January Fledgling Flyers - The 15 minute mess removal squad

[droitwichmum]

Happy New Year!

This is the place for you if you have made a New Year's Resolution to get on top of the chaos in your home

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

Here you can find out what it is all about. Try to ignore the cutesy stuff - cute the regulars on here are not! We also take some of the suggestions with a HUGE dose of salt (look out for wearing tie up shoes in the house)

If you decide to register for the e-mail updates from flylady be warned: unless you choose the daily digest only option you will be innundated with e-mails throughout the day. I will post the links you need each day so you don't need to register on the site to join in.

Dive in and mark your place - we start on January 1st!

Morning everyone!
Ok, here goes, so far today I have:
Unloaded dishwasher.
Cleaned out goldfish bowl - now devoid of goldfish sadly
Washing - one load in, one hung to dry.
Dug out my weight watchers points calculator.

Still to do:
Clean bathrooms
Tidy and clean bedrooms, kitchen and lounge
Hoover everywhere
Iron washing - miraculously not that much!

I've given DH a list too
Tidy yard
Walk dog

I'll report back later!

Morning all!

Raining and horrible here too today - oh well it's marginally easier than snow if not as pretty.

So far I have taken DS1 to bus for a rugby match I'm quite surprised it's on as I would have thought the ground is too hard so I hope he doesn't get injured.

DD just got back from tap

I load of washing on and into the drier
Lounge room rescue done.

Today I really need to get up to date withthe washing pile and probably take DD to shopping centre to buy friends' birthday pressies. Also need to do banking and planning for next week's lessons...

Can't do morning routine as DH is still in bed . He needs to do his tax return however, I have a sneaking suspicion he is going to try to play some golf tomorrow if he can!!

Big wave to everyone, you're all doing so well. And as someone said once you have done a zone properly once it's less than half the work next time. The trick is to get everyone in the household to pick up after themselves and don't let those piles grow!!

right am back to the babysteps. I am not up yet having hd breakfst in bed but the plan is:

Dress to shoes
resuce bit of laundry basket ds dropped into toilet
Disinfect said bit of basket a lot
Get Ds' glasses fixed
Post office -parcels and car tax.
Trip to Buxton
Bank
Ironing (approx 3 1/2hrs worth cos i havent kept on top of it)
Laundry - two loads (only hopefully plus bedding)
Ds small crystal growing kit
Hotspot in my bedroom (need to finish discovering the floor)
early night

Morning all - although it's nearly afternoon already!

Went for a rare night out for a friends 40th last night so am feeling decidedly fragile this morning

House is lovely though due to a combined effort from both sets of grandparents

Todays list is small and unintimidating!

Put away washing
swish and swipe
bleach grout
shine sink
hoover stairs

morning everyone,

it's disgusting here as well. haven't done much this morning apart from negotiate the supermarket which is a task in itself. i went with my mum. i never realised one person could take so long round a supermarket and spend five minutes deciding which type of leek to buy all this while dd is putting in a fine screaming performance and ds is sulking. grrrrrrr. . am about to get cracking so to speak so list goes:-

washing
drying
ironing/putting away
general tidy
washing
drying
ironing/putting away
unpack shopping
washing
drying
ironing/puttingaway

anything else will be abonus because for some reason i am shattered today.

pmpy hope you're feeling less fragile soon. take it a good night was had .

better go and stop procrastinating and get that shopping in from the car.

have a good, if wet, day everyone.

Afternoon ladies

DH sent me back to bed as my DC kept crawling over me and making me scream.

Feeling really lazy looking at your lists now, so I am going away until I can start flying again. Have a good day everyone.

Hi everyone.

Hope your ankle isnt giving you too much jip MrsGok, glad to read that you are in bed, how i wish that was me! ds2 (again)is still not sleeping properly(he is 2.5y), playtime started early tocday- 1 AM!!! I know that I drifted in and out of sleep, but not sure about him, yet he is still going strong.

list for today-
strip beds done
wash bedding 1 load done
put away dry laundry.
do dishes
make up beds
tidy/declutter kids room -a bomb must have hit at the same time as ds2 got up...
clear out my purse
shine sink
hoipe you all have a lovely day. catch you all later

Long morning waiting for man to come and measure bathroom window for a blind, so got a lot done! Takes me ages to get round to organising these things, but babysteps are getting me in a better frame of mind. I am achieving a fair bit in the 15 minute bursts - but if I do have the odd 15 minutes here and there, my natural inclination is to sit at the kitchen table reading and sipping coffee. Love reading all the lists. Have a lovely day, all. (and to revert to a previous topic, have now done 3 meals in the slow cooker. All reasonably successful, and, more importantly, timesaving. I don't care too much if dcs eat every bit)

Ellie - poor you re supermarket trip. why don't you try ordering online? I know when I was working full time it worked really well and I'm sure it would as you've also got young DC. I also found it saved money...

Feeling quite smug here as I have done most of my list already. DS1 has texted to say they won the rugby and he's in one piece .
just girding my loins so to speak for a trip to large shopping centre. i have managed to negotiate an evening trip with DD as no doubt the whole world an his wife will be there today(it's raining plus 2 weeks of being stuck in equals a very busy centre!)

See you all later.....

Afternoon all!

MrsG sorry you are still feeling sore but lovely of your DH to send you back to bed!

Everybody else seems to be doing well.

Progress report:
-go to fat club -been, lost 2lbs! Hooray - grand total of 62.5 lbs and lost all Christmas weight!
-washing - 1 load in, 1 load to go - first load now on airer and second in machine
-finish off in bathroom - the DDs and I all have baskets for our various concoctions so today everyone must sort them out and clear the dross - Not done
-'home blessing' today or tomorrow- Not done
-wash kitchen floor and think about what I would need to do to get the roll of flooring onto it that has been sitting on the stairs for about 7 years! - Not done
-hot spot? Though I'm inclined to agree with an earlier post, sorry, can't remember who, my whole house is a hot spot!- Not done

So I need to get my finger out, as it were. But it's a wet Saturday afternoon which says film or book to me!!!

Hi everyone, you are all very busy this morning with your lists ...

Shocked to look out on the lawn this morning and see green rather than white.

Overslept today so didn't get a chance to post before usual ballet/errand/supermarket/lunch routine ...

... was just going to get cracking on my French hwk and sewing tasks but dh has decided he needs to go to bed for a sleep so prob. will have to do tonight [sigh] as dd will need entertaining (although I have a 20min respite now as she is watching a Tom and Jerry DVD ). To be fair, dh has had a killer week travelling and he has volunteered to put dd to bed tonight.

Elliepac I think our mother's are related! Mine has to examine every single apple on display before she chooses.... and then decides on pears ...

It's groundhog day here too btw. Must have cleared and wiped my dining room table down 3 times already today!!

Good luck with your list ... and with yours MissBennett (well done with bathroom "fling" btw) WhereChaos and 1981

Hey! Good to see you Commuter - my natural inclinations are exactly the same Agree that the Fat Fairy system does help one's peace of mind - you are safe in the knowledge that the tasks will come around again all in good time ....stops me feeling overwhelmed and going in to ostrich-mode anyway.

[hands over paracetemol to PushmePullyou]

Glad the Fat Fairy system is working for you Helpwithcleaning.

Optimistic didn't read your Haiti post as flippant at all and quite right about donating. Far more important. Good luck with the shopping trip. I'll have a bottle opener on stand-by for your return ...!! (Well done to your ds1 btw)

Totally agree Neenok about tidy house = tidy body! If the "control centre" isn't functioning well, then everything else drifts off course. That's why I think keeping the body clutter step on here is a good idea.

Don't feel bad - I'm on my 4th or 5th round of baby-steps and am doing (VERY) intermittent bursts of decluttering - FF herself says it takes 9 mths to get a handle on the routines - do just 15 mins a day to start and don't try and catch up. Just jump back in with the current day's step ...

Oh poor you MrsGok - just when you were on a real roll too ..take it steady x

Thank you so much MummyD for that link!! That's just what we were looking for! I will check it out and come back later to post about body clutter.

Hi to everyone I have missed (lots of you I'm afraid)

Right - my 20 mins is up - dd is suspiciously quiet so had better go and see what she is up to ...

Saturday:
deliver letter [done]
French study
finish one sewing project and start another
more paperwork
make lentil and bacon soup
listen to dd reading
dd finger nails
laundry
15 x 2 master bedroom
order birthday present on-line
order dd clothing on-line
church
EARLY NIGHT

Sunday:
riding (if not too icy)
15 mins X 2 home office
laundry
ironing
more French study
sewing
EARLY NIGHT

keep drinking lots of water everyone!!

MissBennet, at your daughter cleaning up a bit, no sign of that in this house - how long have you been doing baby steps? Just so I know when I can start nagging encouraging dp to do a bit more!

Pushme, bleaching grout? I don't think I've ever done that and I was looking at our tiles in disgust, possibly even this morning. How will you do it?

Sorry forgot to say "hello" to Mini-M
and to wish Mmango's dd a very speedy recovery - sounds like you are both having a tough time x

Also, meant to thank you very much WhereChaos for your offer to post healthy eating step on Sunday evening for the week ahead. It sounds like a great idea if you don't mind and not too much trouble. I was thinking of typing all the tips out, folding them up and and putting them in to a hat!! (But my computer is old and cranky so probably quicker.) Let me have a look at Mummy's link which is something I haven't encountered before on Fat Fairy website (despite doing what I thought was thorough search) and will get back to you!!!

Anyone seen Dreamteam by the way?

Mmango have been fluttering around since the summer - sort of did baby steps but then thrown out by going on holiday and never quite recovered until this month! Definitely find having a go at some missions/decluttering in the zone has meant I've achieved more in Jan than the last six months!!

DD2 is 14 and actually likes things to be very tidy and organised which I think is part of her Asperger's tendencies (diagnosed as mild - more obvious sometimes than others!) so I'm not surprised that she has noticed and will jump in - think she finds the general level of chaos quite difficult in fact.

DH is another matter as he does very little (won't go into it here - would make a relationships thread on its own! He does suffer from ill-health but could do more really But I reckon if I can train the kids that's a good start.....

By the way, if you've got a poorly babe, then that is a full time job in itself! And exhausting so you must take care of yourself as well! Good luck!

This morning started well, felt positive
and got out of house on various errands, activities
lunch was planned as per menu planner so that went very smoothly
in fact I was just beginning to congratulate myself that mess didn't matter

BUT
this afternoon the mess combined with unruly children really stressed me
so it's no point pretending that harmony can co-exist with clutter here I am not enough of an earthmother to survive it.

so Ellie, I sympathise
SC you are a busy bee as usual
Mrs Gok - a few advantages in illness, usually dhs are bricks in these situations, hope your sore limbs recover soon, but not so soon you don't get looked after as you deserve - well done on the lid (think it would have taken me 7 years to organise that)

Meltng of snow has revealed garden mess too.

On plus side, or minus side (one doesn't want pluses with weight ) not eating snacks going well here, apart from making me exceedingly grumpy

Optimistic, my dh never did his tax return till after deadline claiming he didn't owe any money so they couldn't penalise him. One year he owed about £10 due to PAYE error, and had to pay late penalty - so he never used that excuse again.

Golf does sound very soothign though..

I'm not going to try and catch up on posts, I can guarantee it will all be forgotten by the time I come to post with the way my brain is right now.

Things much more settled here, hoping to get back into things again.

Tired of recycling plastic, try milk bags from Ocado. I buy about 5 at a time, and freeze them...very easy, one less thing to recycle lol

Also, because I hate recycling so much, I also use tea tree oil wipe surfaces in my kitchen. A little bottle cost about £3.00, and it last for ages. Its got a lovely clean smell, and it has antibacterial properties...really quite cool

Glad to hear things a bit more settled sparrow.

right progress report:

Dress to shoes done
resuce bit of laundry basket ds dropped into toilet done
Disinfect said bit of basket done
Get Ds' glasses fixed done
Post office -parcels done and car tax - bank shut will do monday.
Trip to Buxton done
Bank - monday.
Buy new car seat done
Pick up some nice treats for ds for the treat cupboard done

This evening:
Ironing (approx 3 1/2hrs worth cos i havent kept on top of it)
Laundry - two loads (only hopefully plus bedding)
Ds small crystal growing kit
Hotspot in my bedroom (need to finish discovering the floor)
early night

GOing to see what i can get done of what is left but will be happy with ironing and early night. Right off to help ds make his bed so he can finish his bedroom to earn a treat of sweeties

Evening Everyone, hope you have had a great day.

Sparrow good to see you back and glad things are more settled.

Might have a go on the Wii Fit tonight

ds has tidied his bedroom which means i can clean it tomo just hope it stays tidy long enough to clean but as we have had to have the mold conversation i suspect he might well be pestering for it to be done early so he can then play. The bribe was worth it

Evening all

[Opens bottle of white for Ellie and red for everyone else who wants it... selects extra large glass for Optimisitc - post-shopping trip]

Good for you MiniM for even contemplating exercising tonight - where do you find the energy? [old grey mummy emoticon]
Hope your scrummybrunch goes well tomorrow.

Crikey WhereChaos you've done loads! Well done! Leave it there and start again tomorrow. Small steps ..small steps. Don't forget your early night will you? Somewhat hypocritical of me to mention this as I'm I'm sorely tempted to stay up and sew as the middle of the night seems to be the only time when I can concentrate (dd is a talker ). Not a good strategy though I know because then less productive tomorrow and so on and so on and it becomes a vicious circle. So aiming for 10pm and I'll probably make it to bed by 11pm in reality.

Hope you have a good night's sleep Mmmango and your little 'un too. Agree with MissBennett that poorly babies leave you no time to do anything else at all so take it steady.

Good to see you Sparrow - glad things going better for you x

Hello Hemprose - are you joining us or are you a name-changer? A warm welcome either way !

Swan I totally sympathise - have had very similar day to you. Charged around all morning and had great intentions for this afternoon - but despite being busy - got bugger all (s'cuse language) of my list done (except washing, church and soup). Kept dd occupied too!

Dh has decided he has bad cold and bearing in mind he is rarely ill and had terrible flu before Christmas, I reckon he must be very run down. [He works killer hours and the stress of being married to me can't help!!)

Weekends are difficult aren't they? I always think "great, it's the w/e, loads of time to do x then" - never turns out like that though. In fact, I'm sure I posted the same thing only a month ago. Don't seem to be learning from my mistakes!!!!

Harrumph, harrumph.

Off to try and do something productive in last hr before bed.

G'night all

SC - glad you qualified the extralarge glass with the post shopping trip comment! How did you guess I had just got back (successful actually) but large glass of white, jamie's fish pie in oven and Casualty to watch...Give DH echinacea and keep going with it for at least 2 weeks - works wonders ime (DD had ME for 2 years so i know all there is to know about run down/tiredness etc. )
WCRT - for your DS well done him!

DS1 at a party. So will probably have to wait up until midnight - oh well!

Night all

Good evening to you all!

Not been a bad day I think - slow pace but got a few things done....

-go to fat club -been, lost 2lbs! Hooray - grand total of 62.5 lbs and lost all Christmas weight!
-washing - 1 load in, 1 load to go - first load now on airer and second in machine
-finish off in bathroom - the DDs and I all have baskets for our various concoctions so today everyone must sort them out and clear the dross - done - looks lovely now!
-'home blessing' today or tomorrow- done upstairs - changed sheets -Dh helped with ours and DDs did their own!!!, finished bathroom and hoovered landing and stairs. Downstairs can be done tomorrow.
-wash kitchen floor and think about what I would need to do to get the roll of flooring onto it that has been sitting on the stairs for about 7 years! - washed the kitchen floor but that's as far as it goes!
-hot spot? Though I'm inclined to agree with an earlier post, sorry, can't remember who, my whole house is a hot spot!- cleared some junk from shelf on landing so hopefully that counts!
And cooked tea, cleared away and shined sink.One load of sheets in the machine.

So I feel I can happily sit down with glass of wine and catch up with Silent Witness! Hooray for flying!