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

[mixedpeel]

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!

@HedgehogNotes I love a board game! What is the new one you’re going to play tonight? Good plan to properly make the most of the childfree time.

I was reflecting today that Flylady has already made quite a big difference. Sis-in-law brought some food that needed to go in the fridge, and in the Olden Days I would’ve cringed internally at her having to see the state of it while she looked for some space for her things. Thanks to last week’s mission the fridge wasn’t full of random crap and didn’t have grubby shelves. Phew! Also the bathroom was in reasonable nick. In previous times visitors would result in a very stressful run-up whereby I suddenly saw all the mess and killed myself to make things a little bit less embarrassing.

There's no hope for me, @mixedpeel - came across a part kitted project and got the threads back out of the charity bag. And realised some of them were the ones I was missing. Seems a bit daft not to keep them!

@GreenWillowAndSnowdrops I spotted you on the drums for Simple Minds at Radio 2 in the Park at Stirling! You were great btw.

@ExpertlyDeclutteringthat must be a relief DH arm is better. 30 miles is nice a close for your DD.

@mixedpeelthanks for all your updates and supporting posts to us all, the Flylady team. Much appreciated.

@HedgehogNotes I love a board game too but only seem to play them over the Christmas holidays.

@PamelaColmansMustardYou’re a creative so there’s no getting away from the clutter that creates but it’s a good thing imho. I suppose it’s down to storage. I need better storage solutions.

@Alwaysgrowing It’s great when you realise you’ve done more than you thought and getting DC to tidy etc is always a win. Your DH sounds difficult I hope he’s not generally unkind.

@WattTheHelljust getting on with little areas to start off with is an achievement in itself to then tackle areas bit by bit. It’s satisfying.

@Frumpyunicornit’s hard to stop things from building up again. I cleared every from the attic stairs but they’re now filling up with everyone else’s clutter (DD mainly)

@CherryogDoggood job with the kitchen. Mine always looks too cluttered no matter how hard I try but I’m trying nevertheless.

@HazelNotHungryLC and hello to you and I hope your visit to DD was successful re picking up the dresser etc

@DillyDeclutter@KitsyWitsyhope all is well with you and anyone else

DD is packing and sorting all her things but once she’s gone I told her I’ll sort out the rest and pop it in bags and put in the loft as there’s no way she’ll have time to do that. I don’t mind doing that for her as much as I wish I didn’t have to I’m happy to alleviate some of her stress. I was watching her sort things out and felt overcome with teary emotion.

I’ve been very tired today but managed some LOL, S&S and put some citric acid down the loo with warm water as managed to spill the bag from the cupboard whilst looking for something.

Thanks @PeonyBulb there's still some way to go for the arm though, washing up is a good step. He can still barely lift it, he was holding things in the sink with that arm and washing with the other. I imagine it will be at least a couple more months before he can drive.

Tuesday 15th September info:

Babystep 15: make your bed in the morning
https://mymerrymessylife.com/flylady-31-baby-steps/15/
It’s true, it’s a simple thing to do that makes naturally slack people like me feel “I’m on it!”. I tend to fold the duvet back to air, instead of fully making it, but I do plump the pillows etc. (By bedtime it’s a dog nest because we’re big softies and she has access to it in the daytime, which most days she takes full advantage of)

Tuesday is plan and play day: get your family calendar and your own diary aligned, look ahead and mark any upcoming birthdays or events you need to plan for, make sure DH knows you’re out next Tuesday evening (going to see Car Man, one of Matthew Bourne’s fabulous ballets doncha know!), are all the vet appointments up to date…? Whatever you need to plan, take some time today.

Zone 3: we’re still in the bathroom plus one other room
Mission 2: Clean out your bathroom bin. Not just tip out the rubbish, but put it into the bath and fill it with hot soapy water. Leave it to soak for a few minutes and then give it a thorough scrub all over, inside and out. Let it dry in the bath and then return it to its rightful place before someone trips over it trying to have a shower. You can feel great that it’s cleaner than it’s probably been since you bought it!

Your mission for the Stash and Dash space is to spend 5 minutes finding anything for the charity shop - those usable things that you don’t need or love anymore.

Read on for the sneak peeks into the rest of the week…

Zone 3: Mission #3 Wednesday
Check medicine cabinets. Throw out empties and take out of date/ no longer needed meds back to a pharmacy. As you pick things up, quickly wipe the shelf underneath. No need to get everything all out at the same time.

For the stash and dash room, spend 5 minutes returning waifs and strays to their rightful home. You know what’s happened: someone’s coming over so you quickly chuck everything you can see in a corner and then it ends up languishing there permanently. Who knows what delights you’ll find today?

Zone 3: Mission #4 Thursday
Shine your bathroom sink, taps and surfaces. Use whatever bathroom cleaner you favour and get these areas really sparkling today.

A repeat Stash and Dash: look again for recycling or rubbish. As you’ve peeled back one layer earlier in the week, more may have been revealed. If not move to another room.

Zone 3: Mission #5 Friday
The final day of zone 3! Mop that bathroom floor. However you choose, either an actual mop or on hands and knees with a cloth, just some lovely hot soapy water and get into all those edges and corners. You’ll feel great when it’s done, and it won’t take long because bathrooms are rarely cavernous.

In your Stash and Dash space do a 27 fling boogie in the space. This is the first mention of the 27 fling boogie - I’m not sure if it will come up as a babystep. Anyway, just zoom around grabbing 27 things to throw away, give away or put away! This week we’ve found how a quick 5 minute stash and dash every day can really make a difference.

Tada!

Someone mentioned that thier fridge was “guest-ready” earlier, which made me look at mine critically, it was in fact the fridge of shame. I haven’t cleared it out as such, but cleaned all the parts of shelves you can see and the two clear drawers where we store meat and spare butter, cheese etc and it looks much better to the casual opener now. It will be easier once DD goes back to uni, she and DS do a lot of their own shopping and cooking and our fridge isn’t very big (there is another in the garage but that doesn’t get used as much as it’s easy to forget things are in there, we mostly use it for drinks and DH’s insulin stash.

Also this morning before work
DW unloaded
Sink shined (and drainer)
Recycling put out

this evening
ground floor and stairs vacuumed (middles of rooms only)

someone mentioned carpets v hard floor with pets. Ours is a Victorian terrace house with stairs inside the middle room, going across the house, there is a sort of slalom from the hall past the stairs through the middle room to the door to the kitchen at the back, We changed from carpet to amtico a few years ago, now if the cats try to run through the house they skid around the corner, it is funny.

My only Monday TaDa was shining my sink, and filling up my new tea/coffee/sugar caddies.
Picking up my new bin later from Argos, it's a double bin for rubbish and recycling.
Anglo collections are coming today, once all the stuff is out of the dining room I'll be concentrating in there (probably decluttering now I've got the room to declutter lol).
Going to try to get back to sleep now, happy flying everyone.

@PeonyBulb Thank you, you've helped me reframe my thoughts on what's clutter and what's craft. Storage is the bigger problem, but the long bag and the zip up storage boxes seem to work better than plastic Rubbermaid type ones. For one thing they're less obtrusive!

Thank you @PeonyBulb yes it's a constant trying to keep areas clear, especially the bottom of the stairs and the kitchen side but I'm trying hard.

I only managed to s&s yesterday after a full on day of work and kids bedtimes so need to hoover and mop today.

@PamelaColmansMustard I saw this the other day which someone’s DH had made for them which I thought was rather brilliant

@PeonyBulb I want one!! That's brilliant!

@PeonyBulb that's beautiful. Sewing/croqueting are two things I'd love to learn. I also think my 8 year old could be really into it. But she's a perfectionist so could also cause her more meltdowns. I got a 2nd hand sewing machine and my mum taught me how to use it a few years ago but shamefully I haven't since. Craft shops do little one to ones, which I think would be good to start me off because I struggle to learn practical things. But again, life is probably too busy.

My DM was taught how to use a sewing machine from her DM. I never had any interest but DD did textiles for GCSE and A level and foundation Art which included textiles so is already on her second machine. DD won’t let me near it but she’ll happily shorten my trousers etc. So it’s her bits and pieces that have built up and require a better storage solution. So I’ll have a proper think about that.

@PeonyBulb that's lovely!
I used to sew, mainly repairs, made some doll dresses. I can't thread a needle these days, even with a needle threader.

@mixedpeel we played Wingspan, a game all about creating wildlife habitats for birds. The rules were very confusing at first but once we got to grips with it we had a great time. Definitely glad we learned it without DD's presence because she would have gotten very fed up.

Our bathroom bin really could do with a bath but it might have to be a different evening. Got Bible study group tonight, and DD's return from her trip. Going to make her spag bol with lots of garlic bread.

Ta das
Unpacked
Washed dishes
Food shop

@CherryogDog threading a needle is the extent of my sewing ability as I had the best eyesight and did if for my mum. I'm like to hen trousers, maybe do simple repairs. I just cut off a pair of my dds leggings with a big hole to make shorts, they don't look great so they're for under dresses or at home. My DD might get really into textiles, she's a big fan of crafting, at the moment it's junk modeling.

I'm at work today. Tonight I should pack for tomorrow. I'd love a nap tomorrow afternoon,.as I fely close to one Sunday and yesterday but never quite got the chance. But it's my day with ds and he's been desperate to go back to the farm we have a term time pass for so I should do that. I keep saying I will, and wednesdays are our weekday off together.

@HedgehogNotes Wingspan is a real fave here. Last year when DS1 still lived here we got almost addicted! It’s a great game, and if you enjoyed your first run-through you’re away! Hope DD enjoys it now you know how to explain it to her. Also hope she’s had a good time at the residential. I would have absolutely loved it if my mum welcomed me home with spag bol and lots of garlic bread.