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!

The ginormous ironing pile has been there for at least a week, but slowly dwindling because I've decided to wear most of it without ironing it, and kind dh has ironed lots of his shirts to Bach. Ds1 has got through 4 teeshirts before I got the chance to iron them - hurrah

Morning all! Having a moral/ flying dilemma here. Ds is at friends, dd will be going to cm's for the morning. House is relatively tidy but ds's room badly needs sorting. I will have 4 hours to myself. Do i crack on with ds room whilst i have no dc's or do i lounge around in blissful peace and do what i want to do which is absolutely nothing. I know what i should do....

nettie as far as a ds is concerned, contrary to everyone else, i have to say we got ds one for his 5th birthday and he loved it. I was worried he would play on it 24/7 but after the initial excitement wore off, it went down to far more acceptable usage. Games can be found quite cheap on ebay and by getting pre-owned copies.

Am going to drink coffee and ponder my dilemma.

Morning all
Nettie Ds1 has just turned 4. We got him a dsi for his birthday. It was a toss-up between that and a bike. We decided on the ds because all his friends have one and he was asking for one.
He loves it! I have to restrict usage though, or he'd be on it all day.
ellie Do it the FLY way. Set a timer, 15mins, bang, done. Do 15 mins in their bedroom, then sit down and chill out, watch telly or read a book/mag, then after a decent amount of time to yourself, if you want to go back, 15mins and then sit down again.
I am always amazed at how much I can actually get done in 15 minutes.
Now to compose my to do list.
BRB

Hello waves to all

Just a quickie phone post as am off to actual work this morning - albeit with DS in tow

Don't know when I'll return so not much flying going on today methinks!

Hope people have a nice FLYte!

Right, here we go

TO DO
Shower and dress
Swish and swipe
Boys to get dressed
Make beds
Put away washing
Washing machine on
Tesco
Post letters
Writing tasks with boys
Number songs
What's for dinner?
Clean kitchen (tonight)
Hoover
Mop
Lay out tomorrows clothes (tonight)
Organise boys closet
Bleach grouting in bathroom (15mins)

That'll do for today. Plus I want to go on a walk with the boys and maybe to the park. I also said we'd play pop-up pirate later and get the bubbles out.

Silvery - I have Pop-up Pirate envy :) DC declared themselves too old for it recently but I couldn't part with it so it is in the loft. We used to play it ALL the time when they were littler. However discovered Cranium Cadoo whilst in loft, brought it down and much hilarity ensued last night - seems to be a cross between Pictionary, Rapidough and Charades with a bit of a treasure hunt thrown in as well! I think it may become another favourite.

Nettie - we got DS a scooter for his 5th birthday too. A Maxi-micro to replace his very well-worn Mini one. Great for getting to school and should last until he is 12! DD did get a (second-hand ebay) DS this year for her 8th birthday. Will be trying to hold out that long with DS but might not make it. However I am a bit of a dinosaur mean mummy when it comes to electronic things.

Got most of my list done yesterday (not that it was very long) though have only just tackled email to friend re kitchen and need to sort insurance out today. So to do:

• Up, washed, dressed, fed etc in some sort of order
• Washing on
• Sort out some paperwork
• Insurance
• Make brownies to test oven - had new thermostat and element put in a while ago after element blew up (again!) but oven temp seems very low. Brownies used to cook exactly right in old oven so will see if its my imagination. Also means can take brownies to picnic
• Make rest of picnic
• Picnic with friends
• Chowder for tea (posh name for leftover chicken stew with extra things added :))
• 10 mins with DD in her room
• 10 mins with DS in his room
• Remind nag DH to sort out somewhere to go on Friday night for my birthday as managed to get babysitter
• Ironing later

That's more than enough for a holiday day :)
Enjoy your day whatever you are up to.

Right, done so far:
Stripped beds
Cleaned bin tops
Rescued kitchen from aftermath of 2nd batch of chutney!
Washing done and on line
Boys to CM
Picked blackberries on way home :)
Picked raspberries from garden :) :)

To do:
Work!
Dusting
Bathroom cabinet
Filing
Declutter spare room/office
Tidy bedroom
Collect boys
Zumba!

Ellie - agree with Silvery 15 min slots is the way to go.
Feet - enjoy your picnic and hope the brownies work. I can't wait for my new oven when the new kitchen is finally installed. Mine is very unreliable.

done
so far
spoke to mum on phone
fed children breakfast
got 3 dcs dressed (more troublesome than you might think considering their ages
taken ds2 to drama with lunchbox which I forced him to watchmemake make ditto empty out yesterday's lunchbox
did mega recycling pile/rubbish collection kerbside
made complex playdate arrangements for today involving someone waiting for their computer to be mended etc etc before dropping child off etc etc -

now going to put remaining children in car and attempt to meet someone at the swimming pool
then I promised ds1 we would go to a film this afternoon Mr Popper

Elllie I'm with you that 15 minutes can generally lead to 4 hours, one gets sucked in, and it seems a terrible shame to spend one's free time doing housework.
Right I am going to do 15 mins before I leave for swimming pool.

Good morning.

Blue - I managed the 'bed at a decent hour' babystep last night and feel so much better for it today .

Done so far...

B/fasts
Get everyone dressed (and avoid being spotted by builders over the road who are on the roof opposite, which means they can look directly into our bedroom )
Unload d/w
Reload d/w
Shine sink
Wipe counters
Swish and swipe in bathroom
Get DS1 to have a bath

To do:

Persuade DS1 to try on his new school uniform and check it all fits
Put some washing away (I'm not very good at this step)
Make beds
Room rescues
Take DS2 to the dentist to have his filling replaced for the third time
Lunch
Plan packing for holiday (love this!)
Later, when DH is back - go shopping for new clothes

That'll do. Ellie - I agree with Silvery: do your jobs the Flylady way by just doing 15 min bursts.

Any hints on what to do with a whiny five-year old who says he's bored all the time? It's driving me maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad! I have suggested playing, drawing, reading, even cleaning (I can try!), but he's still lying next to me, moaning. And it's not as if he hasn't had any attention: I cuddled up in bed with him and chatted and read first thing this morning.

What he wants is telly - and I'm refusing to put it on.

Grrr.

RE 15min bursts leading into 4 hours because of getting sucked in, this is why a timer/alarm is really useful.
Set the timer and when it goes off, just stop.
Don't let yourself think you're going to do all of it, don't let yourself think about how much there is to do. Tell yourself there is 15 minutes worth to do.

Toffee I'd put the telly on but then our telly is rarely off

Toffee painful though it is when you want to get on with the chores, I always find dd is less demanding after we have been out somewhere. She definitely settles more easily to play on her own after that. It's annoying though, because I always want to do chores in the morning, then go out in the afternoon knowing that the boring work for the day has been done. But if we go out in the morning, we usually come back hungry, which usually leads to lunch, which usually leads to a sit down after lunch and chores don't get started until mid-way through pm. But if all else fails, you can then put the telly on for a limited time knowing that they have already had fresh air etc. Sympathies though!!!!

Blue am envious of your access to berries!! Thanks for humungous round-up!

Ellie I agree with others and would go with intermittent 15 min bursts. When I have free time to myself, I always ruin it by trying the perfectionist thing and scheduling in loads of stuff I should do, ignoring any leisure time for myself, and then can't live up to it and end up feeling far worse than if I had just done half and half for example.

Nettie I agree with you that 5 is a tad young for a ds (but I'm an old fashioned harridan a bit of a luddite about these things) Dh and I had a battle about getting dd one when she was 7 and he won! Having said that, I have been surprised and impressed by all the things it can do: voice recording, distortion of photos, framing photos, games, brain training, dictionaries etc etc etc. DD absolutely loves it (time has to be rationed strictly) I have recently been initiated in to the mysteries of Mario cars...

Swan I hadn't thought of trying dd out with the ironing ..[SC checks house fire insurance cover ) we are still negotiating our chore lists [sigh] Might take a leaf out of your dh's book and put on some Bach though ....

Taking things very leisurely here. This morning (after visiting three shops) we finally found a lunch box with the right sort of horses on [allelulia]

Still washing in preparation for hols. Dh is now saying we are going tomorrow or on Saturday

DD hungry so had better go and slap on some beans on toast for lunch
so sorry no more personals but waves to Fuzzled Feetheart Silvery OM MC Linzer PA Ihate and eveyrone else I've missed! Enjoy the sunshine!

Sunshine? You've got sunshine?

Afternoon all

Toffee A big hit for me this holiday has been chalk on the patio - DD has loved it when she is on her own and with her friends. I've also saved some boxes etc and let her do junk modelling like she does at school - in fact she has spent hours doing all sorts of cut and stick.

Can't remember who was asking at DS's but I have one which DD has played with since she was 4. She wants a pink one of her own but I have to say, even though she has some games for it, its not played with nearly enough to justify buying one for her. I would opt for a scooter - we got her the scooter for her 5th birthday and she is on it all the time, she scoots to school sometimes, takes it to the caravan, takes it on holiday and plays with it with her friends. (I hope I remember the other option was a scooter)

Ok well got all my flying list done yesterday but not doing so well today. DH is home (Not sure why as he should be at work) and hes getting under my feet. Was going to the gym this morning but after my sickness bug at the weekend I cancelled as just don't have the energy. I am just about to head of for my swimming lesson though and have dropped DD off with GPs for the day. Later DD has a trial session at the karate/gymnastics/dance thing that she went to on Monday - Sounds a bit like karate to music to me but we shall see.

Jobs for today

• DD to GPs - Done
• Swimming
• Post office to post another book
• Pick up DD and take to dance class
• Make meatballs for tea
• hoover lounge
• clean kitchen
• pack for a few nights in caravan - We have a caravan about 1/2 hour away near Sherwood Forest so thought we would go for a few days. Hopefully we will get off tonight, if not tomorrow morning

Right better get off as have to be at swimming in middle of town for 1pm. back later

Just popped in to say "hello",(i'm on the babysteps FlyLady thread) Just wanted to say what an inspiration you all are. I'm amazed at how much you all manage to get done. I know SilveryMoon from another thread I used to be on.
I'm not making much progress today as dd was up at 4.00am so I'm a bit tired.
I only joined MN this year so am quite new to it all but It's good to see how other mums manage and have someone to "talk" to if you know what I mean.

Hiya canistaysane How are you? I've been there with the 4am starts, and yes, whilst this phase goes on, try not to push yourself to do too much.
The babysteps are ideal, just concentrate on 1 thing a day.

Afternoon. Peace and quiet about to end as am about to go and pick dc's. I opted for 15 min bursts in the end and did surprisingly well. Amazing how much i can do when there is no-one around to bug me .

Ta da list:-

Vacuum throughout downstairs
Beds made
S/s bathroom
Washing on ( only 2 loads to go and then there will be none left!)
General tidy downstairs ( so much more rewarding when it stays tidy)
Washing up

Back later!

nettie question who actually wants the ds. Ds or DH? Ds was bought one for christmas (second hand one) by his dad, which being nearly 6 ds loved. He played obsessively for a couple of weeks and now barely uses it. The only time we have a fight is about usage in the car. This is when the ex lets him use it whilst i have a no ds in car rule. Other then that the only other problem with have is with no leaving the games everywhere. Personally I think that getting a scotter for his birthday and the ds for christmas perhaps is the best route and one that your DH with probably compromise to. Although please ask him if he wants to play on one

I must have aced the early night babystep last night. went to bed at 4pm, slept til 3:30am got up for about 2 hrs and then went back to sleep. Only got up with my alarm at noon. Much needed, although still really tired.

Today's list:
Get up
Dentist to have fallen out filling replaced.
Finish emptying ds' room
finish new project topper
Perhaps quilt the new project topper and the other finished topper.
Perhaps Machine apply edging strips.
And some more inches to the scarf.
Early night.

Oh and at some point I need to do laundry.

We have sunshine. we have a gorgeous sun rise this morning. tried to take a picture of it but the camera being to clever means it looks nowhere as near stunning as it was :(

Hi Canistaystane - you're very welcome to join us here too. :)

Have done downstairs and dusting. Now need to do the study and bedroom. I find the 15 min bursts very useful as I do flying and work on the same days. Being desk-based, when I need to get up and move around and have a screen break, I can get on with a quick burst of FLYing.

In a fit of contrariness, I have decluttered the utility room instead of the study. Now there's a pile by the back door which needs to go in the shed!

< thinks if canistaysane could also see elliepac household, she would also not be impressed>

I have a 2 bedroom flat, so not as much to do as if we lived in a house

Silvery I had forgotten what sunshine looked like!! Still v. humid though unfortunately.

A warm welcome to CanIstaysane Hope you are able to catch up on sleep tonight!

Thanks for the tips re DS's whininess. Silvery - our telly was getting a bit like that too, which is why I was being tougher about it today. Still - you are right about getting out first but, like you, I always want to get the chores over with first. Can't stand coming back to a messy house. Makingchanges - chalk is a great idea, so long as I can hide it from DH (he has a phobia of chalk - honestly! It makes him sick!). The junk modelling is a good idea too, especially (for me) if I get DS to do it outside.

I find balancing the DC's needs with the demands of the house really hard these days. There just seems to be so much that needs doing in the house all the time .

However, DS2 did settle down to not having the telly on eventually, although I did have to put up with a lot of whining and "I'm bored!" first. Eating helped, plus going out for a futile trip to the dentist (see below).

Updated list:

Persuade DS1 to try on his new school uniform and check it all fits done - he's too skinny for most of it! Am reordering smaller sizes and returning some
Put some washing away (I'm not very good at this step) done!
Make beds done
Room rescues
Take DS2 to the dentist to have his filling replaced for the third time done, but it turned out the appointment is for tomorrow
Lunch done
Plan packing for holiday (love this!)
Later, when DH is back - go shopping for new clothes going in half an hour

Right, off to do another online order for school uniform now.

Just spotted Canistay - hello there! I also remember 4am starts - just awful. It makes the day so, so long. It also means that you don't have much energy left for housework, so don't be too hard on yourself. Am rather sorry to have such a disappointingly short list today. I'll try to impress you tomorrow .

Afternoon.

TO DO
Shower and dress done
Swish and swipe done
Boys to get dressed done
Make beds done
Put away washing done
Washing machine on done
Tesco done
Post letters done
Writing tasks with boys done
Number songs done
What's for dinner? I know, just have to cook it later
Clean kitchen (tonight)
Hoover done
Mop done
Lay out tomorrows clothes (tonight)
Organise boys closet done
Bleach grouting in bathroom (15mins) Couldn't find my cleaning toothbrushes, so decided to shine up the floor with window cleaner instead done

Suppose I'd better try to interact with my children.........or just leave them in front of the telly so I can MN