December's Fledgling Flyers: Christmas time, swish and swipe and wine, flyers sing to the fat fairy rhyme.

[elliepac]

Welcome to the December Fledgling Flying thread.

From the 1st of the month we shall be decluttering and taming the chaos using baby steps, missions and zones. A great big thank you to DEM/DID who looked after us last month and did a fantabulous job

We are not strict followers of the fat fairy and take some of the babysteps wearing shoes indoors with a pinch of salt. Also advise against signing up for the fairy's emails.

All are welcome, jump on board for one of our three methods of chaos attack:

1. Baby steps
2. Baby steps and 15mins decluttering in current zone
3. Re-inforce the baby steps and daily mission

This month the fat fairy is gearing up for the feastive period. So I shall also post the christmas mission for those who wish are brave enough to look.

In here the motto is:

*"No perfection! Do what you can, but be realistic about what you can do."

Happy flying.

Hello
quick soup break and 30 min stress reliever/breather ...

found it very hard to get out of bed this morning

feeling a bit swimmy and bleurgh with bad sore throat ...

but must be all cheery and enthusiastic for guests and run up and down several flights of stairs changing beds when I feel all grumpy and want to sleep for a week

further depressed by contemporary sending Christmas card - composition of their splendid manor house covered in snow accompanied by pic of her, her dh, and beautiful teenage dc - on what I presume is their boat - all beaming - all wearing skimpy designer swimwear

The last time I was in good enough shape to wear a bikini in public was a good two decades ago - never mind sending pics out to friends and acquantainces

And our house looks so run down, and has so many holes in it that the snow we tread in remains frozen in the outer hall ...

Don't get me wrong, I genuinely love seeing pics of everyones dc in Christmas cards (am not that much of a grump - honest!) but do you send those cards out to make others feel jealous or inadequate (in which case - they have obviously succeeeded !!) or are they just naievely so happy with their own lives, they want to share?

I dunno. Sigh. Harrumph.

However, cheered by spot on Radio Four woman's hour yesterday (have internet radio) about Salvation ARmy lady who scrubs the feet of the homeless. Never normally listen to woman's hour but was cleaning bathroom at time and just happened to tune in. Modern day saints do exist. I recommend tuning in to it if you can pick it up from R4 website - when you feel Christmas spirit is lacking somehow or if you feel in need of a lift this week. I found it genuinely inspiring. Cuts through all the rest of the fekkity cr*p anyway!!!

Toffee you are doing wonders re your mil. We play Frustration and Connect Four here for hours on end - love both!

Optimistle we love tiddlywinks!

Linzer hope your dd1 has a lovely birthday party (gosh - that is a lot to do on top of Christmas prep - respect and all that!)

Feetheart can hear my dh snoring through 3 floors!! Do you mind me asking what do you use to stick gingerbread house together please?

Similar present count here to you Swan it's a bit draining isn't it?

PA and bob hope you are both Ok

A mahoosive hello to Mini- glad the dss are thriving

Huge waves to Ellie¨ Darts Ihate and everyone else

Here are today's steps and missions if anyone is Can BA bothered:

Baby step 23: here about afternoon routines

Mission for today here is to get good night's rest

[SC suddenly perks up at prospect]

Good luck everyrone + thanks for letting me "vent"

Sorry - forgot to say hello to DID and prob. others ...

no problem SC, tbh i like the sound of today's mission. One i need to do anyway. so much to do, so little wish to move.

Thanks sc. I'm with did re babysteps anyway . am getting there slowly. Washing mountain nearly conquered. House presentable. Food shop done. Dh gone out to get last few bits and bobs, cakes baked and dc's strangled . Back later to see if I have managed to get everything done. The big plan is to have everything done today so we can actually enjoy Christmas eve. We have some visitors inthe afternoon and we always go to our bf's for lunch to exchange pressies on Xmas eve.

sc I loathe cards like that. Like you, I look at my poky 3 bed semi and my scruffy children and wonder where I went wrong? I then slap myself several times and look at my gorgeous family and realise that actually I am quite lucky. Takes a good hard slap before I feel like that though.

I must well say happy birthday party and day to linzers dd. Hope you aren't too knackered . oh and lovely to see mm. Glad to see you and your gorgeous family are doing well .

Back to the laundry .

We have the tree, and carried it home singlehandedly (well four pairs of little, and medium hands)
Dh will be amazed at our 6 footer!

Dd is desperate to decorate it (no she says PUT IT UP, not even decorate it, first things first! Not even going to pretend that the Christ Child brought it linzer!!!!

SC - Don't mind at all - copious quantities of squeezy icing in a tube plus Flakes for extra support/foundations!
Have learnt to stick it together the day before decorating to give icing time to set as have had a few panics as heavy-handed DC threaten to topple the whole thing

Lots of people being very panicked active on here today. I have my head down and am refusing to do anything bar the essentials BUT we don't have hordes of friends/relatives descending. 2 kids, 2 adults, 2 cats and lots and lots of food in this house
However I probably do need a list so I can finish things off:

• Make Honey and Oat biscuits to go in hampers
• Cover boxes and make up 3 hampers - quite easy as contents are jams and chutneys made over this year plus some biscuits
• Deliver hampers
• Wrap presents for 2 local friends
• Write local Christmas cards and deliver
• Persuade DH that we DO HAVE ENOUGH for DD and that the DS we got on ebay will be perfect for her birthday in Feb. Not sure what has got into him really
• Wrap things

First I need a hot drink and a sit down - had friend's 3 DC here this morning whilst she tried to get heating/air con sorted in her car. They were perfectly behaved but my two were at each others throats. Friends have gone and I have stuck mine in front of Scooby Doo and may leave them there till bedtime

I neeeeeeeeeeeed wine.

sod the wine I need vodka, or whisky neat. in vast quantities.

SC - I also loathe cards like that and I'm afraid it is done precisely to make the rest of us feel inadequate! Also hate, hate, hate round robin letters...

Keep joyful everyone, even in the midst of panic etc etc. At least at the end of tomorrow what isn't done, isn't done!

Have had a lovely time with DD listening to carols and making mince pies this afternoon. She is also being a fab girl and cracking on with GCSE mock revision with no nagging! . Could it be anything to do with her older brother!?

Poor old teenagers have a grotty Christmas for about 3 years while they revise for GCSE/AS
A2 level. Make the most of the little ones....

If I don't get on tomorrow, have a wonderful Christmas and enjoy your family time! xxx

I think DD1's birthday party can be pronounced a success - thanks for the birthday/party wishes, ellie, SC and Toffee. After painting the pottery, we went on the little train that goes round the town at Christmas and finally to the Christmas market for a few rides on the merry-go-round. The children all had a great time, although it was good that we had a carriage to ourselves on the train as I'm not sure that any other passengers would have appreciated eight screeching girls (the one boy was very quiet - not DS, I hasten to add)! It was also lovely to come home and not to have to worry about tidying up.

OM I love round robins, but unfortunately no one ever sends me one.

SC There was a discussion on another thread about sending a photo of yourself as a Christmas card and I think it was decided that it was never acceptable. I could cheer you up by sending you a photo of us with Father Christmas - I look awful in it (and wasn't even wearing a bikini); fortunately I rediscovered the photo too late to send it with any Christmas cards, as I'd originally planned. (The only reason DH and I were in the photo is that the DC refused to be photographed on their own with Father Christmas - I did wonder whether I could cut myself out of the photo, though.)
I really enjoy listening to Woman's Hour btw and listen quite regularly (I download the podcasts) - there was an interesting feature recently about attitudes to housework.

Toffee Do let me know if you find an anti-wrinkle cream that works; I must admit I'm very tempted to try the Protect and Perfect serum.

Must go and put the girls to bed - DS is staying overnight at a friend's (which definitely helped to make the party less stressful too).

Got to be quick.Laptop really playing up and keeps shutting down on me.

Had a successful day and now am all ready bar the small matter of a present for DH!

Back in the morning. I now have wine .

Bravo fledglings! It looks as though everyone has been very industrious today and have worked their way solidly through their lists

I've got one more day of forging ahead in blinker mode and I should just squeak it.

DD only breaks up from school tomorrow lunchtime so won't feel it is really Christmas until then. Did all teacher/school related cards and presents today.

Few local cards and tiny presents to write and hand deliver tomorrow. Still need to ice cake which needs at least two days to set but don't like icing rock solid and we never usually start it until Boxing Day so should be ok. Also must collect turkey and make stock for gravy tomorrow.

My sister and family and friends have made it over from UK (after eight hour delayed nightmare journey) so can stop worrying about them huddled in transport terminals and have loads of help on hand now ...

Passes large glass of red over to Ellie] Hope you have a lovely day tomorrow

OOohhh Linzer the party sounds magical - I bet your dd and the girls (and boy!) will remember it forever ...

Thanks for cheering me up over the photo everyone (don't know why it should get to me - just conscious we had a year where we were "blocked/stuck in our tracks" for various extended family reasons)

Optimistle sounds as though you had a lovely afternoon with your dd. Must be fun having teenagers in the house over Christmas.

Thanks for gingerbread house vital tips Feetheart

Your tree sounds really lovely Swan

Waves to DID and everyone else and hands around the hot toddies

Try and get a decent night's sleep everyone ...

Evening all,

Sorry for being AWOL again, busy, busy and broken computer, I'm on the IPad. I have been reading the thread every day though, but difficult to chat because you have to go through 5 key presses on this thing every time you want to use an asterisk.

So, here we go without asterisks:

Linzer -glad birthday party went well

SC hate that sort of card too, one of my friends gets her DCs to make some sort of handprint picture which she scans and folds into cards, don't mind that too much but the bit that grates is that she always puts a copyright symbol and their names on the back, as if anyone would want to steal their daubings, grrr.

OM - well done to DS, so pleased for you all. I usually get a superb round robin from my cousin and phone up my mum to have a mutual guffaw over it, it hasn't arrived yet, hope she hasn't stopped doing them, they are so funny.

DID and Ellie, enjoy your drinks

Feet heart and SC my DH also snores loudly enough to be heard next door.

Toffee- glad you have started finding things. As far as board games go, we also love Tummyache (and like DEM we change the rules to suit), also Pop to the Shops, but my DCs are younger. We also like the card game UNO and bingo.

This is hard work, scrolling up and down and I still have stuff to do tonight. Big waves to PA, Bob, Darts, ihatecobwebs, Nettie, Swan, MiniM, Arabella, anyone else I have forgotten. There is a distinct possibility I won't post tomorrow, so I am going to say

Happy Christmas Everyone .

SC make them work! Saw a cousin who had just been stuck in Brussels for three days on her way back to Heathrow from Egypt (not sure if you are in Brussels or elsewhere in Belgium) so clearly relations are being exchanged!

Nice afternoon, mini breakdown over tree (me)cousin also having mini-breakdown over her housework and exhausting dog so we all had a good laugh and felt better, walking in snow with frisky dogs/dd together (I think the state of my house cheered her up

Children and dh (who returned when he heard I had got the tree [grr] I think he was tryng to get out of that one... decorated tree beautifully. Candles at the ready, and bucket of water..

Have swept floors
been to Morrisons again for crackers, bread, coffee and salad
finalised menu (veggies are having sep dish now
washed three tablecloths
cleared supper - maybe if we just ate bread and cheese for three days before xmas it might help keep the housework down.

Linzer that is a great start to Christmas, very well planned, and love the train ride too

Sounds as if everyone is getting through their pre-Christmas lists pretty well.

I thought I was doing really well. Took the boys out for a long walk down to the library today. It was freezing! However, we saw lots of Christmassy things and my youngest son, in particular, was so enchanted by all the decorations and Christmas lights that it made everything worthwhile. Saw lots of friends and neighbours and everyone was wishing each other a 'Merry Christmas'. On the way home, my eldest son started singing 'White Christmas' as snow started to fall. It was properly Christmassy!

Then I sat down and made my list for tomorrow. I won't even begin to list it (it runs to 23 points so far), but it starts with going to the butcher's at 8am to collect the turkey (am hoping to avoid the very long queue) and is followed by crisis cleaning of three rooms. Will be employing a large box to throw all the clutter into.

Swan Yes to bread and cheese for dinner to cut down on housework. As my DS2 refuses everything I cook for him at the moment, this would probably suit him fine. Actually, I'm sort of following your suggestion on Boxing Day - have got lots of ham and cold meat and people can help themselves on paper plates.

MrsD Thanks for the games recommendations. About the copyright symbol on your friend's card - could it be a joke? Only I sometimes write it on the back of my children's cards as a joke. I only ever send them to family, so I hope everyone realises it is not me being precious (mind you, DS2's nativity picture was a masterpiece this year ).

Still Glad to hear your family have made it to you. That Christmas card sounds very insensitive, but it may just be that they are naive, rather than gloating. A couple in my family, showing their usual sensitivity and tact, once decided to cheer up a friend of theirs who was suffering from chronic depression by sending him a photo of them hang-gliding on holiday, adding the line, "Having a fabulous time!" They genuinely thought it would be good for him (they also both thought he should 'snap out of it' ).

Ellie Congratulations on your successful day!

Linzer I didn't bother with anti-wrinkle cream in the end. (I tried 'Protect and Perfect' serum once and it didn't do anything for me (maybe I am just a lost cause).) That was partly because of the price of all of them, but mainly that I met the young 20-something daughter of a friend of mine and suddenly felt too embarrassed to be seen buying anti-wrinkle cream!

OM at your lovely Christmassy time with DD.

Feet 'Head down and refusing to do anything bar essentials'...I will remember your phrase tomorrow, when I am ploughing through my list. However, Did's phrase may be the first thing I think of when I wake up - 'So much to do, so little will to move'.

Have just added two more items to my list.

Must go to bed now.

Morning all,

Had a lie-in until 6.45 this morning. Typical - the one morning I didn't have to get up (DS is still at his friend's and the DDs were up but playing quietly together in their room), I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. The girls have already been doing some 'painting by numbers' (one of DD1's birthday presents) and are now 'sorting' the presents under the tree.

Discovered late yesterday evening that the boy who came to DD1's party now has a stomach bug - possibly the reason why he was so quiet - so am just keeping my fingers crossed he hasn't passed it on to anyone (really not what we need over Christmas, esp. when we're due to be flying back to the UK on Monday).

swan Bread and cheese (plus tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, etc.) are what we have for tea most days - it's called a Jause here and the DC actually seem to prefer it to a proper dinner (which I usually give them at midday). Christmas dinner at my ILs (evening of the 24th) is usually just a glorified version of the Jause - a Weihnachtsjause - with lots of cold meats and different types of cheese. No cooking involved; you can't go wrong, really. I think where I've gone wrong is deciding to have a British Christmas dinner on the 25th as well...

Toffee Your day sounded lovely and perfect for getting you into the Christmas spirit. Good luck with your list today. The large box is a great idea; I sometimes use one in the playroom, but should probably extend its use to the whole house.

MrsD I don't know how I'd cope if my computer was broken - I do have an iPod, but it's far too fiddly to write long messages on it. Then again, maybe that's not such a bad thing as it would force me to stop waffling on and actually get on with things!

SC Glad to hear your sister arrived safely and that you have some help on hand now. I don't feel like Christmas has really begun until the DC break up from school either (which was yesterday here).

Hope everyone has a lovely day.

Managed to get up and get to the butcher's by 8am to collect the turkey and buy some more veg. Am feeling very efficient now. Home for a cup of tea and breakfast, then time to plough on through my list.

Linzer - sorry you missed your lie-in .

Good luck with last-minute preparations today, everyone. Off to find a large box for clutter now....

Notgood
piles of laundry still everywhere
I'm not dressed
dh wavering in germanic Xmas eve tense mood

good
think most things done except COOKING

I think buying the turkey at 8am is still my big achievement for today. Trying to crisis clean downstairs, but people keep interrupting me and getting in my way . DH rang to ask me to go to the corner shop and stock up on booze (he could have done it when he arrived home, but was worried they'd be closed), DS2 wants to do 'make and do' in the room I'm trying to clean and MIL keeps asking if it's convenient for her to ice the Xmas cake yet - nooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Am definitely feeling panicky now, and it's only us for Xmas Day tomorrow. I just want it to be lovely and not to ruin the turkey!

Swan Can you scoop all the laundry up into a bag and shove it in a cupboard? Just don't put it in a black bin liner, as DH did the other day. I found him about to take the bag down to the dump later, thinking it was rubbish.

Oops, sorry Toffee, perhaps I am being uncharitable about my friend's copyright, it didn't occur to me that it might be a joke. I have to confess to a distinct lack of Christmas spirit on my part, am having a serious bout of CBA about it all that started in about October and shows no sign of turning into enthusiasm. Which means I still haven't wrapped up many presents or even bought all of them yet. Anyway, enough of my non-cheerful ramblings, better go and do some stuff.

X-posted, Mrs DingDong. I hope the card is a joke - pretty awful if she's serious!

Sorry you are not feeling any Christmas spirit yet.

I recommend the concert of Christmas carols from Kings College on R4 at 3pm for getting you in the mood .

Ding Dong merrily on Fly and all that!!

In the end didn't make it to school this morning because we are snowed in. Has been snowing steadily since yesterday. Our road is cut off (incredible - we are in middle of city off busy main thoroughfare). Amazing snowflake patterns on windows. 18 cm on garden!!! Car has had to be dug out. Dh on a mission to get turkey.If he can't make it, we might be eating fish fingers with our brussels sprouts, sausages and bread sauce!

So pace more leisurely than it should be because we simply can't do any more shopping even if we wanted to (apart from local trips on foot and sledge to deliver cards).

Feel so sorry for those with young dc still struggling to travel. Several people we know are trying to get to Paris without success. May be taking in "refugees" later...

Toffee ahhh at your dss singing white christmas. That's so lovely!!
Yes, I know I should give THAT card sender benefit of doubt. It probably comes from a place of pride and love (well, so I keep telling myself!!)

Linzer hope your dd1 is ok and no-one succumbs to bugs. Had similar situation here last week (dd went riding last weekend with friend who succumbed to stomach bug on Monday but we were all fine so hopefully there won't be a prob)

Swan at your dh's tense Germanic xmas eve mood

Doubt if I will get back on here for a while but just wanted to wish all of you above and all of you below (in no particular order):

Ellie PA Bob Optimistle MrsDingDong MissBennet Darts Feetheart MiniM Ihate Systems DID Arabella Nettie Pushme Madwoman all fellow fledglings and everyone I have inevitably missed

[frgrin]

A peaceful, happy, and healthy Christmas!

Hope you all have a lovely holiday with your families

*

MrsDingDong arf at copyright symbol!!

Merry Christmas to everyone for tomorrow