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!

[Makingchanges]

Morning all, flying by with a list. Have picked BF up and driven up to uni and handed in my last ever essay for my PGCE course (Unless I fail ) we treated ourselves to a tea and cake in the uni coffee shop to celebrate. Have alsobeen to post office and filled car up with petrol.

Jobs left to do

• Dry DHs cricket whites
  
• More planning
  
• hoover downstairs
  
• clean kitchen
  
• pick up dd from school, feed and take to DSis whilst I go to swimming lesson this evening.
  
• Class data update for school tomorrow
  

I hope that is all - I haven't got much time today - hope to be back later

[swanriver]

well I have cleaned

three basins
three loos
and one bath
three sets of lino/tiles round loos


hung out a load of washing
another load in
dry washing upstairs
ironing/shirt pile added to

watered some windswept pots

cleared breakfast
unloaded dw
wiped worktops/table

rescued hall/kitchen
recycling out
milk bottles out

veg box has arrived and milk/eggs/bread
so supper sorted thank goodness


will now attempt some bedrooms
as dd has a friend here all afternoon pathetic

MC well done on your verylast essay!

[swanriver]

SC sorry to hear about school crisis. Dcs adapt to change well. Tis just us. Hope no-one is making you do anything you don't want to do.
So difficult also to know what is really going on in school.

[feetheart]

Hello all, better late than never!
Glad most people had good w/e - sympathies re chicken pox Toffee. DS had them last year but wasn't too bad, DD has steadfastly refused to catch them inspite of a lot of effort on my part
LOVE the woodlouse scenario :o

Avoided thread this morning as have mountains of work to catch up on - tried last week but no access to server as DH had 'done' something to it so even more to do this week. Have realised I get more done if I don't log on to MN first thing so may keep a low profile this week.

HUGE waves to both new people and the 'returners', and everyone else :)

Need to get to shops for Piriton and bread before picking up DC so need to go now - have just remembered I said I was going to make bread so now need nice bread from bakery to make up to DD who was looking forward to it - damn work interfering with cooking

[BlueEyeshadow]

Shake mat and wipe front door
Check book bag
Get charity shop stuff together and under the buggy
Fill snack box
Wash nappies
Pack up parcel and under buggy

Hang nappies out before nursery run
Post office
Market for spices and suchlike
Toddlers
Work
Dinner
Back up PC

The Asian stall on the market was closed, as was the Chinese shop. I won't go to the other spice stall cos the man is so rude, so didn't get spices or oyster sauce :( Will have to change dinner. I have eventually managed to do some work though not v much because DS1 was being rude and DS2 clingy! will back up in a mo.

Glad DS on the mend, toffee. We haven't had chicken pox yet, with either boy. Not sure whether to be glad or wish it was over with!

Hope the school crisis can be resolved SC. Congrats on essay, MC!

[scattyspice]

Done:
school/work
DS judo
finish house bleugh (dusting mainly)
condider mission
.

Chicken pox ia a PITA whenever they have it!

[NettieSpaghetti]

Good evening all, sorry gonna flake on personals exhausted!

Apart from dd swim (was late as forgot purse and had to turn back to get it! Then when I got there I forgot my towel and underwear, left in bag in boot.) .
Also took ds for haircut, made dinner, burnt pork chops.

So have downed tools and decided it's time to chill!

Still to pack dc overnight things
Mop floors
No bed changed yet either! Ah well

sc* sorry school problems afoot! I hope it gets sorted soon and dd is much happier. See you when you can.

Nite nite all

[droitwichmummy]

Evening everyone - looks like is in order! Help yourselves there's plenty to go round.

Get DS up done
washing on line done and got back in again
breakfast done
dressed done
dinner money etc done
get mince & ham out of freezer done but cheated and got cottage pie out instead of mince for quicker tea
out at 7.20 more like 7.35 but near enough for first day back
make tea got DH to finish doing cottage pie while I was cycling home from the station
15 mins in hall (should take care of those shoes!) maybe feeling rather tired so might do it tomorrow as I am working from home
tidy kitchen later
load DW later
load WM later
shine sink later
Also need to remember to do packed lunch for DS as well as DH sandwiches as he is on a school trip tomorrow so might make some rock buns in a bit to go with it.

Might be back later with

[ApuskiDusky]

Hello all, may I (somewhat belatedly) join you? I put off getting organised in April thinking I'd join you in May, then missed the start of the month, but will resist the temptation to wait until June!

I am in desperate need of routine and momentum, and this is the month to do it - I am hoping to be starting a new job in about a month, having been made redundant on my second mat leave, so if I get into a routine now when I have more time it might just stick. I also have a lot of decluttering to do, but need to pace myself!

[LadyInPink]

Managed to do all my list today plus clean the bathrooms so i def deserve a thanks DWM

Welcome ApuskiDusky, to our 'merry month of May'

[LinzerTorte]

Today in Fledgling Land...

CheerfulYank decided she needed to delegate some of her list and reassured us that her DS was not imbibing coffee (I wish there was a child-friendly equivalent to kickstart my DC in the mornings).

DWM, on the other hand, was not avoiding coffee and was back at work today. She returned later with ? much appreciated, thank you.

LiveLong discovered the joys of a shiny sink and was tidying up after her DS?s birthday while attempting to rescue clothes abandoned in the tumble drier by her DH (I try telling DH to put washing on only when one of us has time to deal with it, but will he listen?).

scatty came up with a new name for home blessing ? house bleugh. I know which I prefer.

ellie had a fab time in her caravan and is now putting herself in the naughty corner (but we'll let her off as she's so busy with work).

Lady was meeting a friend she hadn?t seen for only four months, so is obviously much better at keeping up with her friends than Linzer (see my earlier post), and managed to finish her list ? well done!

swan was still not feeling well, but her DC were all in a good mood and she has managed to get an impressive amount done today.

Toffee extolled the virtues of Piriton and was hoping her DS wouldn?t notice the demise of one of his pet woodlice.

Nettie has been stocking up on camping gear and bouncing up and down on the bypass ? or so I thought when I first read her post; it was, in fact, her car bonnet doing the bouncing.

bobbinogs was feeling nervous about the state of her sink after leaving it in the care of her DH and DD all day, but it sounds like her DC are flybabies in the making (I wish mine would put their things away).

SC is still coping with juddery typing and now has a school crisis to deal with too ? hope it all works out for the best.

Makingchanges has been celebrating handing in her last essay with tea and cake.

feetheart is snowed under with work but has managed to be productive by staying off MN and was about to buy some fresh bread ? yum.

Blue had to change her dinner plans thanks to a lack of spices and was struggling to work with DC around (I know the feeling).

ApuskiDusky decided to join us while she has time to get organised ? welcome!

Hope everyone is having a good evening; I'll be back first thing tomorrow to post the links.

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

Evening all,

Thanks for the roundup Linzer. I succumbed to the BBH at Christmas and it certainly makes my hair swooshy, don't use it every time I wash as it takes too long (I leave it to dry naturally most of the time), but use it when I want to smarten up or just have time to do it.

Welcome to ApuskiDusky - pacing yourself is a very good idea othewise it is easy to burn out.

Toffee glad chicken pox is getting better

SC - sorry to hear about school problems

Waves to everyone. I'm all behind again, but had a lovely day out at the farm with DD's class, managed not to lose any of them, think they enjoyed it too. See you tomorrow.

[elliepac]

Evening all! Have managed to survive parent's evening despite several no shows which is beyond frustrating as it was the parents that i really needed to see that didn't come. Grrrrrrr.

However, on a positive note i am going to leave the naughty corner as i have been a good girl. I have:-

Tidied all downstairs
Washed up
Mopped floors in living room and hallway
Cooked dinner and cleared away

Not bad for a night when i have worked late.

No time for personals but well done to everyone as there seem to be a lot going on at the moment (chicken pox, school et al).

Have a good evening. I am going to finish watching secret millionaire and doubtless cry at the end. After i have snaffled some of the wine dwm has kindly proffered .

[Toffeefudgecake]

Dress done
B/fasts done
S&S done
D/w - unload done
D/w - reload done
W/m nope
Kitchen - room rescue (will take longer than 15mins, I'm sure) done
Shine sink done - very sparkly. Used bleach!
Kitchen hotspot nope
Put some washing away nope
Mission - my hall really needs attention today nope
Sitting room - 15 min room rescue no, no, no
Bedroom - 15 minute room rescue no, again
Dry clothes none to dry cos no washing done
Lunch just about...

I said it was a wish list. Didn't feel I did much at all, really. There was lots of "Mummeeeeee!" from DS2, who is infectious but not in any way ill anymore, so needed lots of attention . The second of the woodlice curled itself up into a sad little ball, so I suggested we let them go and get some new ones. DS2 was reluctant ("They're fine - I've given them some of my school bar as a treat!"), but seemed happy enough with his new pet woodlouse when I showed him.

In between dealing with DS2, I attempted to help DS1 practise for his SATs, which was a disheartening experience. (How's it going with your son, Swan?). DS2 ignored all my advice about how to get good marks ("Use lots of 'wow words' and all that stuff"), then told me that he really didn't care about the SATs at all. I suppose I should admire him, but I just feel upset by his lack of care.

Produced quite a nice vegetarian lasagne for dinner, but nobody else liked it very much .

Have dosed DS2 with Piriton again tonight and am hoping for another good night's sleep.

Ellie - well done on surviving parents' evening (must be very frustrating when the parents you want to see don't show up) and flying too

Linzer and WhoKnows - what is this magical BBH you speak of?

Linzer - phew! Impressively long round up! Thank you. Love the Mr Bean reference - made me laugh.

Lady - well done on completing your list

Apuski - welcome to the thread

Droit - where are the s then?

Scatty - yes, chickenpox is a pita. Am worrying about the scabs now and which ones will leave scars

BlueEyes - well, when your DC do get chickenpox, I recommend Piriton to stop itching and make sure you all get some sleep! And I dunno if the bicarb of soda in the bath has done it, but DS's spots are healing very fast.

Nettie - sorry you are exhausted. Nitey nite.

Feet - very sensible to avoid MN when working!

Swan - goodness, that is an amazingly impressive list. Have some .

MC - congrats on your last essay!

Nettie - sorry you are having school problems. You have all my sympathies. Hope it works out OK.

Bobb - Flylady will help - honest.

Livelong - Happy 1st birthday to your Ds! A very special day.

Sorry if I have left anyone out, but I'm all done in now. Good night everyone. Back with today's list for another bash tomorrow.

[droitwichmummy]

ready - straight from the oven!

Welcome Bobb there's plenty of wine left if you would like some with a or two

Off to load DW & WM then shine sink and do lunches.

See you all tomorrow

[BlueEyeshadow]

Just a quick list as no time for personals:

Change beds and wash sheets
put away laundry
tidy bedroom
dusting
15 mins in dining room - maybe tackle DSs' art stuff?! [scary]
filing
Work!

Night all.

[swanriver]

toffee ds1 answered one SATs question - Why does the author say the Great Walll of China looks like a giant centipede?
Because it looks like a giant centipede.


He also had to write an exciting story; it proceeded quite well until he ran out of ideas about two sentences in, then wrote as reaction to crisis situation "Jane was bored and decided to run away"..well ds1 obviously was

My line with ds is that I don't care what he gets in SATS just that I want him to practice his skills which may come in useful after SATS at secondary. Still it seems all a bit depressing and dire way to spend lessons at school, maybe you are better off just doing other proper topics you enjoy with him,and then the SATs skills will follow. I think you are in a privileged position not having to spend your time slogging away on those blasted tests.

I love veg lasagne, and often make it,with mixed reception.

Nettie have a fantastic time, although now confused as to whether you are camping in Blackpool or not.

I've tidied three bedrooms sorted the drawers a bit, and hoovered. So a slight improvement.
And ds2 has stuck some clutter in his scrapbook, that is good

[LinzerTorte]

Morning all,

Today?s babystep is to write down everything we?ve been doing so far in preparation for starting a control journal. Some of us (the majority, I suspect) are not keen on having post-its on display reminding us to get dressed, but I do recommend starting to write down your morning routine.

The mission today (which still hasn't appeared yet, but should be there later) is to get rid of any hotspots in your hall.

Wednesdays are Zone Clean and Partial Desk Time. I?m not quite sure why we?re supposed to have finished zone cleaning only halfway through the week so tend to ignore this instruction, but I do try to finish the weekly home overhaul today.

[CheerfulYank]

Well, I got called in unexpectedly to my other job this evening, so didn't get to the stinking laundry! It's going to mutate into one big clothes monster soon and eat my house, I'm sure of it. I did:

#DH, DS, and I showered, dressed, fed, coffeed (well not in DS's case of course) and out of the house by 7:45 done
#Take out garbage before leaving the house so that the dog does not rip it apart of find the chicken remains therein done
#Swish n swipe done
#Make beds done
#Pet Care done
#Vacuum upstairs (no, but did tidy everything off the floor so I can do it tomorrow)
#Make soup done and very good it was, too :)
#Remove TV from upstairs and put into storage (tried, but it was too heavy. Will have DH do it soonest.)
#Clear out one clutter basket (no)
#Mission for the day done, my entryway looks great! :)
#Put away laundry (We will not speak of the laundry )
#go to bed by 11pm (Well, no, but midnight, which is better than usual!)
#Catch up on this thread! (not quite)
#Dishes done
#Shine sink done
#listen to my Paul McKenna CD done
#Work out to the dreaded Shred dvd (No. I had terrible cramps and PMT and there was just no way in hell that was happening.)
#help DS make an "All About Me" poster for preschool done, apparently he wants to be a wolf and a scuba diver when he grows up :o

[LinzerTorte]

DD2 was in a foul mood this morning and DD1 didn't help matters with her constant teasing; I suspect too many 8 o'clock bedtimes are the cause. Really must try to get them all to bed by 7 tonight, particularly as DH will be away. He announced yesterday evening that he would be flying to the Ukraine by private jet this morning. (He doesn't have a particularly high-flying job, I hasten to add - no pun intended.)

Arrived at kindergarten this morning to find a display of Mother's Day drawings on the wall, on which the children had written "I love Mommy". Aargh. (Their English teacher is from the West Midlands - then again, so is my mum; I'd never realised mom is a W. Midlands term until I joined MN.) I am fighting a losing battle to be called Mummy; DS already calls me Mama (German for Mum/Mummy) far too often for my liking.

Toffee BBH is Babyliss Big Hair. As I said further up the thread, I don't particularly want big hair, just swishy hair (which it apparently gives you). It takes ages to blow-dry my hair (which is wavy and has a mind of its own) so I'm hoping it will save me some time too. Finally managed to track one down on eBay; the postage was extortionate, although not quite as ridiculous as the £40 on Amazon.

List for this morning:

Morning routine
Mission
15 min decluttering
Finish planning English lesson
Finish letter
Recycle paper
Recycle metal and glass
English lesson

[PositiveAttitude]

Good morning everyone.

Sorry for absence yesterday, terrible day at work and just wanted to curl up on the sofa when I got home, but dragged myself out for a swim in the evening.

Scatty love the House bleugh!

Ellie Glad the parents evening went ok. I remember a teacher very early in my parent evening life telling me that the parents she needed to see the most never turned up, so since then I have always been determined to get to them so that any teacher doesnt really need to see me (IYSWIM - it makes sense in my brain, but thats slightly worrying!! )

Toffee I am pleased the worst is over with and sleep has returned.

WhoKnows - Reading about your swooshy hair has made me . I think I am going to get enough courage up today to phone the hairdressers and book an appointment. It will be my first cut since last October before my tumour was removed. I think I could now have it done without crying in pain. I may have to warn the hairdresser about my numb ear though as I jump a mile if it gets touched and that could have disastrous results!

SC - sorry to hear about the school problem, you have worried me that you say you will come back when a bit more sane.....I fear if we wait for your sanity it could be a very long wait!

DWM MMmmmmm

Swan - at the SATS. Go Swan DS!!!!

And as for a scubadiving Wolf for a DS, CheerfulYank, the mind boggles.

I am expecting a better day at work today - it had better be!!!!
DD1 phoned me from her work yesterday saying that she had made a huge mistake at work. She had ordered DS a present in her teabreak before the weekend and had discovered yesterday that all the post from the company since then had their address auto filled on her computer to our address!! Yesterday we had 17 letters and there will be a massive influx today apparently. Not sure what the postman makes of it!!

List for today:
Kitchen rescue before work
Clean rabbits out - hopefully before work
Put washing on line
Sandwiches
Work
Run into town and pick up a few bits, get to postoffice,
Phone hairdresser
Decide whats for tea?????? Maybe lasagne, maybe toad-in-the-hole, maybe salmon fishcakes
Hang curtains in DD4s bedroom

Off to start on the list! Have a good day everyone.

[NettieSpaghetti]

Good morning everyone

I don't envy you sat mummies or teachers!

I have humongous list to complete before going to Blackpool first thing tomorrow. (swan hotel Blackpool. Family in
Scotland. Camping end of may) hectic old month may :-)

Dw/wm/td must make sure all clean clothes are dry as unlikely dh will find time think about to move it on
S/s
Clean floors
Tidy up toys
Pack dc overnight cases for Friday
Change bedding x3
Work all day-accomplish 6 days work in one day as my last day for two weeks.
Try and buy silver nail varnish
Pick dc up and spend quality time with them.
Bathe dc.
Lay out dcs clothes for Thursday, Friday, Sunday. (pack Saturday's clothes)
Leave list of what's for dinner whilst I'm away. Set timer in dh phone to tell him to take pre cooked meals out of freezer. Instructions on how to cook written on them.
Decide whether to put bins out a day early as dh will forget and we forgot last week. If we forget again it will be 4 weeks rubbish
Go to bed

That should keep me busy! I think I better get up now!

Hope you all have a lovely day.

[NettieSpaghetti]

Oh and take car to garage to get bonnet fixed.

[janeyjampot]

Morning everyone, and apologies for my absence. I've been away with work for the last couple of days, but I'm back now and as always, everything has descended into chaos (and definitely CHAOS - would be mortified if anyone came to the house today )

So, aim for today is to put April, the month of bank holidays, behind me and turn over a new leaf for May. On the home front this is going to mean a home blessing (bleugh!) hour at the very least. Sadly every area of my life feels as if it needs an injection of time and energy, so that's never going to work!

Today:
2 loads washing - one done, one waiting
Wipe kitchen surfaces - done
Hoover everywhere
Bathrooms
Dust
Tidy up - well, I've started, but it's always work in progress!

Get to grips with work and start fixing the mess we made of it yesterday

Book a hair appointment

STOP EATING CHOCOLATE ALL THE TIME

Will report back on those unrealistic aims later. Hope everyone has a productive and satisfying day.

[ApuskiDusky]

Morning all!

My first attempt at a list for the day (though trying to not get carried away ... babysteps babysteps).

Shine sink (obv)
Washing machine on
Empty & reload dishwasher
Put laundry away
15 mins declutter in hall (aargh, that means sorting the junk mail)
Find some ds2-friendly finger food meals now he is spoon-refusing

Also need to chase DH to call insurance company (I spilt the contents of ds1's potty on the stair carpet when I tripped ).

And I have downloaded the Home Routines iPhone app all ready for the creation of my control journal - so another task is NOT to spend all day fiddling about with that instead of actually doing stuff.

Have a good day all.