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 .

linzer good luck with BBH. Let us know how you do (I nearly bought one as have very feeble hair).

I have to confess that 'house bleugh' came from an old, old flylady thread (I think it was sagacious who came up with it). Somehow I can't seem to use the term 'home blessing' .

To do:
school/work
laundry
make sandwiches
rainbows/beavers
sweep porch.

linzer I am a brummy (originally) and Mom is very brummy. Here in Newcastle its Mam.

scatty Haven't tried the BBH yet but will definitely let you know.
Both my mum's family and the kindergarten English teacher are from W. Bromwich, but I suspect my mum would consider "mom" v. American. Mam is also Welsh and it's what my dad called my grandmother. I have nothing against any of these names, but would just like to be called Mum/Mummy myself - and preferably not pronounced Mammy (ILs'/Austrian pronunciation)!

Apuski Good luck with your first list! The Home Routines app is great; I use it far more than my control journal now.

...and my hairdresser has left! Again!

Morning all!

Working at home today so stand a better chance of getting stuff done.
Am definitely doing to do the mission as my entire hall is one big hotspot! Reckon I can split it into 3 though and do one at a time.

List for today:
fire up laptop (takes ages)
empty WM and put on line
empty and refill DW
plan work for the day
do some work
one hotspot this morning - shoes!
library at lunchtime (on bike so quicker)
eat lunch (often forget when I'm home alone)
more work
one hotspot this afternoon - hall stand
pick up DS and DNiece from school
more work
last hotspot - coats
DS to tennis
chip shop on way home - bit of a Wednesday tradition
water garden
WM on
DW on
shine sink

Best get on with it!

Another sunny day - yey!

School run done
Washing in machine done
Washing to hang out in a mo
Food shop
Buy present for DD friend as her party is this wkend
Plant bedding plants in garden
Water garden
Buy compost to grow sunflowers (really late with this i know)
General tidying of hall

That's it for now, as still have to work today in home office.

Apuski Arrghhh to the potty incident, must have been bad if you need to claim - poor you!

Scatty DH is a Brummy and he uses Mom, I hate it, didn't realise it was a Brum thing till last year when I read it on MN though, thought it was just him.

laughing at everyone's posts this morning - who needs caffeine eh?

Janey glad I'm not the only one - I need to get sorted this week, or I think I'm going to spend the entire summer getting cross with my poor children.
Have also had two squares of choc for breakfast

The hair is also a problem Would that I had a hairdresser at all..

Cheerful well done on the soup and getting out of the house first thing, all these things are miracles imo.

done
beds
children
washing off line and away
dressed
meat out of freezer
breakfast in sink
recycling out (DH did it

todo (trying not to panic)
dw
garden recycling, loads to pull up
kitchen table
sort out all the large pots full of old compost,stack neatly
wash kitchen floor
make casserole for hectic evening (Beavers, Brownies etc)
piano practice
hoover my bedroom
remake ds2's wet bed

and there's loads more, but I'm not going to think about it now

linzer when I was little I thought it very frightening and "rough" when people called their mothers "mum" not "mummy", now all our children call us Mum and Dad It feels right!

Morning everybody in particular to everyone I haven't 'met' before.

Haven't really caught up yet, but just slinking in from the naughty corner to say hello and post a quick list.

washing x2 1 done
dishwasher
wipe surfaces in kitchen
bag up clothes for charity shop
go to office with DS for meeting (already nervous about that one!)
Paid work - couple of hours 1 done
try to find a bugaboo buggy board for a not too extortionate price (v difficult)
do expenses
meal plan for week
find diary
hoover sofa

Swan - my 2yo DD already calls me mum

My dc have started to call me mamma I don't know why? I have decided it's not one of those things worth tackling, hoping they get bored of it

swan yes please caffeine

Stuck in garage been here since just over 9.30! Still not done £144 lighter will be too! Shame its not 144lbs that would be much better

I'm really going to get soooo much done at work today!

I keep thinking my hall is all sorted as have very small hall downstairs that can barely fit a shoe rack in. Somehow the upstairs hall and landing don't seem to count.

scatty love home bleugh too.
apuski yyyyuuukkk at potty incident

Here what's the point in having tv in garages but no subtitles and no sound!?!?!?

I love that answer to the Great Wall of China swan . Sounds like the sort of thing DS1 would say too.

DS2 calls me Mama at the moment, but I hope it'll turn into Mummy as he gets a bit more vocal. DS1 is starting to use Mum more now, which makes me :( as he's only 4!

I must stop messing about on MN and go and do some Work!

Oh, I wish you hadn't mentioned upstairs landing, Nettie! Now I'm going to have to start counting that instead of feeling smug about the lack of a hall too . But I'm not here. I'm working.

Woken up by DS2 at 7, but we then fell asleep together until.....10am! Can't believe it. He is very jolly, particularly as a mum brought round a party bag for him (he is missing a party this afternoon). I have caught a lurgy and lost my voice (cue: lots of jokes about me resting my voice for a change from DH).

Just been on the phone to a hypnotherapist/counsellor for DS1. Have booked an appointment for next week. I have asked for help with his anxieties, low self esteem and coping with going to secondary school (there's a visit to the new school coming up later this month). Worth a try, I thought.

Linzer - thanks for explaining BBH. MN is costing you a fortune! Let us know if it works.

Apuski - we have a similar carpet/wee problem! We noticed recently that DS2's bedroom was smelling of wee. When questioned, DS admitted that, because he is afraid of getting up to go to the loo in the night, he had made himself a 'potty' out of Lego . He tested it - and (surprise, surprise!) it leaked. DH has scrubbed and scrubbed, but the smell just won't go away. We will have to buy a new carpet (luckily his room is tiny and we can just buy an off cut).

Swan - at your son's answers to the SATs questions. Sounds as if your son and mine would get on well!

Janey - hairdressers either leave or put their prices up

PA - I'm sorry, but I am laughing at the thought of all that work mail going to your house. Poor you! And mortifying for your DD! And I hope you have a better day at work today.

Cheerful - I have a clothes monster here too.

Droit - warm much appreciated, thanks.

Good morning to everyone else too.

Am feeling very groggy, but really must get on with my list. Unfortunately, whilst I was looking after DS2 at 7am, I heard the rubbish lorry stop outside our door - and realised that I hadn't remembered to put the rubbish out last night. So that means two weeks' worth of rubbish piling up outside our back door .

Today's list:
Dress (
B/fast done
D/W
W/M
S&S
Shine sink
Home ed - practise Maths and English
Dry clothes
Put washing away
Mission - hall
Email headteacher about SATs
Lunch
Helping friend with CV
Dinner - chicken cacciatore
D/W
Shine sink again
Tesco online order
Bedtime routines
Before bed routine
Sleep

Back later.

It took me so long to finish that post that loads of you have posted. Hello again, Pushmepullyou. How's your baby?

To add to today's discussion: my DS1 (11) calls me 'mum' and is mortified if I ever refer to myself as 'mummy'. My DS2 (5) has called me 'mama' since he was little and it's stuck. If I heard anyone else's child calling them 'mama' I'd probably think 'yuck', but because it's my own beloved doing it I think it's sweet. Hopefully, he won't be doing it at 16 though.

DS2 is absurdly lively today and would love to go to the soft-play party this afternoon, but it would be unfair of me to send him, so I shall just have to cope with his high energy levels (and my low ones).

Just popping by to announce that THE SHOES ARE SORTED! Decided it was also a sneaky flylady way of getting me to vaccuum the hall properly. Much better now.

Off to library to return some very overdue books then back to declutter the hall stand which means I will probably just put everything on there into the dustbin! It's where DH puts all the junk post and charity bags which come through the door rather than putting them in the bin

Btw DS (7yo) normally shouts "muuuuuuuummmmmmmmmyyyyyyyyyyy" or says mummummummummum ad nauseum (sweet but vvvvv irritating after a while or when I'm on the phone)

My DDs (12 and 13) both call me Mummy. Mind you, I (41) still call my mother Mummy too, so perhaps that's why.

I call my father Daddy, but when we work together I have to call him Richard, which is really, really difficult. More often than not I end up calling him 'you' or just avoiding it. It's funny how important it seems to us all to do what feels 'right'.

I had a friend at school who called her dad by his first name, which seemed really strange to me - particularly as she called her mother "mum". DWM, you've reminded me that while the DC call me both mum and mummy, they most frequently shout muuuuuuuuuuuuuuummmmeeeeeeeeee.

Toffee Tell me about it! I know who to blame for introducing me to White Stuff, at any rate - but do have a very nice jacket now.

Am feeling slightly fed up. It's a nice sunny day here, so I decided to cycle to school for the English lesson, got on my bike and promptly fell off again! The pedals were turning but not the wheels, as if the chain had come off but it hasn't. DH would probably be able to repair it in about two seconds, but he's unhelpfully in the Ukraine, of course.

English lesson went OK, although after having spent goodness knows how many hours planning the lesson, laminating flash cards and photocopying handouts, it would have been nice to at least get a thank you from the teacher.

DH hasn't been away for weeks, so I was looking forward to a nice quiet evening of pottering tonight. I haven't had any work for weeks and weeks, but inevitably some has just arrived. It hasn't been confirmed yet, however, and I'm sort of hoping it won't. I really don't enjoy working on short jobs that are due the next day but never sent until around midday, so I have to work in the evening, and would much rather have a long job that I could spend the mornings working on (preferably over several weeks). Haven't had one of those for ages, though.

Right, must get the girls (DD2 has a friend here) to do their homework in the 45 minutes before I have to pick up DS plus friend.

Came home from work yesterday to a bomb site. My dear DH is a lovely dad, we both work fractional contracts to give time to our children- He'd been out in the yard having a dolly's picnic with dd, all the living room cushions out on the dusty floor outside, toys everywhere, evidence of every snack and meal consumed all over the ktchen, dirty nappies on the stairs waiting to go up to the nappy bin. It makes my heart sink.....and the sink was overflowing. It did make me think actually how much I do to keep it all functioning day to day. And over the past 3 years I've moved house, had a complete re wire, new central heating, damp proof, re decorated most of it and kitchen extension built and had 2 children and worked part time - add in the odd family crisis, depression - no wonder things are in a bit of a muddle.

My aim is to be completely de cluttered and have good habits and systems in place by September when I am increasing my work hours. I want to get the whole family on board to help out which I think will be easier if I've got a clear idea about what happens when... and in that way I will be able to spend my precious day at home in the week playing with Dd not stressing over the house.....though to be fair she loves nothing more than getting the mop out !

Ok going to do my 15 mins and get to the trip before school/nursery pick up

PA - you'll have me quoting Camus on sanity again if you are not careful

Thank you everyone for your kind words about school crisis. Much appreciated! Great school academically but socially not good for 'only' as only one other girl in class + 10 boys (which go off to separate boys school in Sept). So dd often has no one to play with. As it happens, received some great tips about alternative schools from my doctor this afternoon (happened to be there for blood test) who hears and knows a lot about all the various options ... very useful indeed as she did not recommend number two on our list at all ...but wholeheartedly endorsed number one. As expat, that sort of knowledge like gold-dust because however hard one researches, you can never quite grasp all the little 'nuances' iyswim ...

Linzer had a very nice e-mail back from Mumsnet Towers in response to e-mail ab out my 'jerking text' probs ...
They are going to ask techhies to try and sort but in meantime suggest I try using different browser to Internet Explorer, such as Firefox or Chrome so am going to ask dh to help me do that and see what happens ... will let you know ...

Lovely to see you again Pushme (you are not allolwed in the naughty corner when Flying with a baby!!! -)

Sorry no more personals ... dancing text slowing me down. Good to see you are all very busy and Flying high though!!

Huge waves of microfibre cloth to all regulars, returnees and newcomers ...!

Have escaped into the garden - it may be nice and sunny, but it's not particularly warm out here. I have a coat (my White Stuff jacket ) and a book, however, so I'm happy. Am hoping DD2 and her friend will finish their homework without any nagging/supervision, but I don't want to leave the two boys in the garden on their own. Well, that's my excuse.

SC Sorry to hear you're still suffering with the juddering text. This computer is OK most of the time, but will have to try Firefox if it starts playing up (I normally only use it to watch programmes on iPlayer).

Have just realised there is something I could be getting on with out here after all - folding the dry washing and hanging up today's load - so really ought to get on with it, I suppose.

Linzer - sorry to hear you have had a tough morning. I hope you manage to get your quiet evening tonight and don't have to work. I like the image of you sitting in the garden wearing the White Stuff jacket!

Bobbinogs - oh, we all know that feeling of being overwhelmed by the mess! I have also done the moving house-having children-loft extension-new kitchen-new bathroom, etc etc palaver over the last few years and, not surprisingly, everything got a bit messy. What annoyed me is the members of my family who would comment unfavourably on the clutter, when it seemed perfectly obvious to me why there was clutter and I could have done with some sympathy instead! My MIL once said, "You are the untidiest people I know, but at least it's a home". I could have said something very undaughter-in-law-like, but I bit my lip. I think that was when DS2 was one and we had just had the loft extension.

I think the good thing about Flylady is that she somehow helps you to stop fretting about how overwhelming it all is and just focus on the nitty gritty. She helps you to focus on the positive, instead of the negative, which makes everything seem more bearable.

Still - glad MN Towers was helpful

DH has taken DS1 out for a trip on a lake in a dinghy. I am terrified, so I think I might just have to keep busy to keep my mind off it. DH and DS went rowing recently and DS loved it so much that DH bought a cheap, inflatable dinghy off ebay. I have a recurring dream that one of my children is trapped underwater and I can't get to him, so this is a bit close for comfort. However, they both have life jackets and DS is a good swimmer (better than DH, who learnt as an adult), so they have taken sensible precautions. I will just be glad to have them safely back home again.

On with the list.... (house is a tip)

AFternoon all, just popping in between work and school. Further to the Mummy discussion, my two (5 and 7) call us Mum or Mummy, Dad or Daddy, fairly interchangeably. We refer to each other as Mum and Dad (as in tell Dad his tea's ready, not when talking to other people). I call my parents Mum and Dad, have done since fairly young. DD does call me Mamma quite a lot, it is sweet.

Hello PMPY - how are things?

Ought to get on with a few jobs I suppose.....

DS2 glued to the telly, so I am back in the kitchen again. Have a strong sense of deja vu. Where does all the mess come from?

Hi, WhoKnows. 'Mamma' is sweet.

Just opened tumbledrier to find a damp load of towels from a couple of days ago .

Now I have to rewash them all over again, and I expect the tumbledrier smells all mildewy.

Update on my list:

Dress done
B/fast done
D/W done and reloaded
W/M done - loaded twice
S&S done
Shine sink done (always makes me feel good)
Home ed - practise Maths and English on dinghy trip instead
Dry clothes (doing)
Put washing away some
Mission - hall
Email headteacher about SATs done
Lunch done
Helping friend with CV postponed till tomorrow
Dinner - chicken cacciatore forgot to take chicken breasts out of freezer, but have found a frozen chicken I can cook from frozen
D/W
Shine sink again
Tesco online order
Bedtime routines
Before bed routine
Sleep

Have also spent 5 mins on my kitchen hotspot, wiped down the cooker top and returned various toys and bits to their rightful places. DS2 is still happily watching CBBC.

Have made a cup of tea and am going to do 15-min room rescue in our bedroom now. Then, depending on DS, will mop kitchen and bathroom floors and tackle the hall. The house won't feel quite so disgraceful then.

Hi everyone, hope you had a good day.

Toffee, I had to laugh at the lego potty! Just the sort of thing ds1 would do, though he insists on one of us getting up with him if he needs the toilet overnight .

Update on my list:

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

Also need to chase DH to call insurance company done (whether he has actually called is another matter).