Flinging our way through the chaos: February’s Fledgling Flyers

[LinzerTorte]

Welcome to the February edition of the Fledgling Flyers' thread.

If you're living in CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome), this is the thread for you! We follow the tips on the FlyLady website in an attempt to restore order to our homes, but advise against signing up for the e-mails; all the information you need is on this thread.

Each day, I'll be posting the links that will enable you to do any of the following:

• start or repeat babysteps

• repeat babysteps and do 15 minutes a day decluttering in the current zone

or

• reinforce babysteps and do daily missions if you have finished decluttering.

More information about the babysteps is here.

So please join us - there's always plenty of chat, , cake, encouragement and the occasional to help us on our way!

Lauren - hope you're ok, we're all here for support if you need it.

SC - good to have you back, was thinking about you a few days ago. Hope DD is better soon.

Hectic morning here and relaxing afternoon for me, other way round for Dh, we have hardly seen each other. I agreed to let DD enter for her first ballet exam soon, which means extra classes on a Saturday and a very complex juggle with DS, a friend, lifts from sports centre (ballet) to swimming lessons (private, 5 miles away), combined with having agreed to meet a total stranger at the Sports Centre to hand over a Freecycle item today plus a run round the shops on the way back. Have decided that Freecycle is actually quite sociable!

Anyway, after lunch DH and the DCs wanted to go to our local NT gardens for a run around, I decided to stay home and get started on my latest crochet project, so that was nice. DCs ran themselves ragged round the gardens. All happy.

Raises a glass of raspberry vodka, have a good evening everyone.

Morning :)

lauren hope you are ok :(

Busy day here, going to visit family, so I am sat in bed with tea trying to wake up.

I also have been struggling with everything a bit, feel a bit meh over everything. Half term now, so a change of pace. May have my super tidy friend coning over later in the week, so that is a good incentive to get on with things.

Have a good Sunday all :)

justonenore I had coffee and amazingly stayed awake until final credits, a rare feat for me - I was terrible even before dc, I'm the worst possible person to take to he cinema as usually pass out 5 minutes in, red wine and my settee means this is a foregone conclusion - coffee and starjumps in kitchen helped on Fri!

No flying at all this weekend

lauren I've just read your post, how horrible, it must be really upsetting, hope you're ok?

Lauren We're all here if you need us. Xxx

Morning everyone! It is a whole 12 degrees warmer than it wasyesterday morning here so i am hoping the snow will finally sod off so i don't have to risk life and limb everytime i step out of the door.

lauren . What a horrible situation. You know where we are if you need to sound off.

Busy day here. Picking ds up at 10 and then we are at a birthday party at 11. Going out tonight with BF to bingo. Not really my cup of tea but can handle it once in a while. Even better than that, dsis is having both children to sleep tonight . This works out perfectly as dh is at work tomorrow so i get a lie in, by myself.

Back later.

Waves to SC - good to see you again.

Lauren - sorry to hear that. :(

Have made porridge for breakfast so better rescue the kitchen! Also need to print off readings and plan the rest of today's cooking!

Oh dear I'm having a CBA day again.

Anyone got any tips to get me going? House isn't horrific but def couldn't invite anyone in...

Not much flying here today - but then again it is Sunday!

Last night was the first time in ages I went to bed without shining my sink first but DH washed the pots before I came downstairs this morning. The WM is on and I'll need to iron DH's shirts for the week later but no more housework is planned.

DD has to bake a cake for her maths homework - she's doing measuring etc - so that will be no hardship and DH plans in taking her out to the car wash as his car is filthy!

Morning all (although there are only five minutes left of it here),

The neighbours' DC have all gone home, so just three rather tired children left here now. They'll definitely need an early night tonight.

So sorry lauren, hope you're OK.

Nick What usually works for me: a) shining my sink, b) putting my timer on for 15 minutes, c) doing five-minute room rescues.

Can hear a very overtired DS screaming, so had better go and investigate.

Nick - I normally make a start by tackling any piles of paper that have accumulated round the house, just sort into keep and recycle, clears surfaces easily.

Having a lazy morning here, DH is at work, rest of us are still in PJs. I have just done an hour's worth of ironing on front of the telly upstairs while the DCs play. I have put another coat of paint on DS's bedroom door, the old woodstain was very dark so it's going to take a fair few coats got several more similar doors to do still.

Quick post before i do what i didn't get done yesterday to leave some for lauren.

Hello from a.w.o.l. returnee. Turned out the reason why I was struggling to recover was caused by elevated blood pressure caused by cold.
Our water?s currently off to prevent pipes freezing and splitting, (has happened before at these temperatures) so when it then snowed and they didn't grit, we had to go and stay elsewhere as I?m getting automatically flagged as a lone disabled parent in difficulties, which doesn?t help anything.
So we?ve been camped out in someone else?s house and been practising babysteps as best as I could remember them there, and getting lots of strange looks, they?re but loving their sink.:D

Returned to the whole street without water as the mains has gone. Having prepared for a lack of mains water supply, I?m suddenly rather popular. :D

I?ve not caught up with the thread and what?s been happening properly, just this page, but Lauren I hope you?re ok.

Whoknows, you need to sand the old wood stain back to the wood, and then use an undercoat really? (Asda?s do a cheap and cheerful one, but if you're doing lots you might get a better price on bulk)

Thanks Just, the sanding isn't really an option TBH, they are panelled and it would be very fiddly, I also don't fancy the dust. I painted several of them a few years ago and don't remember having this problem. Will go and buy a big pot of undercoat this week I think. Sorry you're having so many problems with your water supply, hope everything gets back to normal soon.

absolute chaos here, but
dh has taken one son to church

and I have just made some heart shaped fishcakes with ds2

whinging and whiny coughing creatures all around...

lauren

Thanks whoknows, spring will be here soon, and it will all just be a memory. :)

Thanks for the tips re. getting off my backside and motivated. I rounded the troops up and we all did 15 minutes of tidying/emptying and refilling DW, hoovering, taking rubbish out etc and got the place looking presentable at least.

Just posting a quick list on for tomorrow in case I don't get chance to later.

Morning routine
Docs appt
Drop DC's off to their friends
Lunch and naps for babies
Mission
15 min declutter
Drop to charity shop x2
Pick up DC's from friends house
What's for dinner?
Minding for 9 hrs
Buy a shredder and doorbell (this was on last weeks list and still not done)
Fit doorbell
Shredding
Set printer back up
Write letter to mindee parents and print off ready to hand out

That'll do- I aim to start completing my lists each day so don't want to be unrealistic.

Lauren I hope things went ok with your DP.

Everyone else Hope you enjoyed your Sunday!

Well done for getting organised NickNAcks - tomorrow sounds like a busy day in your house.

Heart shaped fishcakes, aww, practising for Valentines Day Swan?

Dizzy - that sounds like my sort of homework

Ellie - enjoy bingo and your lie in.

Lazy morning carried on into afternoon here, managed to get us all dressed by 2pm and took the DCs swimming, walked there and back, so that's our exercise quota. Just finished dinner and the DCs are relaxing on front of the telly with DH who just got back from work.

I've got a new strategy in the war on fussy eating (DS is an extreme fussy eater, DD is a better eater but won't eat some of the few things that DS likes, grrr). I've got a folder with recipes in it that are either torn from magazines or printed off the internet so they've all got pictures. Gave it to DS to pick out a couple the other night and as a result he has had two new meals and enjoyed them (DD didn't enjoy them so much). Spicy chicken noodle soup and lebanese flatbreads with spiced lamb and tomato topping. Gave it to DD tonight and she flicked through and announced that her choice was going to be fish fingers, chips and beans (none of which DS will eat). I think this is a step in the right direction .

Made a start on home blessing today as I will be at work tomorrow (half term means different routines), cleaned bathroom. DH hoovered downstairs yesterday, so that just leaves dusting, emptying bins and kitchen floor for tomorrow.

yesterday was a busy day here - not much family fun time but family DIY time. DS in Austria skiing, DD here so she played a lot by herself while DH and I put up 4 sets of blinds and a mirror.

While DH was drilling I was cleaning. Gutter DS room, changed bed and cleaned windows before new blinds went in. Also cleaned living room windows before blinds went up and Dining Room windows before blinds went up. Cleaned bathrooms and kitchen too, so all I did today was walk dogs.

Glad I did all that yesterday as friends popped round today for a cuppa as they were passing so my house looked good.

We also have no heating today - boiler is kaput, waiting on someone coming to fix/replace, but cant get here before Wednesday. Luckily it is much warmer outside today and we have a fire in lounge, underfloor heating in bathroom upstairs and an electric oil filled radiator on upstairs. Just kitchen and dining room that are chilly.

Have had a quiet day here, but managed to get some tidying/decluttering done and I've just booked our flights back to the UK for the summer, so that's one thing ticked off the to-do list.

**

Monday's links

The babystep is to do one of this week's missions.

This week we're in the bathroom and one extra room: the home office. The sneak peek for the week is here. Monday's mission is to dust the ceiling and fan vent grill in the bathroom and to sort out the pile of paper etc. to the left of your computer in the home office (or wherever you have your computer).

Monday means that it's time for the weekly home blessing hour. Today's reminders are here.

Lauren hope you're doing ok. Here's some if you need it.

Good to see you back SC. Had been wondering how you were doing.

NickNacks I can't believe you have mindees for nine hours! I barely manage my own 2 for that long. And to have such a long list as well. Can you please let me in on the secret as to how you do it?

Wasn't feeling too good this weekend, so was much slower on getting things done at the weekend than usual. We had planned a trip to the zoo today, but to my relief DD decided she didn't want to go because it was too cold (full of enthusiasm yesterday ). In fact we got quite a bit of decluttering done, and the routines have all been completed because DH really stepped up to the mark.

Still so much to declutter though, and now we have a schedule (kind of) as DH is going to hand in his resignation tomorrow, which probably means three months till we move.

Bloody hell! I am not behind on anything, if anything I am ahead.

I am ahead!

So maybe tomorrow I will do a home blessing hour and take DD out somewhere as we didnt do family fun day yesterday.

Bitchy - I just love that you have

• try not to kill ds
• Try not to get cross and shouty

in your To do list!!!!

droitwich -Ooh, those containers look good. We have a Poundland not tooooo far away, would work for some of DS1?s lego sets (he?s right into them at the moment!!!)

Welcome back, SC

Lauren - so sorry, hope you?re doing ok. We?re all here to support you.

JustGetting - love it, shining someone else?s sink!!

Jax - well done for being ready for drop in visitors!

I?m feeling so disheartened at the moment ? have come down with the flu now, dosed up to my eyeballs with Nurofen cold and flu and panadol. At least DH has been here this weekend, so I managed to have a bit of a lie down earlier today.

Did some painting prep work in the bedroom yesterday though. Had to bring loads of things downstairs so it looks like a chaotic mess downstairs as a result. Was going to do some ironing but I might just do a quick tidy up in the kitchen and get to bed for an early night.

Look after yourself and try not to do too much chitchat I had flu a few weeks ago and it has taken me until end of this week to finally feel back to 'normal' again.

chitchat i like to try to be realistic with my lists
Try not to do to much and rest up otherwise you are going to take longer to recover in the long run. bloody annoying though. hope you feel better soon.

Another AWOL returnee, just drinking my peppermint tea before heading upstairs to swap baby shifts with DH. Do not know what is wring with toddler, but she has in the last 48 hours turned into a complete screaming mess of misery and aggression. 18 months old and DH and I were left speechless by her today. I am actually hoping she is unwell and this isn't the shape of things to come.

Um. We have family visiting next w'end and the house needs to be spotless, i need to file the mess of paperwork in my study, and then make the two junk rooms presentable. I thought i had done very little flying since last Tuesday due to working and busy weekend but in fact I think many of the things we used to have to consciously write on a list to do now get done automatically. Best of all DH is beginning to think ahead, so it's Sunday, need to empty all the bins, or have had a huge crap therefore will bleach toilet. Hallelujah!

So.
Today I played 1-2-1 with DD for three hours, no distractions
I did a few hours work
We ate lunch as a family, though DD refused hers and wanted feeding instead thought the days of breastfeeding and balancing my lunch on a fork were over
Then we went for a lovely walk, except I ruined my winter fly boots as forgot to wear wellies
Got home and washing on
dw unloaded
Dry washing from yesterday put away, wet washing hung out
Finally put the extensions on the table legs after five years
All recycling, nappy bins, kitchen bins etc put out
Roast dinner cooked
Dw on again
Kitchen wiped down

Tomorrow is my only day at home this week, so it will be busy. I have made a pact with muskeg that it won't be all about chores and cleaning but that DD will get some quality time too. However if she is as unpleasant as she has been today I might need to go out for my sanity (obviously taking her with me).
Check out second hand furniture storage
Upload and print photos for some thank you cards and nursery display
Wipe down all the white internal doors
Quick clean of bathrooms
Check diary against calendar
Sort out clothes for the week ahead

Q. What can I use to get nasty watermarks off shower glass?
Q. Before your child(ren) came down with chicken pox was their behaviour really odd?
Q. What cake which is reasonably cheap can I make on a Sunday and use in lunches all week? It'd have to make 8-10 portions :)

Here's to a happy week of flying!