October is here, leaves are swirly, Fly with the Fledglings if your sink is surly

[MrsDinky]

Welcome to the October 2010 Fledgling Flying thread!

This is where from the 1st of the month, we attempt to declutter and follow the 30-step wisdom of the Fat Fairy, with lots of chat and support and mutual motivation along the way. (More info available here!

Many thanks to our September thread leader StillCounting for guiding us through the traumatic back to work and school period with lots of support and guidance!

As usual we will be following a three-pronged approach (and don't worry - we are all at different stages):

• repeat or start baby steps (again!)

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

or

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

Together we can do it! All newcomers welcome!

Dear all,

I have been remiss in my absence. I have managed to keep my lists going and the house is beginning to shine, but at the expense of time on MN.

PA sending all the best wishes you can handle, hope it all goes well in the end.

Big hellos (in no particular order, my memory gets weird) to batbrains, nettie, SC, linzer, ellie, pmpy, MrsD, bob, nick, toffee, just13, sittinghippo, and anyone I've missed.

Have had a couple of days off, and instead of getting time on MN, ended up so busy I would rather have been at work!?![hgrin]

With the exception of today, with the kids being back today. Saw them off and:

Morning routine done
washing, 2 loads done
dishwasher done
hoovered done
mopped hard floors done

and then had breakfast, and thought sod it, the rest of the day is mine (at least until school kicks out). So met mum for coffee, shopped around town with her, and had a lazy lunch/read of newspapers at home until time to collect the kids.

this evening have done
evening routine
shopped for car insurance

Given that everyone wants to use our single pc at the moment, Im probably only going to get the chance to come onto MN about once every couple of days, especially as ds is having fun using dp's computer game [hgrin]

At least I've got the halloween costumes sorted for a change, ready for a party on sunday! It's usually lastminute.com with me!

Positive - just want to say I'm thinking of you and keeping everything crossed. Bigs hugs to you from me...

To everyone else on the thread that I know from August, I hope to get back to flying in November but in the meantime a big wave from me...xx

Hi OM thanks for the hijack!! Great to hear from you. I have been concerned about you, hope you're ok.

Sorry it is a flying visit. Have a rare bit of motivation this week and going to make the most of it.

List update:

Laundry 5th load about to go on - yep still bulk washing whoops
clean ds' room done
Ds' bedding washed and fresh on bed
Something messy/energy building fun for ds paper mache as have a big plastic sheet down for decorating already - ds spent 30ins ripping newspaper into strips and a further hour covering a balloon done
pack ds' stuff for going to his dad's Ds did this but it needs 2 pairs of trousers which were waiting to be washed
School reading with ds (his request tonight) - he was too tired
cooking with ds
project work printed out sheet for ds
15 mins decluttering in lounge done
wrap christmas presents that have been bought done
Print christmas control journal done
DW running
print important paprwork to be sent done

PA thankyou for letting us know how you are. Sending very postive vibes for you Take it as easy as you feel you need to. I like your selfish posts at the moment. We worry about you so it is nice to hear from you.

OM - nice to hear from you. Look forward to seeing you soon.

PA had been wondering how you were. Sounds like you have a good consultant, which is so important. Hopefully they will have it whipped out well in advance of Christmas so that you have time to recover. I highly recommend online shopping - I accidentally signed up to Amazon Prime last year so have to do all my shopping there to make the extortionate price worth it!

Hello OM. I am back as well after quite a long lapse, looking forward to seeing you in November

Big hello to darts, SC, ellie, batbrains, just13, toffee, MrsD, minim and everyone I've cross posted with in the hour since I started writung this

Toffee - just after I read your post this morning, DS (who asks random questions all day long) came up and asked me "are octopuses nice Mum?" - so I started saying oh yes they are very clever, they throw tantrums etc, and sure enough within about 10s he had walked off bored!

Nettie - glad the party went well.

Swan - I'm sure I've got a vinyl copy of Brothers in Arms somewhere, takes me back to my student days [old emoticon].

Sitting - sorry about the fleas, think you deserve to take it wasy for a few days after that.

PMPY - lovely news about the scan.

Just13 - sluggish is what I will be if I don't get to bed soon

PA - welcome back, you sound as though you are living up to your nicname, your time away must have helped you. Glad you are getting somewhere with the docs now, I would say take it easy and do the Christmas shopping online. Don't worry about Flying either, get the DCs doing it!

OM - how lovely to see you, it's always nice when people reappear, look forward to seeing you in November

Darts - I really ought to follow your example, my house isn't very shiny and I spend far too long on MN. Never mind.

Bat - papier mache a good idea, will try and get some wallpaper past tomorrow I think and give it a go.

Well, not a huge amount of Flying done today. Went for a walk with the DCs this morning, then into town for haircuts and meet friends, ice cream in the park etc which was nice. In between times the DCs spent the entire time whining for the telly to be put on or to use the Ipad or play endless CDs for about a minute before changing them, hence staying out so much. Then, miraculously after tea and some telly, they start playing beautifully together with no telly, no Ipad, no CDs. That is what I like about the hols no rush to get them to bed if this sort of behaviour miracle happens, so they stayed up till 9 and hopefully will lie in a bit in the morning. I suspect it had more to do with me just sitting with them instead of fobbing them off so I can cook and clean like I tend to do quite a bit during the day .

Did manage a thorough clean of the bathroom (DS still aims badly from time to time and the floor behind the loo was grim). Not much time dedicated to living room, but did a thorough declutter of it on Friday, so think I willl tick that off as mission done.

15 mins shredding done
folding done
Ironing turned right way out

List for tomo:
kitchen - washing up, unload dishwasher
Errands - library, post office, bank
Phone calls
put away clothes
ironing
shredding
load recycling for tip run.
Put bin out
Decluttering in lounge 15mins
Sort out art stuff
Decluttering in bedroom 15mins

Night all.

Hope you all have productive days tomo.
Sorry for the lack of personal messages.

MrsD -PVA glue works better in my opinion - plus they add fungicide to wallpaper paste and little ones are advised not to come into contact with it for safety reasons.

Tuesday Links

Babystep. you need to have subscribed to the Flylady emails for this one, I haven't so will have to pass.

Mission. Detailed vacuuming of the Living Room - move that furniture!

Tuesday Reminders.

It is the last week of October now, on Monday we will start a new thread - any name suggestions welcome. I am not sure if I was going to continue doing the thread or someone else had volunteered ( Ellie and SC can you remember?). Whoever is going to post needs to start the thread in order to get the benefit of the highlighted posts

Right, I'm back after an insanely busy weekend with DD's Dance show and my Mum being here. House looked OK but not brilliant though after Mum arrived I stopped stressing out about it and enjoyed her company. She will just have to live with the fact that I am NOT related to Dstepdad and therefore have NOT inherited his OCD re tidiness/cleanliness [hgrin]

Bob - so sorry about your DH's friend. It really does put everything else into perspective. Take care of yourself whilst supporting DH and DS, it really can take a toll.

PA - glad you finally have a few answers to what is going on and, possibly more importantly, a consultant you have faith in. Keep coming on here for whatever you need us for - we can listen as well as chat [hgrin]

Ellie - well done on Ofsted, hope you are recovering. I am always horrified by how stressed teacher friends get during inspections, it seems SO counterproductive.

Toffee - when is DS 5? We sent out invitations for DS's 5th birthday party on Friday too. Party is on 6th Nov, birthday 7th.

Redhappy - welcome [hsmile]

Need a list today:

• Work - before DC get up so don't have to do any when they are around (we'll see, I may need an escape clause at some point [hblush])
• Morning routine
• Slowcooker chicken
• List for DS's party - trying to be organised so don't have last minute panic!
• Defrost freezer in garage - DD wants to go to Costco as she has never been and feels she is missing out (for some reason DS raves about the place [hhmm]) I need to get stuff but need space to put it
• DS's bedroom back to normal - tidy out our stuff, put DS's bed back in etc
• Hoover DS's room, hall, stairs and landing
• Walk to library, Post Office, sticky bun shop to stop us all going stir-crazy
• Cooking with DC - got cheap Halloween cookie cutters in Asda so I foresee lots of gingerbread bats and ghosts
• Post Chocolate and Banana cake recipe
• Early night

That should fill the day nicely.
Hope everyone has a good day.

MrsD - glad to hear your DS has the same limited attention span as my DC! So glad I'm not a teacher!

PA - good to see you back here. Sorry for what you're going through. I'm glad to hear you have a consultant that you trust. Good luck with it all.

PMPY - congratulations on your little boy!

Feet - DS's birthday is on 17th Nov. Party on 14th. Am doing a make-your-own pizza party, although at the last minute he wanted an 'army party' . Managed to dissuade him from that by telling him we were going to have real chef's hats (ordering some little paper ones off the internet). Am a bit worried now though - how am I going to remember which pizza belongs to which child? Can just imagine them all arguing over them once they're out of the oven. Seemed such a good idea at first.

MIL going home today. She was a great help yesterday. I got so much done, particularly washing and ironing.

Main task today: Washing (yet again) and packing for trip to my own mother's tomorrow.

PA grr on your behalf, at least they(medicos) are now DOING something. Re preps - Perhaps you can be the Xmas present, I think your entire family should just shower you with attention post op - I would start giving everybody else creative lists nd not feelingi the slightest bit guilty

we are off to Kew Gardens today - just boiling some eggs. Judging from yest, OUT is the answer, pottering does not seem to work here - whining is so much easier outside!. Although ds2 and dd are enjoying pitting axe against broomstick (halloweencostumes done - I need to get ds1 a beard still)

Kitchen v. depressing as enemy cats have sprayed -t ook pity on our cats last night and left flp open which was not a good idea.

So to do
get dressed again
get kids dressed again!
take damp swimming stuff out of car from Sun
unload dw
reload dw
recycling outside
bin empty
hang out washing
more washing in
go out!

Swan - love Kew Gardens - and it's great for children. I used to live very nearby. Have a lovely day.

PA sorry to be grr - consultant sounds like someone you can have rely on so that is a huge relief.

I've just realised that I am filled with tension about what should be a lovely easy day. Must pull myself together and stop worrying about the mess in this house/travel/food.
Dh and I start so well every day, then by the time he has left for work we have had a spat (this time over Xmas arrangments - he want to stay in London, I want us to go to Eire)
I'm not really surprised the children find it difficult to potter amiably with us as their parents...

now off to get cheerful and dressed

toffee you need some heatproof shapes to put on each pizza to identify - tinfoil letters perhaps? as long as they don't think they are toppings!

Hi, sorry I've been AWOL, DPs friend passed away on Saturday :( it has hit us all much harder than I anticipated and anything Fly Lady slipped considerably. DP has gone to work today and I'm taking DC out to get all the little bits I've been meaning to get for ages, hopefully to kick start me again.

Hope everyone is ok, will try to catch up the last few days messages later :)

bob dont worry about catching up in terms of fly lady - its not what she is about it is about starting from here and now and looking forward. Pick up fly lady stuff when you feel able and dont feel guilty about not stickign to it religously. Fly lady is not perfection is about realism. Realistically much more important to spend time with the family atm.

Toffeefudgecake Why dont you get them to make their inital out of the toppings on the top? or a face that can be recognised?

Swan i would love to live close enough to take ds to Kew Gardens. i went went i was a kid and loved it. Might have to see about taking him to somewhere gardeny up here.

Ds has let me sleep in til 10:30am he know has sticker charts to help him stay on top of his basic chores to get pockiet money. He is very money orientated so is sticking religously to it atm. I am using the 10p/year of life route then he has the option of top up jobs to earn extra but can only get it if he has earnt basic pocket money. So in theory has the potential to earn £1 pocket money/week. But as he hsa to buy his own treaty toy type things it means 1. i dont have naggin when we go to the shops and hopefully 2. he learns that money doesnt grow on trees and has to be earnt and 3. that if you want something big you need to save. At least that is the plan. He also has a pocket money tracking chart. He loves both. bless.

Coffee drunk now getting moving.

Bob - def much more important to spend time with each other at the moment. Flylady can wait.

So far have done:

• Work
• Morning routine
• Slow-cooker chicken
• Cleared out airing cupboard and put dry washing away

Have also tried to feed friend's animals but can't get into the padlock. Came home to think about what to do! About to go and try again.

Bob - I'm really sorry to hear that. What terrible news. I'm not surprised it has hit you all so hard. It is hard to cope with any death, but the unexpected death of somebody young is so much harder to come to terms with. I expect you are still in a state of disbelief and shock at the moment. Will the funeral be held over here? It will help if you are all able to attend the funeral or, at least, a memorial service. Awful though these things are, they are necessary. Hope you can all comfort each other.

Bat and Swan - thank you for your brilliant ideas about the pizzas. Great ideas.

And, Bat, I like your pocket money/chores thingy. I keep meaning to start DS1 on some chores. He doesn't do anything at the moment and I feel he should at least be making his own bed. Otherwise I will be bringing him up to expect his future partner to do it all, which I really don't want to do.

Haven't done anything other than getting the washing on this morning, waving MIL off and taking DS2 to play with a friend. Was going to use that time to pack, but I had a sandwich, made a couple of phonecalls and now it's time to pick him up again.

Bob, i'm so sorry to hear that. I had a similar fairly sudden bereavment a couple of years back and was shocked by how hard it hit me and how long I needed to recover. Take things steady for now and don't expect too much from yourself - grief is exhausting.

toffee for basic pocket money he has to clean his teeth (at least 10/14 of twice a day), make his bed/help to strip it (5/7 day min), put the clothes into the laundry basket (5/7) and have his bedroom tidy 3/7 days and get up without any fuss 5/7 days. He has a sticker chart to monitor how he is doing, -plus we are using the chart and pocket money to tackle things that can be a proper nightmare (teeth cleaning and getting up for the day). ATM top up chores are washing car, folding socks, hovering, cleaning sinks and bath, sweeping up the leaves in the garden. Little things.

I was going to update my list but realise i have done nothing from it CBA of recent days was due to sickening dfor a sinus infection/heavy cold. Ds is poorly too.

Today list
Shopping done
Wash bedding done

Bat - that's so impressive. I think I should start doing something like that. For instance, at the moment, DS1 just drops his clothes on the floor, in spite of my reminders to put dirty clothes in the laundry. He needs an incentive, I think.

DS2 said he had a "wonderful" time with his friend. They cuddled each other when they said goodbye, much to my older son's disdain!

List for the rest of the day:

Wrap Xmas presents to take away with us
Finish washing
Wash and dry DS1's PE kit
Do Kumon maths with DS1 (I mark; he does the worksheets)
Find a bag - laundry bag, maybe?(as suitcase is hidden at back of loft cupboard and I would need excavation equipment to get there)
Pack
Remember to pack pumpkins in car for DC to carve whilst we are away
Make sausage casserole
PM and eve routine

toffee ds is almost a year older (nearly 6) and we only started this yesterday but have been talking about it for over 2 months. Change has to be discussed in this house. I do remiond him but no more the 3 time. 1st: have you remembered to... ? 2nd: have you done ... yet? last time: if you don't do ... then you cant get your sticker so you can get your pocket money.
Its brilliant so far. No battles. Will hold judgement til i see what happens when he is back at school.