If you're house is cluttered and you're Mad as a Hare, join March Fledgling Flyers and get it all square

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

Following on from the February Fledgling Flyers thread, welcome to March. This is the thread that follows the Flylady website (loosely) for getting your home decluttered and your housework into routines, whilst dispensing tea and chat freely.

A big thank you to PushMePullYou for leading us through February ably assisted by ToffeeFudgeCake. We had a huge influx of new posters as well, which was lovely, anyone else who is lurking, please say hello, you will be 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!

Just dropping in to say hello, I've done a few things today but mostly been focussed on DS2's health - finally got an all-clear on his hearing today, phew, but a referal for his ongoing chest infection but I think is ok really (fingers crossed).

As usual there is too much washing to do but I don't think that is going to change for the next 18 years!

My top tip for the evening for anyone who has an ice-cream maker - chuck a tub of Total Greek Yoghurt in it and 50g honey, switch it on. Twas very tasty but not so good for my diet!

Will try to catch up with everyone's news tomorrow!

Have a good evening x

I forgot to say earlier, at this rate the thread will be full by the weekend, so tomorrow night after the links I will start a new one and we can switch over.

Need to go to bed but MM I'm now drooling over ice-cream idea - will try that very soon :o

Another one with a child who isn't dry at night yet. DS is 5.4 and although he potty-trained himself at about 2.6 (someone gave him a hand-me-down Chelsea top and some pants for a 6 yr old - he put both on and didn't wear, or need, a nappy again:)) he has never been dry at night. DryNights 4-7 seem to hold it now we have stopped him from weeing in them when he was awake but too lazy to get out of bed
I'm not stressing but DH mutters occasionally!

Various things done today but feeling slightly over-whelmed by list of (non-Flying) stuff that still needs to be done - mainly rental bathroom and School Assoc. Going swimming with friend tomorrow morning so should have time to think things through - I need to start running again to get more 'thinking' time.

Will attempt to write list now so don't get distracted in the morning:

• Morning routine including packed lunches
• Swimming
• Order stuff from B&Q
• Chase builder to confirm dates for next week
• Find local plumbers merchant and peruse taps
• Prepare for fight with friend who owns house over her inability to spend money
• Remember to drive to school (we always walk) and take swimming stuff
• Photocopy leaflets
• Set up refreshments for Parents Evening
• Feed DC from bakery
• DS to swimming for new class at later time
• Collapse in a heap

Bed now, sleep tight everyone :)

WhoKnows My mum had one of those mugs! Pride of place in our kitchen [bless] I think she knew it was kitsch though
Toffee I walk down our pleasant street and see through the windows that everyone with Reception children has cbeebies/cbbc on after school. Unless they are at Karate, piano or ballet It is quite normal.
I think you are doing brilliantly to get all these things done. I would stop worrying about home edding ds1 this week - after all it is a moveable feast, and enjoy the fact that you don't have to supervise his homework from school. I would just go for a short walk with him every day to blow cobwebs away, hide the laptop for a few hours from him and not worry about the Maths and English at all until you've got the paid work done. In the long run it will make no difference to his education to miss a few days of formal stuff.

Fun Deep down I think I like rushing around Anyway it makes the afternoons where there is nothing planned, seem like bliss!

done
tidied kids rooms thoroughly
hoovering more notdone
bathrooms cleaned
laundry attacked and put away (very badly and very fast)
uniform washed for tomorrow
delicious supper cooked x two sittings
helped at Beavers - starting to enjoy it a bit more
Piano scales
dd friend round to play - played with all birthday toys
ds2 new lego started
lots of telly watched too not me - kids!

Feetheart tell friend to source her own taps for you. No need to blush about bakery.

Yes, I find I can never think when driving - even alone, lovely as Radio 2 is, whereas when I walk or run or swim, I can think things through properly. At home I can't think at all, as I just see problems all around to solve...

Fell asleep with DS2 at 8.30 and have just woken up. Feeling achy and sick - uh oh.

Thanks, everyone, for your kind words.

Swan - that is such good advice. I think I feel panicky about home ed because school have said DS1 can still do his SATs (at home, if necessary) and now I feel I should be coaching him. He is so behind with his Maths. But I can't do it all and paid work should be my priority at the moment. Thanks, too, for your words about Reception children watching telly. I felt guilty about that because DS2 was alone in the room too, but later DH came in and sat with him, so I felt better then. Anyway, I fell asleep with him at bedtime, so he had me all to himself then.

The kitchen is a mess because I was going to tidy up after putting DS2 to bed, but obviously I didn't get back down till now. DH doesn't see the mess and if he does notice it, probably thinks I have all day tomorrow to do it .

Right, am going back to bed now. Fresh start in the morning!

Hello lovelies!
Sorry i've been awol! - again!
DD and I are completely choked with the cold, and feeling miserable! So, understandably, not getting much of anything done, let alone any flying!!!
Thought you would all like to know that DH shall be home tomorrow!!!!!! grin]! Hope everyone is ok.

xx

Up early, brain whirring, going to order B&Q stuff and Google plumbers merchants!

swan - would dearly LOVE to tell her lots of things (and do in my head :)) but I manage the letting of her house as she is x000 miles away in USA - moved back 3 yrs ago but hasn't 'let go' of the house. I do take a % of the rent so it is my job but at times like this I feel I need a lot more money to put up with her penny-pinching

Toffee - your DS doesn't have to take his SATS. From what I've heard secondary schools take little notice of the results and test all children again to sort them out once they have got to high school. Adds to my about the whole process. Sounds like time would be better spent building up DS's maths confidence/knowledge at a pace that suits everyone.
NB I may be talking out of my hat so best see what any high school teachers say - Ellie are you there?

missj - brilliant news. Hope he is coming back to look after you :)

Morning all,

That's wonderful news MissJ.

feetheart Hope you're feeling less overwhelmed by everything this morning; an early start and actually getting on with things often helps me.

Toffee Hope you're feeling OK this morning. You're right, you can't do it all - and will just end up stressed if you try (speaking from experience! albeit not of home ed). As swan suggested, I would concentrate on getting paid work out of the way first; you can then give DS1 your full attention (and an hour's worth of one-to-one attention must be worth hours and hours of school time).

The house is looking relatively tidy after last night's whizz around (even if everything has been stuffed into drawers and cupboards ), and I've emptied the dishwasher and made the beds, so am now going to concentrate on getting some paid work done this morning. It's not urgent at the moment but I'll end up in a last-minute panic if I continue working on it for only 10-15 minutes a day!

Good morning all

feetheart good luck with b&qing this morning
toffee ditto what swan said and feetheart definately about maths confidence. You are doing brill.
missjulie enjoy having dh home safe and sound
swan loved you last post, very wise chicken

Right onto my list

Get up dressed
Dc fed, watered dressed and teeth brushed
Dc nursery
Me work-reconciliation
Pick dc up nursery
Plonk them in front of cbeebies whilst I
Tidy/dw/wm/layout clothes
Gym (first time since beg of feb!)
Home to bed

See you all later. Have lovely mondays!

Good morning,
off to a good start with routines, however went to sleep at 1.30 (chatting with dh) so expect to lose it as day goes on

Upstairs is now tidy apart from my bedroom
downstairs worse than ever due to birthday toys and a new Lego traintrack

Linzer I'm going to take a leaf from your book and get straight to "work" on things that need doing like
todo before pickup
plan dtwins birthday party on Sun (12 guests) buy food etc
piano practice for lesson this afternoon
go to Homebase for ingredients for miniature gardens (which guests will be making after film trip)

minor details
also remember to buy mince for moussaka (have cold potatoes in fridge)
salt aubergines from veg box
15 more minutes in the garden tidying up
put away spare clean uniform!!!!!

morning everyone.

i see many of you are having trouble with bed wetting. my ds1 went through that for a while although he went from being dry to not being dry anymore. sometimes he slept walked into the hall and done it! but he did just grow out of it on his own without me really having to do anything. ds3 on the otherhand, i cant even get him dry through the day! i think i give him more leadway than the other 2 because he was a premie and has had a few set backs but hes due to start nursery in september and im getting nowhere with him. hes 3.7 now. would be great to have him dry through the day before ds4 arrives then tackle the nights over the summer.

any advice??

i plan to get a good wee bit of flying done today starting with that mission! im off today and the boys are at school/childminder all day so will give me a good run at the house.

will be back to note my progress later

Nettie enjoy gym and hope reconciliation works
Toffee I sympathise on the Maths. Ds is level 3 for SATs after 7 years of school I try and talk to him now as we walk along about fractions etc, as he has difficulty grasping the wider concepts. Their school does something called Mathletics (part of some global) which you do at home to earn points on computer. Tbh I've had absolutely no feedback about the SATs and their importance at all to Secondary School sets. Seeing teacher on Friday.

right, I must do piano or spend whole day in a state of nerves about it.

Just bookmarking so I don´t lose you all, need to add catching up onto my nighttime routine!

time to get ds and his friend already

have swiffered
dusted,,,a teeny bit

and prepared turkish pizzas

cheerio

crosses fingers said little friend
uses loo not the fecking bidet
this time

pide = turkish pizzas? to rhyme..

done
lots of quick tidying and 2 beds stripped!

It cheers me up coming onto this thread . Thank you, Feet, Nettie, Linzer and Swan for all your wise and kind words.

Feet - I think I need to talk to the secondary school to find out how important they think the SATs are for streaming. You are right - maybe he doesn't need to do them.

Linzer - more good advice! You are quite right and I will focus on paid work today. Good luck with your own work today.

Swan - you are in the same boat with your DS then. I sympathise with my DS as I always struggled with Maths - which means I'm probably not the best Maths teacher he could have. I have heard of Mathletics - I'll look it up. We also have a Maths CD-ROM which my DH received free - Braintastic, I think it's called.

Nettie - thanks for the confidence booster . Hope you get all your jobs done. (Psst - it's not Monday today! ).

MissJulie - that is fantastic news about your DH coming home today! I'm so pleased for you.

Snot - I used this for DS2, but don't tell anyone else on Mumsnet. It took longer than a week, but it did work.

Slept for hours last night and woke feeling rough, but not so bad now I'm up and about. Still a bit achey, but it's bearable. DS1 is looking up deep-sea creatures on the computer opposite me whilst I look at MN work. I hope he is not sneaking onto his favourite game of Roblox - wish I could see through his computer screen from the back. I've told him to make notes on his current interest (collosal squids). He has written two words in the last half an hour . I will definitely be focusing on paid work today, rather than his home ed. I don't think he'll mind, somehow.

Flying is bottom of my list of priorities at the moment. DH did all the washing up for me this morning and put a load of washing on, so I don't need to tackle the kitchen now. Everything else can wait.

See you all later.

Work is going well, so I may even have time to get some Flying done this morning - although have to pick up DD2 and friend in an hour.

Cinders Does your DS only have three hours today? How do you cope?! Four is bad enough.

snot I'm not the best person to ask about potty training as DD1 wasn't dry until a week before her 4th birthday - I tried absolutely everything, but to no avail. (DH finally got her out of nappies by telling her that only girls who wore pants could help decorate the Christmas tree!) She was physically more than ready, just very stubborn and didn't want to give up her nappies. I do know how you feel, though - I really didn't want to have two DC in nappies but did for 1.5 years!

swan I am very good at concentrating on the minor details (decluttering one of DH's paperwork drawers for example, despite visible clutter everywhere) and really should learn to prioritise.

Nettie CBeebies is a godsend, isn't it?

at the bidet story, Cyberwebcinders

So glad to hear you're feeling more positive Toffee - I agree that Flying should definitely be at the bottom of your list of priorities at the moment.

Now why doesn't this work?

just too quick off the mark with it linzer. techs arent that quick.

Well, they shouldn't have got my hopes up by adding it to the list of smileys before it was ready.

Just cheered myself up by ordering from White Stuff. 20% discount today if you add the code FLASH at the checkout!

The shamrock is all very well, but where did the daffodil go? I liked it [sulky ].

DS had a tantrum about having to write notes on collosal squids and stormed upstairs, but has come back contrite and with his sense of humour restored.

Linzer - we x-posted last time. Hope your work is going OK today too.