Working our way through the babysteps - the new installment of the back to school flylady thread

[Carrotsandcelery]

Hello again everyone! This is the new thread for us as the old one was getting a bit unmanageable.

Well done, LittleMissDD. I think how much milk they drink does make a big difference to how much children eat.

Sounds like you've had a useful morning.

I remembered I wanted to take DS to the walk-in GP centre later to get a rash checked out, so that will write off the afternoon. I'm trying to summon up the enthusiasm to pack up a lunch for him & do some jobs.

Carrots, hope you're busy doing something nice today. :)

Done:
Cleaned shower curtain
Went to market
Had my lunch
E-mailed friend
Sorted out stairgate with DH's help
Freecycled bras - hooray, someone wanted them
Ordered new oven glove.

Onwards and upwards...

Just checking in, I have cleared out the under sink cupboard and now it's all neat and tidy :) all yesterdays list done except mow grass so that's my next job if the weather holds.

car booked in for service
played with DD
dusted conservatory
harvested potatoes and found a place to store them.
yet to make supper.
Yes it must be a stair gate day. Going to remove mine now oh and littleMiss my DD hardly eats as well, they just seem to run on crumbs.

Well today I fly ladied someone else's home today, she's moving and needed to get rid of a lot of things and pack all the things she wants to keep up, we managed he porch lounge and kitchen today and we all extremely pleased with our selves ds2 is going into nursery tomorrow and Friday so we can get even more done!!!!

Evening all, I took dd to get weighed today and it turns out she is doing really well, so I had nothing to worry about. Health visitor said it is normal for her age group to be fussy about what they eat.
I Have done so much today I can't be bothered to list it. I feel like I might need an early night!

Evening all! Sorry I am so late today. I have had a hectic day outside the house and couldn't get Mumsnet to load last night to post babysteps last night.

Our babystep was this which isn't too bad as an evening job

And our mission was this one which is a good reminder as I need to order a repeat prescription.

LittleMiss I wouldn't spend longer than 20 mins on a homework exercise. If it needs longer than that take a break and come back to it or sign it off and explain in your note that it took 20 mins to get as far as you did.

I taught at Secondary level but we were always taught to break up our lessons into chunks of no more than 20 mins, especially for younger or more challenging classes as that was considered the maximum useful attention span. So, even if my class had been writing for 20 mins I might stop them for a couple of minutes to go over a technical point or to discuss a good piece of work I had seen while I was doing the rounds etc and then get them back to work.

Another thing I was taught was brain gym, where we got them to stand up and do a couple of minutes of silly exercise at their desk and then get them settled again. It felt ridiculous but it actually worked and gave us all a good laugh too. Could you stop your dd and get her to do some star jumps and do a bit of "Simon Says" type activities after 10 mins or so to keep her concentration going?

Mine are 6 and 10 - dd, who is 10, is bright but easily distracted. Ds, 6, has a whole host of problems, including being easily distracted, so I have had to be inventive with him.

At this stage you want to keep it fun, positive and encouraging - to make them want to have a go - anything else will be counter productive in the long run.

Good luck with it

Gossip well done helping your friend. It is weird how it is so much easier in someone else's house than it is your own isn't it?

Thanks Carrots we had a parents evening at school tonight so I let him have a night off his homework as it was getting late when we got home. He might have to do it tomorrow night but we will try to break it up into smaller sessions.
ds is 7yrs nearly 8yrs so a similar age to your ds. It's hard to get them to concentrate on something isn't it.

Sorry LittleMiss - you have a ds not a dd - d'oh!

My ds has a very poor concentration span. He is interested in the work usually but has to chat about it, discuss all the what ifs associated with it, fiddle with a bit of lego for a minute or three, and so on.

I have taken to making it a bit more playful. The curriculum up here is moving to a much more hands on, playful one - lots of learning through play and experience.

Obviously, at the end of the day, they have to do whatever it is they have been asked to do but if we have sums or spellings we might write them in chalk on the path in the garden, or stick them on cupboard fronts in big letters for the week or have a go at writing a story at the same time as them, or get them to test me etc. It doesn't always work and I can't always summon it but it generally does help.

What sort of homework is he getting? Maybe we can offer some more specific ideas to help. We generally get spelling and reading but every couple of weeks we get an activity pack - often it just encourages us to interact with a concept rather than just sit and write.

Ah, brain gymn - I'd forgotten that, but it's great.

Haven't done much this afternoon / evening. I need to get out early tomorrow (early for me, anyway! - 8.45!) to take DS to the dermatologist so I need to finish packing up some breakfast for him to eat in the pushchair and get stuff ready to go.

I cringe a bit when I think about it Angel but it wouldn't be so bad with your own dcs would it?

I am just checking in as off to bed in a mo, have had a manic day as usual, no brain gym needed here. I second the attention span thing, the boys I teach are clever, but it is a nightmare getting them to concentrate!

I have a big-ish list tomorrow, and of course lots of work to do....

wait in for cooker man
washing
washing up to put away
clothes to put away
beds changed
shopping, recycling, put food away
work whilst DD sleeps at lunch
hopefully a swim if we are not stuck in all day waiting
declutter my computer files!
cook dinner

plus of course get everything ready for Friday, and more work in the evening.

I have been applying flylady to my classroom, it seems to be going well. have been decluttering every day, then doing set routines when I get in and before I leave, at least when I can. Then I also need to keep on top of my hotspots, of which there are too many to mention!
I might even begin to use it for planning, using a routine for getting all the work done might help to keep on top of it all I hope!

ou know, I worried that having routines and set days for doing things might make me boring or somehow a bit too set in my ways, but actually I think it is making life easier to plan, a I am not having to get up on a Saturday and look at the house with despair, I used to do that every week, and get really angry about it too. DH does seem to be helping more too - although his side of the bed is still a no-go zone! I am ignoring it..some mountains are just too big to climb..

Night all, an earlyish one for me for once.

Oh carrots I was ruthless, her kids school books art and colouring books all went in the bin, nearly chucked out the home made cards her boys had drawn for her too but she saved them at the last minute. (I am now wondering if she is at home now, sifting through all the bin bags to make sure I haven't thrown out any more things she wants to keep, lol).

Hi all, I need to go and rescue my kitchen, I had such a busy day yesterday that the washing up has got out of hand again (sorry to bore you about it again). To make things worse I'm expecting visitors in about an hour and there are no cups left.AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH
Better go and set my timer!

Morning everyone! I am struggling to type as the dog seems to be in need of cuddles this morning. He is a collie so not a small beast. He also keeps resting his head on the keyboard making it do funny things

One day off and the house is in CHAOS again. Arrghh! And I have an exercise class this morning so time is limited. I have also sold my first ebay items and want to get them in the post asap so it is busy, busy, busy.

So far I have:
washed and dressed to shoes
made packed lunches
argued with stroppy 10 year old
taken the dcs to school
chatted to other mums for far too long
picked up some shopping
loaded the dishwasher

To do:
sort out some info for a friend
label all the stuff I hope to sell in the sale at the weekend
wrap my ebay sales
declutter the kitchen
put a wash on
do some ironing
today's babystep Yay!
today's mission here

I think that is more than enough for one day

Oh, and I have chocolate digestives and I am willing to share with everyone who flys today

Have just realised I have already done the mission as dd had covered the tops with sudocrem last night. She is 10 fgs!

Chocolate digestives, that's an incentive to do some Flying!
I'll be off to set my timer again!

Mmmm...chocolate.

Well done on the Ebay sale, Carrots.

I didn't shine my sink last night and I could really tell the difference this morning. The kitchen was a state and it made me feel exhausted. It's still a pigsty now, so I'm off to set my timer.

To do later:

• ring nappy shop
• make cookies
• put away dry washing
• file paperwork
• make dinner
• maybe make soup (if DS is in the mood to cook)

I am struggling today. I think I wore myself out yesterday trying to cram too much in. So I'm only going to do the bare essentials today.
The weather is nice here today.

Sorry to hear you're struggling, LittleMiss. I'm seriously lacking motivation and just want to go and have a nap. Must get on with things though.

If anyone wants to give me a kick up the backside, it'd be much appreciated.

Kitchen looks tidier though. :)

Sorry Angel I haven't got the energy to give you a kick but how about I bribe you with some chocolate instead

Oh, go on - you've managed to persuade me.

I was feeling like I was struggling today, but when I read my list back and realise what I have done from it so far, I don't feel so bad.

And I have made another £7 on ebay too

More later if you can add to your "done" lists

And LittleMiss time off is allowed - I prescribe curling up on the sofa with more than your fair share of the biccies (chocolate has iron in it I am positive).

UUUrrrggghhh !!! Can someone please help me!! I was up friends house again to help with packing, this time it was her children's bedroom.
It wasn't very messy and it didn't have much rubbish to clear out at all but, her boys own k-nex and lego and magnetics and meccano and cars and marble runs and domino runs and other toys and three large toy boxes, that need to be sorted into relevant boxes, and the broken toys and scraps of paper and cuddlies and books etc etc.
Can I just add that those little fiddly toys are so effing tedious!!!! But on the plus side I got to see her new home and its beautiful!!!
Ds1 is on the verge of hyperness so I need to get off to calm him, but ds2 is asleep on my knee after a hard day at school, I'm going to do room by room for the downstairs and do babysteps for upstairs, as I was so pooped last night after the days work.
Wish me luck, I'll be back on later and tell you all how I got on, oh and the glee song helped us get the toy boxes done, "don't stop believing, it be done so-oo-on. Don't stop believing, that we'll see the bottom of this bo-o-o-o-o-x" well you can imagine how it went lol.

That sounds grim Gossip but well done. You have done your good deed for the month by the sounds of things and your Karma must be brilliant right now

I think everyone deserves a . It is day 31 for some of us. We should celebrate for getting this far (although some of us have struggled along the way).
Here's to a new month of Flying, CHEERS!

cheers LittleMiss although it hurts to get the glass to my mouth as I ache all over after my exercise class today.

I have all the clothes I want to sell at the weekend on a rail so if I can get rid of them all it will be a big declutter achieved.

I still have to price the things in boxes. I am dreading that bit but it will, again, make a big difference if I can get them out of the house.

I will have to scour ebay for appropriate prices for them.

I managed to put the dishwasher on this morning with no powder in it so have had to put it on again tonight before I can put on tonight's dishes. Great excuse to leave the sink for a while though