It's August - can the Fledglings keep FLYing with children underfoot?!

[BlueEyeshadow]

Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome to August's edition of the Fledgling Flyers,
Meine Damen, Mesdames, Ladies! (although any Herren, Messieurs and Gentlemen would be very welcome too, I'm sure, and apologies for the show tunes now lodged in everyone's heads ...)

If you're trying to keep out of CHAOS over the summer holidays, with the dear children creating havoc all around, then pull up a chair, roll up your sleeves and join in the fun.

Fly Lady's website is here, but we don't recommend signing up for the emails unless you want an ironically cluttered inbox. I'll post the links to the information for every day this month and try to keep up with all the chat.

There are babysteps to get you started on forming a routine, and missions to do once each room is decluttered and, as the Fat Fairy says, it's amazing what you can do in fifteen minutes. We'll be starting August in the entrance, front porch and dining room, and sifting the sense from the cutesy language. :)

I notice from the archive that it's the thread's second birthday so I'm sure there'll be cake as well as plenty of , and - virtual, so no calories - along the way. Finally, a big thank you to CHB and Swan for leading us heroically through a hectic July!

Good morning

thanks nicknacks

Quick list post

i am up and dressed but only just.
Coffee on the decking - to do
Supermarket for joint for tea, cereal (dh slept whilst dc munched through all the cereal)
Find raffle prizes for work
find plant for friends 50th party that i cant make.
find present for ds friend
deliver raffle prizes to work, see mother in law, run children ragged on playpark
come home, tidy up and start cooking dinner
I expect ill be flaking with ally mcbeal (robert Downey junior has just turned up. mmmm yum) Each to their own escapism.

Hope you all have a lovely day. Hope to pop back later and catch up properly. (must do before ally mcbeal )

Morning all. I'm posting from my bed as DH has let me have a lie-in as he came home last night announcing that he is playing cricket agsin today (house rule is one day only so can have a family day) not happy as i had plans for this afternoon and he was taking dd to a birthday party. Now i can't do my plans and am on party duty

On the other hand dd is in a great mood as she lost her first tooth last night and the tooth fairy brought her a shiney pound coin she is showing all her friends.

After 3 hours spent defrosting my freezer and cleaning my freezer i think today i might attack the kitchen cupboards today.

To do
Kitchen cupboard clear out
Clean car
2 x loads of washing
Sort dd school uniform so can see what i need to buy next week
Mop kitchen floor
Hoover and clean dining room floor

That will do for now. Can't do personals as on phone will catch up on others at lunch break

Morning all. Didn't post yesterday because i did nothing all day apart from lounge aroundin my pj's and watch movies . Today I am still in my pj's but attempting to get things done.

List looks like this:-

Continue with mountain of washing from holiday.
Research ds bday present
General tidy
Possibly some wall paper stripping

Talking of ds birthday present, does anyone have any recommendations as far as buying bikes are concerned. Was going to go with Halfords but some people havesaid they aren't too good.

Back later.

Thanks for the good wishes for DS1. He is still ill and brought up his medicine when I gave it to him this morning. Nothing I can do about that and, to be honest, he's feeling so rough that I don't suppose we'll be able to tell if it's withdrawal symptoms or the illness. He still has a temperature and his throat is too sore for him to talk so he's communicating through sign language and notes, which can be hilarious and confusing. We have salmon in the fridge for lunch and he wrote 'salmon is very elegant' . He also wrote a note to DH this morning to say, 'I woke up at midnight so I went downstairs and mum was on Mumsnet'. Which is not true! I was in bed and asleep by 11.20! DH says my protests might not stand up in a court of law.

He is tucked up on the sofa, watching 'Bolt' on DVD at the moment, so that's some improvement on yesterday (which he spent sleeping in bed).

We are meant to be relaxing and renewing our spirits today, aren't we? No chance.

To do:

Paint the kitchen (DH) doing
Take stuff to the dump (DH)
Wash DS1's bedclothes
Hoover up indoor wildlife
Print out Menu4Mum's weekly menu
Shopping list for next week
Hang washing on line
Put washing away
Room rescues and hotspots

Hope you all have a nice Sunday.

Hi guys,
there will be no fly-ing here today, I have a hangover the size of a small country! My best friend is emmigrating to New York so was her leaving do last night. Am paying for it big time today. Can't be doing with reading back from yesterday afternoon, will do it tomorrow when my sight is not so blurry
Still though I have managed to:
get up washed and dressed
swish and swipe the bathroom
walk to supermarket with kids
hand dd1 over to dm so I can have a break. She is so cheeky lately and answering back the whole time, I'm just not able for her today!
Make yummy lunch (have gourmet tastes when hungover! quiche and salad today, not crisps like everyone else)

Still to do:
empty and put back on dw
do a wash
nag dp to take out bins when he comes back from work

bleurgh

Sorry you are feeling so rough today, Messy - even if it was self-inflicted. Sorry too that your best friend is emigrating . I'm impressed that you have still swished and swiped - that really has become a habit if you still do it when hungover.

Update:

Paint the kitchen (DH) done - looks lovely and clean now
Take stuff to the dump (DH) done - also got rid of giant black spider living in the cardboard outside our kitchen door . I made him take it all the way to the grassy patch at the bottom of our road, so it wouldn't find its way back here.
Wash DS1's bedclothes done
Hoover up indoor wildlife done
Print out Menu4Mum's weekly menu
Shopping list for next week
Hang washing on line flapping away in the breeze now
Put washing away
Room rescues and hotspots done DS2's bedroom, our bedroom, bathroom

DH took DS2 out to the woods this afternoon, leaving me to tackle the house. Thought I'd start on the 'home blessing' today, whilst I had some partially child-free time (and DS1 too ill to impose, poor thing). The good thing about Flylady is that, instead of despairing when I look at the mess, I simply start doing my routines and, somehow, the important stuff gets done along the way.

Just off to tackle the kitchen, which definitely needs a crisis clean. Will start with a shiny sink, of course...

Haven't been on here this week, as the new work/home balance is not working very well atm, and it would have been a long series of winges and moans. Will be back next week if life gets a bit better.

Ah, Toffee - I had been meaning to ask if you were still doing the Menu$Mums things, how's it going?

Ellie - I would steer well clear of Halfords and go for a local independent if you can find one. Halfords bikes are very heavy and cheaply made, plus most of the staff aren't very clues up (IMO). Our nearest independent isn't very child friendly TBH, but you can tell that by looking in the window, no child's bikes on display, all serious grownup stuff. The one in the next town is much better. Maybe PA will have more knowledge, as her DH is such an enthusiast.

Ellie We got ds' bike 2 years ago from decathlon. it was able to have stabilisers and go on proper mountain biking trails. The brakes were basic disk at the back which impressed the bike obsessed ex. Ds has totally trashed it throwing it around. riding straight off curbs. it has lasted really well and is in such good condition that we are likely to be able to sell it on when he gets a new bike.

Having a sleep through it day. Been up for an hour or two, but heading back to bed. hopefully will feel better tomo got loads to do with an early start.

WhoKnows - haven't done very well with the Menu4Mums thing over the holidays, but I'm still printing out their stuff as I can use it later. I'm intending to use it next week at least.

CHB - glad you are catching up on sleep. Hope you feel better tomorrow.

Have done a good clean-up job on the kitchen. I really couldn't be arsed, but re-read Flylady's 'crisis clean' notes, then put some spices on to cook on the hob, played some nice music, and set to work, using the 15-minute per job rule. It worked. I now have a tidy kitchen .

DS's throat is really painful. I remember having glandular fever at 19 (thanks to a romance with an Irishman on holiday ) and am wondering if he might have tonsillitus, which is similarly painful. We don't have any dissolvable asprin or throat sprays. He's tried gargling with salt and also with honey and hot water, but nothing helps. He says it's unbearable. Poor boy. Think I'll take him to the doctor tomorrow, if only to get something to relieve the symptoms. I'm going to pop him into a hot, steamy bath tonight, before putting him to bed in clean sheets. A dose of Calpol might help.

If anyone has a magic cure for sore throats that I haven't thought of, let me know!

Evening all

Hope DS feels better soon Toffee Glad you got some sleep CHB sounds like you needed it.

Not a good day today. Had breakfast and started to feel unwell. DH went off to cricket and I ended up in the bathroom all morning. This turned into vomiting with dd 'looking after me' whilst asking what was going to happen about the birthday party.

Rang FIL to come and take her to party, which he did (Only lives 5 mins away) and then rung me to pick her up as he wanted to go and watch DH play cricket (Even though I was 'in the bathroom' when he left with dd). When I got there she'd been 'looked after' by a school friends mum and was crying as she though FIL has gone for a walk and didn't know who was picking her up.

So now I'm fuming with DH for going to cricket and FIL for not staying for the party or at least letting dd know and feel rubbish cos I've had to go to get dd from the party.

Anyway no flying done here. I'm going to put dd to bed at 8pm and then go myself. Hopefully its just dds 24 hour bug that she last last week and i'll be better tomorrow.

Hope everyone else had a good family day. Back tomorrow (sorry for rant)

(blush at major typos in last post, including peoples names in wrong place)

Good evening all

Firstly my list and my tada list.

i am up and dressed but only just.
Coffee on the decking - to do-done
Supermarket for joint for tea, cereal (dh slept whilst dc munched through all the cereal)-done
Find raffle prizes for work-done and delivered
find plant for friends 50th party that i cant make.-not yet
find present for ds friend-done
deliver raffle prizes to work, see mother in law, run children ragged on playpark-done
come home, tidy up and start cooking dinner with lovely homegrown runner beans-done
I expect ill be flaking with ally mcbeal (robert Downey junior has just turned up. mmmm yum) Each to their own escapism.-not yet.

tada list

s/s
swept floors 4x
tidied up bedrooms x 3
tidied up dinner dishes
dinner for us and inlaws, had chat with mother in law about her doing work and how much she will do- very productive, prevent overdoing and shouting
dinner in slow cooker for tomorrow [proud of me grin]

still to do
washing of swimming stuff if nothing else so ready for tuesday swim lessons

fuzzled hope you day was nice and easy and lil one sleeps just as well tonight. My friend came away on a 4 day break and forgot tops! Cue dash out to shops to buy some Worse than forgetting pants i think. lol
blue i love the inspired to do a major packing list. (i shall shelve this very good idea till about a week before when in a mad panic to claw everything together )
toffee sorry to hear ds1 is ill. I hope he is a bit better today and missing his meds has not affected him.

Huge waves to swan, whoknows nicknacks chb mc ellie and whomever else i have missed. Hope to catch up soon with everyone. Enjoyed reading your exploits today.

Off to research nice plant for garden for friends 50th birthday bash.

Have a lovely evening

Makingchanges - grr on your behalf! Ranting definitely allowed. Sounds as if your FIL was being very insensitive! And I can't say I'd be very happy about my DH leaving me to look after DD when I was ill whilst he watched cricket. I can't believe you were expected to look after DD when you were throwing up in the bathroom. Honestly! I remember the hell of doing the bedtime routine with young DC when you are ill yourself and you have all my sympathy. I hope you manage to sleep tonight and feel better tomorrow.

One of the nicest things a friend ever did for me was whisking my four-year-old DS1 off to her house to have dinner with her DC whilst I threw up at home, then returning him, fast asleep and dressed in her son's PJs. All I had to do was pop him into bed and go back to sleep myself. It was bliss.

Nettie - congrats on a very productive day, including dinner in the slow cooker for tomorrow! I'm impressed.

DS1 fell asleep on the landing (he just lay down and dozed off) and I managed to get him to bed in his clean sheets, but he refused Calpol. He has just woken up and climbed into DS2's bath, which was unexpected, but will do him good, I expect. Am planning to get him to the drs tomorrow, in case it's tonsillitis or something. I don't ever remember him having such a sore throat before.

Nettie - you need www.giftaplant.com/. We bought a lovely roses for ILs golden wedding, they have a plant for every occasion.

Well, it's like a school night here, DCs are going to all day sports club tomorrow, so I'm digging out lunchboxes, trainers, sunhats.

We have had a nice day, shopping and lunch out with the DCs, who were remarkably well behaved in the restaurant (Ask) - DS used to be a nightmare to take out for a meal, fidgeting, talking loudly, fussy eating, knocking things over, provided we make sure there is pasta in tomato sauce, spag bol or pizza on the menu we can take him anywhere now and he is very good (still talks too loudly, but he is very polite to the staff). I'm glad we persisted with doing it, it would have been very easy to never take him out.

Got home, DS and DH wanted to watch the football, DD wanted to go out to our local NT property, which is one of my favourite places too, so we did, it was lovely just having her on her own for a change, the gardens were in full bloom, all was lovely.

Tonight we have been clearing downstairs for the impending arrival of the electrician tomorrow. I have to say it has been a lot easier now that we have less clutter and more storage space. Also put 2 lots of washing out on the line as the electricity will be off from 8am, my routines are going to be back to front this week, washing at night.

MC - hope you feel better tomorrow.

Toffee - hope DS1 is better in the morning, sore throats are so horrible.

Need to go, still got a bit of room clearing to do and I was planning to do some ironing (yawn, perhaps not).

Toffee only just had time to go on computer today! You have all been very busy.

DH who often gets very bad sore throats, swears by children's Nurofen - as he says it hits the inflammation immediately, though it stings a little when you take it.

MC sorry about frustrating cricketers ( I think it is an obsessional sport, my BIL broke his toe last time he played, and still managed another x number of runs without even noticing - mad) My BIL who is th e kindest nicest man, always leaves my DSIS in the lurch when it comes to cricket, and she has given up reproaching him. He used to go away on tours which lasted the entire weekend, at least he's given that up now with three demanding sons.

Fuzzled I am beginning to feel guilty that I don't get up earlier and make most of my (now) unbroken nights.

Was about to feel deeply bad tempered today but Dh took two children to church, leaving me with Ds2, who was unfortunately in a crazy mood (which continued most of the day) I think I need a tapestry in the kitchen or padding to reduce the noise levels
done
kept kitchen tidy
using CHB speak, not killed ds2 whilst I attempted to tidy up
took ds2 swimming, swam 10 lengths
went to Homebase with ds2 (who was admittedly quite helpful) bought various useful things including lawn edging shears, a large fake rattan box to put the recycling in (very chic), and pour encourager, a Union Jack laundry box for ds2, and some more purple gravel
did heavy duty gardening in afternoon
DH played football with ds2
dd playdate here (went wrong because she fell off her bed whilst making it and turned into a invalid whilst poor friend had to read a book...
nitcombed ds1!!
cut my own hair to force myself to go to hairdresser

what an exciting day - anyway not too bad....

Looking forward to taking ds2 to Drama tomorrow, that's all I can say...

Whoknows ours are much better in pizzerias than they used to be. We used to have to sit Ds2 next to the road so that he was distracted by cars! DH always combined a visit to charity book shop to pizzeria so they could read whilst waiting for food to arrive.
Re: lovely afternoon alone with dd - Football has its uses!

Done
also managed to outwit Home Bless by changing ds1's sheet today, while I was I chatting to him, seems much less stressful than doing everything on Monday, and throwing away all the newspapers on Sunday night...
Also did 5 mins fridge clearing.

Cobweb sorry it is difficult. Sunday can be a bad day, when week's chores loom ahead. Look after yourself, and don't expect to be as good at fitting everything in as you will inevitably get with practice. Wot Ellie Said!

Swan - thanks for the tip re Nurofen - I'll try that tomorrow. The charity-shop book idea for getting DSs to calm down in restaurants is useful too (DS2 is still absolutely awful ).

Re: home bless. I have made a start on it too. Couldn't face having it all to do tomorrow, whilst two children made demands on me (although it looks as if one, at least, will be unable to ask for anything).

WhoKnows - thanks for the good wishes for DS1. Glad you had a lovely afternoon with DD.

Ihate - sorry you are struggling. The work/home-life balance thing is bound to take some adjustment. I hope you feel settled in your new job soon.

Both children are sleeping now. I'm going to do a shopping list for DH to collect on the way home from work tomorrow, then go to bed myself.

Night all.

Cobwebs - sorry, missed your post. I was wondering today how you were getting on with the job. I went back to work in Jan after only 18 months at home, with only 10 hours work and all within school hours, and that was quite a re-adjustment, so if I recall, yours is longer hours and you have pre-school DC, so it is bound to take a while. Keep popping back to update us, even if the Flying has taken a back seat. There's always space and in the naughty corner!

Just been outside and seen a beautiful meteor.

Hello everyone! I?d better come and do the round up and stop being tempted to spend money on Amazon?

Not much flying done here today, but did have to do a major clean-up in the kitchen after an incident involving spilt cheese sauce? Yuk! There was still enough left though and everyone ate it so that?s something.

Fuzzled was first up and singing tunelessly tunefully I?m sure. Glad you had such a good night and hope your day continued relaxingly.

Ellie was getting things done in her PJs ? the Fat Fairy wouldn?t like it, but we?ll let you off! We got DS1?s bike in Halfords. DH is generally pretty rude about them but reckoned it was OK for a 4yo. It is heavy though.

Toffee was nursing her DS1, being entertained by his notes and getting things done by way of routines and 15 min tasks. I hope the dr can help. DS2 had tonsillitis and it cleared up v quickly with antibiotics.

MM was flying while hungover ? impressive! Hope you?re feeling better now.

Cobwebs popped in. Come and join us in the Naughty Corner bar -

CHB posted while asleep.

MC was suffering from illness and family. Hope you do feel better tomorrow.

Nettie has been flying, cooking and researching plants. Sounds good!

WhoKnows had a lovely day and has been decluttering for the electrician cometh. re meteor.

swan has been busy ? intrigued by purple gravel! ? and outwitted the house bleugh.

***
So, new zone tomorrow and we?re into the bathroom and one other room. From memory this is often a laundry room?

When it updates the Sneak Peak for the week will be here.

Babystep: Make your bed. This one definitely makes me feel better about our bedroom now.
Mission when it updates.

My plan for tomorrow is shopping, getting through the day with the boys and making green tomato chutney? We?ll see!

Night all. Still no early night. Hey ho.

Morning all! DH back to work today so i can finally get things done without having him getting in my way . Am going to drink some coffee and ponder on my plans today. Will be back to list post when I have pondered.

Coffee in the pot, help yourself .

Morning all
I need to come back to the FLYlady fold.
Can I join?

Today's To Do List
-Shower and dress
-swish and swipe bathroom
-make sure boys get dressed
-wash up from last night
-tidy away/everything where it belongs
-ironing
-hoover
-clean fan in bathroom
-15mins detailed clean in boys bedroom
-hospital appointment
-tesco
-park
-games with boys
-cook dinner
-tidy kitchen
-lay out tomorrows clothes

Right, pondering done.

List looks like this:-

General tidy round all house
House bleurgh
Washing
Ironing
Putting away
30 mins declutter in ds room
Morning routine
Evening routine
Park

toffee i have no handy hints re tonsils but i do hope ds is feeling a bit better this morning

ihate what swan said . Going back to work with pre-schoolers is a huge change and it will take time to get into routines. Please don't beat yourself up about it. There are only so many hours in the day.

Better go and get on. Back later.