If your house is calling May Day, do not fear: May's Fledgling Flyers are here

[LinzerTorte]

Welcome to the May edition of the Fledgling Flyers' thread. Thank you to Nettie for her splendid leadership of last month's thread.

If you're living in CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome), this is the thread for you! We follow the tips on the FlyLady website in an attempt to restore order to our homes, but advise against signing up for the e-mails; all the information you need is on this thread.

Each day, I'll be posting the links that will enable you to do any of the following:

• start or repeat baby steps

• repeat babysteps and do 15 mins a day decluttering in the current zone

or

• reinforce babysteps and do daily missions if you have finished decluttering.

More information about the babysteps is here.

So please join us - there's always plenty of chat, tea, cake, encouragement and the occasional to help us on our way!

I too am dashing through with large coffee in hand. Busy day at work today although late start as cm has had the cheek to book today and monday off and mil has had the cheek to go on holiday at the same time and as she normally takes ds to school on these occasions i am having to go into work late so i can take him.

My list consists of things i need to do:-

Take ds to school and dd to preschool
Work
Pick ds up from school
Go to the bank
Pick dd up from my mums
Pack dc's bag for overnight stay with dsis
Take dc's to dsis's
Get ready
Take dsil out for bday meal.

We forgot dsil's bday at the weekend so we are taking her out for a meal to ight at a lovely country pub. She should be grateful we forgot because if we had remembered she would have got a card and a bottle of plonk but the guilt means we are spending much more on her .

See you tomorrow.

ellie that happens to me all the time!

Friday thank goodness (for a short week, this has felt very long )

Today:
school/work
dh to lidl
me school pick up
laundry
kitchen hotspot (found a cheque yest when looking for polling cards!)

BBL

Also in the process of consuming vast quantities of coffee...

List for this morning is:
Wipe kitchen surfaces - done
Put washing in - done
Do some work - currently putting that one off!
Do all the hall missions at once
Swish & swipe
Make beds

I've realised one of the household things I hate most is the 'what's for dinner?' bit in the evening. Especially if everyone starts asking me before I've thought about it. I could easily get around this by writing a meal plan, but I seem to be resisting it.

Cleaning out my handbags would be a good thing to do - they always seem to be full of receipts and little bits of paper. Oh and lipsticks that I never wear. My Mum asked me to get something out of her bag recently and I was most impressed to see that she only had a small make-up bag, purse, umbrella and keys in it. I'd never have had the courage to ask someone to look in mine .

I've just got back from Lidl, scatty - have now finished the first part of the weekly shop (part 2 to be done this afternoon when DD1 is at her dyslexia lesson). I couldn't resist buying yet more sports socks in preparation for C25k; I had 12 pairs at the last count. I think I'm turning into my dad; as soon as he spots something on offer, he buys enough to fill the attic.

Off to wash my hair now and then try out my new BBL; I shall report back! All this talk of coffee has made me want one, but I shall force myself to get at least part of my morning routine done first.

Hope you're not feeling too bad this morning, WhoKnows.

Janey I don't mind what's for dinner, just realising it can be as simple as saying "pasta with....er...something" and that's a weight off one's mind...

Feeling soo tired this morning, had to go to shop just buy filter coffee powder, couldn't face any other grocery shopping, returned with coffee and a pot of Turkish jam (no I won't eat that yet)

Ellie these parents do a lot of swanning off don't they mine seem to be spending their whole time on holiday

Now off to see niece, and look after her for an hour or two

Came back from communion meeting last night, to be told that dd had announced at 7.30pm that she needed to research RAINFORESTS for today...Soo frustrating - why did she not mention earlier? And I had books on topic, just dh didn't know where they were and I was out, so he had to trawl through Wiki with her...

Hope ds1 manages fallout today at school, and can apologise to his schoolmate, and not makes things even worse.

On a good note, it is the most beautiful day in London!

Morning!

School run done DD has school photo today
1st load of washing hung out done
2nd load in
Hours work in office done
Meet school mums for coffee
Pick up drycleaning
Go shopping with DH so he can buy me something pretty for my birthday tomorrow
Last few bulbs to put in garden (keep finding more planting to do arggh)
Clear out handbag (should do this weekly as always full of crap)
Do a burial with DD as her last stick insect has died
Take DD to Rainbows and pay for this term plus trip she is going on next month

Think that's it for today apart from mission obv. Hope you all have a lovely day

It's lovely and sunny here in Austria too, although a little on the windy side. I'd love to be in London, swan - only three months to go until our (brief) visit. I'd like to take the DC to London, but it would just be too stressful at the moment. A friend of mine here has taken her three individually, which I thought was a great idea - they're all in their teens, though.

Well, I was quite impressed with my BBL - it was definitely much easier than using a hairdryer and brush (esp. at the back) and the end result looks far better. The roots can go a bit flat when I blow-dry my hair myself, but the BBL has given them a lot more volume. I just hope the results last for longer than a day.

Janey The DC usually have friends here for dinner once or twice a week, in which case it's either (shop-bought) pizza or pasta (with whatever sauce I dig out from the freezer and which is inevitably refused by visiting DC). I usually get something out of the freezer once or twice a week (we always seem to have lots of leftovers, which I freeze), so I often only need to "plan" one meal a week. I keep meaning to put together a rotating two or three week menu plan, but have only found one meal so far that was a success with all three DC (meat lasagne).

Btw I'm now enjoying my morning coffee, having, umm... emptied the dishwasher and made the beds. Has anyone's post this morning not mentioned coffee? (I've had to stop myself writing coffee-related FB status updates as I was starting to look a tad obsessed.)

Linzer thank you, felt pretty rough first thing, but Ok now, grateful I don't have to drive the DCs to school though . I BBH'd my hair yesterday, and although it is a bit flatter today, it is still fine, I didn't have to do anything to it this morning, no combing, nothing and it looks nice. Whereas Day 2 after drying naturally tends to need a fair bit of attention. Hope yours lasts well too.

Hope the school photo goes well, Lady. We got DS's kindergarten photos back today; we were able to choose it online from a selection of five or six, but it was the best of a bad bunch. He's staring at some point above the camera, probably at someone trying to make him smile, but he must have refused to do so.

Thanks WhoKnows, that's good to know. Did you see my post about the book swap club btw? I'll PM the person in between us in a couple of days unless she posts on the thread.

Good morning, swishy-haired Flyladies. Am off to an irritating start this morning, as the Tesco order I tried to update last night has not gone through, thanks to their website crashing when I was trying to send it to them. As a result, today I will get lots of basics, like washing-up liquid, but nothing for our meals . What's really annoying is that I stayed up till the early hours trying to get the long order through (it covered every meal for the next seven days, plus packed lunches), so I lost sleep over it. What a waste of time. Wish I could afford to go back to Ocado.

A teacher from school has just phoned me to say that she will be here at 9.15am every day next week for DS1's SATs. This will be a good thing from a Flying / organisational point of view because I will need to get DS2 up to school early every day to get back by 9.15, and I will feel obliged to keep the house tidy, especially the kitchen, which she will be able to see from the dining room.

Main tasks today: basic routine; clear out the fridge for tiny (grrr) Tesco delivery; do SATs revision with DS1; and keep scabby, lively DS2 happy and occupied. Dealing with hotspots in the dining room is an excellent mission, as I feel I need to declutter it for next week (would be a bit embarrassed if teacher saw it as it is now).

On Wednesday my 15 minutes decluttering culminated in a car full of junk being taken to the tip and the guy at the tip who helped me unload beamed at me at the end and said 'You feel better !' And I really did. Still doing my 15 mins and babysteps where I see fit a bit of a routine, all going well. Not been posting as got very distracted by my new kindle....reading has taken over from lurking on mumsnet as my spare time activity.......
nettie are you in Blackpool. I'm not so far away hope you're enjoing the warm but wet weather !

Marking spot - do I want to do this flylady thing???

BBH, I meant of course - why do I keep calling it BBL?

DH repaired my bike this morning, but it has somehow stopped working again in the meantime - the DDs were most disappointed to be picked up in the car (I didn't have time to walk to school).

Swan here I am as promised. Hi, Flyladies..l. Just a little catch-up with Swan from another thread..... Swan When I said I would meet up I realized that I hadn?t been going to coffee with my friends or going to the gym or really getting involved with anything other than ?Flylady? on the web. So I?m going to give myself a break BUT the house has returned to a tip after the holidays and I still haven?t gone to the gym. I have gone for coffee and cake with friends and got very involved with the church, planning the street party. I made bunting, street signs cakes and worked really hard on the day. Anyway Swan I?ll be going off line in June as we are going ahead with the extension. So now I?m not really cleaning but packing as we will be out of the house until August. We can?t afford a laptop so I?ve got to go cold turkey from the internet. How are you keeping? I?ll catch up later as I must get back to the grindstone today as I have tumbleweed of dust and a Batch cooked Spag Bol that needs to be frozen. Thinking about it I do need to come back for short brust just to get my house back in order. I just get the right balance!

DH has taken DS2 off on the nursery run with him, so I ought to be doing dining room hotspots. Why am I here instead?

Grr to Tescos and crashing websites, toffee.

Yay to feeling better at the tip bobbinogs. In my mind going to the tip is "man's work", so I keep hoping DH will summon up the energy for it. Don't suppose he will though...

Big hug to you Star - I'm so glad you escaped from the net and did all those great things. I know what you mean about the addictive and destructive nature of lists...frying pans and fires come to mind...I've almost stopped making lists because of it, but I still like to chat, and remind myself that my foibles are almost normal, and if they're not, well I'm in the company of Camus

so, no list,
just going to deal with the garden
done
baby niece visit, and must remind myself not to give advice to poor SIL(tried very hard, but couldn't resist suggesting a new buggy, a small sofa, a desk, reheating leftover supper for lunch, in the absence of both MILs I think I have become one

Thanks for great round-up Linzer
Sadly I didn't make it back on here or do the ironing as DH and I ended up discussing the latest curve-ball from SiL This one will take a lot of research and thought on our part before we give her an answer so it was time well spent - we now have a list :o

Today has been spent washing and working.
After discussions on here last month about DC who weren't dry at night DS announced recently that he wants to do away with the 'night-time pants'. We have had a few dry nights but far more wet ones - 4 in a row so far this week, at least the weather has been good

Ellie - enjoy peace and quiet at MiL's. I am always offering to babysit for friends for the same reason - no guilt about sitting reading/watching TV :)

janey - menu-planning is a Godsend here and something I couldn't live without now. I always hated the 'Oh God its 4.30, what am I going to throw together for dinner' moments but it was our financial situation when DH became self-employed that got us started. It isn't too anal - often it just says 'pasta' - but does mean I can throw things on table on busy days/nights or take a bit more time and be a bit more creative (ie make something the DC will turn their noses up at!) on the quieter days

Toffee - at Tescos, that's SO frustrating.

Was it cinders who made cheesy biscuits yesterday? Recipe please :)

Small list today:

• Morning routine - to finish (has included 3 loads of washing instead of usual 1)
• Work - done lots, need to do more but at least I'm catching up
• Phone-calls
• Make packed tea
• Mop kitchen floor (if time)
• Hoover living room, hall and stairs (if time)
• Pick up 2 of friend's DC from their school (and remind another friend to pick up mine - different schools)
• DD to dancing with DS and extra 2 DC
• Go and see yet another friend to have natter, hand over cheque to her builder DH who did the rental bathroom and let all DC play - think there will be 6 by then
• Ironing

Hmmmm, need more hours in day :) Better get on.

Blue
"going to the tip is man's work" - [sobs quietly to herself] DH has never ever ever gone to the tip. That is why I have muscles from Brussels

toffee sorry about tesco's- I still have to brave Morrisons,as lots of people coming to lunch this Sunday, but I still haven't thought what the menu is (two veggies, and lots of little ones)

Hi swan Having an old fashioned Mn teabreak but without my 45mins addiction I have cleaned the bathroom and the 3 rooms upstairs Now have the w/M on but if I had been flying that machine would have been on the morning and drying for free now! Hey! I better log off I feel think I fallen off the wagon. swan Hope the kids & DH are well and your getting over to Kew for a green stress breaks Love & Kisses S

Swan - dealing with the garden sounds like a lovely task for this afternoon. Am laughing at you trying not to give advice to your SIL - I think you may need to try harder!

Blue - I should be doing dining-room hotspots too. And I'm also here .

Linzer - sorry about the bike again.

Bobbinogs - well done on decluttering all that stuff! It does feel good, I agree.

Candleshoe - don't be put off by all our chatting. I have found Flylady tremendously useful and have definitely seen a difference in my house. Why don't you just give the babysteps a go? We have already started on them this month, but have a look here. I don't agree with everything Flylady says (including her 'precious new member' nonsense), but her ideas are basically sound.

Have done my morning routines, sorted out the kitchen, tackled the kitchen hotspot and cleared out the fridge. Lunch is done. Now waiting for my pathetically small Tesco order. DH is delighted to hear that he will have a Tesco shop to do tomorrow .

What's does "precious new member" mean, Toffee? I don't like the sound of it, anyway! Grr at Tesco - although I must admit I'm slightly envious of you being able to shop at a proper Tesco (rather than one filled with Slovakian food), let alone having supermarkets that will deliver to your home (when their websites don't crash).

feetheart How old is your DS? DS (4.5) has had a few dry nights recently, but not often enough to do without the night-time nappies altogether. Still, at least the bedwetting-despite-having-a-nappy on has stopped now; the amount of washing I was doing was getting ridiculous.

DS is at a friend's before gymnastics and DD2 at a birthday party, so DD1 is moping around saying she doesn't have anyone to play with. I've suggested she goes over to the neighbours', but she doesn't want to as their GPs are there, so we're going to play UNO instead. The house is a mess but it's too nice (albeit still a little windy) to be indoors.

Managed to lose my book and thought I must have left it at the playground yesterday, so I started another one. The first one has just turned up in one of the bags of food shopping.

BBL (not BBH this time )