Fledging flyers - December's messaholics anonymous meeting place

[droitwitchmum]

Everyone welcome, newcomers and old(ish) flappers alike!

Here you can do any of the following:

• repeat or start baby steps

• repeat baby steps + do 15 mins a day decluttering in the current zone

• reinforce babysteps and do daily missions if you have finished decluttering

As Christmas is approaching I will also be posting Christmas missions.

I'll post links early in the morning on the relevant day while I'm making the coffee and brewing tea. There might even be toast...

Good luck!

Evening All

It has been so long since I've been on here that the thread disappeared from my Threads I'm on!!!

Just popping in to say hello everyone new and 'old'.

Really busy week ahead - I have to work every day (normally part time) and travel for work at the end of the week plus various Christmassy social activities...consequently I'm trying to fly a bit this evening and will then have to catch up at the beginning of the weekend (we then have a guest coming to stay for a night)...

Will try to catch up with you all later but in the meantime I hope you are all well/on the mend/flying without fear etc. xxx

Morning all,

Well, starting to get back on track here. Last night I managed to:-

Washing x 2
Dinner cooked
DW on
General tidy
Floors swept.

Not looking too bad but loads to do with the ye olde chrimbo on the way.

Today's list looks like this:-

Washing on
DW unloaded
Everyone out to school/CM/work
Order presents for nieces/nephews
Order stocking filler for DC's
Buy something for dinner (DH did food shop this wkend while I was in hospital..I know it's the thought that counts but sod all to actually make a meal with...just chocolate )
Have no idea which zone we're in but 15 mins declutter in living room ready for decorations at the wkend.

Thank you SC and HARR (and everyone else) for your words of wisdom yesterday. Made me feel much better and DD was fine at the CM's. Back to slapping other babies therefore she must be feeling better

PLuto declutter and post, declutter and post.

MrsGruffalo sewing , I thought that was something only my MIL could do. Am very impressed.

HARR a very well deserved proud emoticon for you (Am with you on corrupting SBB . She's way too good .

SBB see above . See you're a teacher too, there's loads of us on here. I think there may be a correlation between teaching and messy houses .

Optimistic very of rugby players

WTD watching House is undoubtedly a prequisite to flying

SC I needed a lie down after just reading that list. Good Luck . (My real list looks something like that but can't face up to it just yet, babysteps, babysteps)

Am running out of time so will just have to give big waves to everyone else. SO sorry to you new fledglings that I can't remember your names yet (thick emoticon) but a very warm welcome to the madness, I thknk you are yawning, cadmum, swanriver and mullered. Big waves also to PMPY, PA, DSM (enjoy your mn free time) and MrsDingDong

Have a good day everyone.

Oops forgot to mention,coffee brewing and tea in the pot.

Oh dear, hello to MM as well

Hello all
Well I managed my tea out which was bliss, unfortunately I got literally one toe in the front door and dd woke and didn't go back down again (blaming teeth and ernestly hoping it wasn't mummy abandonment trauma that caused this), adding the night to the day I have just had with 5 horrendous tantrums from ds I managed diddly squat (if this happens to be a local saying and you don't know what I am on about it means nothing flew except for ds' temper)
It is now half seven and am exhausted but both kids asleep and I know I should really do something on the house but I am going to watch grand designs and just pretend I live there and ignore the cesspit around me till tomorrow.

Good morning. I get up a few minutes late and find we're on the most active list already!

Quickly then, the links:
Christmas
babystep
mission

Welcome back MM; this week's zone is the kitchen

See you all later.....

YM diddly squat is a great saying and vastly underused and underrated in my opinion .

Morning, I can creep back in and use the "diddly squat" very aptly for what I have managed to do, so keep Mellie happy.

I have been lurking and interested in all that you are up to, but am too embarrassed to post busy to be doing too much at the moment! Perhaps I should not leave everything to the last minute next year!

Yawning We are an h-ed family. Normally, I highly recommend it. It has been utter chaos for the last 8 weeks (morning sickness and absentee dh) but I would imagine that it wouldn't have been much easier to ferry them around to the various schools under the circumstances either.

So here was the plan for yesterday:
Sort out the school room in 15 minute stints Nope
Another 1/2 hour in the office Nope
Keep up with laundry (minimum of 3 loads) Done
Ensure that dd1 and ds2 complete their calendar for MIL so that I can mail it. Nearly only 1 page left!
Stay on top of the now immaculate kitchen. Done I even sorted the bins as recommended on Fly
Enlist the dcs help to sort out the back garden too rainy
Empty all rubbish bins as Tuesday am the bin-men are by. done Now to get it to the end of the curb.

Today I intend to tackle the room where my parents will sleep and the en-suite bathroom. That way they will have a place to recover from jet-lag while I continue to sort things out.

Keep up with laundry.

Morning!

Got back from weekend away late last night, have to go out shopping for food soon, so jsut popping in to say Hi. Will come back later on and catch up with a cup of coffee and see what I need to do.

At work now, hot chocolate on desk and all is right with the world

yawning I'm really pleased for you managing to get out for a while without the DC even if chaos did break out as soon as you got home

Mellie I had to have a declutter before I could find room for our decs at the weekend too. Have taken executive decision that it is impossible to dust whilst decs are up

PF methinks we are all struggling with flying on top of Christmas preparations. Just do what you can - there is always January!

Cadmum a good day yesterday. When do the DPs arrive?

Enough prevarication from me. I think I can safely join the 'I did diddly-squat yesterday' group. MUST do more today so here goes:
1 load of washing
DW on
make yoghurt
ironing
hotspot - pile of paper in middle of lounge floor
s&s
shine sink

Pluto - your list for today!
Declutter kitchen drawer
Post Christmas cards

See you all later!

x post with Cat hope you enjoyed your weekend

Morning all.

MClaus - so true about doing too much and burning out, that has been my problem before, I so want to be organised but end up just giving up because it's all too daunting.

Anyway better get going
plan for day;
15 minute declutter of spare room
Shine sink
Post Ebay parcels (3 of the 5 things I listed last night have sold Yay!!)
Make list of stock I need to take to craft fair on the weekend.

Bye for now

Thanks for the reminders MC Post and decluttering done I even managed some extra hot spotting so I now feel I have earned my coffee - which is filtering through and masking the whiffy smells which are still coming from the washing machine . I thought the smell was an over ripe melon but when I put a load in earlier the smell nearly knocked me out. I never did try the toothpaste so I'll have to give that a go. Vinegar clearly wasn't enough.

Not going to do much today as thing are looking alright here. DS2 is with his CM so I'm going to enjoy some me time - not many more opportunities like this before I have to return to work

Done
legs waxed
petrol in car
cards posted
2 drawers decluttered
w/m on
d/w loaded
DS2 sorted for CM

To Do
Drink coffee
Watch House
surf internet looking for inspiration for Xmas pressie for DH
Hang washing on airer
Make tea for tonight once chicken has defrosted

Thanks mummyclaus I thought that yesterday was a disaster...

I don't think I can explain how very messy this house has become. I feel surrounded in mess. I must investigate the meaning of crisis cleaning.

So far, beyond the usual dishes and upkeep, I have accomplished zero...

I did make the dcs sort the playroom since it is too rainy to sort the garden. (That won't last with dd2 being only 3 and loving a tidy space in which to generate mess play.

I am off to tackle the bathrooms upstairs after some more procrastinationa quick peek at the Fly site recommendations.

Evening everyone,

List looked like this:-

Washing on done
DW unloaded done
Everyone out to school/CM/work done
Order presents for nieces/nephews browsed
Order stocking filler for DC's *browsed
Buy something for dinner (DH did food shop this wkend while I was in hospital..I know it's the thought that counts but sod all to actually make a meal with...just chocolate )done
Have no idea which zone we're in but 15 mins declutter in living room ready for decorations at the wkend.

Not bad so far, will hopefully achieve the rest this evening with a nice glass of vino.

cadmum please don't beat yourself up about your house. Having little DC's is hard work and no-one should ever underestimate the amount of mess they can make. My house is still a tip after 3 months here but it is now a manageable tip. . You can do it but just a little at a time.

Pluto enjoy your me time. I always make sure I give the DC's a me time 'keeping in touch' day with the CM during the holidays .

MrsGruffalo babysteps, babysteps and yay for selling your items on ebay.

MC hot chocolate makes everything alright

SSC am of weekend away, hope you had a good time.

PF and others, am very appreciative of your use of diddly squat . Makes me smile everytime.

Waves to everyone else on thread.

Am now going to cook dinner etc. etc. etc.

Back feeling a bit all over the place

We have done some Christmas cards and even made one
but feel myself flagging today

Dh is coming home early so that I can go Xmas shopping at 6.OOpm
Dcs are watching CITV(finally)
need to clear table of snacks and card muddle
unload dw
hang out washing
lay table for tea (emergency pizza)
scrape carrots
put keyboardpiano elsewhere
put away clean pots and pans

here goes...

Guys - rein yourselves in. The rugby players were 17/18 years old. Oh...sorry...did I forget to mention that?

I, too have done diddly squat today apart from have a 'mum meltdown' this morning for which I have just about been forgiven!

Just a quick post from me as I'm off to parents'evening. Mellie don't you secondary school types have more interesting things to do in December?? I have one tonight and one tomorrow night!

Am pretty sure I'm going to need a bucketful of wine! Wish me luck!

Oh lord, is it time for DS to go to bed yet?! Actually is it time for me to go to bed yet?!

MC Your right about roping anyone in to cleaniing. I always feel defensive when Mum offers to do stuff, as if it's a critism, which it probably is but who cares, my bathroom's clean Have spoken to the cats about their contribution, they didn't look keen but are happy to 'hoover' after DS at mealtimes, providing it's chicken, tuna or cheese!

Making yoghurt? Please tell us more!

Mellie Loving 'diddly squat' My Dad always asks "How'ya diddling?" instead of "How are you?" which I also love. DP's and supermarkets are a dangerous combination, too many treats and not enough real food.

Please Mrs G, pluto and others STOP writing and sending cards, at least until I've bought mine

I'm putting oven cleaner on my shopping list, as a nod to this week's zone!

Have managed my morning routine and bought another xmas pressie.

Got to go pasta done!

my cats are the lolling type

done everything except dw
and carrot scraping
all just a series of hotspots - don't know why they looked so alarming really [breezes off]

Thanks MellieChristmas I know that it is possible but I would like an extra 2 hours added to the next two days. One for sleep and the other for cleaning, please.

Upstairs bathrooms are sorted as is the powder room on the main floor. Swish and Swipe should be all that is required until dp's arrive.

The dp's bedroom is 1/2 way there with only bedding, dusting and hoovering left to go.

The dc's tackled their own rooms this afternoon and they will be considered passable to loving grandparents. They even put away their laundry. Yippee!

I must run the washing machine again this evening and hang the load that is still inside.

Tomorrow's plan:

Dust and vacuum dp's room
Make dp's bed
Tidy and vacuum upstairs landing
Meal plan and online shop for Friday delivery
School room tidy in 15 minute increments (likely 60 minutes in total)
Laundry room tidy, vacuum and wash floor
Quick re-sort of storage room in the basement 1/2 hour maximum.
Finish playroom.
The usual unload, reload, run dishwasher
Two loads of laundry

(If I have grasped the idea of Fly then I intend to alternate between the tasks in 15 minute increments with 15 minutes off every hour.)

My cats are in my seriously BAD BOOKS today. One has been sick all over the sofa and the living room carpet and the other was snuggled up on the bath mat in the super clean dp's bathroom. ARGH! Even they are conspiring against me now!

Sorry for the novel. Hello to everyone and thanks for making me feel so welcome. I promise to be more attentive once the stress is over. I intend to give this Fly thing a fair chance (except for the shiny sink and the dressed to shoes for now).

Evening ladies,

Day of work today at two places so not a lot of time spent at home able to do any sort of flying, other than flying around like a lunatic!

At first job this morning I managed to spend quite some time doing Christmas internet shopping

Evening everyone!
I am really loving this thread by the way. House is looking presentable!

Today I have:

shined sink - done
white wash - done
put out hot spot - done
left house with baby for appointment without going back in 5 times to get things i'd forgotten - done!
made sure I left house without toothpaste on mouth - cannot confirm but hey who's perfect?!

Also can I ask what is swish & swipe and where do you do it? Thank you!

Evening all, have done bugger all today, am behind on paid work so have been working up until now an hour ahead of you lot so 9.00 here.

So now I'm going to:-

Finish dw
Watch a bit of telly
Go to bed.

Tomorrow must:-

Finish paid work
Take DC's to swimming lesson
Chase DS1 on piano practice and homework
Try and make lesson plans for Thursday and Friday's lessons (have ideas in head but need to put them on paper to see if they work - and try out one activity on DC's to see if it would work in a class)
Do something in the kitchen?

Hello to everyone, glad you're all OK, but I'm now to put my feet up.

See you tomorrow hopefully.

OM - if you need a bucketful of wine after parents' eve you can imagine how much the teachers drink - it is vatloads!

HARR - please don't fret - I'm only pretending to be organised. I think I missed the last post to the USA so that buddy is getting an e-card and I still need to find some really nice cards for relatives in Sweden (we don't post pressies to each other). This is probably getting quite urgent now.

Cadmum your list is making me feel tired - but I am very impressed.

So - I have stuck to my routine and breakfast things are already laid out next to my shiny sink. I am so happy about this - which is a bit worrying really.

Tonight I need to

lay out clothes for tomorrow
Pack changing bag and swim kit for DS2 outings tomorrow
Wrap a birthday present
Watch Spooks
Drink some wine

Tomorrow's to do list looks like this...

w/m on with one load. Even though it is making horrible smells it seems to be cleaning OK and clothes smell fine. I can't toothpaste it until Thursday as I'm too busy tomorrow doing nice things with DS2.

Quick tidy of living room and kitchen.
Defrost something for dinner

Hi Mullered I'll answer your question on swish and swipe, cos this is one I love to do while I ignore many others.
A swish and swipe is a very quick swish around the bathroom and a swipe of a cloth to make it all look clean and tidy. You can put away any bottles or bits that have been left out, I tend to do a quick spray of cleaner then give it a swipe over and all done in under 2 mins. I did let on here a couple of months ago that I am in the habit of doing this just as I get out of the shower/bath, although more useful probably when everyone else has had their time in there for the morning.

One of the good habits and it now annoys me intensely if I can't do this before I go to work! - How sad am I??? I would never have contemplated even noticing a few months ago!! Quick I'm a mum, get me out of here!