April Fledgling Flyers: April Fools we are not, babysteps and decluttering makes our thread hot, step right in and mark your spot.

[NettieSpaghetti]

Welcome, come away in you?ll have had your . This is the April Fledgling Flyers Thread.

Thanks to WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes who was champion at leading us through March.

We are trying to stick to the Flylady © Website and her baby steps and routines to help keep our houses out of C.H.A.O.S and ready for everyday, maybe the odd visitor or two.

Check her website out but don?t sign up for emails as they are likely to inspire but fill your inbox so full we might not see you till August.

The principles are:

Babysteps (one at a time)
Babysteps and 15 minutes daily decluttering
Babysteps and daily missions.

This month I will be posting the links and leading you down the road to building a routine and keeping your house under control.

It is amazing what you can achieve in a simple babystep,15 minutes a day and a little chat.

Tomorrow is grocery and errand day.

Babysteps for today lay out your clothes (woops too late in bed already)

mission is giant appliance cleaning

how about a wee bitta mealplanning

whoknows decluttering caught up with her but she still managed loadsa flying and work today.
nicwnacw did good flying but has still not explained to us, celts, yanks and english peeps what her nickname stands for.

right nite all.

To do tomorrow:
Washing and putting away
Hoover
Mop
Tidy desk
Hotspot on piano and maybe spare bed.

All the plumbing is now sorted. Looking lovely, works, and no more brick dust! I showed DH triumphantly clean dustpan and his reaction was a slightly scared, "you really are serious about this, aren't you?!"

Talking about DH's and partners lending a hand and doing a job for us: An old of friend of mine once told me a story about how she had put some washing up outside and it started raining. Straight away her DP rushed outside to get it in, he brought in his work shirts and left everything else on the line. He said he didnt see it

To be honest Id kind of decided I wouldnt have an amnio if I got a high risk, by the time I actually had my test last week I had felt the baby move, seen the scan pictures and heard the heartbeat. I really dont think I could have done anything but to keep the baby. I only had the triple test each time as my sister was born with downs and it kind of scared me into thinking I was more likely.

Thanks nettie for letting me off the ironing. Im getting there with the flying and trying hard. Im just exhausted

Anyway off to bed now. night all

Posting update from bed as first time stopped do apologies for no personals (on phone).

Passed my exam and got a pass from another essay. Tidied all paperwork, unibooks and decluttered magazines, tidied kitchen and paperwork. Also tidied all understairs, desk, lounge floor, 2 loads of washing and recycling.

At school all day tomorrow, parents evening at placement school and then yoga.

May be back tomorrow.

Well done on passing your exam, Makingchanges.

Nettie - thanks for the very entertaining roundup, which saves me trawling through the thread at this late hour.

Am just having a five-minute break from work, then starting again. Am working into the small hours tonight.

Update on second part of today's list:

Lunch done
Paid work done
School run done
Paid work done
Dinner (DH to do if not too grumpy) DH did it - not grumpy anymore
Bedtime routines done
Paid work done
Before-bed routine done
Paid work about to start doing again
Bed at indecent hour afraid so, yes

The good thing about working so late is that the house is quiet and nobody disturbs me, so at least I get more done than in the daytime.

See you all tomorrow.

Too much squabbling over who was taking which snacks into school/kindergarten means that I turned into a shouty and stressed mummy this morning and now have a headache. I am also feeling very guilty now. We just don't have time for arguments in the mornings (I ended up driving the DDs to school as we were late); me shouting at the DC doesn't really help, of course, but sometimes it feels like it's the only way I can get them to listen.

Toffee Hope you're making good progress on your work and aren't feeling too tired today. I really feel for you wrt the late nights, but sometimes it's the only way you can get things done - you just have to remember that there's an end in sight.

Makingchanges Congratulations on the exam!

myhouse Great news about the triple test results. When are you due?

This morning's list:

Morning routine
Mission
15 min decluttering
Confirm hotel booking
Polish mirrors
Purge magazines
Clean out fridge
Menu planning
Write shopping list
Check UK bank balance
Pay membership subs and PI insurance

Morning .

linzer I too have monings like that (not so many now thank goodness). Trouble is it can stay with you all day (while dc seem totally unaffected). I just walk around saying 'don't talk to me'!

Today
work/school
tel mum
start thank you cards
laundry
change dc beds
hoover
dust
water plant
wash kids .

No added extras today thank goodness!

Something went bang under the sofa...

my dust bunnies must be letting off fireworks

Hope they're not mating under there

Linzer my mornings are often like that. As Scatty says they forget about it straight away - it's only you that carries it around all day. Having four under-5s yesterday was incredible though - don't know how you managed that.

I have done my morning stuff - washing, swish & swipe, breakfast, packed lunches etc. Sitting down for a morning's work before I go to Zumba for my lunch break, and then back to work before the DDs come home at 4.30. Need to fit in 15 minutes in my 'focus zone' at some stage too. Then the inevitable piles of ironing and evening routine.

Have a good day, everyone.

Morning all,

OK, I need you lot to tell me if I am being unreasonable about something (don't dare post in AIBU). Normally on Thursday I work form 9.30 till 1. However every two months my work has a compulsory night out straight from work (this is my first one). Well, not compulsory as such, but if you say you can't make it they rearrange it for a different night! All expenses paid, drinking pretty well obligatory, although not to excess by the sound of it. Somebody has offered me a lift home. So instead of driving to work and back (which takes 15 mins) coming home at 1 and doing school run etc as usual, I am starting work later today, have to walk half an hour to the station with bags, laptop etc to catch a train to the next town, and walk another 20 mins to get to work, the DCs are going to after school club for DH to pick up and I am going straight out after work with my colleagues, which will also involve lots of walking because the restaurant is at the opposite end of town to work. I have no idea what to wear, I haven't got any shoes that I can manage all this walking in, it is too hot for boots, can't go to a restaurant in trainers. I know I am being unreasonable but, I really don't feel like all this palaver, would far rather just drive and not drink, I would probably only have one on a weekday night anyway. Aargh.

Anyway, better go and inspect my footwear options. Grumpy!

Good morning, another lovely sunny one here.

Dh got dc up, opened curtains and blinds, fed, dressed and dropped off at nursery. House looking quite presentable for a work morning. i did s/s, made bed and did hair.

My list today

Work-learn new computer package and how it interacts with sage. Training starts at 10.
pick up dc
bathe dc
bed dc
convince dh to move computers and table to new space in front room, followed but moving boxes up from ginormous hotpot in conservatory to what will eventually be amde into a cupboard to hold all the tat that used to live in the loft which is now dc bedrooms.
washing load
make cake for coffee tomorrow.
dw load
mission wiping of huge appliances
dinner-omelette
bed

makingchanges well done champion exam passes you.

sorry cant stop, be back later, have lovely dayz.

Toffee good luck with the deadline today

DH behaved beautifully last night and helped hysterical child to do her Time Machine project. She suddenly announced it wasn't finished, she had lost piece of paper with instructions, half the sections, and she was getting a detention if it wasn't handed in. GRRR. Why does her teacher set this project, insisting it is done in school (five weeks they've had this project! meant to be done in lull of play rehearsals) and is not homework, and then suddenly turn them into homework? Ds2 had done his in class
I left her screaming, (why does homework make me so stressed and upset?) and went to Beavers stayed there as long as possible to get away from my family, returned to find all calm and she had nearly finished it We had to do final chapter about meeting Pocahantas and escaping through a waterfall in a canoe though

However, not a scrap of washingup done, apart from plates.
And its still there this morning I'm afraid, the many saucepans that create moussaka...

done
this morning - paid, veg box bill
gas bill
sponsorship cheque
cheque to friend who did sponsored swim

now I am going to go to bed, (still feel a bit ropey) and read my book for an hour - which I never do for some reason - then tackle washing up. And try to be calmer this afternoon.

Myhouse lovely news I always think of babies in Spring as it's when mine were all born.

MC well doen on exam
Nettie I feel your pain when one starts havign to move contents of house round in circles in search of perfect arrangement
glad you had time to do your hair this morning. Mine has been a Croydon facelift for too long...
I found my makeup yesterday in various bags in our bedroom. Dd wears it more often than me, alas...

Whoknows easy one. Say you have given up drink? Or don't say anything, and just don't drink what's in your glass. Believe me, no one will notice if you have a full glass in front of you. Or get something like gin and tonic without gin, that looks alcoholic but isn't. Really, it is a game of bluff.
Or park car at work, and pick up next day if possible? (Do you have two cars?)
Knapsack for trainers, and very light ballet type shoes for restaurant?
I think shoes are very important, I walk everywhere, and I need comfortable shoes. I tend to buy smarter Clarks "bouncy" shoes and they get me a long way. I don't even have any trainers as such.

Lucky you, Nettie - I wish DH would get the DC up occasionally. To be fair, he does help DS get dressed sometimes and I don't think the DDs would want him to wake them up (he usually leaves for work when they're having breakfast), but getting all three of them up and out of the house by 7.30 am is a fairly stressful challenge most days!

YA def. NBU WhoKnows. You've already gone to the extra trouble of having to rearrange your day, and not being to drive sounds like quite a hassle. How many of you will be going and do you know for sure that everyone else will be drinking? I think it's U of them to expect you to drink (there could be plenty of reasons why you can't/don't want to) - it sounds like you'll just have to grit your teeth and accept the extra hassle this time, but maybe it will be easier next time to tell them that you can't drink as you have to drive?

janey and scatty It's good to hear I'm not alone and you're probably right that the DC will have forgotten all about it by the time they come home. I could see that DD2 was quite upset by how angry I got, though (whereas DD1, who was being the most awkward, didn't seem to be affected), so I really must work on ways of staying calmer in the mornings.

Cinders lol at dust bunnies letting off fireworks.

Updated list (not very impressive, but I'm sticking to the challenge):

Morning routine done
Mission
15 min decluttering
Confirm hotel booking done
Polish mirrors
Purge magazines
Clean out fridge
Menu planning
Write shopping list
Check UK bank balance done
Pay membership subs and PI insurance

I doubt I'll make major inroads on it in the remaining 25 minutes before DD2 is out of school, but will try to at least get the decluttering (and hopefully part of the mission) done.

swan I love my Clarks unstructured shoes - they can look quite smart (if I actually clean them) but I can walk for miles in them.

Thank you both, leaving car at work isn't really workable, I need it by 9.45 tomorrow to take DS to an appointment would mean getting up very early to do the round trip before school run time. Obviously if I was PG or teetotal I would not drink, but I haven't really got any excuse!

Swan - I coud take a change of shoes, in fact probably will do, but it is all just a bit of a nuisance. A cup of tea in front of Corrie is more appealing right now! Even Clarks flat type shoes cut into my feet, I put up with them for work (office job) but at home I only really wear boots and Birkenstock type sandals, mostly when I go out for the night there is not much walking involved (only 10 mins to my town centre) so I am not used to the smart and walking combination. Hmmm.

YANBU, YouKnows. DH always drives to word dos (which he hates) and refuses to drink because he's driving. It's completely unreasonable of your work colleagues to 'expect' you to drink, especially when it's causing you so much inconvenience. It's also unreasonable of your work to expect everyone to go to a do out of work time. That's your time, not theirs. I feel on your behalf.

Sorry for your stressful mornings, Linzer and Swan. It's a horrible way to start the day. DS2 was also very whiny this morning and ran away from me twice to hide under his bed. He was determined not to go to school and I was equally determined to get him there. Having hauled him out from under the bed, I ignored the subsequent wailing, plonked breakfast in front of him and put on a CD that he's enjoying at the moment. Fortunately, this did the trick and he cheered up, but I'm not always so lucky.

I have just discovered a great way to get DS2 up the hill to school at a pace faster than a snail (his usual speed): he listens to the phone tones on my mobile and does groovy dancing as he walks. He looks very funny.

Am feeling very, very tired this morning, thanks to going to bed at 2.30 this morning. Flying is out of the question today - I'm not even going to tackle the kitchen and I'm skipping laundry today (still have yesterday's pile to put away). Luckily, I have warm-up meals for all of us tonight, so don't have to spend time cooking. DS1 has discovered he enjoys Annabel Karmel's pasta bolognese, which is very useful (although pricey) and means I can keep it in stock for busy days.

Met a friend on the way back from school and we caught up over a cup of tea at home, but now I have to tackle work again. DS1 is still in his pyjamas and appears to have had popcorn for breakfast , but he is at least working.

Hope you all have a lovely day. It's wonderful that it's sunny again . Hope we get this weather over Easter.

OK, sorted. Jersey dress, leggings, flat boots, a long sleeved top to put under the dress for tonight when it's cold. Laptop stays at home so I'm not lugging it round everywhere (will have to use another PC at work today).

Sorry for being so self absorbed, back later! Sorry to hear about stressfull mornings / tired people.

if you were a set of car keys where would you hide? I need to find them and havent seen them since ds decided it was a good idea to chuck the stuff off the coffee table and use it to make a den. [panic] they must be found by 1pm this afternoon [panics madly]

I have half tidied the lounge and tackled a few hoter spots in my room looking for the keys but as yet found nothing. At this moment would settle for the unsuable broken bit of key as i can get into the car just not start the engine with the spare set.

[panics some more]

Oh no, not the best person to ask here, we (well, DH) lost a set with both our car keys on a couple of years ago, we have turned the house over and never found them, hope yours turn up. Toy boxes? Down the back of the hall table? Or coffee table? Coat pockets? Jeans pockets?

Oh no, CHB - I hope they turn up soon. I'm always losing my car keys. DD2 had put them in a bag once, and another time they turned up in the cutlery drawer (I must have put them in there in a moment of absent-mindedness).

Lost car keys usually tend to be in a pocket in this house, or in my cavernous handbag somewhere.

Another late night for me last night - in bed well after midnight for second night running - and I'm suffering today. I tend to wake up around 5.50am regardless of when I go to bed
Not expecting to achieve much but writing list so I can follow it blindly and not have to think!

• Ice cake I had rashly promised DC for their lunchbox - done at 7.30am! At least the rest is iced, sliced and in the freezer ready to use now
• Morning routine - done
• Swimming with friend - done
• Straighten hair
• Tidy hall
• Swap shoe cupboard in hall for one in kitchen - latter is being used to block cat-flap at night after hideous poo-ing episodes but all the regular shoes are in there so not working very well
• Hoover downstairs
• 15mins x many in DCs bedrooms

Need to sort hall out as have man coming at 1.30pm to measure up for plans for front extension :o If When it happens we will have a downstairs shower-room with a toilet and I will be in 7th heaven.

Better get a move on.
Might be back later if haven't fallen asleep on sofa

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!

I forgot to send ds with any lunch (lunch box forgotten and i was going to take it down later) School havent got permission to give him any food. No one has rung me about him not having lunch. Shit the poor kid will be starving. :( :(

My day just get worse. And by default so has ds' day

[sits on the naughty step in the naughty corner]

CHB - they wouldn't let him go hungry would they?

Just had a flurry of 'tradesman induced activity'

• Straighten hair - done
• Tidy hall - done
• Swap shoe cupboard in hall for one in kitchen - done

Self and hall now presentable :)

Can't hoover or hang out washing as bloke is imminent. Might have lunch.