Come on you slatterns, get your arses in gear, I stop posting for 2 days and you all start getting lazy................

[goldFAQinsenceandmyrrh]

didn't see a single bump of a slattersn thread in the 2 days I've lurked. So here we are - a brand new slatterns thread to take us over to the new year (where I think we can safely say that one of our NY Resolution won't be keeping teh house tidy at all times )

I can officialy say that:

Paper lists of things to do are SHIT. They don't work, they don't tell you how well you're doing when you update to say what you've done, they get lost under the stuff still to be sorted, and they don't give you other unrelated banter while you're having a rest from it all

So - with that in mind.

Tonight (and I use the word quite loosely as I've slept the last 2 nights so suspect there will be little sleep to be found tonight) I need to:

• Get my washing done
• Dry it
• Iron it all (it's taking over the dining room!)
• Tidy and hoover the lounge
• Clean kitchen worktops
• Empty kitchen bins
• Put dishwasher on

May add more stuff later as I realise it needs doing.

• laundry DOING (still!)
• remove stuff from our room to reclaim it and find new homes for it (or get rid....) more done
• tidy spare room started
• get rid of lots of stuff we've cleared out to freecycle/charity shop/rubbish tip started
• ebay lots of stuff, currently in a big box
• spend some time figuring out new hard drive thing for laptop
• get back on track with weight loss... doing
• package up slippers to post to sister
• sort books onto shelves in spare room DONE
• complain to cat sitter/her mum as cats had no food when we came back
• charge mobile & check for messages (can't do it in the car either, fussy phone. will have to get DH to bring home the spare charger he has in the office).
• thank you notes re DCs presents, oops

• tea (will all eat together) DONE
• boys to bed DONE
• get boys things ready for nursery tomorrow started
• get my things/handbag ready for work tomorrow

Get myself and DC dressed DONE
Ironing
Dry washing
Put washing away STARTED
Strip beds, wash and dry covers
Make beds
Wrap presants and write cards DONE
Take DC to a party DONE
Have a shower
See what I can make for dinner - might need to go to S/M DONE
Make dinner done
Clean up after dinner STARTED BY DH [WINK]
Make lunch for myself (kids will eat at party and DH still ill ) DONE
Bedtime routine IN PROGRESS BY DH
Ask DH to put all the boxes that have been abonded in my l/room back in the loft (if he is up to it)

ADDED
Get DC to tidy their bedroom so I can actually attempt to hoover done
Hoover DC's room DONE

I think that is me finished I am shattered.

New list (1 item at a time):
Empty kitchen bin done
Sort dirty washing into piles done
Collect ds done
Buy and eat McFlurries (1 each) done
Bath ds - the waterbaby has settled in for the next umpteen hours!!
Put drier back on as clothes not dry done

FAQ - it may have been started just for you, but look at how many of us are out there! I think once one person admits to it, it is easier for others, and it is a real help, cos I have managed to do stuff this last two weekends instead of either sitting and ignoring it or going out and ignoring it.

The guarantor thing, I think you just have to come out with it and ask, something along the lines of "I have something to ask you, I hope you don't mind, but I was wondering if...." Really difficult but I don't think there is any other way of doing it.

The hair thing - that sounds so much like what I would do. (And reminds me, must collect shaver from my mums so I can do ds's hair this week, tis positively shaggy)

I didnt need a gurantor as it was housing association and being paid for with HB. Though I did have to use guranto for students loan and that came up in conversation with boyfriends parents as he needed them to act also.

I would ring and start off by explaining you've rung to ask something important, explain you know how I am moving etc, and give them the option to think about it and read the info online or in email.

Maybe explain why you felt it appropriate to ask them, length of time known them, their standing in community (?) and relationship to you. Try to add a subtle optionof declining so as not to spoil any relationship with the person if it appropriat eto do so. Hope I havnt patronised here. Think of back up too just in case.

LRB you sound perkier already!

Swimming I second that.... I will be doing all the fiddley stuff that didnt get done in crisis clean today.

P.S. LRB - remember for during the week if you and DS are clean, clothed and fed then thats one good - if your toilets and kitchen food areas clean, anything else is a bonus.

Take care

Sorry LRB i meant:

P.S. LRB - remember for during the week if you and DS are clean, clothed and fed then thats one good - if your toilets and kitchen food areas clean this is great also, anything else is a bonus!

Ok, must do list for the week:

Washing - must do other load of darks. The rest can be done next weekend if I don't do them during the week.

Washing up.

Clean sides. (Washing up wll take care of most of this )

Cut ds hair

Borrow hoover from mum and hoover through, downstairs at least.

To do list (total) (but not silly things like clear out cupboards)

Keep living room tidy
Keep kitchen tidy
Keep on top of washing
Tidy dining room:
sort boxes on floor
rediscover table
sort and get rid of recycling
shred stuff that needs shredding
tidy and clean any other mess not mentioned above
Fold and put away clean clothes
Rediscover play-room floor
Tidy ds bedroom
Tidy my bedroom
sort out bookshelves!!!
Sort out bills box

Oh hate shreading, know its essential but you dont actually 'get' anything for it in a tangible housework task sense!

Bigeyes, yeah, I tend to bounce back pretty quickly. Well, not sure if I bounce or if I just push everything back into the big box labelled do not open, will cause major melt-down. The job I do at work, there should be 3 of us, there is actually 2 of us and since the beginning of December my colleague has spent more time ill/on pre-planned days off than he has in work, so I've been doing 3 peoples work with little support from other departments because we are chronically understaffed at present. I ended up having Thursday and Friday off ill as well, so I have no idea what I am gonna be walking into on Monday, and daft as it sounds I think that load of washing that I couldn't get myself to move to the drier was the straw that broke the camels back.
The really daft thing is I am agency, so I could walk at any time, but I thoroughly love the job I do and have actually applied for it perm, so when they get their backsides moving and actually interview I should get a contract.

Oh, the kitchen thing... ummm, yeah, thats actually one of the jobs I struggle with most. But it has been a heck of a lot worse than it is today, so as long as it gets done tomorrow I should be okay. And hopefully there will be at least 2 of us tomorrow, and I will get off at 3.30 (rather than the 5.00 onwards I have been finishing) so I shouldn't have any excuse not to.

JustKeepSwimming... I think I'm gonna turn that into a poster and pin it up, then when my mum asks why I haven't done x,y or z, point her in that direction

oh yes the kitchen - that's my biggest thing, we have clean dishes and pots/pans etc (thankfully I have a dishwasher) but I'm usually clearing spaces in betwen the clutter on the worktops to sort dinner

This housekeeping thing has got me mind, I just seem to swing from one to the other.. ive actually started a thread about 'standards' in housekeeping go see girls - i just trying to establish a balance and not let it take over...go see

My problems (amongst others, lol) are:

• clutter and 'black holes' that just seem to attract more clutter and never get cleared

• feeling like i have too much to do, and i'm not even including actual housework in that, just jobs to do, people to ring, letters to write, DIY that languishes, etc.....

(love that word)

oh yes I have clutter - though hoping once I've moved I can reduce that, and the black holes too......not good.

Anyhow, just a quick update on my list then I'm going to try and get at least some of it done tonight

• Washing
• Drying
• Ironing
• Dinner DONE
• Get uniforms ready for morning DONE
• Sort kitchen worktops
• Load dishwasher and put it on
• Tidy living room floor
• hoover
• Pack boxes in my room (most stuff already in boxes just needs doing properly).
• Empty recycling bin
• DS's in bed DONE

Am off to bed soon too.

• laundry DOING (still!)
• remove stuff from our room to reclaim it and find new homes for it (or get rid....) more done
• tidy spare room started
• get rid of lots of stuff we've cleared out to freecycle/charity shop/rubbish tip started
• ebay lots of stuff, currently in a big box
• spend some time figuring out new hard drive thing for laptop
• get back on track with weight loss... doing
• package up slippers to post to sister DONE
• go to post office at some point to post them to her
• sort books onto shelves in spare room DONE
• complain to cat sitter/her mum as cats had no food when we came back
• charge mobile & check for messages (can't do it in the car either, fussy phone. will have to get DH to bring home the spare charger he has in the office).
• thank you notes re DCs presents, oops

• tea (will all eat together) DONE
• boys to bed DONE
• get boys things ready for nursery tomorrow started
• get my things/handbag ready for work tomorrow started

Tomorrow:

• continue with above

• breakfast for all
• everyone dressed
• boys to nursery
• me to work
• resist junk food while at work & across road from a sweet shop!
• get boys from nursery
• bath & bed for boys
• & for me

oh I forgot to add to my last post - update my list to do after I've had coffee and fag

Well done JKS - you've done well today

New list (1 item at a time):
Empty kitchen bin done
Sort dirty washing into piles done
Collect ds done
Buy and eat McFlurries (1 each) done
Bath ds done
Put drier back on as clothes not dry done
Empty drier, swap clothes from washer into drier, put last load of day on done
Put ds to bed done

And with that I am finishing for today

FAQ - would love a dishwasher, but nevermind trying to justify a dishwasher for 2 people, I can't afford to buy one either.

Bigeyes - standards???? Well I suppose I have higher standards than my x, who as long as it wasn't visible it didn't exist (clearing out drawers and cupboards when we split was... interesting)

JKS - black holes, yah know my life would be so much easier without the dining room table. We never eat at it, cos it is always filled with clutter , so I fully sympathise with that one.

And well done all of us. We've all done well today IMHO. Yeah, even you FAQ . (Just look back a year or so, where anything was a mountain, IIRC)

I probably won't be on much during the week, but will be back next weekend, because it really has helped me, even without having problems earlier

As soon as this last load is in the drier I will be off to bed, in the meantime I think I may watch the Dr Who xmas special (yeah, only 3 weeks or so after it aired, but still)

thanks

Well I will get some of my list done when DS3 settles down, stops fishing toys/books/pages from books from gawd knows where

ARGHHHHHHHHHHH

Kids, yah love 'em really.

I have actually bribed ds to stay in his room tonight, and it seems to be working. He doesn't normally have any problems, except the one night a fortnight after he has been to his dads. Then he is normally up nd down all night, has been known to mess about in the bathroom, go and play in the playroom, stand at the top of the stairs and shout, bounce on his bed etc etc etc. Tonight I have had none of that touch wood, and he has the promise of a cake for breakfast if he manages to stay that way. (Cakes are normally for puddings or packed lunches, not that that stops him asking for them for breakfast, so I thought it a reasonable bribe, plus I had nothing else to hand to bribe him with)

oh he's well and truly stuck in his room, he's still in his cot.......but he fishes toys and books from I don't know where and plays with them.

It's very quiet at the moment, don't think he's asleep yet - the whinging wasn't long enough really, but not sure what he's up to.....

Problem is he bangs things on the side of his cot and keeps DS2 awake GRRR

If he's stuck in his cot I guess you've got two choices, 1)take advantage of the quiet (and later find out he's destroyed his brothers favourite book) or 2)go and check on him, but risk disturbing him

I never know which is worse. I've known ds be very quiet, to go up and find him 'decorating' the bathroom with toothpaste (post daddy visit again), but equally thought I've heard him call me and gone up to find him asleep...

well most of the books I've retrived from his cot so far tonight have been ones he's already destroyed anyhow, just adding to the destruction.

Think he's still awake, just had some murmurings from him, but can't hear him crashing around in there anymore which is usually a good thing...........

Wow busy on here. I could hardly find my list.
Here is mine-hey better late than never:
Up-done
Make breakfast-done
Have a bath-yay Dressed-done
Blow dry hair-done
Washing in, school stuff-done
Hang washing-done
More washing in
Update sainsbo order-done
Swimming [shudder] with DD1-done and not as bad as expected.
Sort out for school/nursery tomorrow- happening tomorrow now

Night all.