Babysteps towards all of BlackCat's chocolate (when she isn't looking!)

[carrotsandcelery]

We are aiming for 10.00pm bedtime here too.

Like the new name Blackcat

carrot - "I knew if I let him sleep with me I would be a horrid Mummy all day, whereas this way I am only a horrid Mummy at bedtime". You've just described me too. We have a 6 year old would sleep with mummy every night given the chance, and did until recently, but ds2 wants to join us too and I just don't sleep properly and turn into mummy from hell :(

Love the new name blackCat my tiny brain can cope with it!

DD1 sometimes asks me to sleep in her (toddler) bed. Ignoring the facts that I wouldn't fit & it might not take our weight, I am always so tempted to snuggle up with her, but I know that if I did that once, she'd have me doing it every night & I would end up being an evil mummy for not staying there all night, every night. So I don't.

I'm heading towards failure on the going to bed on time thing. I was late anyway as DD2 took almost an hour to settle, then did fruit, cleared up from dinner, washed up, loaded dishwasher, shined sink, looked at lists for tomorrow. Came upstairs, ran bath & she woke up again. She's asleep on me now, so I'm going to have to get her into her bed now. Evil mummy needs to have a soak in the bath or her arms/back/shoulders won't work in the morning!!

Morning all, I'm up at sillyo'clock (4.30am). DD has a cold and was grumpy most of the night so I had a pretty crappy nights sleep!

Morning blackCat colds are nasty, hope blackKitten feels better soon. DD2 woke me up at 545ish - I'm blaming teeth

babystep 19 - it's another inspirational one.

carrots I am slowly reading the how to get organised thread & someone has suggested the Chore Checklist app for android.

Blurgh, morning already.

Offers a for anyone up.

No idea what my day has in store for me. MrScout is still asleep, an hour after he usually heads for work.

Am I last up? Does that make me the laziest? Do I get to wear a special hat or anything??

I went to bed more or less at 10, lights out at 11 and fell asleep quickly. Hurrah! I didn't wake until 6.30. Yay! Sympathies to those who have had a rubbish night though. I know how I felt yesterday. Have another

I will have a look at that thread again and the app bessie thank you.

Is anyone else confused or is it just me? What is our babystep today? Do we just read the little testimonial about the B&B? Or have I missed something?

Ta Das!

Washed and dressed.
Dcs breakfasted.
Lunches and snacks made.
Dd has done music practice.
I have had a .
That is about it so far.

I am going riding today so I am nervous and excited all at the same time. I will try to fly before I go as I may not be able to move afterwards.

Thursday is supposed to be my day off but there are some jobs you can't escape.

I think we just read the B&B thing and feel inspired, but I did read it very early this morning & my eyes are feeling a bit blurry

Someone has added a comment to my spag bol recipe suggesting I add oil to quorn meals to increase the fat levels - could you do that to your DS's meals carrots? Flax oil has lots of omega stuff in.

More needed while I plan what DD2 & I are doing today.

I am on a break too having been very busy blethering in the playground and then to my lovely next door neighbour

I have fed the animals and started a deep clean of the kitchen worktops though.

I will have a look into the oils bessie - that might be a good way of adding calories without teaching him poor eating habits.

missions are here if you are doing them I have sort of done this already by clearing out the cupboards the other day.

glad to hear you had a good nights sleep carrots, when are you going riding? I'm not sure DD2 & I are going to get out for a walk today as we have to go get her weighed & then pop to sains - at least we are leaving the house!

who made soggy burgers the other day? I've just made these and they have stuck together perfectly - I am cooking some in the slow cooker as an experiment (I have done this before with a different recipe, so am fairly confident it should work!)

so far I have

• UNMade the beds
• washed & dressed to slippers
• remembered to look at list
• took DD1 to pre-school
• hotspot 1 (2 min) - washed all the recycling next to the sink
• prepped lunch
• what's for dinner (pasta, sauce taken out of freezer)
• empty all bins (bin day here tomorrow)
• go round house looking for recycling to go in bins
• drunk 3 cups of tea

to do

• drink something other than tea
• clean bins
• wipe out kitchen bin cupboard
• wash our clothes (haven't quite got enough for a load yet)
• get DD2 weighed
• buy a small present for DD1 if she has no accidents at pre-school today (fx)
• hotspot 2 (2 min) - put clean laundry away
• drink more tea
• 5 min Room Rescue - living room
• 15 Minutes declutter - dining room (I still have stuff from xmas in boxes)
• pick DD1 up from pre-school
• shine sink
• lay out clothes for tomorrow
• hotspot 3 (2 min)
• go to bed on time

turning the PC off now to get stuff done before we go out!

I'm tired just reading everyone's TaDa lists! Everyone seems to be having a productive day:

So far my TaDas are:

soaked & scrubbed the pots & slow cooker bowl
(approx) 1 hour decluttering & flinging & organizing in living room
a bit of flinging in bathroom (honestly, MrScout, is it really that difficult to let go of contact lens boxes?!)
read the same story to TS 5 times
danced to TS's music making abilities
countless nappy changes (probably only 2 or 3 but feels like that's all I've done today)
put TS for a nap
got receipts from MrScout to update the presents spreadsheet/s
tried to remember to breathe

I have done lots of flinging into the trash bin and recycling, both of which I will take out in a bit. I've started two boxes one for the Guide Jumble Sale and one which I think I can eBay. Problem is the GJS isn't until the first weekend in March. Hoping by having everything boxed neatly I can "stack it away" and can then just toss boxes into the car on the day. Same with the possible eBay stuff trying to gather it all, take pictures, etc., then save it for a free listing weekend.

Got TS's books under control and more-or-less back neatly on the shelf. He has LOADS of books and just downstairs has outgrown the dedicated TS shelf for books (goodness knows how many more books he has upstairs between his room and mine). The next shelf up starts his toys (well, will do as I do more organizing/decluttering/flinging). Board books take up a lot of space. I'm glad we've decided to stop buying board books and start buying normal ones (he treats books with a lot of care and love so we're happy to let him look at books with paper pages).

Am also trying to figure out the best way to organize toys. Right now they're all flung into a giant tub. I want to do something "Boy Friendly" and organized. Wondering if a couple of plastic drawer units would be too unsightly in the living room and do a drawer for people (FP and HL), one for cars & trucks, another for trains, another for train tracks, etc.

Does anyone know the best way to get rid of phone books?

scout i put phone books out for recycling with the paper
bessieim the soggy burger

ive just popped in while im eating some spinach soup then im off upstairs again....
ta da list
sorted another bag paperwork from my room
cleaned all woodwork in girls room,moving all the furnoture and washing the floor
wiped bathroom
made beds
washed kitchen floor

i was up early with dd2 with earahe again-the dr cant see any infection.im wondering if somethings wrong at school as shes very clingy too
i took her in and left her crying with the teacher.they said would ring me if she was very distresse dbut i feel awful.thats whyh ive throwen myself into flying todays

got a structural engineer coming this afternoon to view my sons room was nice to be able to say yes and know a quick flick in there and i wouldnt die of embarrasment let him in(glad weve already tackled the hall

well.ive finished eating and will now crack on

p.s carrots you get a day off? im so

how can I get rid of phone books

we have too many kids books for our shelves too. We got DD1 a bookcase to have in her room, but she started ripping them up at night, so we had to move the bookcase onto the landing. That was a few months ago, so might have to try moving it back into her room.

We have 4 boxes in the living room, one for DD2, one for soft toys, one for the trainset & the other for other small toys. You can get some nice boxes so they shouldn't look unsightly. What looks unslightly for us is the HUGE pile of toys next to the boxes, the shopping till, the tea set, the plastic food, the pop up thing full of dressing up clothes, etc. I want to put it all in a big cupboard somewhere & just get out stuff as we want to play with it, but we don't have a big cupboard

DD2 likes falafel, they are my favourite food so I am a happy mummy

poor littlezoo it's awful when they are all clingy like that & you don't know what's wrong - when DD1 had an ear infection they couldn't see anything wrong the first time I took her in, but when I took her back about 5 days later they could. Ear drops & ibruprofen sorted her out in about a week.

Poor wee toot zoo. Ear problems are really grim. It is also really hard to figure out what is genuine and what is an attempt to avoid something they are worried about.

I don't really get a day off zoo - but I do allow myself my riding lesson and then about an hour in the bath reading my book afterwards. That is a big enough decadence to feel like a whole day off

I feel so much better having got back to the stables. I was lucky too as now it is snowing really, really heavily whereas it was beautiful when I was out.

I have also made white wine stew for tea but experimented by adding cubes of potato (and some coriander) to it as well. I am cooking it in the slow cooker and hoped it would be ready by now so I could put some in a food flask for dd as she has a packed tea on a Thursday, but the potato is not cooked yet.

I have also hot spotted the top of the chest of drawers in the master bedroom. I need to declutter the drawers as I can't get everything in.

I have finally got enough for a dark wash as well so that is on.

I have made dd's packed tea as well - she will have to just have a flask of soup and have some stew when she gets home.

Scout I also have the dc's book shelves on the landing. We have 3 book cases. I just got cheap ones from Argos as I know they won't be a permanent feature. They had adjustable shelves so I could put the big picture books and animal encyclopaedias etc on the bottom as not all bookcases have the height you need.

I store the dcs toys in their rooms and they generally just bring a box down to the kitchen to play.

You can get boxes which are leather bound with feature stitching that would look ok in modern style living rooms. Some of my friends also have wicker baskets which do look a bit better. Most of my friends have designated playrooms though but we are not in that league.

As for ebay storage I have got myself a shallow under bed box and I put the items I want to ebay in that and store them there until they sell. If I have a lot more than will fit in the box I put most of it in the loft until I have emptied the box and then bring the new batch down.

Do the guides have a hall or do they use the school hall or similar? If they have their own hall you might be able to store the stuff there. I have had this problem before and it is a real pain having it hanging around so long. Otherwise I can only suggest a dry loft space or garage space which is not ideal I know.

at carrots spending an hour soaking in the tub!

The bookcase I bought doesn't have big enough shelves to fit DD1s big books on Thankfully, I got it very cheap off someone at work, so I'm not too cross about wasting money & we just lay the books down on their side.

carrots, don't your DC get the toys out when they should be sleeping? DD1 has a few toys in her room (doll's cot & a chest full of soft toys) & we sometimes find them all in bed with her in the morning!

I feel like I'm making really good progress today, although I just had to have a hot chocolate to keep me going!

done:

• drink something other than tea - I had a big glass of OJ and then some of DD1s special "hot apple medicine" (apple juice & warm water which she gets as a special treat! )
• clean bins
• wipe out kitchen bin cupboard
• get DD2 weighed - 9.8kg, no wonder my back aches!
• drink more tea
• hotspot 2 (2 min) - put DD1s clean laundry away
• hotspot 3 (2 min) - put our clean laundry away
• put some clothes with persistent stains in some vanish to soak
• found out I can definately get free prescriptions because of thyroid (carrots did you know this?)

To do later

• wash the clothes in soak
• buy a small present for DD1 if she has no accidents at pre-school today (fx)
• have tea with DD2
• pick DD1 up from pre-school
• wash our clothes (haven't quite got enough for a load yet)
• 5 min Room Rescue - living room
• 15 Minutes declutter - dining room
• shine sink
• lay out clothes for tomorrow
• go to bed on time

bessie I used to have a little card that proved I got free prescriptions and my name was in the book at our local chemist (although the village is so small they never looked because they knew me anyway).

I live in Scotland though so now everyone gets free prescriptions.

For children we can also have minor ailments "diagnosed" at the chemists and get a prescription free from the chemist without seeing the doctor (eg head lice treatment). I don't know if you get that down South or not but it is worth finding out as it saves a lot of hassle for stuff like conjunctivitus etc.

Ds has decided to sleep in his own bed tonight

I may be very tired tomorrow.

Hello Flyers
Just checking in. I am self employed and have a massive deadline early next week. I will try to catch up tomorrow. I am trying to get dressed, shine sink/work surfaces (love my e-cloth) and tidy living room. Too busy to do anything else. Still going to try to get to bed on time.

Had a cheeky look at the princess thread. Don't like the name but do like the concept. One objective was to go to bed at 9pm once a week. I need to do this.

Take care and will catch up later.

wow carrots thats a shocker!
ive now attacked ds room and moved all the furniture and wiped all the woodwork and washed the floor and returned everything to its proper home.as i used zoflora it smells lovely and fresh

i have also taken a load bits i found on the floor and wiped and put ion a shoe box...its now full of shampoo,shower gel,face packs,foot scrubs,intensive foot lotion,nice smelling body lotion thats mean to firm skin(yeh right,4 babys worth of belly wrinkles aint guna disappear from bit cream)..a generous hoard of other lovelies.im very happy and feel a bit of pampering coming on tomorrow night when the kids are in bed!
bessie i think you take the star of the day trophy
carrotsim glad you enjoyed your ride.ds has been learning since september and adores it

Good luck with the deadline Egg. I did peek at the Princess thread but, as you say, the title does put you right off. It was a bit too much for me as well but there were aspects of it that I thought made sense, even for me eg earlier bed, water and lemon in the morning etc. I would like to take a bit more care of my appearance but not too much iyswim.

Zoo sounds like you have been busy. I have been playing games with ds, hanging the washing, putting another load on, chatting to ds, etc.

How old is ds zoo? My ds was learning but didn't enjoy it - it is a shame as he was quite good. Dd rides though and loves it. Dh is a bit scared of horses so he doesn't go any closer than he has to. I obviously love them.