Happy New Year, January's here, fly with the fledglings to get clutter clear

[ToffeeChristmascake]

Welcome to the January Fledgling Flying thread. A very big thank you to Ellie, our intrepid leader, for guiding us through the frantic Christmas month.

We are not strict followers of the Fat Fairy and take some of the babysteps - such as getting dressed to lace-up shoes - with a pinch of salt. We also strongly advise against signing up for the FlyLady emails.

From the first of the month, we will be following Flylady's tips on restoring order to our homes, using one of the following methods:

1. Babysteps
2. Babysteps + 15 mins daily decluttering
3. Babysteps + daily missions

Following the babysteps helps to establish daily routines and build a weekly plan.

This month's motto is: You can't clean clutter! See here for Flylady's advice on decluttering.

If you are overwhelmed by the mess in your home, start with just one thing: shine your sink.

And if you need to sort out the house after the New Year revelry is over, a crisis clean is what you need.

Back shortly with tomorrow's babystep .

(With apologies to Ellie for plagiarising some of last month's intro')

I already feel exhausted ...and it's only 9.30 (but my own fault for being up too late)

done
groceries for breakfast at 8am, getting days of week confused and no the milkman does not bring milk etc on Fridays, so had to dash out...I think we were missing last Sat's milk injection
found dd's goggles in car for swimming lesson
practised ds2's spellings (he was screaming all the time - how am I supposed to remember that, you are confusing me then screaming his hands were cold (that's because you lost your gloves yest - he said teacher had thrown them in the bin?????)
rather glad to deposit everyone in school
found present for dd to give to a friend which she took with her and spent most of breakfast wrapping and then had breakfast at 8.40

emailed friend who has got my address wrong, which turned into long post-festive letter...

updated to-do list, which is too long to write here

MORE COFFEE!!!!

Obviously my life is sooooo exciting I needed to tell you all twice!! Sorry

Moves panicing up to top of list.

Its snowing [panic]

Not Good!!!!

short to do list
breakfast routines, table, s & s, laundry load

then put away laundry
tidy playroom
change sheets

book MOT!!!!
bin bags! I forgot them again..

OM light and fluffy! yes! dons feather boa!

PA - not surprised you are exhausted, you have been through a hell of a lot recently and have jumped back in with both feet this week. It will take a while for the Va Va Voom to re-emerge but I don't doubt that it will :)

OM - really like the 'phut' emoticon idea

Lair - :o at two words, hope things are OK inspite of snow

Toffee - glad meeting was positive and everyone seems to be working with DS's best interests at heart. Sorry you were brought down a bit later but you are right, self-esteem is a complicated minefield. A happy, stable home life is VERY important but, as you say, there are so many other things too. I really hope you are able to navigate through them all to make things a bit easier for DS.

Didn't get back on last night as had raging headache bordering on migraine so stumbled to bed as early as I could. Obviously worked as headache gone and I was wide awake and raring to go at 6am this morning However did have to drag the rest of the family out of bed an hour later!

Probably need a list today though friend and her daughter due in about 20mins for lunch/long chat so might not get much done :)

• Morning routine - just need to do cat litter and 2mins
• Work - done some
• Wrap present for DS - my Mum's Christmas parcel had been opened and DS's and my presents removed before it was stuck back together again and sent on Didn't realise until Christmas Day so had to do a quick re-order for his - a Knight's costume. He will be DELIGHTED and, I predict, wear it all w/e :o - done
• Get distracted by Family Tree send by elderly relative we met at family party over New Year - done lots :o Its fascinating and I've learnt so much already. It really has helped to fill in lots of gaps, and raise lots more questions that I need to get answered as all that generation are in their 80's
• Get chilli out of freezer
• Packed teas for DC (only way to have time for them to eat on a Friday!)
• DD to dancing for 5pm hence packed tea eaten in car

Better get on.

Afternoon all! Progress report here...

Shopping centre done (also managed to get eyebrows threaded!)
Morning routine done
Strip beds done
Make our bed done
Get DD didn't need to as she walked home
washing nope
drying nope
ironing nope
Room rescues done

Glad your migraine has gone Feetheart! You sound like you have a busy afternoon ahead!

See you all later...

Great words of wisdom there optimisticmumma

I've mopped all downstairs, sitting room looks quite presentable at the moment!

To do
More decluttering
Laundry
Tidy up playroom
Go to shop when DD wakes up!

done
mornng routine
talked to a whole series of friends who have clearly made NY resolutions to be ladies that lunch!

taken dd to hospital for dental pre-assessment, op booked for 1st Feb

bought bin bags, and some fruit and veg -
that's it, and I nearly fell asleep on the Tube

now to pick up the sons

Swan glad you didn't fall asleep on the tube particularly if you were on the circle line!!

Done today:

School run for DS2
Errands - library, hair appointment (new highlights booked thanks to Xmas vouchers from Mum - whoohoo!), prescriptions for MIL, doctor's appointment booked for DS1, various shops
Lunch for MIL, DS and me
Swish and swipe in bathroom
To bed with raging headache - crashed out for an hour before...
School run

Thank you, PA, OM, Feet and Swan for your kind words about DS1. It really helps to know that some of you have been through similar situations and come out the other side. OM - sounds like you had a similarly tough time with your DS in Year 6. I will endeavour to keep home life 'light and fluffy'!

PA - glad yesterday went so well. I'm not surprised you aren't feeling any va-va-vooom (I could do with some of that too). Try to take it easy this weekend .

Pushme - great list, especially as you have casually included 5 hours paid work in there.

OM - deflating balloon emoticon sounds like a great idea!

Swan - at teacher throwing gloves in bin!

Lair - am impressed that you can still post on here in the midst of panicking.

Dolanette - great decluttering going on. I must do some of that.

Feet - hope your headache is better now (always find Paracetamol and Codeine does the trick).

News re MIL - she is going home next week! I have to say, I will be very happy to have my house back to myself again. MIL will come back when the date for her operation comes through, which might not be for weeks.

This means that my BF can stay overnight on Saturday - whoopee - and that we can drink, swear and be as loud as much as we like on my birthday on Sunday. DC will have to be packed off in a sound-proofed room with a children's film, I think .

Back in a minute with the weekend stuff.

Tomorrow's babystep is to start your control journal.

Saturday is 'Family Fun Day'. Saturday's reminders are here. Get your routines done fast so you can go and have some fun with your family.

There are no missions at the weekend.

Todo
laundry away
ironing
scrub burnt pans
fill newly bought bin liners!

..although I just want to collapse...
done
another lamb stew in oven (I burnt Wednesday's have put quince in it so that I remember it

dcs have done music practice
three more dates on calendar

done
recycling out
bin bag filled and out
made exotic veg supper for dh, and different supper for dcs
ironing willdowhilstlisteningtomusiclater
laundry away doing

evening all

om what is threading like? Ive been steadily eating since october with no let up and am right back to where i started april last year. Ho HUm this time will be different. I think the app is brill esp for tracking which i find nightmare.
toffee aw brill be good to get house to yourself for a while, well done on looking after her and seemingly taking it all in your stride too. Your brill. Oh and in case i dont get a chance happy swearypants birthday to you sunday
swan your list are very busy and im not surprised you almost fell asleep on the tube. long at not huge snail trails of dribble and lotsa snoring going on you wouldnt have disturbed too many people In awe of your posh dinners for husband
ogre hows your son doing this term have things settled down much yet. Hows work going?
lair please send snow here we have had nothing but terrential rain for days now. hope your projects goimg well.
feetheart ah packed teas maybe i should do this on swim days but dh hates them eating in the car. Its a thought.
pmpy well done on even attempting such a list. hope all ok with baby bump
pa lol at you agrueing with yourself in official letters to you
arabella hope first day at nursery went well
madwoman hope you all managed to get up this morning. i hate running late for things. (psssst im ignoring most babysteps at mo...)
linzer i think every night shout finish with eat flake well done on chrimbo decks, hope medieval village isnt taking over too much. we have a happyland village and a trio village

-today i have managed to do the failed work i did the other day along with the failed work from before christmas and have done all the bank recs too. phew
-managed to scream and shout and moan at children for all the hours that i have seen them today. DS ate a whole plate of chocolate fingers destined for visitors i have run out of sanctions so have gone back to stickers for every small good thing done to prevent me feeling that my dc are the children from hell.
-had playdate with friends and managed to get dc to tidy up with me after everyone left. house looking very presentable considering had 8 children here with mums earlier.

tonight i should
get travel insurance quotes
check out more ticket packages

but honestly i am going to try not to eat too much and go to be ridiculously early to watch tv in my bed as im shattered.

hope you all have a lovely evening.

Now at ILs so still not managing to get much done in the way of flying. DH has been helping his niece with her maths homework for about the past hour (something to do with probability and expectation, but I lost interest a good 55 minutes ago) so I have decided to turn to MN for company. Then again, I've just remembered that I have an English lesson to prepare for Wednesday (my first with DD2's class) so could make better use of my time by doing that.

One day I may have some flying to report.

Evening all,

Not done much today, had a hospital appointment this morning, also needed blood tests (nothing serious), so spent most of the morning in waiting rooms with a good book (quite relaxing actually). Then off to the shops to take a couple of things back and have a quick browse round the sales, quite chuffed as I found a skirt reduced from £25 to £5, bargain. Even more chuffed when I got home to find a letter from HMRC saying they owed me £600.

Nettie - thank you for asking about DS, he has seemed fine at school this week, no problems that I have heard about. He has been referred to the paed for assessment (think it quite likely he has dyspraxia). Toffee/OM/Swan/PA it has been interesting reading all your posts about your older DCs this week, I suspect my DS will encounter the same sorts of social difficulties as he progresses through school, it is great to know there are other people on here who can give support.

I haven't done much Flying today, but have been diligently hotspotting all week, so the house looks fairly reasonable.

I haven't kept up with the thread properly this week, but hope you are all OK and have a good weekend. Lair sounds as though you are about to spontaneously combust, please don't!

Nettie LOL at villages, Linzer hope you are being looked after
Toffee I think ds2 was exaggerating about his gloves

can't remember anything else (my mind is like the Circle Line)
ah yes, did some hoovering as dh was putting kids to bed (very well timed
shovelled lego to side of playroom
nice soup in fridge for dh tomorrow...

abandoning ship again zzzzzz
tomrrow is rather busy but mostly out whch is nice!

Well it was a great list, but I can't honestly say I've made great progress with it

Not entirely my fault as I was hampered by sudden snowfall which meant I received DH back unexpectedly at about midday and then had to leave to pick up DD earlier than planned.

Shower and get dressed done
Midwife done baby is breech, which I suspected, but not too important this time as I will be having an ELCS due to impressive birth injuries last time. Only 8 weeks to go
Dishwasher done
Wahing machine 2 only 1 done*
Put away washing done
Room rescue kitchen mostly done
Room rescue living room mostly done
Hoover not done!
Clutter clear hall not done!
Rationalise toy cupboard not done!
5 hrs paid work mostly done

I'm afraid I'm going to dip out of the personal messages again tonight as I really am very tired and need to go to bed so goodnight all 'see' you tomorrow

Evening

"Queen of the lists" has failed today

Not much done here today. DS spent last night at my mother's so I could go to a meeting, so I spent some time this morning having the house to myself for the first time since mid December - pottered around doing me things, rather than anything really constructive.

Done
Pottered round in an empty house, frittering away part of the day
Morning routine
s/s
Make bed
Sort handbag
Clean washing away
Find library books
Library
Write out list of new library books and file in CJ
Collect DS
Vacuum through house
Pet stuff
Cook tea
Play with DS
DS bedtime

To Do still
Rest of evening routine
Washing into machine for tonight
Wrap present for birthday party tomorrow
Hot spot

Not going to happen
Zone cleaning
Mending
Pgp paperwork
My paperwork

DH has decided that we're off to go looking for a dress for me tomorrow afternoon, after we've been to the birthday party. Not my idea of fun, but the "date" is getting closer, and apparently jeans will not do.

afternoon all! am monumentally hacked off as i ended up at work instead of having the day off. had a huge list to get done and have done nothing. definitely wallowing in the depths of despair. in my head i had organised my day to get loads done. bah humbug.

right - am about to get in the car and disappear for a couple of days, but have some organising to do if i don't write off the weekend as well:

pack bags
empty bedside cabinet and load into car
print off assignment and get 3 books to read in car
put washing in dryer

see you all on monday when i'm in a better mood (although that might be some time, as i'm working for the next two weeks again. famous last words me thinking i was going back onto week on week off....)

apols for grouching - now i've written down some things to do, i can stop sulking and get on.

Spent this evening watching 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' with DS1. It was lovely - we cuddled up on the sofa together and ate chocolate.

Nettie - thank you for the birthday wishes, however the birthday is Sunday week, not this Sunday. Have another week of being a good DIL for MIL before I can let my hair down. Well done at restoring your house to good order after 8 children and their mums - that's impressive.

Linzer - glad to hear you are having a night off Flying at last.

Ogre - I would love a G&T, thank you. Hope you get the assessment through for your son soon - I think not knowing what the issue is can often be worse than knowing. There seems to be some overlap between dyslexia and dyspraxia, so a lot of dyspraxic symptoms sound very like my son. The key is getting help early. It's a good sign that he's doing OK at school at the moment.

Swan - enjoy your day out tomorrow .

Pushme - am not surprised that you're tired after completing most of your list, including paid work. Not to mention carrying that baby. Btw, I had a breech baby too (my second). They turned him round before I went into labour, so I didn't need a CS. He was very tangled up in his cord, though . Sorry to hear you had a difficult labour last time. It must be a relief for you to know you don't have to go through it again.

Ihatecobwebs - glad to hear the Queen of Lists is having more of a cba day today (although that still looks like a pretty impressive list). Hope you find a nice dress tomorrow.

Madwoman - sorry to hear your day was messed up. Hope you have a lovely weekend away.

Off to bed now. Goodnight, fledglings.

Right have just finished project and it is ready for delivery tomo.

washing All needed done, some of other stuff
bake defrost and ice birthday cake done and eaten
pack for trip done and trip made
pick up birthday present
finish project Done
photocopy all bits of paperwork that need photocopying - got ignored in panic
post office trip - also got ingnored in the panic
be very naughty done

As for snow - it thankfully stopped snowing and went back to rain so the journey was a nasty mix of rain and fog but got here safely.

Right must go to bed as need to be up in 5 hours

Morning all!

Haven't been here for a couple of days because I have been stupidly busy but........ After first week back at work house is still presentable, washing is almost up to date and sink is shiny. Just have to keep it going!

No time to read through posts because I am up and out this morning with the mother to look at a new caravan as she is thinking of upgrading hers. Consequently there will be very little flying today.

Will check back later. Have a good day everyone!

Lair - I am getting worried about your lack of sleep! Hope you get some tonight.

Ellie - that's fantastic that you are keeping on top of house stuff in spite of being back at work.

Allowed DS2 on Cbeebies website this morning. As a result, I have:

Swished and swiped
Done load of washing
Put washing in dryer
Finished the ironing!
Put away ironed clothes
Unloaded dishwasher
Reloaded dishwasher
Remembered to make sure both boys had a good b/fast

Not dressed yet , so am going to do that now, then we are taking the boys out to the zoo for the rest of the day (so we actually are having a Family Fun Day as Flylady recommends). We haven't been out just the four of us for ages, so I'm really looking forward to it. DS1 seems happy and relaxed today and he and DS2 are playing well together, so that bodes well (ever the optimist).

Have a lovely day all.