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!

Morning all & thanks for the warm welcome back!

Have had a break while I sorted out my life a bit (nothing too dramatic just getting finances sorted etc - couldn't think straight while they were in a mess and I was getting worried when the post came or the phone rang). We're on the right track now so feeling MUCH better but the house is a tip. Did manage to keep up with a couple of things like getting a load of washing on most days and giving my sink a good soak in bleach from time to time although not much else.

I am going back to babysteps and trying not to burn out. I've been up since 4 - combination of cats, dawn chorus (lovely but loud), DH snoring and being too hot - and have 2 loads of washing on the line, another in the machine, DW has been on and I've had a doze on the settee.

Today's list will be short!
finish washing
30 mins ironing max
go to argos to collect Pokemon stuff for DS
PILs for lunch
get chicken out of freezer for tomorrow
bake a cake
re-load DW & put it on
shine sink

Back later with progress report. Have a good day everyone

Massive waves to all you lovely lot. I have missed you all and found myself thinking "oh the fat fairy thread must hear this one...." last month, so I am back.
Happy Anniversary Linzer and enjoy your romantic day!!

Tentative list from me today, just to get back into the swing of it all again,
DH working today and off tomorrow, so I plan to do some things that should really be for tomorrow, but to leave tomorrow as free as possible for a full on family day.

Washing, drying, sorting, shaking, folding, ironing ad infinitum throughout the day......
Sort out the kitchen mayhem.
Walk to church
Visit parents
My Monday job of doing the weekly shop - so trip to Waitrose and try not to get too distracted by DSs insistence that we try everything he fancies and spend twice as much money as I want to!

I am sure I will be doing loads more but that will do for now.

A bit slow going so far this morning. Cant be bothered to get myself into gear, so must shake myself awake and get to it!!

Have a lovely day everyone.

Good morning all. Sorry to have disappeared for a day or two: we had a Royal Wedding tellyfest on Friday, followed by a rare night out for DH and I in the evening (70s/80s school-fundraising disco - full of middle-aged men and women reliving their youth! A couple of teenagers stumbled in, took one horrified look at everyone and went straight out again!). A friend was staying yesterday and we were all a bit hung over tired, so spent most of the day sitting in the garden, chatting. DS2 woke up with chickenpox spots, but has remained fairly cheerful on the whole. I have been on spot-dabbing duties throughout the night, so am sleepy this morning. Might catch a bit more sleep shortly.

Nettie - thank you so much for your excellent leadership last month. I enjoyed reading your round ups and 'linkie mclinkies'.

Linzer - thank you for taking over and setting up the new thread. I like the thread title - it's certainly frequently 'May Day' in my house. Thanks too for your reassurance about DS and his imminent fillings (on the previous thread). Getting the disclosure tablets is a good idea (for me too, probably ) - I'll try that.

Lovely to see so many familiar names back again - welcome back PA, Droitwich and Still. Welcome to the newbies too and waves to the regulars.

My friend commented on how good my kitchen was looking - and the sink in particular (I had shined it and tidied up before the babysitter came round on Friday night), so Flylady must be working [csmile].

Very small list today:

Catch up on sleep
Calomine lotion spot-dabbing duties for DS2
Lunch
Kitchen tidy up
Washing up
Dinner
Bedtime routines
Before-bed routine
Bed at decent hour

Hope everyone has a lovely day.

PS - Happy Anniversary, Linzer!

[cgrin]

Marking place- will catch up with thread later. I've been having a rough time of things the past few days and have not been flying much, but I'm really hoping to wade back in.

I thought I hadn't done much till I checked my list
finish washing - done and hung out
30 mins ironing max - later
go to argos to collect Pokemon stuff for DS - done
PILs for lunch - going in a minute
get chicken out of freezer for tomorrow - done
bake a cake - in the oven (nearly done hence not left for PILs yet)
re-load DW & put it on - done but will need another load later thanks to baking
shine sink - last thing tonight

Happy anniversary Linzer! Enjoy your day

Thanks Ellie I finish my PGCE in June so planning on spending most of July and August there plus we spend quite a few weekends there too so I may have to invest in that - I' really grouchy without internet access.

Welcome back PA and droitwich

Managed to finish my essay off yesterday and clean out my washing machine. Ended up with 5 under 7s in the house for much of the day and was very stressed by the time DH came home as it made my uniwork very hard going. Dh cricketing again today so he has arranged for MIL to take DD for a few hours so jobs to do

• Shop for bread and something nice for my tea
• 2 washes
• job application
• 1 weeks lesson planning
• tidy bathroom
• 15 minutes in bedroom hotspot
• 15 minutes in understairs hotspot

DD has made her bed and tidied her room, got herself dressed and been a lovely girl this morning- all thanks to a new reward chart I bought on holiday and the promise of a cinema trip if she does well on it all week. It even has brushing teeth on it which she always avoids.

Must get some lunch and get on

Shined sink and despite kids compromising me slightly by 'playing concrete mixers' which involved them getting sandy water everywhere, I am pleased. Been looking at website and feeling inspired. I think this could work.

makingchanges I finish my PGCE in June too. Have just finished my dissertation and have a final 8 weeks of teaching left. It's gone so fast but my house is a tip with 3 dcs constantly messing it up.

I know how you feel about the house Twinsufficient and I only have one DD, (although she usually brings along a crowd of other children with her.)

I'm looking forward to the end of June when I can get the house under control - it feels like it hasn't had much done to it other than the bear minimum all year.

Eeeerh, Hello

Posting here as I see a name I recognise, Hello MakingChanges
I was an old FLYlady but I got distracted and lost my way (ooops) any one who wants to keep in touch can facebook me at Lesley Walsh

I do miss you all

xx

Hi Grouchy how are you? Please to hear from you. Swan is still here as well and Scatty. Won't you come back and join us?

Hello again. Our weekend plans were a bit disrupted by the bathroom shelf falling down with a resounding crash at 11.30 on Friday night! Cue lots of fishing broken calpol bottle out of the loo, midnight crisis cleaning and urgent decluttering so as not to overload the replacement!!

Haven't had time to catch up properly with the thread, but waves to familiar and new faces.

ILs are bringing DS1 back home again tomorrow so will probably not be much flying done then either. Hope to manage routines and get back into it on Tues.

Hullloooo

waving to all ....and warm welcome to newbies

A special hi to Ellie (must have passed you in the Eurotunnel going in different direction - haven't caught up with thread - how was Ypres?)

Hope you are having lovely day Linzer

Deffo going to try and follow "moving in May" regimen

Apologies but can't type anymore - this jerking text giving me headache ...!!

Oops - forgot to say - warm welcome back to all returnees too

Hi,

Im in.

I cant remember when I last posted in April's I think it was about Thurs, but maybe Wed or even before.

Ive not been doing too bad these last few days. I finally managed to get round to doing the back garden and now even plan to do the front on Tues (after the green bin has been emptied). I even did more than just mowing the lawn. I actually went and bought weedkiller and some proper gloves to pick up the thorns . Im very pleased with that.

Today I have stripped, washed and re-made my bed. Done a load of washing and got it dried. Done a load of ironing (from yesterdays washing) - Before anyone says I dont need to iron (I know flylady doesnt Iron) I have to cos in my eyes things are still creased. It doesnt take long if I do a load a day. Ive also wiped the kitchen sides and the kids tables. So everything is looking clean ATM.

Tomorrow's list:

1. kids bedding
2. ironing todays load
3. possibly meeting friend

Only a short one, will be longer once kids are at school.

Happy Anniversary Linzer hope M&S was as good as it should be for you.

to everyone else

Evening all,

Despite my initial misgivings, I?ve decided that there are worse places than M&S and Tesco to spend our wedding anniversary. This is partly because I managed to find quite a few clothes I liked in both shops and DH didn?t pull his usual face when he saw everything that I wanted to buy ?seeing as it?s our wedding anniversary?. He even managed to sneak some flowers into the trolley without me noticing (the DC told me sternly that I wasn?t allowed to look) ? and has just appeared with a for me ?as it?s our anniversary?. I?m not sure what my excuse is on every other evening!

Nice to see both familiar and new faces on the thread ? welcome to LiveLong, bobbinogs (well done on the shiny sink), imnobody (that must be hard, working seven days a week), twinsufficient (3 DC constantly messing up the house sounds familiar!) and grouchyoscar (will you be joining us?).

ellie of you being at the seaside and lol at your DD. I took your advice and went for the jacket potato in the end, but it wasn?t even cooked through properly. I decided my Slovak wasn?t up to sending it back, however, so mashed it up a bit and it was OK ? albeit not my best anniversary meal!

Cinders I wish my ILs? sink was brown ? it might disguise the fact that they use it as a bin (dead flies do not belong in a sink IMO). I have a bag of M&S goodies for you btw.

DWM Glad to hear you?re getting back on track and feeling ready to tackle the house again; I?m sure Flying must have been low on your list of priorities (and rightly so).

PA Good to see you back again; we?ve missed you! Do we have the same DH, I wonder? Mine isn?t quite as obsessed by bikes as he used to be, although he did ask me to work out today how long it would take him to cycle to work (1.5 hours, but he reckons he can do it in 1).

Toffee The 70s/80s disco sounded fun ? definitely my era! Hope your DS is OK despite the chickenpox and that the spots aren?t too itchy; at least he?ll have it out of the way now.

CheerfulYank Sorry to hear you?ve been having a rough time; hope things are better soon.

MakingChanges Well done on finishing your essay. I really must get the reward charts out again; the DC keep asking for them and I?ve found them very effective, so I?m not sure why I?ve been putting it off (mainly because of my usual problem ? lack of time...).

SC I shall definitely join you in ?Moving in May?; am still waiting for my running gear to arrive (I need somewhere to put my iPod!), but I?m hoping to be able to walk/cycle the school run next week, weather permitting. Hope you get your technical problems sorted out soon ? can you type your posts in Word and then copy them to MN?

myhouse Sounds like you?ve had a very productive few days. Thanks for the reminder that I also need to change the DC?s bedding tomorrow ? I?ve been getting slightly behind on my sheet-changing recently.

Back in a while with tomorrow?s links!

Tomorrow?s babystep is a slightly controversial one ? getting dressed to lace-up shoes. I think there are one or two of us on this thread who find it useful, but I must admit that I just can?t wear shoes indoors. So feel free to take this particular babystep with a pinch of salt.

This week?s zone is the entrance, front porch and dining room. If you?re doing the missions, Monday's mission should be here in the morning (it?s still showing last week?s missions at the moment).

If you?d like to get ahead on the missions or see what?s coming up this week, there?s a sneak peek here (also still last week?s atm).

Monday is the day that FlyLady recommends we do the Weekly Home Blessing Hour, although you don?t need to worry about this yet if you?re just starting out with the babysteps. I must admit that I tend to spread the weekly home blessing hour (someone on this thread ? can?t remember who, I?m afraid ? came up with the alternative and infinitely preferable ?weekly home overhaul?) throughout the week.

Day 1 accomplished bar the shiny sink which is waiting for DS to go to bed (DH has early start as always so has just gone up). I don't weant anyone messing it up till tomorrow morning. Otherwise just DH lunch to do for tomorrow and I'm done for the day.

Thank goodness it is entrance hall and dining room this week. I lost both of mine around November!

Good evening everyone, newbies and oldies. Lovely to see everyone

linzer glad you had a lovely anniversary despite the less salubrious surroundings

Been a busy day here but not sure how i did with my list.

Get up/dressed/hair/dc dressed-done
Hang washing out-tumbled in my defence the rotary drier blew over 3 times in the wind yesterday and i just couldnt face the fight.
S/s-done
Bedmaking-done
Sink shining-well cleaning black composite sink here.
Put washing on-done
Dishwasher empty-done x3
Make chicken curry in slow cooker-done, tasty
Visit in laws, remember to pick up flowers and hat-done
Back home for ocado delivery.-done
Packing Me for Blackpool and everyone for scotland! Must make headway on this today-done my blackpool packing and dc scotland packing.
Tidy toys [4 day in list ]-nope
Sweep floors-done
If time change bedding.-nope
Empty bins-some

Not too bad.

i'm now sitting down with a little .

Tomorrow, if i get my normal done i am going to attempt a detailed clean of the hall. Will need to get large box of charity stuff into car and shop beforehand. Ah well its worth a try.

Hope you all have a fab evening, see you tomorrow.

I'm back from a two day trip to York with family (we had great excitement of staying in a Novohotel).
Scatty I tried to get Dh to stay another day so we could go to Whitby, but I'm glad I didn't, it would have been frustrating to think I'd missed bumping into you..
Anyway trip lovely, though ds2 is not a restaurant bunny. At one stage he went into a state of fugue and started chanting Night Mail (too much National Railway Museum at top speed, and then ran out to watch football in hotel lobby.
Does anyone else find their children's behaviour in hotels leave much to be desired? He loved York though, and all the history bits, which is something
Holiday was also lovely in that I read two thrillers and did no washing up! I love hotel rooms too, all those clean white towels. We were by the river too.

Dh said he thought Yorkshire people were much friendlier than those of us in Southern climes, and better dressed [did he just mean better dressed than me Everyone much much smarter, and wonderful shops, or was that just York?

Positive I bribed my children to go to church this evening by promising Macdonalds, surely freshly baked bread is much better, and very biblical too

Nettie thank you for your Ode
sorry about horrid combination of husband and washingmachine, never a good one. Dh flooded our washing machine last time by putting Fairy Liquid in it, but that was my fault of course, for not providing a supply of Washing Powder... I like the way your DH left the flood to find his boat

Now children are watching Spiderman 3, and I suppose we should put them to bed

Yey i've found you (couldn't find a link in last months thread)!

Happy Anniversary Linzer - my parents celebrated today too (41 yrs) Hope you had a lovely despite the Tesco shop!

to hear DS2 has chicken pox Toffee hope he has a comfy night - and you don't get too disturbed either.

Now the Wedding celebrations are over I have no excuses to not clean my house so will be attacking it with gusto once again. I always feel this way at the beginning of each month but sadly by the end of the month i'm straggling again. Finished my tax return though so that's a box ticked

See you all tomorrow!

oh Toffee, I missed saying sorry about the Chicken Pox. Oh dear, that is another week of full on not so fun Family Time isn't it? Hope ds1 comes up trumps and lends a hand, hopefully he's had it.
We used Piriton, cold wraps, and bicarb in the bath too. The calamine wasn't enough I recall. And probably calpol and nurofen too. I remember our dcs got it when ds1 was 4, in Reception and at end of Easter hols too.

Pink well done on your tax-return, usually the sort of thing I cleaned my house from top to bottom to avoid doing (and to find the relevant docs) I did it for years, but now I find it so utterly confusing I give it to the RBS to do. Thank God.

Evening all just off to bed.Swan Your DH is right us Yorkshire folk are lovely . Glad you didn't come back and tell us you did Whitby as well though - York and Whitby are two of my fave places.

I'm also glad dining room is on list for this week. My MIL came to pick DD up this afternoon and had to goin dining room to get a doll - lets just say she didn't look impressed (although I blame DH as at moment he is using it as his office.)

Updated list before bed

• Shop for bread and something nice for my tea - done brought anice piece of steak but then DH came home with pizza (to soften me up when he toldme his playing 3 games of cricket this week!!)
• 2 washes - done
• job application - done and a second written but not sent yet as may need titivating
• 1 weeks lesson planning - done only 5 more weeks left [faints]
• tidy bathroom - Done
• 15 minutes in bedroom hotspot - nope
• 15 minutes in understairs hotspot - Done

Back tomorrow morning

Chickenpox is so miserable, isn't it? Am sitting up with DS2, who is fretting and wailing. I've done bicarb of soda and oatmeal in bath, Calomine lotion, antihistimine cream, Calpol and Ibuprofen. A friend is bringing over a bottle of Piriton tomorrow and I'm hoping that will make all the difference (helps sleep, doesn't it?).

No idea when I'll get any sleep...