September Flylady: Fledglings inspired to make a fresh start at the beginning of a brand new term!

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Whether you're starting to build a new routine, stuck in a rut, or been around for years, join us on the monthly Flylady thread! Flylady has created a series of daily and weekly prompts to help anyone who finds it tricky to get or keep their house clean and tidy. She totally gets it if you feel overwhelmed or don't even know where to start - as do we! The best thing about Flylady is that you are never behind - just jump in at whatever point you are at, and do what you can.

This is a long running thread, but as a newbie myself I can confirm everyone is very friendly and all are welcome to join in. We spur each other on, but also commiserate when life gets in the way and we don't get as much done as we might have wanted to.

There are 5 zones that we will rotate through:
☀️Entryway, porch and dining room
☀️Bathroom & one other room
☀️Kitchen
☀️Master bedroom & master bathroom
☀️Living room
We usually link to the daily missions (jobs to do in whichever zone we're in) every day, but the new website doesn't seem to be working for me right now. I will keep trying, but they should update every day so you can click the link yourself to check. We will post the missions in the thread too so don't worry about missing anything. Most importantly, don't worry about finishing it all this month, it'll come around again next month! Flylady is NOT about perfectionism!

Do NOT sign up for the Flylady emails - it's an excessive amount sent every day. I have taken one for the team but use a junk email address. I will check them periodically and report anything interesting / useful

Flylady also tries to help us get into habits so that eventually we do things without even having to think about them. She has 31 baby steps to gradually pick up (on the previous website, since the link isn't working on the new site yet): https://mymerrymessylife.com/flylady-31-baby-steps/

Daily focus: each day of the week has a different focus. It's not all jobs jobs jobs by the way.
Monday: Home Blessing (or as we call it, home bleugh)
Tuesday: plan & play
Wednesday: anti-procrastination
Thursday: errand day
Friday: clean car & purse out day. It's also date night (with your significant other, or friends, or yourself!)
Saturday: family fun day
Sunday: renew your spirit

If you can, it's worth downloading the app (link on the flylady website), you can even have it send you notifications. You can also modify the tick lists to suit your home & lifestyle. There is a paid version and a free version, though the missions haven't been updating on the free app.

Feel free to ask any questions you may have, some posters here have been doing Flylady for a very long time, and others are just starting out. We may have other things to add that we have found works for us that could help you too!

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 😆
S&S: Swish & Swipe (wipe the bathroom sink & toilet)
LMS: lose/lost my shit
DNLMS: did not lose my shit
There are probably more, feel free to ask us to explain something!

Oh for goodness' sake, it's Thursday already and the week has slipped out from under me!

Not too many tadas this week, but I will count:
✅ Endless laundry
✅ Home bleugh
✅ Made shepherds pie for tonight and soup for tomorrow night
✅ Got a copy of DC#4's new timetable into the family calendar, because I keep getting lost
✅ Wiped hob
✅ Looked at cling film drawer, put more baking paper on the shopping list, shut it again!
✅ Helped DC#4 get to school repeatedly because the trains were borked
✅ Taken same child for a blood test, which the GP have contacted us this morning to say went off before they could process it, we need to do it again. Since it was 6 vials, I can't see him being amused! And I'm certainly not because it's been moved from our local hospital to one only seven miles away, but 45 mins in bad traffic 😖
✅ Attended an actual in-person school meeting about How To Be A Sixth Form Parent at DC#4's new school
✅ Got WillowHound his MOT and service
✅ Got my car its annual health check and inoculations 🤣

My aim today is to at least decrumb the cutlery drawer, but DM is arriving in a minute for coffee and chat, because she's on her own all week, a d this afternoon I am going away until Sunday (hence cooking in advance. DH can cook and the two DC at home try to eat properly, but "sorting out food in a timely fashion" is a bit of a blind spot for all of them that leads to pizza and a fridge full of mouldy ingredients far too often).

I hope everyone with the lurgy is now well on the mend.

@Alwaysgrowing getting dressed without waking the children was a problem I never solved until they were old enough to have solved itself! Good luck.

To be fair, the 3 year old is normally my alarm clock. So on the rare occasion I'm awake and ready to get up before him, I'm sneaking

Cooking ahead before going away is genuinely the thing that holds the week together. The cutlery drawer will definitely still be there on Sunday; at least you looked at it, which is more than most weeks!

Flylady’s morning musing: https://flylady.net/morning-musing/from-supersized-to-downsized

Got back yesterday from an overnight trip to find a clump of litter on the bed that the cat had brought up, along with some cat poo, so had to strip the whole bed. This morning's jobs included five loads of laundry including the mattress protector, duvet, etc; s&s bathroom; wipe with gardenia oil on duster upstairs and down, and sweep the floor and mopped them. Another one here with no carpet, it's a lot easier if you've got animals. Did have a look at the kitchen drawer with foil and paper and stuff but realised I had decluttered that a while ago, so shut the drawer again.

Oh no @PamelaColmansMustard that doesn't sound good! I have a dog, he is only allowed downstairs and so that is all hard floors and rugs no fitted carpets.

I've had quite a few good days, been keeping up with s&s and lol most days, and have managed to wipe my kitchen cupboards and clean a window sill that was full of grime mainly as it's high and awkward to get to. Doing the weekly quick home clean helps a lot too. I want to give the kitchen and utility floors a really good mop tomorrow.