If your nest is cluttered and getting you down, join February's Fledgling Flyers and turn it around

[pushmepullyou]

Welcome to the February Fledgling Flyers' thread. A very big thankyou to ToffeeChristmasCake (who will presumably return under her non-Christmas name ) for seeing us through the thick and thin of January decluttering.

All flyers and fledgings old and new are very welcome - we have a fairly relaxed attitude to flying 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.

If you are overwhelmed by the mess in your home, start with just one thing: shine your sink. It's amazing what you can achieve by just doing a bit at a time!

Pleased be warned that my month's leadership comes with a bit of a caveat as I am due to have DC2 at the beginning of March so there is a chance I may disappear mid month! Thankfully Toffee has very kindly offered to deputise in the event of the unexpected appearance of DS .

Apologies to Toffee (and by extension Ellie) for blatant intro plagarising and thankyou to Nettie for the thread title

See you all in February!

Pushme - hope you managed to sleep. I remember those Braxton Hicks contractions very well. Isn't nature daft, making it so impossible for you to sleep properly in the run up to the birth of your baby, so by the time the baby arrives you are shattered? That really doesn't make sense. I hope they ease off for you. Anyway, you were making me feel guilty with all your round ups - I never did that many!

Managed to catch up on sleep last night, but my stiff neck (ever since the CAMHS appointment - no points for working that one out) has now turned into complete neck immobility. Ibuprofen and Paracetamol have helped and I did manage to unload the d/w and shine my sink and load the w/m, but all very, very slowly and moving like a robot. Have asked the boys not to jump on me today, please, but I think I'll have to keep reminding them. Might have to book an appointment at the osteopath tomorrow (bye bye ££££).

Swan - hope you get on all right on your own with the kids today. When is DH back?

Linzer - good luck with the decluttering.

Wendy - Oooh! New car! How exciting!

Still - hope you and DH are much better today and that DD is not ill now.

Have friends coming over today, so need to get ready shortly, especially as everything is taking twice as long as it normally does. Even getting dressed is going to be a challenge!

Hope everyone has a relaxing Sunday. Forgive me not doing any more personals, but waves to everyone else.

Thanks everyone They slowed down a bit so I got a bit of sleep in between, but am still feeling a bit tired and queasy.

wendy 4 weeks!!! Really?? God I hope not! I am definitely hoping for either settling down or having the baby . New car is very exciting, what are you thinking of getting?

toffee I hope your neck is feeling better soon. I get a frozen neck/shoulder thing occassionally and find a hot towel or wheat bag with lavender sometimes helps loosen it.

Hi to Linzer, swan and everyone else

Glad you got some sleep, Push. Sorry you are feeling rough though. Thanks for the tips for the frozen neck - I don't have a wheat bag, but I'll try the hot towel.

Afternoon All

Pushme I hope they settle down and you get more sleep tonight

Toffee I second the hot towel I have reoccurring problems with one shoulder and this usually settles it for me.

Wendy Hope you find a car you like

Hello to others.

Had a nightmare night last night with DD screaming at 1.30am - She had somehow managed to poo whilst asleep and not noticed so a complete nightmare to clean up. However my gym session this morning was cancelled as instructor not very well so I got a well deserved lie-in whilst DH took DD to see tangled (He didn't take me up on my offer of a lie-in yesterday so wasn't happy)

Reading all your successes with the crisis cleaning yesterday I decided to follow suit (Cleaning my house is definately a crisis after being on placement for two weeks) and therefore have

1 x 15 min clean in kitchen
1 x 15 min paperwork mountain
1 x washed bedding that was showered down in night
1 x washed duvet
taken my dads present round for tomorrow and had a catch up
1 x 15 min clean out of medicine cabinet

To do still

wash uniform for tomorrow
15 min attacking clean clothes pile
hoover and mop kitchen
Uni work for tomorrow
15 min attack living room
pack swimming bag and school bag for dd for tomorrow
clean out of fridge
menu plan for week (using meals found last week and not done anything with since)
find library books for tomorrow

But first having a well deserved cup of tea

Done
exercise for kids
out and about depositing ds2 to friend's house
Valentine's crafts [dd and I] sticking lace and bits of felt on cardboard hearts
lunch for all
and an awful lot of telly
fish cakes in progress
have a big garbage bag and am chucking things in it now
rang DSis for interview homework half done dd's not sure when I'm going to fit in ds2's interview, he may have to interview me!

still
kitchen not good
hoovering
mopping
altar serving

I shouldn't have made that list now I feel stressed again

MC I think it's amazing that the poor creatures don't have more accidents, after all its so recent being in nappies Hope she likes Tangled!
Toffee frozen shoulders are so debilitating, you just feel trapped in the wrong neck. I think mine wore off after two weeks last time, but I didn't see anyone to right it, so I vote for seeing someone straightaway.

Hello!

We are all still rather "ick" and dd and I have been shuffling around all day in our pyjamas in between bouts of sleeping and sneezing. Dh is still ill but manfully carrying on and therefore not getting better! Odd virus - feel OK one minute then weak and "floaty" the next.

Pushme I hope you are OK!!!!! Sorry to hear about the BH, fatigue and queasiness. Hope you can get some rest. Can you stay off work tomorrow?

Don't worry for one more moment about this thread! I don't think I feel up to rounding-up tonight (want to stay off screens as my eyes hurt) but I'm certain no one will mind as it's the w/e - and I'm sure I'll be fine to do round up tomorrow. Your "bump" is far more important than Flying!!!

toffee ouch - frozen shoulders are painful - hope you can get it sorted -

Swan ooooh, I had a few of those plaster plates of food when I was little (they were made for dollshouses I think) I loved them!!! Would have desperately coveted plaster market stalls ...

Hope you get a better night's sleep tonight Making Changes

Waves to everyone else!!

Will be back to round-up tomorrow night and in the mean-time I'll post tomorrow's steps ....

*

Tomorrow's baby-step (no.14) for Monday 14th February is here

Fine to ignore imo and make heart-shaped chocolate muffins instead!!

Next week we are zone 3 here the bathroom + one extra room (oh no - I'll have to finish my master bedroom!!)

And if you take a look tomorrow morning:

** sneak peak for the week ahead will appear here!!

and
** missions will appear
here!!

Monday is home blessing/house overhaul day
More info here!

Have a good week everyone!

evening all

PMPY hope things have settled down for you

MC hope your lie in helped make up for terrible night!

toffee hope neck a bit better

wendy did you get new car?

swan sounds as if your battling on well...when is DH back?

well...in brief...have had V busy weekend
Yesterday was lovely. Picnic and walk and tree climbing inlocal country park...nice sunshine despite being soggy underfoot

had a rubbish night's sleep though...just things going round my head...
then DS2 decided to start the day at 5.45am (why does he sleep till after 7.30 every week day and wake by 6.30 at the latest at weekends??????)
so I have been quite tired and grumpy today....feel I am down to my very last little shreds of patience just now!

Also it seems that all my photos of the children for the last 18 months may be loast forever. My laptop died suddenly recently, and BIL ( who works fixing computers) thought he'd be able to recover my data from the hard drive...but he has messaged me to say it is not looking good. I have to say I am GUTTED. I have therefor spent the morning backing up the photos I took yesterday, and even went as far as picking some to order as a photobook. I feel very silly for not having them backed up...but mostly just truly devestated at all those lost moments I'll never get back Silly I know but it has actually really upset me.

Have fitted in bits of FLYING...mostly mess tidying and washing
have done a couple of useful things though...made white sauce for freezer for Nanny to use in making fish pie later in week (her cooking skills are on the basic side!)
and emailed Nanny PAYE company to notify of change in hours and salary.

and managed a fab 7.2 mile run...with only 2 30second walk breaks on the last 2 hills!

washing mostly up to date, and uniforms ready for tomorrow...lunches done...
now last bits of bedtime then chill for an hour then bed I think!!!

Am officially starting my "new" job this week too - it's mostly the same as my old job, some changes, and will actually mean I'm busier due to them not reecruiting enough staff in time, and of course I'm going from 3 days/week to 4...so that is all abit stressful, but trying not to dwell on it. On the positive side I've got half term off on A/L...so only 4 days of work to survive before a holiday!

right...BBtomorrow

Evening all,

Oh, OFM - feel for you re photos, the same happened to me just before Christmas, I was gutted, DH did manage to get them back in the end and I was mightily relieved. Have you got any saved in albums on FB, or wherever you get photobooks from? When I started thinking about it I had quite a few on our digital photo frame too. Hope you get them back

SC - hope you all recover quickly

Ellie - Sainsburys do a nice Peppa Pig birthday cake

MC - hope DD enjoyed Tangled, everyone I know who has seen it thought it was good (as did we).

PMPY - hope your contractions have settled down and are letting you get some rest

Toffee - sorry about your shoulder. I seem to have hurt both knees as well as my back so having to do my Flying very carefully at the moment. I find one of those lavender pillows that you heat in the microwave very comforting.

Waves at everyone else.

Nice weekend here, spent yesterday mooching around a local castle and on the beach, followed by pizza at Ask. Today, foul weather, but we had a good day planned, DH wanted to take DD ice skating and DS wanted to go swimming at the pool next to the ice rink, got there and the pool was closed, so we mooched round the next door bowling alley for an hour, didn't play as no lanes free and TBH didn't want to risk my back, but went on the ice hockey game, bumped into friends and had a drink in the cafe, so all worked out well. Not much Flying achieved though. Never mind, start again tomorrow.

Evening all. I'm sorry I haven't been flying at all this weekend. I've sort of hit rock bottom with tiredness - had to wake DP this morning to let me go back to bed because I just felt physically ill with it. Anyway, I got a couple of hours this morning so I feel a bit restored, which is good because there's an estate agent coming to look at the house tomorrow morning and I will have to be BUSY BUSY before he comes!

I have somehow managed to feed the family decent cooked meals and sort of keep up with the washing but not much more. I'm off to find the round-ups and see what I've missed.

Hope you are all well :)

OFM - I'm so sorry about your photos and I really hope your BIL works some magic to get them back. If not, DH says there are computer experts who can retrieve data from the hard disk. I'm afraid he can't recommend any, but he says it is possible. Maybe Google it? I would be gutted too if I lost any photos.

Good luck in your new job (starting tomorrow?).

Ogre - we don't have a microwave (not since I blew ours up by heating up a baked potato in it - am not sure what happened, but there was a bang and that was the end of the microwave, not to mention the baked potato). However, I did follow PMPY's advice about a hot towel - I didn't use a hot towel, but I did put a hot-water bottle on my neck. That, plus Ibuprofen and Paracetamol and a couple of glasses of wine has helped a lot. Scariest moment was when DS2 decided he could turn my neck (it won't turn to the right at all) and I had to explain that no, that really, really hurt Mummy and would he please stop NOOOOWWWW!

Still - sorry you are still icky. Hope tomorrow is better. Thanks for the steps.

Swan - two weeks with frozen neck! Argh! I will definitely be heading over the road to see osteopath. How did you survive two weeks like this? Btw, you have had a very busy day!

Makingchanges - poor you, with pooey sheets in the middle of the night. It's all part of the joy of parenthood! I'm very impressed by your list today.

Oops, DH has just informed me that dinner is nearly ready and DS2 is still in the bath. Had better get going.

I mentioned the tip about the hot towel for my neck this morning and DH said, "Mumsnet actually do know everything, don't they?"

I think maybe they do .

just saying i am still here and having fun reading all the posts :) i'm nowhere near any of your levels (not sure if i ever will be :) ) but still enjoying it. take care everyone

bookmarking!

OFM so sorry to hear about photos
pushme hope contractions not returned! I know, I was on my knees after 4 weeks of it, my nerves were shredded too!
toffee LOL at DH, we do know everything don't we!
Ogre your day sounds really lovely!

We bought a car, just a very practical Zafira now we have 3 children! A year old so I will have to watch where I am going (my car is very beaten up! I am a very nervous reverser! LOL. We are keeping mine and selling DH's as mine is cheaper to run and an absolute ruin! probably would have offered me about 10p for it LOL)

See you all tomorrow

Update before bed

wash uniform for tomorrow done
15 min attacking clean clothes pile Done although was an hour and instead cleared the whole room of clean piled high clothes - sorted then into DH, DD and My clothes and told DH to fold and put his own away. (I was narked at his lack of help - but necessary I think)
hoover and mop kitchen
Uni work for tomorrow Doing
15 min attack living room
pack swimming bag and school bag for dd for tomorrow done and delivered to FIL
clean out of fridge
menu plan for week (using meals found last week and not done anything with since)
find library books for tomorrow done

Doric - sorry, I missed your post earlier. Hope you are feeling less tired by tomorrow and that all goes well with estate agent.

Hi to Ballinderry and 120.

Wendy - at new car!

Makingchanges - you sound very organised. Well done at getting DH to put away his own laundry (I draw the line at doing my DH's too, unless I'm feeling very generous).

My neck is definitely a bit better tonight. I don't know what helped it, but the hot-water bottle certainly felt soothing.

Shined my sink this morning, but it's piled up with stuff again now. Sod it, I'm going to break the Flylady rule and leave it till morning (rebel emoticon). Am going to have to do my home clean-up in bits tomorrow, instead of in one hour, as I'm working with DS1 in the morning and have a friend coming over for lunch. Maybe I could delegate it all to Flyboy as part of his Life Skills education ?

Off to bed shortly as part of my 'bed at decent hour' resolution. Goodnight all.

Evening everyone

Flying by to post tomorrow's links, but I see SC has very kindly stepped in and done them for me .

toffee glad your neck is feeling a little better. Alcohol is a scientifically proven muscle relaxant so have some more

OFM How awful about your photos. If you BIL can't manage to get them off I wold definitely recommend going to an IT specialist to see if they can do anything. I lost my entire MSC thesis in a similar disaster when I was 16 hours from the deadline and managed to get a very nice man to come out in the middle of the night on a Sunday to retrieve it for me!

ogre sounds like a lovely weekend was a lovely day yesterday and I am of the beach!

doric you have my sympathy - I know exactly how that level of tiredness feels. Hope you are managing an early night tonight.

wendy not surprise you were exhausted after 4 weeks of it! I didn't have anything like this with DD, just woke up at 2am with mild period pains, which got progressively worse over the next few hours until I was clearly in labour. All this stop start nonsense is very unnerving!

Hi to makingchanges, swan, balinderry and everybody. Contractions calmed down at about lunchtime and I've only had the odd one since so I think I'm going to take advantage of the peace and quiet and go to bed . See you all tomorrow!

PMPY exciting stuff, hope you get a good night's rest!

I am feeling much better (and have cracked open the wine not my smartest move but bed soon, once DP gets in, promise!), thank you.

Flying returns tomorrow, i hope, even if i don't get time to post!

PMPY - I will remember that about alcohol being a good muscle relaxant, thank you. Sadly, have run out of for tonight. Hope you sleep well tonight.

Doric - enjoy the and hope you manage some productive Flying tomorrow!

Goodnight.

Morning all,

Just a quick post before I make a start on my list; will be back later to catch up properly. Woke up with that Monday morning feeling (or worse, that Monday-morning-after-a-holiday feeling) and had to remind myself that I'd been looking forward to the chance to get on with things all last week. Am now enjoying the peace and quiet with everyone out of the house.

Today's list:

Morning routine
Change sheets
Empty bins (though have the feeling that DH did so yesterday)
Phone national insurance place (who have suddenly decided that I need to be paying eight times as much in the way of pension contributions and national insurance as I did last year - about the same as I actually earn!)
Plan English lesson
15 min decluttering in office (needs it more than bathroom)
Mission - bathroom
Mission - office
Afternoon routine
DDs to piano lesson
DD1: thank you letters x2
DD2: letters x2
DD1: homework for dyslexia lesson
Update calendar
Find folder etc. for DD1's IT course
Find knee-length white T-shirt for DS's Fasching (carnival) party at kindergarten
Evening routine

Well done on your cracking start Linzer and good luck with your list today!

Oh dear, we have had a bit of a rocky beginning to the morning to put it mildly. DD and DH and I all exchanged Valentine's cards this morning and generally had a lovely breakfast but then I discovered that dh had done something (won't go in to details - he was trying to interfere help when I was ill - but that "something" frankly hasn't helped at all, rather the reverse) and I was spittingly furious. Should have bit my lip on today of all days but I didn't and now we've had a horrible row and he has stormed off to work ...

Take it steady today Pushme

OFM oh that is awful about the photos. I hope someone, somewhere, is able to retrieve them. HAve you tried posting for advice on the techie bit on Mumsnet? You never know, someone out there might have an answer.

Toffee glad your neck is feeling better. Like you, I am starting the day with a very unshiny sink.

Doric glad you are feeling better! That level of tiredness is horrible.

Hello to 120 Are you joining us? You are very welcome if so.

Ballinderry glad it is working for you (and don't worry about the different levels of Flying evident on here - we all go through peaks and troughs!!)

Ogre your weekend sounds lovely.

Congrats on your impressive crisis clean yesterday MakingChanges

Enjoy your new car Wendy!!

DD off school with the flu so I don't know how much of this I am going to get done but at least I have some energy back so here goes:

morning
s&s
tidy and clean kitchen
tidy and clean sitting room
tidy and clean cloakroom and hoover hall
continue laundry
clean out gps
parcel up clothes to return to shop

afternoon
Valentines crafts with dd
bake some of Nigella's love buns for office!
recycling
home office admin
online order
afternoon/evening routine

Oops, pressed 'post message' a bit too soon. Meant to say:

HAve a productive week everyone!!

Waves to all!

oh yes,

must also add to list:

change all beds

(thanks for reminder Linzer normally do it on Sats but didn't get it done because of this lurgy)

Morning all beautiful fledglings...i love my job....a week off to spend time with the dc's and get the hosue back in order! It also means i might actually be able to keep up with you lot for once!

sc sorry you and dh had a row this morning. It must be something in the air. DH was a twunt yesterday morning and we didn't speak (in a very mature, adult way )all day yesterday because I refused to converse until he admitted he'd been a twunt and apologised. That eventually happened this morning before he went to work!

I went back to bed after DH went to work at 7 and actully got a lie in until 8.30 . Have finally banished a headache I had all weekend and feeling ready to face the world!

List posting today so I can get things done:-

General tidy all house
Washing x lots
drying x lots
putting away x lots
Banking done
Washing up
Tesco to pick up present for DD
Shopping for DD's birthday party
Buy books for DD
Sainsbury's for Peppa Pig cake (thanks for the tip ogre
Kick Dc's into garden to play as it is a lovely day here
Possibly park this afternoon if morning is productive
Wash covers on suite
Town for Peppa Pig paraphernalia for party

Doubt I will get all that done today tbh but whatever I don't get done will be done tomorrow!

Have a good day everyone and will check back in later!

Time for a break and list update here, although I feel like I should be able to cross off more items than I actually can (posting all the details of my morning routine would make it look better, but my list is long enough as it is!).

SC Glad you've got your energy back, but sorry to hear you've had what have been a very upsetting start to the day. Hope your DD is feeling better soon too.

ellie Enjoy your week off!

Toffee Glad to hear your neck is better.

wendy Hope you're enjoying your new car and aren't feeling too nervous about driving it. I was exactly the same when we replaced my old car, which was falling apart and only good for the scrap heap, with a year-old new and bigger one last year. And I'd probably still be plucking up the courage to drive, or rather park, it if we hadn't had parking sensors retrofitted.

OFM How upsetting about your photos; I hope you do manage to retrieve them somehow.

Updated list (which seems to be growing):

Morning routine done
Change sheets in progress
Empty bins (though have the feeling that DH did so yesterday) had indeed already been done by DH
Phone national insurance place
Plan English lesson
15 min decluttering in office (needs it more than bathroom)
Mission - bathroom done
Mission - office done
Afternoon routine
DDs to piano lesson
Food shopping
Label DD2's pencils
DD1: thank you letters x2
DD2: letters x2
DD1: homework for dyslexia lesson
Update calendar
Find folder etc. for DD1's IT course
Find knee-length white T-shirt for DS's Fasching (carnival) party at kindergarten
Evening routine