fledglings falling out of the nest thread

[IceColdBitchy]

Ok So a new year a new thread.
You know the ropes flying the fledgling way.
Decluttering 15mins at a time in each zone.
Babysteps and missions.

Sunday is renew your spirit day and seeing as today is new years days I hope there aren't too many evil hangovers in existance.

Babystep 1: shine you shine. yes we know this one but do you shine it the fat fairy way? cant remember? check here

And for a treat as it is sunday no mission.

Oh and can i just may 2012 bring you productive decluttering and flying so your houses step closer to those of your dreams and house work no longer be that evil monster that dominates.

Honu - thank you - not sure DS1 would always agree with you!

The psychiatrist has just phoned and prescribed new meds for me to collect today. She also agreed to write a note giving him one week off school to give the meds time to kick in. She was reluctant to do that, saying that it's important for him to get back to school asap. Honestly - give the boy a break! He can barely get out the front door.

Slept in DS1's room last night. He needed lots of cuddles. I so much prefer the loving bit of being a mum to the being tough bit. But you have to do both, don't you?

Flying is taking a back seat at the moment, so the kitchen is a mess and I can barely see the sink, let alone shine it . Had my Ocado order delivered today, full of readymeals, paper plates and plastic cups! Thanks for that tip, Swan - I am looking forward to a week without cooking.

DH back - gotta go! Waves to you all.

Good plan for the easy life Toffee - good luck with the hugging!

Right, on phone so just a quick list before waking DS so we can go for a playdate - hopefully via the library to pick up recipe book I ordered which has come in (always do this before buying now as it saves so much money)!

Ta-Da
Morning routine
Empty DW
Made pasta sauce for dinner for DH & I/lunch for DS
S&S bathrooms
Tidied living room
Dusted living room
Dusted dining room
Hoovered downstairs
Hoovered stairs
WAH job

To-Do
Lunch for me
Change to go out
Go out!

Right, off to finish up stacking the DW with implements from sauce making (they were steeping in my shiny sink).

Have a good day everyone.

Hiya all! Had a bit of a funny day today, I had a meltdown with tears because I'm
Sick of all of the half jobs around the house I have ofsted coming in march and although nothing affects the children (it's things like light bulbs need putting in lights, fuse has gone on tumble dryer etc rather than anything dangerous to kids) I just want it all to be done iyswim

So to make me feel better I got on my hands and knees and scrubbed the kitchen and hall floor til it shined- what is it about cleaning that makes everything seem ok?! Then DP came in from taking his grandad for cancer treatment at the hospital and I felt silly for getting stressed over little things when other people have so much worse to worry over! I think I need a good sleep

Ta da:
Shined sink
Polished kettle and toaster
Swept washed and shined kitchen and hall floor
Hoovered
S&s bathroom
Walked dog for a few hours
Washed inside of windows

And now I'm off to sort DD wardrobe, make tea and clean the rabbit out

BBL

Poor you, lauren. I hope you can have a relaxing evening and an early night. Incidentally, when I was Ofsted inspected during my child as a childminder the inspector was absolutely lovely, so it might not be a harrowing experience. I made sure that we'd grown cress to use in our sandwiches and had some displays out on shelves (autumn leaves and that sort of thing). Actually, I think the inspector was most impressed by my rainy day box (a shoe box full of little toys that I only brought out when the children needed distracting) . Why don't you make a list of what you have to do? It always makes me feel better if i make a list.

Feel a bit like a childminder now as DS2 has a friend back here to play and I have just spent five minutes clearing up the child's wee from the bathroom floor.

Flying - that's a good list you got through this morning.

DC want the computer for 'Club Penguin', so will go for now...

Have just finished the day's second English lesson and the boys are all playing upstairs now - along with the DDs. It's very noisy but I suppose that's reassuring!

Toffee Hope the new meds help and that the time off school does your DS good. I'm not surprised that Flying is having to take a back seat atm; there are times when you just have to focus on other priorities.

Flying Hope you manage to pick up your new recipe book. The library was my lifesaver when DD1 was little and feeding for hours on end, as I was getting through about 20 books a week! I hardly ever go to the one here, though; I'm too lazy to read German, have read most of the English books they have that I wanted to read, it's on the other side of town from us, and you have to pay to join/for each book.

lauren Sorry to hear about everything getting you down. I have those kinds of meltdowns on a regular basis. Toffee's idea of writing a list is a good one; being able to cross items off as you get them done is very motivating, I find.

It's taken me several hours to write this post as a friend came over for coffee in the middle of it. So all my plans to tidy up/get on with things while the children were playing upstairs came to nothing, although it was nice to have a chat with her. And now I must go and get their tea ready... Luckily the house isn't in too bad a state considering that three boisterous five-year-old boys have been playing here all afternoon. Having said that, I haven't actually checked upstairs yet.

Hey everyone! Just popping by to put my lists up so I actually do them :o

TA-DA!
*Got to work on time and reasonably put-together looking
That's it so far :)

TO DO
-Dishes
-Wipe Counters
-Mop kitchen floor and replace rugs
-Walk dog
-Don't nap
-Tidy bathroom
-Put laundry away
-Make dinner
-Get DS ready for Tae Kwon Do on time
-Tidy area by stairs...seems to be the black hole for random objects and dog hair at my house

Shame there's no good library near you Linzer - I loved the big local one when I lived in Germany. I read a lot of English stuff in translation because I already knew the plot!
for Lauren, Toffee and anyone else in need. Or if you'd rather as it's after 5!

No flying to report but boys are happy, fishfingers are in the oven and I'm about to cook stew for DH and me.

Lauren I am just admiring the fact that you were out with your dog for a "few hours" on ths wet cold day, I hope that was a pick me up too. Little things are very demoralising. I remember just cryng and cryng because I couldn't put a Mothercare Childgate up once
Toffee do you remember a lovely story in My Naughty Little Sister about a Measles box, or equivalent...full of treasures that only got brought out to entertain bored poorly children who were stuck in bed.

I will post my paltry dones on the main thread!

Hi all!

Thanks for the list idea toffee I seem to have lots of little lists so I might put them into one bigger one and see what I can cross off- that'll make me feel better too!
Yuk at Ds friends wee!

I hope the dc and friends didn't make too much mess upstairs linzer!

swan it wasn't raining or even that cold and my friend came so it was quite nice!

Ta da:
S&s bathroom
Laundry*1
Washed inside of windows
Scrubbed and polished kitchen floor
Hoover
Cleared out DD wardrobe
Walked dog
Washed down inside of front and side doors
Cleaned front of oven and hob
Scrub down counter tops
Polished toaster and kettle
Shined sink *2

I just need to get DD to sleep then I'm going to sort out my lists and do some more work!

BB tomorrow

at not-rainingness Lauren! Got soaked on the school and toddlers runs this morning - I was wishing I'd ignored the environmental, parking nightmare and exercise aspects and taken the car!

Hello,
I've been reading and running the last 2 days it's been absolutely manic. Today was particularly frantic and of course a day like that could only end with loosing my practically new phone.....

Anyway, I really wanted to reply to Toffee the other day and got pulled away from computer, but I basically wanted to say exactly what Swan said. People seem so scared to let things slip 'he musn't get out of the habit of going to school'. Not realising that sometimes forcing these things can be completely counter-productive.

I wanted to write that whatever your instinct on the being tough or kind dilemma you should follow them, you are in the best positiong to make that call imo, as you don't sound overly protective and always sound very measured and objective as possible for a concerned mum.

And also I think meds and psychiatrist is the key. There shouldn't be any stigma about taking meds, as the psychiatrist pointed out to my brother, you are just replacing/balancing chemicals that should be there already, no different from taking insulin for diabetics. But unfortunately getting the right dosage and medication can be such a looooong old road.

Lauren sorry about your meltdown, but understandable. I don't think anything in my work life has ever been as stressful as the ofsted inspection I had to go through!
Except I had mean sec school kids who'd be like 'Miss - there! There's an inspector!' 'Ha haa, made you jump' or 'Miss, if you don't let me off I'll be a nightmare when the inspector comes' (they were all angels and gave me secrets winks at the end of the class).
At least your little ones are more innocent!

Honu Shall I send you some of my ironing? My husband's shirts are staring at me sadly as I'm typing, languishing in the laundry basket. He had to wear a jumper at work all day in a hot office do disguise his crinkled shirt.

Good job there's no Ofsted for Flying!!!!

Blue, Linzer, Cheerful, ChitChat, PA, Flying, Droitwich, Bitchy (if you're there) and whoever I've forgotten - HELLO!

Too exhausted to do any more tidying tonight - I've been feeling like I'm coming down with a cold all day, although thankfully it hasn't really developed - but luckily upstairs was left surprisingly intact after DS's friends' visit. It's mainly my paperwork making the mess. Will post the links and then try to have an early night.

Blue I read lots of German books when I was living in Germany, but the novelty seems to have worn off now and I crave English books and magazines!

swan I used to love My Naughty Little Sister; I think the DDs have even got a copy somewhere, but haven't got round to reading it yet.

Well done on your ta da list lauren and good luck with your list Cheerful.

justone Oh no, is there any chance of your phone turning up? I'm always losing mine and panicking when I can't hear it ringing, but it usually turns out to be in the car.

**

Links:

The babystep for tomorrow is to read FlyLady's personal testimonial.

The mission is a quick one: to dust the tops of the door(s) and window(s) in the master bedroom.

Wednesday is Anti-Procrastination Day. This is the day to make those doctor's appointments that you've been putting off.

Finally, Wednesday's reminders are here.

**

Just popping by to leave some of my lovely fresh baked muffins on the bar

To those abroad... kindle? Then download what you want - just a thought!

By the way (Sod it, this thread is not really about flying is it?)
Yesterday on my local busy high street I came across this

A little girl, 2.5 maybe 3yrs maximum, sitting in a pushchair with no buckle on, outside a shop. It's a reasonably expensive designer discount menswear shop. Mid morning. I peeped inside and there was only one customer, a man, who seemed pretty obviously to me the dad of said child.

I'm just to lazy/scared to do an aibu post, but really I should have said something to him right? I mean I'm sure she's a very sensible child who wouldn't just run off etc but why would you need to leave her outside the shop? Anyway, I lingered for a bit then moved on.

Promise I'll redeem myself with a to do list tomorrow.
Don't think I can even move to get myself some dinner, let alone clean up.

Any tips on getting myself motivated with flying again?

Linzer, sorry, didn't mean to sound reproachful! Just reminiscing really.

Justone - power of 15 minutes? See what you can do before the timer goes?

Anyway, tomorrow is house bleugh day for me, and I also have a ton of laundry to put away. Should also anti-procrastinate the filing and other boring work stuff...

Night all!

Hi all!

I'm feeling absolutely shattered!!!! Slow start to the day, and didn't really start painting until 10.30. But made up for it as we finished the last of today's painting at 11.15 pm. Sounds a bit mad, but when you have to put up with 4 hours drying time in between coats, doing the final coat on the ceiling would probably be the difference between getting the lounge room finished by Wednesday or by Thursday.

So:
ceiling

• watered down emulsion
• sanded
• 2 coats paint

Walls

• watered down emulsion
• sanded

Skirtings

• holes puttied
• sanded
• primer/undercoat

Ignoring the door, and the fuse box cover for now as i can get to them with the furniture back in the room. REALLY want to get all the furniture back in the room as the dining room is packed full of things.

Had a slow couple of hours when the DSs decided they wanted to 'help' paint. So we gave them a small roller each and went around after them tidying up! Sigh.... the realities of painting with children around. Although to be fair to them they were great for most of the day, they treated the dining room like a jungle gym and climbed over and under the tables and sofas etc.

I have managed to keep the kitchen relatively tidy, though. Haven't shined the sink as I have some dishes soaking in there at the moment. But have kept on top of the dishes, and even managed a couple of loads of wash .

Now to have a quick shower to get some of this paint off, and crawl into bed.

Bye!!!!

Er, clothes laid out and socks in shoes, I mean. Although, there may sometimes be an unexpected garment in the shoes .

Morning all,

Toffee Oh no, so sorry to hear that DS2 is unhappy at school now as well. It must be very difficult for you to see him upset, but I agree that keeping him at home today may not be for the best in the long run as it will make it even harder for him to go back. I have a friend who often lets her son stay at home from kindergarten if he doesn't want to go, but - although DS sometimes says he doesn't want to go and I've even had to hand him over kicking and screaming occasionally - I've always insisted that he goes as I feel that it's a slippery slope otherwise (admittedly, it's a totally different situation as DS is generally very happy there and I know he calms down within a couple of minutes).

Was that Bitchy I caught a glimpse of sneaking in last night?

ChitChat Well done on the painting; you must be exhausted now. (Well, hopefully asleep at the moment...)

Blue I don't think you sounded reproachful at all; apologies if I gave that impression.

justonemore That's a tricky one - you don't like to interfere, but leaving a small child unbuckled in a pushchair outside a shop could be asking for trouble. If it was me, I probably wouldn't have said anything but would have hung around to make sure the little girl was OK.

Flying I do like the idea of a kindle, but like the look and feel of proper books even more! I'm not short of English reading matter - I have 20-30 books on my to-read shelf plus two cupboards full of magazines that I'm slowly decluttering - but it can make my suitcase rather heavy when we come back from visits to the UK. I managed to pick up about 15 books from charity shops on a weekend visit last September.

Must go and have my shower and then wake the DC. Back later with a list; I'm going to force myself to make at least one doctor's appointment today.

Am still here, Linzer, though really must try and get a couple more hours' sleep before school time. I think you're right about the slippery slope, even though it's hard to do. DS2 is usually OK about going to school (in fact, yesterday he ran ahead of me and went in on his own), so I need to remember that. He also seems to pick up on when DS1 is off school, even though I try not to let him know (DS1 is usually asleep when we leave for school, so, as far as DS2 is aware he has gone to school already). There was a castle picture he wanted to take in for 'show and tell', so I think I'll suggest he takes that in to give him an incentive and something to look forward to.

DH - who is a lover of books if ever there was one - is now in love with his kindle, by the way! He keeps downloading free classics.

Hope you have a good day.

Morning all! (Really must find a new greeting- hey y'all? Nah...)

Anyway, on phone sitting in a quiet house before my morning routine with DH in bed and DS IN HIS OWN BED!
Sunday night was two wakings, Monday night was 1 waking and last night - nada! (he will now not sleep at all tonight coz I've boasted but hey!) I do wonder if it's because he can hear us sleeping across the hall. We'll do the rest of the week upstairs and then move back at the weekend, assuming he's still sleeping. Don't know if it helps that we've been telling him what he needs to do too... "this is your bed and you sleep in it all night until morning and we'll be in our bed..." either way, we'll see!

So I've no clue what I need to do today as DH has moved my control journal (left on table open at recipe that I need for tonight's dinner) somewhere. Will find it later and update you.

Right, is percolating - help yourselves. Off for a shower!

Hope you manage to get some more sleep before school, Toffee. Finding an incentive for your DS sounds like a good idea; I hope you get him off to school without too much upheaval this morning. Am sure I'll end up getting a Kindle eventually as I do like the idea and can see they'd be very handy for travelling, but I'm holding out for now.

Great news on the sleep, Flying! Fingers crossed for you that it continues.

In the spirit of anti-procrastination, this morning I shall:

go for a run
order birthday presents (as they need to arrive before Sunday, i.e. on Friday at the latest)
make dentist's appointment
make optician's appointment
enrol DD2 and DS on swimming course

And of course do my morning routine. And finish it. Must get the DC ready for school now, as we need to leave in about 10 minutes.

I didn't do very well. :(

Out of my to-do's I did:

Dishes (well, DH did)
-Wipe Counters
-Mop kitchen floor and replace rugs
Walk dog
Don't nap Success!
-Tidy bathroom
-Put laundry away
Make dinner
Get DS ready for Tae Kwon Do on time
-Tidy area by stairs...seems to be the black hole for random objects and dog hair at my house

So...not fabulous. I vow to finish tomorrow! My house has been looking lovely too. That's the thing, I get it clean and then a day later it all goes to hell. I need to do little and often like FlyLady says. Sigh...

Better luck tomorrow! :)