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!

Sorry to post his here, have done elsewhere in good housekeeping, just hoping some of you lovely ladies can give me some ideas here! Have no imagination what so ever!
My DD is almost 13 months, and i have quite a lot of clothes now that are too small for her. There is a lot that i will give away, but there are a few lovely little things that i wish to keep, like her first vest, first socks, first shoes, you see what i mean!
Don't just want to put them in a bag or a box and hide them away. Would like to 'do' something with them as a nice keepsake for me!
Anyone got any good ideas?
I am not artistic, or creative at all, so may be hard for me to do, but am sure could find someone to help me!
Looking forward to hearing your suggestions!

I'm not much help I'm afraid, MissJ - I am completely uncreative, but hope you get some good ideas from others. The only thing I've kept is the little red hat that DD1 wore in the hospital (all the babies were given hats knitted by volunteers), which is in her memory box, although she keeps getting it out to put on her dolls! I wish now that I'd kept more of the DC's baby clothes.

I really am going to try to have an earlier night tonight, so will do the round-up now and then will go to bed.

feetheart had an early start to the day and made the most of it.

PA had a rather long list for her day off , which included rather a lot of baking ? yum.

DWM had before tackling her long list and needed to remind herself to eat lunch.

swan was going to be practising the piano all morning and found her DH also taking a sudden interest (now if only the DDs had a glamorous young teacher...).

Lady is happy with her height (which seemed to be the main topic of conversation on the thread today) and was off for a walk.

PMPY was drowning in washing.

missjulie has had a sleepless night and is still having problems with her washing machine.

scatty came to the conclusion that height is relative.

Hope everyone else has had a good day. Night all.

Thanks linzer, coffee greatly appreciated!!

Evening all,

MissJ not many ideas here I'm afraid, I've got the DCs keepsakes in all sorts of boxes all over the house, clothes are in a plastic tub, I do like getting them out sometimes and just picking through them. I try not to save too many but there are some I can't quite throw away.

Too tired for many personals tonight, but wishing everyone a good night's sleep.

Thanks wkwttg. I can see me being like that!
Hope you have a good sleep! x

MissJ you could shadowbox them. I couldn't find a very good picture but there's a teeny one here on the wall. It doesn't look like it'd be too difficult :)

My kitchen is sparkling! I still need to clean out my fridge though. I also laminated my routines and hung them on the refrigerator so I can have the satisfaction of crossing them off every day! :)

Morning everyone,

Today?s babystep is to pick one of the missions and do it.

The missions are here. Today, our last mission in the kitchen is to wipe down the big appliances (fridge, oven, etc.)

Friday is Declutter Your Handbag and Car Day. And don?t forget to deal with your paperwork, mend your clothes and be romantic (see the list for Friday in Flylady?s Basic Weekly Plan).

Flying visit this morning. Mad morning here. I was just about to hop in the shower at 6 when I saw a neighbours cat had got into the rabbit run! Me, butt naked (really not a pretty sight!) running out into the garden scared the cat, he ran through the wire mesh leaving a hole for the rabbits. Thought I had mended it but then rabbits escaped - by this time i was dressed!! but the rabbits had panicked and wanted to get back into the run and couldnt!! I think they are all calm now, run is mended, but I need to nag DH harder for a new one so this doesnt happen again.

Yesterday list was nearly completed, apart from the bedroom hoovering.
Hairdressers today -yeah!!! First time since my tumour was removed, so a little nervous about my numb ear and side of face being touched. I jump a mile when anyone touches me there, or even just comes close, so I hope its not too stressful for me. Looking forward to hair not feeling like a birds nest though. Swishy hair here I come

Apologies for lack of personals, but to everyone.

Fingers crossed for you at the hairdressers PA I bet you'll look fabulous afterwards . LOL at the rabbit shenanigans.

Today:
work/school with DDs friend
lidl
laundry
DUST

Have a good day all (raining here).

DS1 is struggling through his last two SATs test as a I write (Science). We will both be so, so happy when they are all over.

PA - at you chasing after the cat 'butt naked'! If only the postman had turned up at that moment... Hope you enjoy the hairdresser's appointment and that it's relaxing, not stressful.

Scatty - at rain. (Sunny here - sorry!).

Linzer - I am dealing with paperwork this morning, whilst DS does his SATs. I have to keep quiet, so I can't do any housework (shame!). No romantic night for DH tonight, though - am going out for a drink with a friend and leaving him to babysit .

Cheerful - I love that shadowbox idea. I have kept one tiny pair of bootees for each child and that would be a lovely way to display them.

WhoKnows - my keepsakes are in boxes under the bed and have never been organised, but at least I know where they are. Hope you had a good night's sleep.

MissJ - hope you also had a good night's sleep last night - you had some catching up to do.

Have just about been keeping up with basic routines this week and keeping the downstairs tidy (having a teacher here every morning has been a good incentive), but am way behind with washing. I can't put the washing machine on in the morning because it's too noisy for DS's tests and I always forget in the afternoon. One load of washing was in the washing machine for three days before I remembered to turn it on .

Off to assess our finances now - always a depressing chore. I'm perfectly happy when I don't know how awful they are, then end up feeling worried and miserable when I do. Blissful ignorance is preferable.

Hope the hairdressers goes/went well PA; enjoy your swishy hair!

scatty It's been raining here too, but luckily I managed to get my run out of the way before it started.

Toffee Well done on tackling the finances; even if it's not easy, it's definitely a better approach than sticking your head in the sand.

Thanks to C25k and the weekly shop, I've managed to get very little done this morning and only have 10 minutes left before I have to pick up the DDs. Was it you who was asking about whether the school day is any longer in secondary school, Toffee? I asked a friend's DD (who's at secondary school) yesterday what time she's out of school; she said she finishes at 12.30 pm four days a week and 1.30 pm on the other day - so hardly an improvement as DD1 is out of school at 12.45 pm every day except Friday.

Yes, it was me, Linzer. That is really difficult for you, but I can see that it's better for the children. DS1 always came out of school too tired and stressed to do anything else. One of the things I love about him being at home is that we have time to do stuff together, which will not be the case once (if) he's back at school. But not so great for the parents, I can see that.

DS1 is now on his final SATs test!

I'm sure your DS will be very relieved when he has the last one out of the way, Toffee - hope it goes well!

Tbh I don't know how we'd fit in homework, piano practice and activities/meeting friends if the DC finished school much later - but yes, from a selfish point of view I would prefer it! DD2 is completely exhausted by the time she comes home from school anyway, but the school system here is quite intense - the children spend virtually the entire morning sitting at their desks, listening to the teacher and writing. A lot of DC (DD1 included) find it very difficult to make the adjustment from kindergarten (where they do nothing but play) to having to sit down and concentrate for 4-5 hours.

I may have had a longer school day when I was at school, but we seemed to have far more "downtime" (assemblies, break and lunch time, reading on our own for half an hour at the start of the day, etc.). DD1 has to be able to concentrate from 8 am to 12.45 pm with just one 20 minutes break (and a couple of 5 minutes breaks), and it's something that she has real problems with. In many ways I think the British system would be far better for her (and don't get me started on the huge importance attached to grades, which starts almost as soon as they start school).

Linzer and missJ dd had one of ds1's greying handknitted (handknitted by me I may add baby cardies on her Build-a-Bear. Despite it being put to good use I finally had enough and rescued it, and put it in a memory box with her First Communion and Christening stuff - distinctly manky but I don't think I'll ever knit another baby cardy - anyway missj I do a memory box, but try and keep it very limited, and not in the loft...

We've been at the hospital all morning not for anything serious, just followup on dd's teeth, which are in good shape! Orthodontic consultant foolishly said - no braces needed until she stops sucking her thumb - I could see dd's little ears perking up, and her beady brain digesting this info, right if I keep sucking my thumb, I won't have to have braces ever

Anyway now I need to take her back to school.

Linzer I suppose it is good training for life (work hard in morning, be more active in afternoon) I know that dh is excellent at getting things done first thing, and certainly spent most of his afternoons rushing around with a gang of friends when he was at school. I certainly don't remember having the same time available to "hang out" as it were when I was at school.

Final SATs test done! Hurray!

Linzer - Is DD1 your dyslexic daughter? In that case, concentrating for all those hours must be incredibly stressful and difficult for her. My son couldn't do it. They should make some concessions for her, but I'm not sure that the Austrian school system is very accommodating towards dyslexics, from what you've said.

I feel exhausted by this week, even though I wasn't the one administering or sitting the tests. It's just that the relentless nightly revision and worry has been tiring. DS has tried really hard. I must say, he worked a lot harder for the teacher than he ever does for me. He's off having an early lunch and playing on the computer now. Definitely no work for the rest of the day!

Just had a very nice chat with the hypnotherapist who saw DS the other day. She really liked him and 'got' his character straight away (it probably helps that she has a son of her own). I will definitely suggest her again to DS if he needs any help with his anxieties, but I think, at the moment, he just wants to be 'normal'. Interestingly, he has agreed to volunteer at the school for some art activities with me next week, where we will be working with his year and DS2's year. I don't think he would have agreed to that before.

Back to the finances now .

Hi Swan. Enjoy the SATs-free time that awaits you! at your DD working out how to avoid having a brace. I have just had a letter about DS1 seeing an orthodontist - apparently, there's a 14-month waiting list. So we have the joys of braces all to come .

Linzer dh is also apalled at the lack of grades in the English system. He is bewildered by the idea that if ds1 can't do something (say percentages or fractions, or writing coherently) he is still allowed to go into the next academic year, as in the German system when you failed to reach the grade in say Maths or English you were made to repeat the year. He thought it was tough love but it worked, as very few people did actually fail, with the fear of this hanging over them and their poor parents....

todo
drop something off at ds1's secondary school
buy groceries on way home
quick rescue of hall
quick rescue of kitchen
take compost out of the car
water French beans
piano practice - new piece
final bit of ironing
start reading book picked up at Hosp s/h bookstall

PA the rabbits and the postman won't know you Good luck with hair.

A good example of lack of communication caused by lack of grades is that ds2 suddenly announced to me that he couldn't go to school this morning because he was going to get 0/10 again for his spelling test. And this would mean a detention...Eh?
No-one had ever mentioned to me what his spelling test results were before....He's never come out of school wth a mark, and he has never even mentioned the tests...I don't think he really cares. But now, I find out that the teacher is fed up with his not knowing his spelling...Anyway we learnt them... so I suppose the threat of detention did the trick.

toffee Thank goodness they are over, indeed. I wish I knew right now what the results were though, so I could identify what his strengths and weakness are. I know ds1 strangely loves tests, so I wonder whether he has done better in the real test.

Hi all

Sorry to keep wafting through without posting personals ...hope you are all ok and I haven't missed any vital posts

Screen still juddery but not quite as 'slow'

Keep getting automatic pop-up mentioning screen "compatibility" problem ... I think this may have something to do with it ...

No time to investigate. 20 coming to post- first Holy Communion lunch on Sun. Trying to dash around like a loon but thanks to anaemia, a bit like wading through treacle. Really looking forward to it though!! Off now to borrow extra chairs and serving bowls ...

Back when madness over!

Tally-ho!

PS Hope your haircut went ok PA
Thanks for great round-ups Linzer - only way I can keep in touch atm!

Swan - it seems to me that the children will do as well as they are capable of in the tests because they get so much help to understand the questions from their teachers. The teachers can do almost anything, short of actually giving them the answers! The teacher was allowed to read answers to my DS1, which sometimes clarified things for him, and also to encourage him to go back and try again at questions he'd missed out. She made him work much harder than he would ever work for me. She told me that capable children were in the main hall at school, but more 'needy' children were allowed to sit the tests with just one teacher, so that they got personal, one-to-one attention to keep them on track. It's not like the 11+ anymore!

Still - welcome back. How infuriating that your screen is still juddery. Good luck with the big lunch!

YEY glad the SATs are over for your DS1 Toffee still have them to come for my DD (wk comm 23rd May)

PA with any luck none of your neighbours will know it was you having an early morning sprint once you come back with a new hairdo (you can say it was your twin sister)

swan my DD sucked her thumb from 3mths continously and it was only DH showing her some pictures (on Google) of extreme dentistry that made her realise that her sucking was damaging her teeth. It was drastic but it worked - she was 5 at the time and we, at her request, put on thumb plasters (works well in holidays) and within 2 wks the urge had stopped and she can't even imagine sucking now. When she found it too hard we said she could stop it and suck her thumb again but that made her not want to suck even more (luckily for us). I also bought her a present for every week she could stop sucking (we bought out the whole store of Disney dresses but it was worth it) So proud of her but the dentist has said that it won't be 100% certain she won't still need a brace as the damage was already done.

As i still hadn't done Weds cleaning yesterday, i have had to do it today so have so far:

Hoovered all downstairs Done
Washed all floors downstairs done
1 load of washing done and hung on line
2 hours of home office done
Put away dried and ironed clothes done
Cleaned kettle and toaster (wow so shiny now) done

Lots more to do, but the house is looking presentable now - have friends coming over tonight so it was the kick up the butt i needed

Was just going to catch up with the thread (have 40 minutes to myself while the DC are all at a friend's) but DH has, rather annoyingly, just phoned to say he'll be home in five minutes. I wish he could manage to be home early when the DC are actually here!

swan I think the Austrian system (emphasis on grades, having to repeat a year if you do badly) does work, but it also seems to put pupils under more pressure. I am in two minds about it, really - I think DD1 could well be happier in the British system, but would possibly achieve less.

Toffee Yes, DD1 is dyslexic but there's very little allowance made for it - although she is getting help at school now that she's in her third year.

Lady DD2 still (at 6.5) sucks her thumb; not a huge amount, but we should probably try to wean her off it soon.

DH back - must go!

Im sure

I should open a cafe the amount
I have been cooking the last few days ...

marble cake anyone ..

till later

Yes please, I would love some cake, Cinders .

Linzer - a friend of mine told me that she was cured of sucking her thumb by her mum putting 'paws' on at night (socks). I took the more drastic measure of tying my thumbs to the headboard - that worked too, but I wish I'd known about the 'paws' first. Can't have been very comfortable, though I don't remember. And at DH coming home just when you are settling down for a MN session. It's astonishing how often my DH walks in just as I sit down for the first time that day to browse. It always looks as if that's all I've been doing all day. Grrr....

Lady - sorry to hear you have SATs ahead of you still.

As a present for being a good boy at the dentist yesterday, I gave DS2 a toy rabbit in a toy hutch. He was so happy and looked after it so gently. DH and I kept looking at him fondly and saying what a sweet-natured boy he is. Today he had a friend back after school and they decided to play hunters. They have killed the rabbit with big sticks and cooked it over a 'bonfire' . I could hear them chanting "We want meat!" The other boy is a vegetarian .

Going out for a drink with a new friend tonight, leaving DH in charge. He says he'll get DS2 into bed by 7.30. . Good luck to him!