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.

Linzer - your children must be having a wonderful time with all those friends to play with. You are a very kind and accommodating mum! But that dad is incredibly rude and thoughtless and, if I were you, I would be more than a little angry with him. Hope today goes well. Just checked for the Magic Key DVD for you and it's either out of stock everywhere or hideously overpriced. Cheapest I can find is on ebay here. The one at Amazon costs £25 ! I didn't realise I had such a rare DVD!

Nettie - sorry about your broken sleep last night. Hope you have an easy day today to make up for it.

WhoKnows - glad to hear you are making the most of your child-free time and managed dinner out with DH. Enjoy the decluttering.

Janey - I can't believe what you've achieved by 8.14am, whilst I was just about getting breakfast!

Have a possible arrangement to meet up with a new friend and her son today, but DS2 has made himself a bed on the sofa and says he's ill . No temperature though, so I'm wondering if his sneezing is down to hayfever (which I also have today). What can I give him if it is hayfever? Piriton will send him to sleep, won't it?

He has just said to me: "When is my measles jab, Mummy? Ooh, I'm so excited about it!" This is because I reminded him that he had Smarties last time. Am feeling a bit guilty that I have succeeded in 'tricking' him into looking forward to it so much (booster booked for tomorrow), although it didn't hurt him last time and may not hurt this time.

Felt knackered yesterday evening so, even though I'd already loaded up the dinner stuff in the d/w, I didn't wash up the rest of the stuff that accumulated during the evening (DS1 had several snacks, using a different bowl every time). So, I had that heart-sinking feeling of coming down to a messy kitchen this morning.

Today's 'wish list' of things to do:

Dress
B/fast
S&S
D/W - unload
D/W - reload
W/M
Make beds
T/D
Empty bin
Text friend about today
Ring woman at CAMHS again
Email work
Kitchen hotspot
Tidy up dining-room
Tidy up sitting-room
Tidy up DS1's bedroom
Tidy up DS2's bedroom
Monday mission: 15 mins decluttering in bedroom
Today's mission done on Saturday!
Meet up with friend?
4 - 5 Plumber here (I hope)
4.30 Prepare today's dinner
5.30 Dinner
Clear up. Load d/w
Monopoly?
Bedtime routines for boys
Before-bed routine - lay out clothes, etc
Bed at decent hour

Hmm. Not sure if I will achieve even half of that....

Scatty we are going to Clumber Park. It's only an hour away (well, perhaps an hour and a half with a large caravan!) but we wanted to try a couple of days away with it as a trial run to see how it all worked out. We intend to go away for a fortnight in the summer holidays so we want to see what it's like first.

Toffeefudgecake that is an ambitious list! Good luck with it

Yes, it is, Janey, and I'm not getting very far with it.

So far this morning has been taken up with trying to negotiate a meeting between DS1 and the friend who upset him so much at school and was the catalyst for DS leaving. The boy keeps ringing up because he still wants to be friends and says they were only playing, not being mean. DS is completely inflexible about it and refuses to see him. However, this time I tricked DS into taking the call and this gave the boy a chance to apologise to DS. Am thinking of arranging a visit from the boy and his mum so that they can meet face to face - but is this a betrayal of my own son? Maybe he'll lose trust in me if I do this. Oh dear, it's a dilemma.

DS2 is wailing from the sofa that he's ill, but at least he only wants to watch 'Charlie and Lola' over and over again, so I can get on with stuff in the house. It is a cold, not hayfever, but we are still meeting up with friends this afternoon (the other child has a cold too, so it doesn't matter).

Toffee tbh i would probably say that ds1 is old enough to make his own mind up about friends. Having given the boy a chance to appologise it is up to him if he choses to accept it. I would probably leave it. And bollocks to only playing. the kids who tormented a girl in my school to the point she left claimed they were only playing. They knew they werent. He is probably feeling guilty if he went alone with the other kids. sorry his problem not yours.

linzer you really are supermum arent you. grr at inconsiderate dad. Hopefully being so many will mean that they are all occupied. I am regretting the only child thing here. Ds is definetly hard work because of it.

Right i have slept through the morning and have a horrid cough but am feeling so much more human and am going to attempt to cull the clutter, new species and dust bunnies in my room today.

CBH - wise advice, thank you. And DH has just emailed me, telling me not to interfere. Interesting what you say about it being bollocks about them only playing. DS is adamant that they knew what they were doing and refuses to accept that explanation.

Good luck with clutter and dust bunnies.

List so far....

Dress done, but not DS2 - must throw clothes on him now before visitors!
B/fast done
S&S done - and clean towel
D/W - unload done
D/W - reload done
W/M
Make beds done
T/D
Empty bin done
Text friend about today done - due in 15 mins
Ring woman at CAMHS again
Email work
Kitchen hotspot done
Tidy up dining-room done
Tidy up sitting-room done
Tidy up DS1's bedroom
Tidy up DS2's bedroom
Monday mission: 15 mins decluttering in bedroom
Today's mission done on Saturday!
Meet up with friend? about to do
4 - 5 Plumber here (I hope)
4.30 Prepare today's dinner
5.30 Dinner
Clear up. Load d/w
Monopoly?
Bedtime routines for boys
Before-bed routine - lay out clothes, etc
Bed at decent hour

Right, am going to throw clothes on DS, throw dirty clothes in w/m and await knock at door. Back later.

Phew, they are going to come at 2 instead because the little one is sleeping. Just had a text (unlike that rude dad, Linzer). Can now finish tidying bedrooms so that they are respectable for visitor and plumber. Does everyone tidy up for plumbers? I'm sure he's seen it all before, but even so...

I don't think we've ever had a plumber here Toffee - I would have a brief(ish) tidy-up if we had workmen in, but would probably do my usual trick of stuffing everything into drawers and cupboards. Hope you have a lovely time with your friends this afternoon (I put much more effort into tidying up when we have friends over - although quite a lot of drawer and cupboard stuffing goes on then too).
Thanks for searching for the DVD for me; it's not cheap, is it? (And has already had a lot of bids on eBay.) You could probably make a tidy profit once you've finished with yours.

CHB (Oops, almost typed CBA - which would be quite an appropriate nickname for me some days ) I'm very far from being supermum, and spent most of the morning sitting outside in the garden reading (the DC were all in the garden too, I hasten to add) and making sure the noise was kept below a level at which the neighbours were likely to complain (they've never done so, but there's always a first time).

scatty The children are only 2, 3 and 5 so I'm not sure exactly how much they realise about what's going on, although the oldest has certainly been affected by the problems between his parents/his father's alcoholism. He was with his mother when she discovered her DH after a suicide attempt a year or two ago.

janey I'm not an extrovert by any stretch of the imagination and would probably be quite stressed if we had adult visitors every day, but the DC generally entertain themselves and don't seem to notice the state of the house (thank goodness!).

WhoKnows I never realised the ORT children's names are nicknames and always thought that Biff was a bit of a strange name for a girl (or for a boy, for that matter) - thanks for clearing that up!

Nettie Sorry to hear about your lack of sleep and the noisy birds. I also tend to take refuge on MN when there's too much screaming for me to cope with.

I actually ended up with seven children here this morning as DD2's friend's mum phoned to ask if her DD could come to us this morning and she would then have DD2 over this afternoon. DD1's friend has been collected now too, so it's just DD1, DS and the two little visitors now. DS and his friends are definitely the hardest work but at least they're all playing nicely at the moment. And while they're still all playing in the garden, I have a good excuse for continuing to sit outside not doing any housework.

Spoke (or rather, posted) too soon - the quarrelling has started and they've all decided to play indoors. Am wondering whether I can supervise them from the patio, as it's much warmer out here.

Quick update:
Laundry and putting away
More charity shop bags
Hopefully get rid of stereo via freecycle (2 people have failed to turn up now grr!) - Yay, it's gone! :)
Messy church and lunch in café :) Most successful
Downstairs hotspots
Afternoon's work - about to call it a day
Back up PC
Get DH to get cases out of loft

That leaves putting away laundry, hot spots and suit cases.

Will need to write a super-organised list for tomorrow as we need to leave by 10 on Thursday and I'm going to Zumba tomorrow evening. Eek!

Hope they've calmed down, Linzer.

Hi everyone. Sorry for the lack of personals, so much to catch up on. I'm still flying but not as enthusisatic as the first couple of days. I need to complete some missions tonight.

How do I write a list then go back and edit it?

Janey Clumber is about an hour away from me! It's lovely there. Hope you have a fab time and great weather

Toffee I haven't done M4Ms this week we are totally broke. Shamefully we have all been eating freezer food till payday. I still have my subscription though and will be back on board once I can afford a big shop

Hope everyone is doing ok?

And here is 'THE LIST'

-Clear hotspot (fireplace in living room)

• 5 min room rescue (DDs room)
• Clothes out for tomorrow
• Shine sink after dinner
• Clear hotspot (Kitchen side)
• Check calendar and add to 'to do'
• Get breakfast things out
• Reboot laundry
• 15 mins declutter bedroom
• Monday's mission
• Tuesday's mission (DH can do!)

evening everyone! Am back from school trip in one very tired piece. I counted 12 hours of sleep over 3 nights but did have an awful lot of fun. The kids were brilliant, even the ones who are a pita in school. One in particular who i thought was going to be real trouble was actually a complete delight, completed all his work and gave up fags to come on the trip. Teenagers can be the most entertaining and intelligent beings and i thoroughly enjoyed spending time with them in a more relaxed setting!

janey and caramel i too am about an hour away from Clumber. I love it. We always used to go there when i was a child, lots of happy memories. my kids love goinv there too!

No flying to report as have spent today recovering and spending some family time!

Big waves to everyone! Back in earnest tomorrow!

Hi all,

Been a good day today. Lovely weather. According to the car today it was about 20/21 degrees here in York. Though after the park it did say 29, but it is a black car and that was when it had been parked in the sun for about 4 hours. DS was hoping to see 30

Todays list:

1. start washing machine off with load that is in it - done
2. Hang clothes up/put them in the drier - done
3. Iron earlier load - done
4. meet friend and her DD for picnic in the park - done
5. Wipe down kitchen side - done
6. wipe down kids table - done
7. fill washing machine ready for Wed - done

Tomorrows list:

1. start washing machine off with load that is in it
2. Hang clothes up/put them in the drier
3. Iron earlier load
4. go into town to get a couple of bits
5. Wipe down kitchen side
6. wipe down kids table
7. fill washing machine ready for Wed
8. Go to mini pedicure appointment
9. See MIL with kids

Going to be another busy one tomorrow which is what I like.

Linzer yes forgot about kipper. Didnt think Biff was too wierd, dunno why when come to think of it Ive never heard of another Biff before. And a DVD??? OMG.

whoknows that sounds reasonable to me, to be nicknames. Makes sense really.

Janey/whoknows Good on you both for going running. I tried a bit last summer and actually quite enjoyed it. Im looking forward to starting again next year. Ive actually started picking out some proper running gear from sports direct already. Not going to start till the mornings get light again next year, but there's no harm in planning it now a bit.

toffee Hope DS2 gets better soon. Also hope your meet up with your new friend went well.

caramel I just copy and paste my list. I sometimes miss bits when editing though. HTH.

Linzer 7 Children hope they all behaved themselves.

ellie nice to see you had a good time away and the kids behaved themselves while away. Though hope you catch up on your missed sleep.

Hi to everyone else, hope you are all enjoying yourselves whether your flying high or have better other things to do.

Welcome back ellie. Glad it went well (good to hear some positive feedback of teens .

linzer poor little ones .

toffee poor DS, sounds tricky, how old is he?

Well today went very well. Ds + friend + DD all got on well together. We spent most of the aft in the park, dd bumped into some girls from school so she was happy .

Done:
laundry x2
scrubbed bathroom
cleaned 1 window .
restocked fruit bowl/fridge (where is all the food going?)
made scones with dd.

Good evening flyers

toffee well done on dealing with ds, I think you are doing the right thing. Its so difficult because you just naturally want to fix things for him. Its hard to realise that at some point it is up to them.
I have a builder who always turns up unannounced, I always end up running round like blue bottomed fly thingie. Hope it went ok.
scatty looked after other children successfully avoiding friction and even baked scones
myhouse completed her list with flying colours including a trip to the park
linzer was mum extraordinaire with 7 children, not all her own to look after. Hope you managed some more patio time.
blue finally got rid of her freecycle stuff and is going to start packing very soon.
chb welcome back and very well done you! Glad you had a fab weekend.
whoknows had some dc free time, shame not some work free time too.
janey is another one running and baking and will be caravanning too. I green with. Can we come and have some simnel cake whatever that is?
caramel is doing brill, stick with it. I copy and paste it. Not edit but update mainly.
ellie welcome back lovely to see you and that you survived albeit sleep deprived. I sometimes think it must be so cool to work with young people with all that energy enthusiasm and ideas. (other times I think crazy

Hope I havent missed anyone.

As for me today

Get up/dressed. think better wash too-done
walk the dc- did better than that took them both swimming to fun time at local pool on my own. Very proud of them and me, we managed without incident and without falling out too.
wm/td/dw-done x 3
finish tidying up living room following removal of dcs books.-nope
take huge box to charity shop-nope
dejunk my bookcases-nope
tackle at least one building hotspot in my bedroom.-nope
dinner?- hotdogs and chips. DC loved it.

I have also tidied entire house, played briefly with dc in garden, swept floors x 3, got haircut and saw dh fleetingly for about 10m in total all day. Aw well stuck in the office with him tomorrow so will see plenty of him then.

Still to iron ds ben10 outfit for tomorrow although I suspect it will be nice and he will be boiling in it. Am I the only one not to be putting dc in shorts and dresses yet?

Anyway waffle waffle, be back with linkies in a minutees.

sort, wash, dry, fold, put away

anti procrastination day and mission

have lovelyWednesdays everyone.

tis not as bad as it all seemed our grotty house

and instead of being on hols

Im home and de cluttering

Hi! I've been FLYing sort of but haven't had much time to pop in. I got behind last week and didn't finish the bathroom. :( But am going to try clean it this week. The master bedroom is looking good! I organized it for about half an hour this afternoon and it's looking tidier than it has in a very long time.

I got myself and DS up, fed, dressed and out the door by quarter to 8
Cleaned up the backyard when I got home
Tidied the master bedroom
Made beds
Washed 2 loads of laundry
Swish and swipe

Now I need to:

Tidy DS' room with him
Bake brownies
Throw something together for dinner
Go to my other job
Do 15 minute room rescue
Vaccuum upstairs
Set out clothes
Shine sink
Get to bed at a decent hour

Good thing it's only 3 here.... :)

Toffee - re DS1 and the other boy. There was a thread on here a few months ago by someone who had badly bullied another girl at school. SHe was very remorseful and had tracked down the victim years later to apologise, she wanted to talk it all through with the other victim and try and put it right. The victim accepted the apology but wanted nothing further to do with the poster. As I recall, the overwhelming opinion was that the victim was perfectly entitled to feel like that and that the bully must leave her alone, she had no right to drag it all up again just to make herself feel better. I guess DS1 feels the same way, and it is him that is in the right, not this other boy.

Ellie - glad you trip went well.

Anyway, what else?

Well, finished work on time for coffee with friends followed by a quick bit of shopping. I then intended to declutter DDs room, but didn't get very far with it. However I did manage a good declutter of my wardrobe including the high shelves and the boxes of stuff I keep on the bottom of it, resulting in 2 bags of clothes and 1 of shoes plus various other things to get chucked out. WAs then able to box up all my winter shoes and boots into the bottom of the wardrobe, thus relieving hall clutter. Also decluttered my bedside table drawers.

Still got to do kitchen (DCs have only just gone to bed). Night night all.

Thank you nettie. It hasnt sunk in yet.

Things to do tomorrow:
Strip beds
wash sheets
Get boys to CM
fill up car
buy mustard for my mum
phone calls
start packing
dusting
filing
tidy bedroom
prepare dinner

All in 15 min slots around Work!

Collect boys, tea, get them to bed super-punctually, out of the house for Zumba! Phew...

I'm glad the trip went well ellie - it always amazes me how differently kids behave in different contexts. And adults too, for that matter!

Toffee - I'm having the opposite problem with DS1 - I desperately want to fix it for him that his friend doesn't want to see him because of an incident about 6 mths ago :( It's agonising not to be able to sort it all out for them, isn't it?

Waves to everyone. Oh look - I've missed going to bed at a decent hour. Yawn.

Good morning (and evening to Cheerful). I am up at this crazy time because I had to lie down with DS2 to settle him tonight (he was all snuffly with his cold and couldn't settle). I remember feeling him fall into sleep and thinking "Ah ha! Now I can go..." Woke up several hours later .

The birds are tweeting outside .

What happened yesterday? Well, the bloody plumber cancelled again. I know he doesn't want to come, but I need my tap fixed! He said he'd come at 9am on Thursday morning .

Had a lovely time with new friend and our sons played really well together. We sat out in our decluttered garden. It was good not to have to apologise for all the junk for a change. DH has been planting since his decluttering, so we even have flowers!

Thanks everyone who gave advice on DS1 and his friend. I do wish I could just fix it, but you are all right and I should hold back. This is the difficult thing about your children getting older, I suppose: you can manage their lives for them when they're little, but that's less appropriate as they get older, frustrating though that may sometimes be.

WhoKnows - Thank you for describing that thread (which I missed). That seems to be exactly how my son feels. He used to feel that this boy really understood him. They have known each other since they were three, had regular sleepovers, been to each other's birthday events, etc. etc. That must have made the shock of his behaviour towards my son all the harder to bear. He just can't trust him anymore and wants nothing more to do with him.

Caramel - so sorry you are broke. Roll on pay day! Re: editing a list - I select the list (highlight it, then click on Ctrl and C or Edit and Copy from the dropdown menu), then repaste it (Ctrl and V or Edit and Paste).

Ellie - so glad the school trip went well and the teens were such a pleasure to be with.

Myhouse - glad you had a good day. at 29c in car!

Scatty - oh dear, it's just as awful from the other side too, isn't it? I'm sorry. How old is your DS?

BlueEyes - I keep planning to try out a local Zumba class, but never quite make it. Would you recommend it?

Nettie - swimming, flying and having a haircut - wow! Swimming is on my 'to do' list for the boys, but as it's the last thing I want to do (such a palaver!) I keep putting it off.

Alice - glad the decluttering is going well

CheerfulYank - out the door by 7.45? I'm impressed!

CHB - walking in the hills sounds lovely.

Linzer - did you pass out after your day of looking after seven children at home? I think I would!

Not sure how much flying I'll get done today. We are meeting a friend and her children at 9.30 and the boys are booked in for their measles boosters at 3.15. But, after today's tidying, the house is looking quite presentable.

Must catch a bit more sleep now or I'll suffer later.

So odd that the plumber cancelled again Toffee ! You'd think he would want to get paid...

Ok, so of my list I managed:

Tidy DS' room with him done
Bake brownies done (delicious, I might add :) )
Throw something together for dinner done
Go to my other job done
Do 15 minute room rescue done
Vaccuum upstairs done
Set out clothes No :( But DS is sleeping in his, so that's a bonus :o
Shine sink No.:( Still have some dishes to do
Get to bed at a decent hour. Well...it's 11:15. Going right now!

Tomorrow:

Follow Routines
Clean under couch and cushions...heaven knows what I'll find there!
Take out garbage and wipe bins
Clean rabbit cage

Good night, all!

Toffee - I'm up too and need to go back to bed. Hope we both get a bit more sleep.

Got home from trip to NI to see parents at 10.30pm last night so DC should sleep v late. Poor DH has early networking meetings today and tomorrow so I am expecting grumpiness

Had good time in NI, survived without too much stress (my stepfather can be hard work!) helped enormously by hiring a car so we could get out and do our own thing when we wanted to - this meant we spent lots of the time on various beaches :) Digging, splashing, walking, rock-pooling, collecting. We live SO far from the sea and my parents don't seem to appreciate just how happy my two are just pottering near water. Think sunny S. Beds and the local park might be a bit of a let-down today!

Did come home to list/diary from cat-sitting friend which included such entries as:
Thursday - dead mouse in kitchen - no head
Saturday - poo all over kitchen and broken cat flap (bastard boss cat again )
Sunday - live blackbird in kitchen, feathers everywhere but flew off after we chased it round the kitchen a bit
Monday - no mess or dead animals today

Think I owe her a HUGE cake as well as the nice mug we have bought her (and the holiday tat for her DC)
I'm just SO relieved we decided to confine cats to kitchen. Rest of house is remarkably tidy but stuffy - windows and doors open all day today.

Can hear DH stirring so am going to attempt to get back to sleep.
Will post list later.

Night night CheerfulYank :)