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!

Morning, wow this thread moves very quickly!
Just in to report that sink is shiny and I am dressed and ready for the day - was not straight away but with 2 preschoolers who insist on having the breakfast pretty much immediately upon waking it's not easy, but still 8:30 and I'm done. Now to get them dressed and off to dd's ballet class.
Hope everyone has a good day....very very cold one here!

Morning all

Very cold here too, just got back from school and my cheeks are glowing. Sunny though, which is nice and shows the dust.

Work today, so I'm just going to finish off my morning routines and head off. No after school activities today, hooray!

Nicknacks - sympathy from me here too, although I don't have the never getting a break problem because the DCs are at school and I work shorter hours, I do have exactly the same problem with DH, who will nip off to Sainsburys in the evening for some beer or nibbles, then come back, and an hour later be moaning that there isn't any milk for his coffee, we have exactly that "did you check?" "well you didn't say" abdication of responsibility thing. It's the same when I ask him to stick a date on his work calendar to be home on time or something, he just says can you send me an email or I'll forget, well no, bloody well remember, go to the computer now and send yourself an email if you have to. Grrr.

Better go, back later

Nicknacks I think you are amazing to mind so many children, keep sane and even have a proper list for your dh to go shopping with. I think he was probably just arguing the toss as we all like to do when criticised and knows he was wrong. I think you should schedule in some break for yourself one weekend, when he's in charge, even if it just going out shopping by yourself or for a walk, in the nicest possible way; as you are doing a FULLTIME job, just like him. I must say I have frequent arguments of that sort with dh, and I don't do half as much as you, and I still feel cross with him. x

Not a good morning here, so fr**zing, and children leave doors open and run around in bare feet on cold floors and make me want to just SCREAM! Dh gave me a pair of sheepskin moccasins for Xmas on my request and it is the only thing that makes getting up bearable Ds1 refused to take his coat although it is -2 outside, and Dd had a row over the contents of her knapsack, and generally AAARGH.
They are all at school though, and I had better get out of the house now to go to volunteer.
So no routines again, apart from plates in sink
and dd violin practise done
clothes upstairs done
and ds2 homework sheet found in the right place (from last week) done
dcs to school with aggro done

we've run out of so will have to do!

Brrrrrrr cold. Car said -6C but it can't be that cold surely??!
Need to get back in the one load of laundry per day train as a few days slacking means I can't put the lid down on the basket!
Also need to do 5 min rescue in my lounge. Had one of those pointless "get your shoes on/But I'm playing!!" arguments with DS1 before school. I got DS2 and DS3 ready and DS1 was still FAFFING so I picked up the thing he'd built with Megablocks and dropped it on the floor. Cue tears and a load of crap all over the floor. Think I got my point across tho....
Dizzy DS1 is nearly 7 (although you wouldn't think it from his tantrums!!) and good birthday presents we've had are those little Playmobil boxes with one figure in it or those 'Look inside...' Usbourne books or anything from Cars2

Morning all

Just another list dump here! Had mindees this morning for a school run but school was closed so ended up having them an extra hour until family member could collect. Not the end of the world but means I haven't done much so far...

To do:
Jingle tots with DD
Walk dog and mams dogs
S&s bathroom
Wash up breakfast things, shine sink and clean worktops
Hoover
Pick up dog poo
Dust
Living room hotspots
Put stuff in loft
SEF
Post letters
Ring insurance company- horse has a bad leg
Tidy up toys
15 minutes declutter in zone- coat and shoes box
Mission- see what it is!

BBL

Ds turns 7 ths wkend and lego is always good playmobile here is a complete and utter waste of time. Am ebaying some stuff he was given and has been ignored for 2 years plus. You can get some nice lego 3 in one kits for about £5 too.

Today ds put in a request for his birthday cake. Needless to say it is not what i have made although he did get excited eventually about what he does have.

First things first, nap - this getting sleep thing is horrible, so tired i feel ill. I never feel like this when i am not sleeping :( Question is will it get better if i persist? I bloody hope so

Ta da:
Babystep
school run
paint cake stage one
take a short walk to see if it helps to wake me up/make me feel better - err no

To do
far to fucking much to list. Ta da list only today.

night.

7 yo boys = lego! Can't go wrong
cg glad you are feeling a bit better today. It is awful for the DC of your friend but wanted to let you know that was me aged 7 and whilst I have definitely missed having a mother around, I have survived and they will be ok. It's a bit of 'you never know what you have not had' IYSWIM? Watch out for them around Mother's Day though - that was the hardest time for me as school had everyone else making cards etc.

Quick ta da list now I am here:
Bolognese into freezer
Meatballs into sauce and left ready for tea
Dry non-ironing washing sorted into 'personal' piles and left strategically in the middle of the lounge floor as they will be home before me (I suspect it will still be there when I get home)
Out of the house on time (yay!)
Paid 2 bills and e-mailed out of school care to explain why I have reduced their bill
re-booked osteopath appointment for 1/2 term (2 weeks away!)

To do
SOME WORK!!!!! Agenda & book meeting room for monday, check files
drink coffee (meeting set up for over coffee to make sure I do this )
lunchtime - go to Smiths for Deadly 60 box for DS
bake another Herman (or 2)
bake fairy cakes or similar (on a roll from yesterday)
Mission
15 mins ironing
put washing away (see above)
what's for tea tomorrow
sandwiches
DW (probably x 2)
WM
shine sink
s&s
bed by 11 (maanged 11.15 last night)

Have a good day everyone. Got to go - coffee meeting next!

dizzy - you are doing the right thing getting your DS back home sharpish. Sounds like he needs lots of TLC, poor thing. He is having a rough time, but at least he has a good mum like you looking out for him.

cq - so sorry about your friend .

I have had a productive morning (maybe because I went to bed at a decent hour ). So far:

School run done and on time for once!
DW unloaded
DW reloaded with b/fast stuff
W/M on
Kitchen hotspot done
Kitchen floor wiped
Room rescues in sitting room and DS2's bedroom
Bathroom hotspot done
Swish and swipe done
Beds made
B/fast eaten
Yesterday's laundry put away

I think it helps that MIL will be here shortly for a cup of tea. The prospect of visitors always spurs me into action. Which reminds me - yesterday, I noticed that a neighbour's front door was wide open and nobody was in. Luckily, I was able to contact her husband and it turned out he'd left it open. He asked me to check there was nobody there before locking the door, so I had to have a look round: it was so tidy! How do people manage to have such tidy houses? Every room was spotless. My house veers from messy to tidy on a daily basis and if someone had to check every room they certainly wouldn't be impressed

Maybe she is a secret Flylady and has been Flying longer than me

Anyway, must get on with some work now before MIL comes round.

Hope you all have good days. Will come back and read through the thread properly later.

PS: Agree with Lego for 7 yo boys. We have boxes of the stuff and DS2 never tires of it.

right, feel slightly more human today - flu+ Beechams tablets helping me along with some fresh coffee.

Children up, dressed and one at school, one poorly and at home.
Dogs fed and ran ( I chucked a ball up and down a hill, not much walking for me today)
1 load of laundry done, two loads brought in from tumble dryer and folded - not yet put away, thats next.
breakfast eaten
I'm dressed to slippers (cant be wearing shoes inside house)
dishwasher emptied, kitchen clean and tidy
DD bedroom windows cleaned
Bathroom sink cleaned and loo cleaned. Downstairs loo cleaned. I just squirted some cleaner round bath and rinsed after my shower.

I think that is as much as I can do today, Im feeling rather wonky again now.

NickNacks - that?s awful! So not fair that you do all the childcare on weekends too! Think it?s definitely time for you to act a little bit selfishly on the weekend and carve out some you only time.

Dizzy- 7 year old boy ? Another Lego vote! An easy present in all price ranges. Some varieties of the 3 in 1 kit are sold by Sainsburys and are on sale for just under £4 at themoment. WHSmith sells them for about £6 - £7!!!

cq - thinking of you

Lauren - hope your horses leg gets better.

Toffee - I know what you mean about neighbour's houses! My friend locked us out of my (!) house at 8.30 just before Christmas (automatically locking door and she closed it not wanting to let all the warm air out!). DSs were in socks and no coates as we were only saying a quick good bye so were carrying them. So while our DHs tried (successfully) to break back into the house our neighbours invited us into theirs to keep warm. Sooooo clean and tidy. Even with the pre-Christmas effort my house didn't look like that!!!

Didn?t get back on last night to post yesterday's TaDa list so here it is:

• Shined sink
• Emptied dishwasher
• Breakfast with DSs
• School run
• 15 minutes in kitchen
• Set up temporary clothes rail in spare room with essentials clothes on only
• Play group
• School run
• Tea
• 4x loads of washing (with a week long of stomach bugs I got really behind as having to completely wash all the bedding every day...) all dried and folded straight away ? except woollens which are drying on the rail
• Loaded and emptied dishwasher
• Clothes laid out for DSs and self
• Bed 11 pm ? not toooo bad considering how bad I usually am.

Didn?t need to do the mission because the lounge room has just been painted ? no time for fingerprints just yet .

But today?s mission is in desperate need to be done.

Today I have:

• Up, showered and dressed before DSs up
• Breakfast with DSs
• School and nursery run
• Calendar updating (taken me an hour, wall calendar and DH's and my blackberrys!!!!!)

Started a new diet and feeling a bit peckish right now. I?m not really hungry and know that if I hold off snacking it will pass in about 15 minutes and I can wait until lunch time. But I?m craving chocolate . I have such a sweet tooth, WW never worked for me because I?d just keep grazing on ?low point? sweets and end up using half my points on junk so I?ve gone back onto the Atkins diet. So a complete ban on sugar, and lots of meat, eggs, and lots and lots of vegetables. Sigh.... I?ve put on so much weight lately, and the potential job opportunity has made me realise that none of my professional clothes fit me anymore .

Have you tried having something to drink, ChitChat? I notice that I feel much hungrier if I don't have my normal amount of , although water would be healthier of course. You obviously have more willpower than me - I don't eat a ridiculous amount of it, but I can't imagine life without chocolate. Well, I don't normally eat a ridiculous amount of it, but the friend who came over yesterday brought a yummy chocolate cake and I just can't resist the leftovers whenever I go into the kitchen. But it was very moist and has all fallen apart, which means I'm not eating a proper piece of cake so that doesn't count, does it? At any rate, I must stay out of the kitchen or I won't need any lunch.

Jax Glad to hear you're on the mend.

Toffee Someone looking round my house unexpectedly would be my worst nightmare - it's bad enough when we have friends over and they catch a glimpse of any room they're supposed not to (i.e. any room other than the living room). I'm often amazed at how tidy other people's houses are - even upstairs - when I've been invited in on the off-chance. How do people manage to have the entire house looking spick and span?

DWM You're on a real baking roll! (No pun intended. )

Bitchy I wish I could get rid of some Playmobil. DD1 has declared that she's going to keep it for ever, for her children, and I'm not allowed to give it away.

libbys I also have a 7 going on 2 year old, judging by her tantrums. She's been in the terrible twos for about six years now.

Waves to everyone else; I'd better not go back any further as I'm only two thirds of the way through the job that I was hoping to have finished by lunchtime. It looks like this evening will have to do instead.

It's warmed up to -10° here now and the sun has come out, so it actually doesn't feel too bad up here in my garret. The temperature indoors seems to drop by about 10° whenever I open the front door, however. I wouldn't mind if DD2 decided it was too cold to go ice skating, but if she insists on going (which she probably will) DD1 and I will shelter in the cafe.

Linzer -Drink??!! You're supposed to down 2 litres of water a day, minimum! I've even measured exactly how much water is in my glass so I know how many glasses I have to get through! It's funny, I do better going cold turkey with chocolate than I do moderating it. At home, anyway. I'm not so bad when I'm busy out and about. I ignored the chocolate cake at playgroup without a problem! I just get so bored at home .

It wasn't really hunger, it was just a craving for a snack. I'm now starting to feel properly hungry and I know it's different - the mind was just playing games with me to get it's sugar fix!!!!

Right about to move. Haven't slept due to noisey neighbours/phone calls etc. Have rested and feel slightly more in touch with reality. Not much.

So I shall start my list with getting up again. As i didnt really get up properly earlier, just enough for the school run as i planned more sleep.

Next step - paint cake stage two, laundry -kit wash, landing and bathroom tidying.

School run

something before training - ds' room?

ds shower and bed

early night.

Still on the subject of neighbour's tidy houses: there was no clutter in this house. No 'stuff'. I think Flylady has got that right. Clutter is the problem.

In our case, piles of books everywhere are also a problem, but as they are providing our income, I suppose I can't really classify them as clutter .

MIL has just gone. She needed a good natter. Just having lunch with DS1, then back to work.

Linzer - if chocolate is in the house, I can't resist it. The only way I avoid it is by not having it in the house at all. Same with wine!

Flyby - I think some people are just amazingly, naturally tidy. If both partners are like that, they're on to a winner.

Bitchy - sorry for your lack of sleep . Curse the noisy neighbours and phone callers. I was woken up by drills yesterday morning, which wasn't the nicest wake-up call.

Flyby - I feel 'hungry' when I want sugar. It's hard to know the difference sometimes.

Jax - you have done loads considering you're feeling ill. I swear by Lemsip as it always gets me through a cold. Hope you're on the mend soon.

ChitChat I drink about half a glass of water a day, and I have to force myself to do that. But I did read recently that the two-litres-a-day thing is a bit of a myth, so I'm clinging to that even if there are probably dozens of studies proving the exact opposite. And I've also heard that tea and coffee are only dehydrating if you're not used to them; I definitely get more thirsty if I don't have my normal amount of . I added "drink a glass of water" to my morning, afternoon and evening routines but it's very difficult if you only like and .

My Phoenix cards catalogue has just arrived and I want to buy all of it. Unfortunately, I suspect postage to Austria may be prohibitive so I'll either have to get things sent to my parents' or see if I can find a Phoenix trader here for the larger items. I really like the memory boxes and also the box for cards that some of you were talking about on last month's thread. So much cheaper than Austrian cards too - you're lucky to find a card for less than ?2 here, and anything decent costs upwards of ?3. I always stock up on cards when I go back to the UK, but they're all in a drawer at the moment and it would be good to have them a bit better organised.

Quick ta da! list before I get down to some work while DS2 sleeps...

Swept and cleaned floors
Dusting
Hotspots in dining room and bedrooms
Recycling out
Laundry washed and dried
Yesterday's laundry put away
Filing
Aldi shop and put away

Waves to all. Will try and come back for personals later!

hi ladies can i join pls?

Today
DW done
WM one load washed and hung one folded.
Bed stripped and in machine.
Four pizzas made plus one loaf of bread.
Off to hoover now.
X

Welcome Chickens - just jump on board and ask if you have any questions!

Toffee I think you're absolutely right about the lack of clutter making all the difference. Btw the only reason I'm good at rationing myself with chocolate and biscuits is that I know it's a good six months until my next trip back to the UK and my Cadbury's and hobnobs have to last until then!

Am now in the cafe at the ice rink; DD1 didn't want to come and has gone over to the neighbours', so I've brought some work to do while DD2 has her lesson. The scary ice skating teacher has already told me that DD2 shouldn't have her hair in a ponytail and doesn't need a helmet either, so I'm rather glad that I've been able to escape the lesson today now that DS has stopped going.

I've been at work/volunteering this morning/afternoon, which went quite well

just came in desperate for food, so have gobbled up red cabbage, sugar puffs, cheese (all odds and ends) and now trying to warm up with cup of tea

Tired just looking at your lists, I have done nothing to make house look tidier...

Chitchat a good tip for chocoholics on diet is this. Cocoa (Bourneville etc), with hot water, a teaspoon of sugar and a slug of milk, will give you your chocolate fix (magnesium, iron, serotonin, caffeine) with far less calories. And cure any lingering cough [theobromine) Just a dash of cold milk mind

toffee all my neighbours' houses are spotless but I suspect it is because they are seldom in them. I know quite a few untidy people though, luckily...who do creative things amidst the remains of breakfast.

On phone.

Not much time as DS is sick and clingy. You can hear him wheezing in the next room so off to the docs later this afternoon.

Have done a bit of flying and GUTTED DH's wardrobe as I got so frustrated trying to wedge stuff in. This lead to gutting his under bed drawer and chest of drawers.

Have also looked at our finances now I'm working P/T and have a "list" to discuss with DH tonight. Oh the romance

Anyway, back to cuddling the sick wee man.

At work and inundated so just quickly popping in to say hi.

toffee agree re clutter. It is the stuff of the devil. I couldn't keep up with the girls/house/work/band/dh (in that order!) etc etc if I was knee deep in clutter.

Also, I find that clutter affects my mentality. I feel calmer and more in control if the house is clutter free.

flying I hope your poor ds is better soon. Poor little thing.

Ta da (done before leaving for work this morning)

Up, showered and dressed to shoes
Swished upstairs bathroom
Made bed
Emptied and refilled dw
Folded and put away dry washing
Put on and hung up load of washing
Put on 2nd load
Hoovered
Wiped floors
Tidied one kitchen cupboard
Purged purse
Emptied an old handbag and chucked out
Swished downstairs bathroom
Put dinner on in slow cooker (chilli con carne)

To do

Nowt in house. Am working late in the office tonight in an effort to get on top of these dratted accounts.

Hmm, not sure about being called Flyby, too used to ChitChat so just name changing again.

Bit of a no hoper day today.

After organising my calendar I got stuck on the phone for awhile. Doing a nursery pickup at 12.15 and a school pick up at 3.20 really throws the day out.

Did manage to get to the hardware stores to buy some essential decorating supplies.

Off now to serve the DSs their tea and will hopefully get a few jobs done this evening.

NickNacks - hope today has been better. That kind of conversation is sooo frustrating!

Dizzy - sorry your DS has been having such a rough time.

MegMarch - hope you get a better night tonight ? we?ve all been sleeping very badly with colds this week but it seems to be improving, fingers crossed!

Dedalus - my evil-genius toddler has been poking and whacking me all day too. here?s hoping it?s just a phase!!

Jnice and poeia - well done on the shiny sink!

swan - hope your day got better. Will have to try the cocoa tip!

libby - I hate that kind of argument! I try to prevent them by giving advance warning or ?5 more minutes? (where 5 mins is an entirely arbitrary time at my own discretion!) but it doesn?t always work.

ChitChat - good luck with the diet! Coffee definitely helps me stave of sweet cravings. What about fruit? I?ve also read that 2l of water a day is actually bad for you?

Waves to Chickens - Hi!

Linzer - I dream of working from a café! Maybe I?ll achieve it one day?

Flying - get well soon to your DS.

Waves to lugholes, bitchy, jax, Toffee, DWM, Lauren, WhoKnows, BlackCat and anybody I?ve missed!

Hello all. Its 10am here and I failed in second task. I am still not dressed. I should have laid out clothes last night but it's hard when our lo is asleep, he is in our room.

So, now on second bf of the day. Done so far;

DS unloaded, reloaded.
Breakfast made, ignored by sick ds's, another day off school then (grr)
Lunches made (pointless)
2 loads laundry folded, ready to put away.
Baby care and first nap.

To do:
Get dressed! Running gear.
Out for run with lo.
Errands - ODS birthday party shopping and drop baby gift to friend.