
☕️ take dogs to groomer
☕️ make hair appt for DS (he needs a trim!)
☕️ laundry
☕️ bank
☕️ grocery store for a couple of things I forgot
☕️ finish putting up some decorations, mostly lights
☕️ home bleugh

I would also like to fit in a spin bike workout in there. My list may be a little ambitious..

Just place markings. I thought we were over potty training but DS had a (hopefully) little set back past few days so I have a lot of laundry to do when I get home including his bedding. I did a quick rinse in the wash of the wee clothes today before work. I tried to swish and swipe this morning but the timescale has built up so was not very satisfying....

I will probably not be too present on these three, but have it here to lurk and use my notebook instead to really solidify my baby steps. DH does most of the Christmas prep, we aren't hosting or anything, all quite low key but have a few events to go to.

Yesterday evening TeenBoy carried all the motorhome cushions and bedding upstairs to the attic. We found an electric jig-saw with blade still locked in place and behind one cushion where it could have sliced into an unwary foot. Also all the cables, sockets, plugs, etc from the hallway which I can now hoover.

Got up a bit earlier this morning, and tidied my bedroom hotspots. As usual, I put things where they would belong if I decided to keep them. Then I tend to forget about them. At least it looks better.

edited for typos

Welcome @narniabusiness yes to adapting the system to suit your home, if the back door is the main entrance then tackle that. I did have a good go at our hall table last night and it looks much better. Also put out one or two other hotspots on the ground floor.

@HazelNuttyElf I’m really busy at work ATM too, but the last two days I have split a half day of annual leave and left at 3 each time, Monday had to go and see my parents but yesterday came home, I had to do some admin with DS but while he was at the latpop I was pottering around tidying and it felt much more relaxed than when I normally leave work at 5. When the DCs were younger I had a shorter working day finishing at 2.30 to pick them up from school and sometimes I really miss that, it was a good time to catch up with jobs around the house, but having extended my hours the work has also expanded and I’d never get it all done in short days now. I have taken my autumn wreath and cuddly pumpkins upstairs to go up to the loft.

@Scourgify well done TeenBoy and ouch to the jigsaw potential! Good job he found that.

Ok, Wednesday is Anti-Procrastination Day, do something you have been putting off.

Babystep 3 is - to start browsing the Flylady website. Ironic because even the babystep page seems to have crashed today. However there is a mass of Flylady content on SM / YT, so if you do want to explore a bit further that might be the way to go.

Still getting the emails though. Today’s mission is to get a cloth and tackle smudges / fingerprints on walls and wipe lightswitches/handles in Zone 1 (entrance/dining room). I tent to carry on and do the whole house switches and handles once I’ve started this one but our house is fairly small.

December’s monthly focus which I forgot to mention is pampering. Don’t forget to look after yourself. I have got a booking at the local beauty salon for my Christmas nails on Saturday, I usually either do them myself or go to the quick nail bar in town but once a year it’s nice to go to the old fashioned salon and have a more relaxed experience.

Morning! Thanks for the welcome 🥰 it’s nice to be back!

I had an absolute nothing day yesterday so it didn’t occur to me to post - I need to readjust to MNing again.

Monday ta da
✅sorted secret santa present
✅went to my old work’s new office as they’d invited me to their Christmas team day and lunch 🥰 was lovely and I’ve got some potential freelance stuff lined up
✅movie night with a friend
✅filled DW
✅work email
✅reading

Tuesday ta da
✅finished my book
✅filled DW

Can’t quite believe how much I should have done, and didn’t do, yesterday - I was absolutely exhausted (health hasn’t been great this year) after two busy days in a row. Today is really busy with work and game night, best crack on! 🍒👋

Thank you for the welcome @HazelNuttyElfand @ExquisiteDecorating. I did move some things from the back door area that had been ignoring for weeks so that was good. Also did all that meal planning and wardrobe planning stuff for the week ahead. It did take a lot of time and now I’m wondering what will be left to do for the rest of the week. I did notice some disgusting finger prints so it’s timely that that’s on today’s list.
loving this so far. I don’t stick to routines because I find them boring whereas this seems quite random and therefore more fun.

Well, there is definitely a bit of randomness to it, especially since the website crashed, but routines do underpin the system, however they are daily short things such as a load of laundry a day and putting your clothes for the next day out the night before. And I am very routine-avoidant but somehow this works for me.

I wasn’t able to make much sense of the website so I’m very thankful that you are here to summarise the days tasks. I did have a go at the organised mum method a few years ago but it didn’t work for me. I was forever getting the vacuum cleaner out to do a room a day which was a pain when I did have the time (if not the inclination) to do more.
Ive done my LOL and I am now sitting here admiring the shining light switches and have done my procrastination task of phoning the GP. Go me!

TeenBoy and I cleared all the tools and sockets, etc, from the cabinet into the garage. I dragged the empty cabinet out of the utility into the living-room where it is much more useful and less obtrusive.

Anti-procrastination was making an appt for a check-up.

Hoovered living-room and utility, but hoovering is on the back burner now as TeenGirl has lost the front of a stud earring.

She has left the bathwater in, and I may or may not be spending tomorrow morning emptying the bath through a sieve or an old pair of tights.

Well I managed to fall by the wayside, so I'm jumping right back in again. I've realised that I plan to do way too much on the days I'm working and of course it just doesn't happen. Still, my sink is shining now, I've tidied the utility, the laundry is in the machine sloshing away my light switches are sparkling. Actually that last one is a bit of a cheat, I only have one conventional light switch downstairs. We got some kits that turn everyday objects into touch sensitive switches, so the hall has a little fossil on the wall, the sitting room has a little plaque with a Yorkshire Rose, the kitchen has a little French sardines tin and the utility has a little replica Pears Soap advertising image. I love them, but it does puzzle new visitors!

Oh wow @Confusedmeanderings I have never heard of such a thing with light switches. We had all our downstairs white plastic ones replaced with brushed steel a few years ago and they show every fingerprint. I didn’t get round to doing that yesterday, but keep it on the list for today.

@Scourgify hope the earring turns up, I have a few missing at the moment, one of my favourite sleepers and one of my favourite Christmas ones, a dangly snowflake.

Didn’t get as much as I’d hope done last night, but I have got a LOL on now, curry on the go for this evening (am going to work and then straight out to a carol service), have swept the kitchen floor and intend to tackle those lightswitches.

Today’s mission is to get a long handled duster and get rid of cobwebs and dust bunnies in corners high and low, light fittings etc.

Thursday is Errand Day (I think, the email says it’s Wednesday, AP day still). I am saving my errands for tomorrow which is my day off.

Babystep 4 - post-it notes. Flylady suggest using post-it notes around the house to remind you to do things till they set into routines and although I have been reluctant to use them on grounds of looking untidy, I have reluctantly conceded that they do help, especially for my ND family.

Sneaking quietly into December, some days late . . . Welcome new folks and hi to the familiar faces.

We also use the back door, coming in through the conservatory, so our hallway is also lovely. Our conservatory is not and needs a good tidy up, but I also have a few voluntary roles which are very busy just now so it will have to wait (dont tell Flylady!)

House is chaos, life is chaos, I will be making the usual new years resolutions.

Welcome back @DillyDeclutter

Well, I did do the switches and handles last night, got the long handled duster out and did a few corners but not all of the zone, need to finish that today.These are ones that once you start you might as well do the whole house not just the zone, that’s what I did with the switches.

Today is Friday so that means it’s a day for clearing out your handbag and car, it is also date night. Date night in here, DH has been away, should be back tonight but will have been driving for several hours so we will just flop.

The mission for today is to choose your own mission, if you have missed one or thought of something else that needs doing, we don’t always get a full week in Zone 1, depends what day the start of the month is. Hopefully your zone 1 is looking better than it did on Monday, mine is.

If you want a Festive Mission Flylady suggests clearing out the fridge.

Our babystep for the day is Write Down What You HEar. No link, but this means listening to the negative voives in our heads saying we are useless etc, try and turn them to positives. I don’t necessarily write these things down but I find that if I come on the thread and post all the things I didn’t do that doesn’t help much, so the lists we post of things we intend to do (“to do”) and have done (“tada!”) are more inspiring and help us feel more positive about ourselves and our efforts. IYSWIM.

The traditional check in with good intentions from me. BabyCabbage had her birthday this week so I've gone into 1yr old prep mode wanting to rotate all her toys and rearrange the whole house. Like nesting all over again.

I spent an hour emptying the bath with a jug. But no sign of TeenGirl’s earring. Next task is to wear a head torch while hoovering and after that I Am Done.

If I wrote down all the rubbish that my head tells me, I’d have writer’s cramp and a biscuit binge. I just acknowledge these thoughts with “Thanks for sharing. Now piss off.” and I get on with the next task in hand.

I love writing down my Ta-Das! Nowhere else would anyone appreciate my sense of achievement in finally planning to do the laundry before running out of underwear and having to dash to Asda before school for more.

Weekend will be a bit of a scrabble to catch up after an unexpectedly complicated week that I couldn’t have planned for.

edited for clarity

@Scourgify sympathy re earring, mine hasn’t turned up yet either but it was a cheap one from Accessorize or somewhere and I have had more than my money’s worth of use out of it so not the end of the world. Your exploits remind me of the time I lost a stone from my engagement ring, it turned up on the front (indoor) doormat, just sitting there, the sun caught it and made it glint when I opened the door. “thanks for sharing now piss off” is a great motto!

Happy Birthday BabyCabbage! Where did that year go.

Saturday is Family Fun Day, no mission and focus on the fun. We will (as usual on Saturdays) all be doing our own thing, but DH and I are going out for a Christmas meal with friends tonight.

Next week we will be moving into Zone 2, the kitchen. In order to make a start there I am roasting some pumpkins that have been sitting on the side since Hallowe’en