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!

Good morning everyone,

The babystep today is to make your bed. This is one of the babysteps that I almost always do and it makes such a difference.

There?s no mission as it?s the weekend. Sunday is Renew Your Spirit day.

WhoKnows I have only just realised from my Facebook page that it was Eurovision last night - from the running commentary that some people gave, I feel like I almost watched it myself! (And it only took five minutes.)

Morning all,

I said this month was going to be busy and so it is proving to be, hence lack of appearance over the week. I am up to my eyeballs in coursework moderation, year 11 revision and timetabling so sorry for being awol! I might just have to be a weekend flyer for the next few weeks. I am managing to keep on top of the house and we have not descended into CHAOS....yet!

Will be back later for a proper catch-up.

Big waves to everyone!

stiill pondering the family fun

Im sure it is meant to be easier than this...

so am expecting the worst from today

Had a lovely, relaxing evening babysitting last night. Must do it more often! Meanwhile, DS1 turned into a perfect big brother for a night and put DS2 to bed because DH was feeling too ill (think he might have flu). He did everything - supervised him getting into his PJs, read him a story, cuddled him - except turn the light out! DS2 lay quiet as a mouse, trying to sleep in bright electric light until DH checked on him.

We are having a 'pottering at home' day today. Bought warm-up meals for tonight, so no cooking .

Hope you all have a lovely, relaxing Sunday.

Good morning

linzer the only bit I did catch was Austria entry and I felt compelled to watch. But only for 5 min. Best way to watch it was Definatelty via Facebook. Although noone has advised who won
Ellie well done for keeping putt chaos with all that work you have to do.
cinder sometimes family fun is not fun at all. I remember my mum taking us on holiday we all winge the whole time but it was one of our best holidays.
toffee how sweet of your ds, love it. Hope dh feels better soon.
cheerful good luck with the painting.

My list today
Finish washing mountain and drying.
Dh turn today so still have to get dc dressed, clear away breakfast dishes, empty dishwasher and move on washing.
Tidy up my room.
Put away toys sitting in stair basket.
Smoke alarm testing.
Take something out for dinner tomorrow.
Go to inlaws for dinner, collect cat and bring home.
Check calendar for birthday etc. Already missed one!
Have meeting to finalise report before meeting tomorrow night.

That'll keep me outta trouble today

Hope you all have lovely Sunday's

Toffee you poor girl; you have had more than enough of your fair share of illnesses in your family - hope that's the end of it for a very long time! What a absolute darling your DS1 is, and how sweet your DS2 didn't even make a fuss with his light on - you must be so proud of your lovely sons

ellie hope the coursework marking goes well. Try and snatch a few moments to yourself though

Didn't watch it either Linzer but DH brought me up to speed as he went to a Eurovision party last night

Another sunny day and DD has a party 1-4pm to go to so i will do my ironing and sit in the garden and enjoy the new flower troughs I planted last night

Hope you all have a lovely Sunday too.

Nettie and Lady - thank you for your lovely messages. Both DSs can be handfuls at times, but it's good to know that they can be so understanding and kind to each other when circumstances demand it.

Lady - enjoy your time relaxing in the garden (sounds like you are obeying Flylady's dictum of 'renewing your spirit'!).

Nettie - looks like a busy day for you. You have reminded me that I have my own washing mountain to deal with. It never ends, does it?

toffee we were so fed up with the twins last night that both dh and I refused to read them a story (they usually have separate stories at bedtime) I went to bed, Dh sat in the garden, and to our amazement ds1 then read ds2 a story very sweetly and put him to bed. Sometimes I wonder whether the answer is just to give them a lot more responsibility/neglect so that the siblings look after each other more, rather than vying for our attention by being spoilt and whingy all the time (although yours don't sound at all spoilt and whingy)

Morning has so far gone badly again Dh reduced to taking dcs to Mass just to escape from mad wife. I do find it annoying that he cannot make Sunday lunch, except by resorting to ready meals. We decided on Lasagne but some reason he is incapable of making it and expects me to make it before Church. It would be so lovely to just go to Church and come back and find someone had made Sunday Lunch for once, tidied kitchen etc.
If I rant too much he just suggests going to pub for lunch, which is not actually a solution, just more £ down the drain...
Is it impossible to have a peaceful Sunday wthout quarrelling The answer is to spend the whole of Saturday getting things ready for Sunday, but he doesn't like that either, as it is meant be a day of Fun (suggesting I have a nap, chill out, relax, stop tidying), as you say Cinders

Ellie you are doing brilliantly, I don't know why I complain when you have so much more on your plate.

Linzer Dh says it is called MittagRuhe (don't know if I've spelt it right) He is very much in favour of it, as it generally means he never cuts the lawn at all Although of course our neighbours have their lawnmowers out day and night!

Right I'm off to put lasagne together, and rescue the entire house

Oh and dd just read to herself quite happily last night (when no story was forthcoming), so that was an improvement too!

Washing
ironing
folding
finish making present
finish tiding car out
hoover car
put clothes away

Ah thanks I will Toffee I was going to go for a cycle ride with DH while DD was at her party but am going to relax instead (my other cycle decided to arrive 5 days early and so not only do i have to make my bed as FLYlady says i have had to completely strip it, wash it and remake it May plant my runner beans and sunflowers as they are outgrowing their little pots but that's about it. She is going to a princess party so is already wearing her Ariel dress in readiness and has tidied her room (with DH direction if not actual help) as they both know my mood changes when AF arrives - i go on the warpath and get drastic when there's mess around and throw out more than i intend to.

Hope you have a better afternoon swan Lasagne is gorgeous but such a fag to make i agree!

DH's friend is visiting today with his two DC; DH was planning on having a barbecue but it's been pouring with rain all morning. So instead, the men and children have gone to the aquarium in Vienna while I stay at home and work and MN (I wasn't desperate to go, and it meant they could all go in one car if I stayed behind).

Good to see you again, CHB.

swan Sympathies on your stressful Sunday morning ? I must admit I often find the entire weekend stressful as I see how much there is to be done but just can't get on with it with DH and the DC around. Often, the only answer is to get out of the house completely.
I don't quite get Mittagsruhe (although I suppose the peace is nice on a Sunday) and imagine that all Austrians must nap until 3 pm. And it should really be called Mittags-, Saturday afternoon and whole of Sunday-Ruhe.

Lady of your sunshine and being able to sit in the garden. Mind you, the rain does mean that I'm forced to get things done as I'm not tempted to sit outside and read.

Nettie It took me a while to work out that it must have been Azerbaijan. I wasn't too keen on the Austrian song; I thought she sounded like an X-Factor candidate (and in fact, I think she did start out on Starmania, the Austrian equivalent).

Toffee Hope your DH is feeling better soon (I always feel very annoyed when DH is ill at the weekend). What a lovely DS you have to put his little brother to bed.

Cinders As I said earlier, I think family fun is only achievable if we all go out somewhere (and it's not even guaranteed then).

ellie Well done for keeping on top of things despite being so busy with work.

And talking of work, must get back to it.

Kitchen tackled, sink and floors and worktops!
Lasagne in oven
table half laid

lady well done dd, hope you do take it easy today and watch the plants grow I'm deciding whether to chuck a very large piece of material which I originally used to make a "cave under the sea" when dd had a mermaid party aged 4..[steels herself to chuck] It was a PTA tablecloth too..but unfortunately they gave it back to me

Linzer such a relief to be left behind

There are still four bags of compost in my car that I am waiting for dh to carry out. I REFUSE TO CARRY THEM (although I suppose I could use the wheelbarrow)then I need to tackle the pots too.

I don't know what you mean, swan. Your DH sounds very similar to mine, btw - if I complain about the amount of time I have to spend cooking, he tells me I should stick to simple recipes (his favourite is a packet pasta mix, or packet soup at lunchtime).

Work is almost finished, so now need to plan Wednesday's English lesson as I want to avoid the usual Tuesday evening panic about what I'm going to teach the next day. Also need to put sheets back on the beds, hang up yet more washing and possibly iron - the second load of washing is in the dryer (I would have three loads, but have nowhere to hang any more washing up).

wicked...

dh has taken

my Mum
and ds
out ......

we have all been out for lunch

off to stop wrong dog stealing in the kitchen

Sounds like some family fun was had after all cinders

toffee and swan what lovely sons you have . Tonight I shall ask DS to put DD to bed (and read her 'Where's Wally?' ). TBH we quite often cheat and let the ipod read the story (which DC much prefer ).

Had a nice day today. Wandered round the local river/industrial wasteland for the afternoon (DS fasinated by the scrap metal yard). Then played dominos in the cafe. A picture in the cafe gave me an idea and I have just ordered a tatoo inspired personalised necklace for dsil's 50th (she'll love it). Fingers crossed it comes in time. .

Laundry.

thanks scattyspice

Today was heaps better than yesterday

Families ...

and dh is off motorbiking now so need to sort ds out for an early night

Seemed to spend most of the afternoon looking for flashcards of pets - if I was paid by the hour for the English lessons (am not actually paid at all), I would be rich. I was also wondering whether it would be OK to show a flashcard of a slightly scary looking spider to the class, but eventually decided that a drawing of a spider is nothing compared to the dead birds I was subjected to by a couple of my old primary school teachers (which I'm sure wouldn't be allowed nowadays).

Anyway, time for today's round-up:

ellie is doing a good job at keeping her house under control despite being very busy at work.

Cinders has been having more family fun than yesterday.

Toffee has been pottering and has a poorly DH, but her DS admirably stepped into the breach.

Nettie posted a list to keep her out of trouble.

Lady was planning to renew her spirit by sitting in the garden and enjoying her flowers.

swan did not have a good start to the day and bemoaned the stress of Sundays.

CHB tiptoed in to post her list and tiptoed in again later to surreptitiously remove it.

scatty had a wander, played dominos and was inspired by a picture. (Btw which bedtime story app do you use? DD1 loves anything iPod-related.)

Hope everyone has had a good weekend! Back in the morning with the links.

and Cinders baked

another Quiche

No spider flashcards please, Linzer. DS2 announced that he was frightened of spiders today and I told him firmly that no, he wasn't (he often keeps little ones as pets). I need someone, apart from DH, who will remove spiders from the house for me. And DS1 is more frightened of them than I am, so he's no help. I tried so hard not to pass on my phobia to him - I always stayed very calm when spiders appeared - but he absolutely hates them anyway. A psychologist friend of mine told me that there is evidence that a fear of spiders is down to ancestral memory, although a phobia is developed.

DH spent another day in bed and announced this evening that he thought he'd be fine for work tomorrow. This made me, irrationally, very annoyed! The boys and I spent a 'pottering' day at home, as planned. I made them turn the telly and computer off for the afternoon, much to their horror, but we actually ended up having a very nice time. We played Monopoly, did some drawing together, then DS2 went into the garden and played, whilst DS1 finished his book. I managed to get loads done: two loads of washing; two loads of tumbledrying; room rescue in the sitting room; hoovering downstairs; swish and swipe; and putting DS2's unwanted toys away. No cooking tonight thanks to buying a warm-up meal .

Back to school for DS2 tomorrow and back to normal home ed for DS1. I'm actually looking forward to it.

Must go to bed now. Good night, fledglings.

Today?s babystep ? to read an e-mail from FlyLady - is one that you can probably ignore, as you have hopefully unsubscribed from or never signed up for her e-mails.

The zone for this week is the bathroom and one extra room. Today?s mission should be here later (and there will also be a sneak peek at the week ahead here).

And don?t forget that Monday is the day to do your weekly home blessing/overhaul/bleugh.

Well done on your productive day Toffee, despite having to look after both DSs on your own. It would annoy me too if DH spent all weekend in bed and was then well enough to go back to work on Monday morning - he should wait until Monday morning before he comes down with anything!

Am not sure how much I'll get done this morning, as I'll be going for my run once I've taken the DC to school and have then been invited to a friend's for coffee from 9 to 11.30 pm. DD2 is out of school at 11.50 so it would take up virtually my entire morning and I'm not sure I can afford to stay out that long. I may leave the coffee morning early so that I can at least get lunch ready; Monday lunchtimes are usually a little stressful, as we have to leave for the girls' piano lesson straight after picking up DD1 from school (she has to have sandwiches on the way there).

Hope everyone has a good start to the week!

silent

aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh

why
why

does school start so early
why is ds up so early
why why

and many more whys
sticks on a
and heads back into rl