Fledglings flying though July into the summer.

[ColdHeartedBitch]

Roll up, roll up. tis the month of school fetes, sports days and annual reports. In all this flurry of extra activities and with the summer holidays hurtling towards us at rapid speed, now is the time to tame the chaos before our very special chaos creators are able to help us. Fully intending to beat the Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome so that my personal chaos creator can be occupied by others this holiday. Good luck to all to are also striving to achieve this.

Starting from the 1st of the month we shall be fluttering our way to tamed houses. If you are new to the system it is recommend that you focus on making the babysteps your main focus. The babysteps will build up to form routines to help you to stay on top of the house once you have discovered it. First step is to shine your sink. But not just half heartidly, deep clean til it shines Instructions here

For the more established flyer we then progress onto decluttering. 15mins each day in alloted zone of the week. New zones each week. and current zones and decluttering instructions can be found here Zones will automatically update for July.

As for the advanced flyer, there are missions to do each day in the current zone

We have one rule we are NOT perfectionists anything is better then nothing, real life gets in the way and we have to do other stuff other then cleaning (put it on your list, tick it off and :) ), besides the fat fairy's moto is "You are never behind"

As such take the vomit inducing cuteness of the website with a pinch of salt, and join us for wish lists formally to do lists , ta da lists and home bleurghs.

See you bright and early tomo although hopefully not too bright and early.

makingchanges am I understanding in ADs making you ill coming off them? I've had that problem before so last time I came off them REALLY slowly - like if I took say 1 tablet a day then for a week or so I've cut the tablet and have 3/4 tablet, then reduce to 1/2 tablet for a week or so etc etc. The whole process took me a couple of months but was far better side effect wise

must look up this cherry website after posting

so far ta da

-dw emptied and reloaded
-walk with dd
-washing load on, previous washing load hung up
-bathed
-tidied bedroom
-dusted bedroom
-polished chestof drawers and wardrobe in bedroom
-started vacuming bedroom
-cleaned bedroom windows
-sewn up a hole in one of my dresses
-online supermarket order done
-arranged go apt re: coil problems

still need to
-finish hoovering (once dd goes to sleep)
-sort out tea
-finish dusting
-change bedsheets

feel like I've done pretty well today considering the lack of sleep from last nights chaos of dd screaming the place down most of the night

Phew. The DCs have gone to after school club, so I have taken the opportunity to blitz the boudoir, I have clearly been ignoring this zone for far too long. An hour's worth of picking up stuff, dusting, and hoovering every nook and cranny and it looks - a tip. Because I put all the stuff I picked up on the bed. However I threw away all the rubbish, put away DS's school books from last year which have been languishing in a carrier bag under the bed for a year . The stuff that is left is mainly clothes and books, I will have to put them away before I go to bed.

I have felt fairly on top of the daily and weekly routines and decluttering the last few months, but the actual deeper cleaning, ie missions - no. Just hasn't been getting done. In this case I just thought if I didn't get it done before the holidays I never would. Phew.

Just time for a quick cuppa and bit of MN paperwork before getting the DCs.

Tulip - enjoy your dreamhouse . I often stand at estate-agent windows and choose fabulous farmhouses and manor houses to live in when I'm rich. Then come back to earth with a bump a few minutes later.

Well, EOW did turn up to take DS to secondary school, but DS wouldn't go without me so I went too. He did really well there. I sat in reception, whilst DS explored the school and met his form tutor. I think he was proud of himself because he's been in a really good mood ever since and has been lovely to his little brother.

DH is home - and I'm on MN again. Oops.

Have decided tomorrow is housework day as we have nothing else planned.

It's a farmhouse I'm hankering after Toffee

And it's on the market currently at £599,999

Kinda breaks our £130k budget eh?

evening folks!
MC I found it hard going getting off Ads but was glad I stuck with it in the end. It did take a few weeks to feel totally right though. Try to take it as easy as poss for next few weeks if you can.

GUIE glad you had a good sleep

tulip I remember that feeling once not long after making attempts to flutter when my sister (super clean and tidy) turned up V unexpectedly and for once the house wasnt a TOTAL tip! Gald you enjoyed visit.Oh and farmhouse sounds fab

toffee glad visit to new school went OK. he is right to be proud!

cobwebs poor you and ds...hope he's better soon

PA hope packing is going ok

EP oh...countdown..yay!

whoknows well done on zone cleaning _ I also never seem to get round to it!

reastie well done on productivity in face of sleep deprivation!

ok, well I have had irritating day. Am now truly frazzled , as are all dc.
Started the day with an argument with school secretary who refused to tell me who would be teaching which classes next year (using standard line of " it will be on the next newsletter) so I reminded her it was only 3 days till the end of the year and not unreasonable I should want to know who would be teaching my DC next year...still didnt tell me though so now need to find time to ring HT...again...sigh

Then went to work and had lots of frustrations to deal with there.

Whilst at work made quick phonecall to LEA to ask if they had received my request for an assessment as I had not heard from them....woman went to check and told me it had arrived today - even though I posted it on JUNE 22nd!!! AS IF! and of course, conveniently now they tell me they wont have time to get info needed form school, and tried to tell me that they may then have to automatically turn down my request to ensure they made a decision in the required 6 weeks!! I pointed out that according to the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice there were times when the 6 week period could be extended eg when it fell over the summer hols (I had the joy of memorising most of SENCOP when I was battling for a statement before LOL) and that they could refuse if they wanted on those grounds, but that would make it easier for me when it came to Tribunal as SENCOP also states it is the LEAS responsibilty to obtain relevant info.....
So onwards and upwards with that battle!

Have done little FLYing really other than basics

however from last nights list - done
Have sorted Nanny's final payment figure
informed Nanny Tax people of leaving date
arranged ds nursery visits

and have managed a quick 3.7 mile run...although was a battle to make myself get out there rather than just collapsing when I got in!

Tonight need to:
Put load in WM
tidy kitchen
early night!

BBtomorrow

OFM Wow I bet they weren't expecting you to know what you were talking about and I can imagine were pretty shocked - Good luck with the request though

reasties - Yes withdrawal from ADs making me ill. Am annoyed with myself for allowing the doc to put me back on them 6 months ago when I was having a busy time with uni and back and forward to hospital with various illnesses and conditions - Doc convinced it was anxiety or depression and I was convinced that I was just knackered but in the end was so deperate to feel better. Cue 6 months of fighting to come off them and finally got a doc to agree, followed her advice re cutting down but yep feeling generlly unwell, queasy, dizzy and tired and like my eyes don't focus. But I'm not givingin and going back on so I'm gonna have to put up with it.

Anyway, not much done today - made a few phone calls and done some shopping for bits and bobs toiletries wise for hols. Other than that focused on paperwork and resting.

Tomorrow I have a swimming lesson - Hoping that this will beok as I actually felt better after a little swimming on Saturday.Other than than a little tidying and just school pick up. Have warned DH that not feeling too good and to give me time - whether he does or not i'm taking it.

Other than that joined slimming world online today as well. Desperately in need of some work and help in losing weight and put on over a stone whilst on placement will spend next few days getting that in my head and then will start on friday when I get weighed again at the gym :(

Ok DH has gone out (again)and DD has gone to sleep so I am going to do another bit of paperwork and bed by 10.

Hope everyone is ok - sorry for lack of personals and self-indulgent post- Back tomorrow

Linkies

Babystep is regular laundry doing

15mins decluttering in the master bedroom or the mission which will be updated here tomo.

wednesday is antiprocrastination day

Trying to mn via new phone but v tiny atm! Busy day tomorrow and got appt with kitchen people on top of it all. Will catch up on pc later. Night all!

Can't fucking sleepin. Need to be up and functioning in less then an hour. Not good. crazy day planned too. :(

Can't believe you've all chatted your way through 10 pages while I've been away! Had a very quick read through last night but have forgotten most of what I read, although a) am very of online shopping, and b) I feel inspired to reread FlyLady's book.

We had a lovely holiday - perfect weather and very relaxing. I managed to finish Couch to 5k while we were away (although had to get up rather early to avoid the worst of the heat) as well as all the books I'd taken except for Wolf Hall (which would probably have lasted me throughout the entire holiday).

Will probably be very busy with work today, although I was expecting it to arrive last night and it still isn't here yet. Have an appointment with the dental hygienist at 9 am so hopefully it will have arrived by the time I get back. Also have lots of unpacking and washing to do, but DH is still off work today so he can take care of most of it.

Morning everyone! Hope everyone is ok. Feel bad for not catching up properly for ages but i will make up for it next week. Pinky promise .

The meeting with ds teacher went quite well and i feel more informed and reassured now. Socially he is fine. He doesn't have a massive circle of friends but he does have one close one that i knew of and apparently does not seem to be on his own at playtime or anything so whoknows i think the situation might be similar to your ds. Academically, it turns out that they reassess when he started junior school and he was assessed to be under the levels that the infant school gave him, massaging of figures to meet sats ks1 averages i suspect . So he has made progress although still below average. His teacher was lovely about him and said that he was a joy to teach and gave me some practical strategies to work on at home with him and said she had no concerns. On the one hand it seems ridiculous to worry about levels etc at 7 but i know how much they are judged on them as they progress and i just want him to be the best he can.

My mum made an interesting point. I have always said that ds is mr average/ slightly below average ability who will do well because he works like a trojan. Mum pointed out that if he had been born just 9 days later, he would be in a different school year and his levels would put him in the above average ability range. Interesting the effect being late august and consequently the youngest in his year group ( he is actually the youngest in his whole school) can have on academic perceptions.

Anyway, better go and get sorted. Have a nice day everyone!

Glad you got that sorted Ellie, these levels cause so much stress, I am keeping well away from the Primary Education board at the moment, all this is a level 3 OK for my 6 year old stuff, aargh. I take comfort from the fact that DH did nothing remarkable at school till he got to 6th form, then went on to !st class honours, a PhD and a successful career.

Well done to keep the running going Linzer, saw your post on the other thread, that is an impressive time for 5k, takes me at least 40 mins. I'm struggling to fit mine in at the moment, only manage one or twice a week so my progress has ground to a halt.

Better go,

Morning ladies,

Ellie - DD1 is an August child and I swear it had a huge bearing on so many things throughout her education, socially and educationally. I would never recommend anyone have an August baby - sex should be banned in November! I realise this will not be any comfort to you, but DD1 will be 20 next month and she is now far more on a par with her old school friends. She had moved out of home and has had 2 years of living in the big wide world, which has meant that she is now far more mature than them.

Linzer - welcome back. Hope the work turns up.

BES - enjoy your new phone.

MakingChanges - ((hugs))

Whoknows - It is lethal to stop and look at a room when you are in that middle stage of "worse before it gets better". Hope you got it all sorted and it now looks all dreamy!

Toffee - I am pleased that DS1 seemed happy after his school trip. Thats a big step for him.

Tulip - I will join you with the house dreaming. I do also dream about all the things we wanted to do to our house, but ran out of money many years ago!

OFM - You go girl!! I am, unfortunately, well practised in the LEA arguments. I am now so relieved that all that is now, mostly, behind us. It took many many hours of my time over the years. I would say the best thing I did was to be prepared and pre-empt anything they might throw at you. Although the LEA/Schools are expert at throwing in the most random, pointless arguments, that you could never prepare for! It does seem to un-nerve them if they see that you know what you are talking about and start talking about policies etc. I swear I knew more about one schools policies, lack of and omissions than the head did! He did not like me asking awkward questions, but gave us a good headstart in the discussions!

Right, well yesterday went fairly well at work again. I have finished job No 3 for a few weeks and I even got paid!! (Boss man is lovely, but a bit sporadic in remembering to pay me and I am hopeless at reminding him, so not all his fault. I do get it all eventually, just not regularly!)
DH and I had a huge disagreement. He wanted to arrange for our house to be valued on the day after we return from holiday. His thinking, which I have to admit is a fairly good point, is that the house will be tidy before we go away and the lady who is going to be here while we are away will probably be better at maintaining it al la flylady than me! However this went down like a tonne of bricks!!! Also, what about the mount everest of washing that I am going to return with. Holiday washing for 7!!! Can you imagine???? Will I want to get up and be nice to Mr Smarm Estate Agent the day I get back? Then DH suggested, as a compromise that we organise it for the day we go!! The air was slightly blue I tell, you!!! Won't I have enough to do? Will he pack ANYTHING?????? NO NO NO!!!! I am not prepared to do an AIBU, so dont mention it unless you all agree with me!! (I fear I might be being slightly U, and sort of agree with DH, but have now put my foot down and I dont want to back down!!)

Already done today:-
Animals fed and watered
Dishwasher "on" button pushed, cos I forgot to last night again
I have taken apart the wetroom drain and bleached it all, removed the disgusting remains of hair (4 teenage girls with long hair, this is the most disgusting job, ever!!)
Showered
Sandwiches

Plan for today:
Get DD4 out of the door on time. Looking possible this morning - YAY!!
Job No1 this morning
Go to pet store and get supplies for while we are away
Sort out washing
Sort out bedroom drawers
Nag DS to sort out his clothes
Nag DD4 to sort out her room
Tea - not sure what. Maybe hunters chicken, maybe sweet and sour chicken, maybe sweet chilli chicken???????
Work for job 2 to be done this evening at home
Preparation for an important meeting tomorrow
Try and fit in a walk with DH
Watch Tour De France without falling asleep before the end!
Locate some suitcases

Off to it then........

Good morning ladies :)

Not much time as currently grabbing 5mins whilst the dc's get dressed.

Today's Ta Da so far:

• dh & I up and dressed by 6:30
• beds/cot made and curtains opened
• s&s'd
• swept bathroom
• swept kitchen
• wiped kitchen sides
• dc's breakfasts's done
• dd and ds1's packed lunches done
• coffee drunk (with a cheeky bakewell!)

Still to do:

• dress ds2
• wash dishes (including cups from last night )
• vacuum
• a little 27 thing fling in master bedroom
• target and clear any hotspots
• sainsburys delivery coming 2-3, put away
• stay in all day for Next courier for a returned parcel
• write my blog as it's been very neglected lately
• try and fix sewing machine so I can make pretty things (in my continuing aspiration to morph in Cherry)
• bake dh and dc's a surprise cake

Bye for now, I bet I'm back later,

Love to all xx

Hello everyone. My sister was visiting over the weekend, so I didn't have time to post, but we had a lovely time (she's not one to comment on mess).

Ellie I read something in a book called Nurture Shock about whether it was better to let summer-born children start school a year later and they concluded that it wasn't. Apparently they do not usually have long-term problems keeping up with their older classmates and later on they could be disadvantaged by being older when they finish education (by being above age limits for bursary schemes, or internships, and potentially paying into a pension for a shorter time). At least you have no choice in the UK. I will have to decide whether DD is ready for school or not when the time comes (late May birthday, but term starts in August).

Right, today's list:
Weekly home you-know-what (as no time on Mon)
15 min declutter in bedroom
Retrieve bedding and toiletries from attic and clean guest bathroom
Mend clothes currently piled up on bedroom chair
1 hour working on photobook

Better go and get started.

Hello everyone.

Glad you had a good holiday Linzer - hope the work came through.
Ellie / PA - I was v relieved that DS2 held on an extra week to be born in Sept but I don't know if it really makes much difference.

Well I've been to the kitchen design appointment now and slightly about it all. Will be lovely once it's done though. Sigh. Now I have to catch up with work and house bleugh so better be off.

Hello. Huge waves to everyone! Am in Blighty with dd. Riding and walking in glorious countryside and driving on "wrong" side of road (eek!). On nephew's computer so not able to gain access very often/for long. Back Friday night but with attendant hordes so will probably be posting rather infrequently.

Sorry for no personals but thank you for kind words earlier in week when I was in midst of departure frazzle/dh grumblings! Much appreciated!

Hope you are all OK and having productive week. Tally ho! xxxx

WRT to summer babies:

I was worried that my ds1 would be very behind in his class as he was born in July, plus he only started in January and the older ones started last September. But contrary to what I thought he is doing fantastically, he's reading the same book series as his sister in the year above! He has really brilliant brain and you can see the effort and concentration going into all his work.

So proud of him. And he's only just turned 5 this month, so very very very proud of him. Also very proud of his big sister too as she is also doing extremely well, her concentration span just isn't as solid yet.

Tbh I think as much depends on the child as on his/her birthday. Both DD2 and DS have July birthdays, but DS is bright for his age and DD2 has breezed through her first year at school (the fact that she was already reading and writing when she started - very unusual here - definitely helped). DD1 OTOH, whose birthday is in December and so who is one of the oldest in her class, is the one who has really struggled - and still does.

Having said all that, I did hear that boys born between May and August are the most likely to have to repeat a year (you have to pass the year in order to move up). It will be interesting to see how DS gets on when he starts school; he'll be 5 on Sunday, so won't be starting school until Sept. 2012. He definitely doesn't have the concentration span that DD2 did at that age.

Right, must get back to work and not allow myself to be distracted!

Also, it can work the other way round. My friend's DS was born first week of Sept and is the oldest in DS's class. He therefore feels he has to come top in everything and gets very stressed out if he isn't the best.

Linkies***

another babystep i must confess to skipping

15mins decluttering in the master bedroom or the mission here tomo.

Thursday is planning day

evening everyone

having been keeping up all day but not managing to post. Reading with interest the comments on the birthday and school year as have a friend whose dd is born in august and she is worrying about her dd being v young for her year.

Rubbish day here - as toffee might recall I'm having coil probs and my gp thinks I might have to have it removed as it's not agreeing with me :( This is our LAST option on the contraception list . Then came home to find DH accidently turned the freezer off so the masses of cakes I made for my mums big party this week end ruined as are quiches I made for dds christening :( Then, as if that wasn't enough, DD had massive screaming for for TWO HOURS this evening. She's sleeping now, please please let her not wake up and cry . So other than making lots of cakes to replace the others I haven't managed much flying today. Must try harder for tomorrow thoug

evening all
reastie sounds a V not good day - hope tomorrow is better

have only just sat down for the evening....am hanging on by my finger nails, counting the hours till Friday home time!
Have sorted "wheeled toys" for Golden time tomorrow. Thank you card chocs and flowers bought for Nanny (last day tomorrow), thank you cards etc sorted for teachers....
think I may be slightly cracking up as I completed a form at work today and gave it to secretary to type up, and she then pointed out I had done that same form already and given it to her the day before to type!Had only a vague recolection of doing so! and dh says I asked him the same question twice yesterday evening which he thought was unlike me! HELP - my brain may be truely fried!
actually dont feel physically brilliant either - haver been alternating hot and cold all day and just feel generally non specifically unwell...Really should go to bed and sleep, but feel a bit unable to wind down...may try hot choc and a book.....

sorry for lack of individuals...seems more than my poor brain can cope with tonight! Will BB tomorrow , hopefully remotivated after a good night's sleep!

Evening all

Better day today - still feeling off but generally a little improved. Went swimming and felt better for that and had a tidy. Also got an interview on friday for some volunteer work so might focus me a little more.

Tomorrow i am determined to get some more housework done

Evening all. Been a bit of a weird day here with one thing and another but got through it.

Reastie oh no re the freezer and everything! Hope you get a good night.

Hope you can also get a break OM and that you feel better soon.

DS1 has nursery sports day tomorrow and is all upset about the obstacle race for some reason. Need to do bits of shopping, house bleugh and somehow fit in a bit of paid work too. Hmm.

Waves to MC, SC, PA, WhoKnows, silken, Linzer and everyone else!