Weekly Flylady Thread 31st January 2011

pigpen

Lindsey.. While I do sympathise hugely with your situation as a mum I think your post would be beter suited to the families board where you will get a whole differing batch of replies and from many differing viewpoints.. my tuppeny worth.. His daughter is over 10 years of age, your child under.. she is prosecutable.. ring the police!! They will probaby do nothing but give her a telling off but daddy might wake up and smell the $h!t he is encouraging and do something about it... Photograph any bruises etc your child may have as evidence.. Failing that go outside like a screaming wild banshee woman and give the brats what for! That usually terrifies them into leaving yours alone.. especially if you have your pj's on and your hair unbrushed and no make-up! .. believe me I've scared 20 year old students doing less!

Ellie... Go put your dinner on.. get a binbag and fill it up with those envelopes from your firesurround, the crisps packets from the magazine rack and the post-its from everywhere and fling it! Kick OH to help too.. He can empty bins, load dishwasher/washing machine and clear the table from dinner! .. no excuses.. IF the children had to tidy so do you!! Even I managed that much with a baby in one arm!

vanilla

I'm totally shathered now but i do have a very nice clean car. Took 2 house to sort with 3 bin bags for the house and 3 bin bags for the bin. :eek:

Plan now is to unload and reload dw and head to bed.

Valli

see it was Ellie...

YOU are a PRIME candidate for dot-to-dot + level 1

stick with it -IT WORKS

no carp about shoes and shiny sinks (in all my time here I cannot remember EVER being 'told' to shine my sink)

thing is (and this goes RIGHT BACK to maids in big houses and Shirley Conran's superwoman book actually) the more you do the more efficient you'll get, and you will clean more, clean quickly and clean efficiently

so do ALL Pigger's lists - but just do all level 1 in week 1
then add a bit more as you get better and quicker...

DON'T EVER PANIC ABOUT KEEPING UP WITH THE THREAD THOUGH. we have posters who read the lists/do the lists/post they're done and that's it.
equally we have posters who offload, support each other, ask for and offer advice etc etc

we DO NOT judge...

we have had, in the past, posters who've been with us over a difficult time then gone on to 'greater' things.

we very occasionally come in for attacks from other parts of the forum. Thing is, those who attack aren't here day in day out and think, because we have lists we must be incapable of independant thought (we were called Stepford Wives last year).

For my part I'm a single mum of teens and sometime being the only 'adult' in the household is hard work - the support from here REALLY helps...but we have a massive range of experiences and qualifications which we share. And we can post our triumphs. Small victories some of them but victories they ARE and for someone else to say 'well done, you're doing a great job' is SO morale boosting. And lets face it don't we ALL fare better when encouraged than when criticised.

Anyway thats why we're here. Because we've got it to do and we all need someone to say 'well done - you're doing a great job'.

And it's lovely 'watching' people grow...Polkadot was a classic case from my early days, Serena before her (I know how well she was supported because of stuff she's said) and, recently, Sockdrawer - who is slowly but surely, decluttering in-laws and 'sounds' MUCH more positive these days.

And the support I got when I dipped my toe in the water again (plenty more fish and all that) was second to none.

Dippypud

Valli just to cheer you up, I have washed 5 lots today and got them ALL dry on the line... just brought the last lot in. :j

Piggers go to the pub or get one from the 'fridge, :beer: give Slobberchops to OH and say feed it or dress it...he can chose !!:D

Dustykitten

Lovely post valli

My tip for newbies is once an area is sorted don't let it digress again. Keep on top of that area as you move on to other areas, rooms but always keep what you have done clean and tidy. Then one day it will all be done and will be much easier to keep on top of.

Finished for the day so off for a quick read and bed. Quick list for the weekend:

Saturday
wipe out fridges/freezers and meal plan/shopping list
sort out receipt drawer
sort out intray
sort piles on family room floor
dust family room
DS3 (and 2 if he is better) squash

Sunday
clean bathroom
DS2 squash club matches (dreading this so much with my highly competitive just 9 year old playing in a U11 team as no 1)

Love to Boddy, Polly, Toots and LL

HelenJelly still thinking of you and your family

Pooh any news on your DS?

Sammie any news on your nephew?

lindseykim13

pigpen-thanks i will post on families board

Valli

nice one Lindsey! that sounds like a nasty problem and one which I, personally, couldn't help with. Although the fact that if the kids are over 10 the police can be involved has been noted. Apart from anything else calling in the boys in blue should be a wake-up call to the dad...

Ta DUSTY!

EllieA_3

Thanks everyone the support here has been A*.

Well i did my dinner with the help of a takeaway menu and a phone.. (don't frown it's friday )

while that was on it's way i took the bin bag as per suggestion, binned the envelops and anything else i could see messing up the living room (not much granted as it is the only room we keep "tidyish" for guests, though it's admitedly not that *clean*)

Then i took my bin bag, upstairs and de-cluttered the bathroom shelves cause i cleaned in there yesterday and it was the last job. I threw out loads of half bottles of shampoo, bubble bath etc and enough body lotion to drown a small elephant, having gathered an emense amount of the stuff via "gift sets" over the years, some of it HAD to be 15 years old

I sidestepped my makeup box ... mostly because it scares me. It's overflowing so much and most of it is old and dried up i don't even use the box for storing my good stuff anymore.. eek. I may venture to open it tommorrow but i suspect i may bite the bullet and bin the whole lot.

I then cleaned the medicine cabinate, throwing away 10 spare screws??? 12 pairs of spare gloves from hair dye kits *boggle* and the icing on the cake 8 spare heads for electric toothbrushes we no longer own and the spare end off a curtain rail!

The whole lot took about 15 minutes and I can no proudly say i have 1 clean and de-cluttered room in the house...

kids rooms arn't getting anywhere fast however so i have sent them to bed with instructions to get it done tommorrow and if they do a good job i might buy them new shoes on sunday (i was gonna buy them shoes anyway but shhh don't tell them)

Can i live in my bathroom??

jools27_2

One day and one room at a time, Ellie, and every small step will join on to the next! I spend a lot of time goal setting at work, but never applied it to myself, and over the past 2 years, with family illness, deaths and disasters the house was a total pit. With the lists and support here, I am now at a stage when this week as I am on holiday the full place was almost blitzed by Wednesday! I may not post often, but read every day, and it reassures me that everyone here has times when they do the minimum, but now I have found the floors and surfaces it is so much quicker and easier to keep the place clean and tidy! Keep up the baby steps, and before too long you will be sprinting!:cool:

toottifrootti

pooh I hope DS will be ok - huge (((hugs))) for you and get well wishes for him

Dusty was getting worried - nice to see you posting xx

LadyL lovely to see you honey - special love and hugs right back at you xx

better go welcome our newest flyers

toots xx