Fledglings “March” 31 steps away from CHAOS and mess towards domestic success...

[sanguinechompa]

... well, a shiny sink at least!!

Welcome to the March 2012 Fledgling Flyers thread. Park your mops, buckets and microfibre cloths here!!

A huge "thank you" to Linzer for steering us all through February - not a small achievement Linzer considering your school run/teaching commitments and with your dh travelling so frequently.

If you're house is a mess and you are strugging with C.H.A.O.S. (can't have anyone over syndrome) and S.T.U.F.F. (something that undermines family fun) then this is the thread where we (loosely) follow the step-by-step Flylady housekeeping system (in our own, unique, relaxed style) with lots of chat, whinging (in my case anyway ) and support along the way.

We advise not signing up to receive the Flylady e-mails as you will be inundated! All the information you need will be linked here on a daily basis.

From the first of the month, we will be following Flylady's tips on restoring order to our homes, and as we are all at different stages we will be using one of the following methods:

Here you can, for one month:

• repeat or start baby steps

• repeat baby steps + do 15 mins a day decluttering in the current zone

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

More info here and here!

All long-standing members, intermittent returnees, lurkers and newcomers welcome!!

Jasna We all need help from time to time so no need to feel ashamed. I hope you can get the local press involved as it sounds like a David v Goliath situation. As I said previously, I think the best thing would be to start a thread explaining your predicament and asking advice from people on Mumsnet who work for the media. (Just so you know this is a housekeeping thread). Good luck with your campaign.

You need to start a new thread Click on me to start a new thread in chat.

give it a title, then basically post what you have posted in here.

pa how darn exciting to see you . We miss you. How are you and your brood?

Thanks Bitchy you beat me to it - that's exactly what I was going to post

Other alternatives for Jasna are Mumsnet Campaigns topic under Mmsnet stuff or the media topic under Classifieds. But as Bitchy says the chat section will probably get you a more immediate response.

Good luck.

Evening all. PA how lovely to see you!

ChitChat - thanks, basically I'm allergic to penicillin family, but dr prescribed whatever it was (have forgotten ) after noting the allergy, which is a pain. Need to contact them tomorrow and find out what it was and tell them not to prescribe it again!

Jasna - hope you can get the help you need. This is probably not the best place to look for it though.

Huge waves to all. Have renewed our spirits with bubbles and family cricket in the sunshine, and had a big roast dinner. Also finally caught up with Being Human! Back to flying tomorrow...

Bloody hell our thread has been recommend on fb wtaf?

eh?

At the top of the thread there is a button that say recommend on fb and then a number next to it. The thread is on fb x amount of times.

Not sure what you mean? I don't follow MN on FB.

Ooo er, not liking the sound of this ....

[no offence to anyone following this via Facebook )

Are we about to be inundated by newcomers then?

Nah, i think they might go find someone who will motivate them to get more flying then chatting done

sticking to the copyright rules we are. ignores the body clutter stuff and big tent

has clearly lost the plot tonight and needs to go to bed

What a lovely welcome back from you all. I hadn't posted for so long I thought I might have been forgotten.

Brood are all doing ok, although DD2 had a scary time when she caught meningitis and was in hospital for a week inn London. Nightmare!! She was then left with labarythitis which now seems to be subsiding so hopefully she will be fully well again soon. She came home to the island for some recuperation and is now back in London.
Everyone else is plodding on fine.

Plans are all going ahead and our flights are booked for 17th July - one way tickets!!

House is an absolute mess!! We are in limbo a bit. DH says it is too soon to do a mass turf out of stuff, cos we would end up doing it again before July.

I am still doing the 3 jobs, although am hopeful to drop one of them soon. A new lady has been interviewed and I am to train her (Although I took an instant dislike to her, which is TOTALLY NOT me!!! - I think she will drive the boss crazy!). Job number 1 is also driving me nuts. I wish I could give that one up now, but that one is the most hours and pays the best so I need to keep the money coming in until we go.

Sorry for being totally selfish and not doing personals. I need to do a mass catch-up with what is happening to you all, or i might put my foot in it!!

Humungous waves to you all. I have missed you, but just needed a bit of an MN break. Maybe I am back for the long haul now. I am going to need some sanity to get this all sorted before we go. >

Evening everyone

honu sorry your experimental meal didn't go down well.
feetheart hope your half marathon was fab. Well done for getting that far.
blue glad itching is subsiding a little
toffee on your behalf at languishing dh. I
Love blackbird song
lifebegins love wicked let them go as they are philosophy. Don't think my ds would like to go in his pjpants
sc hope dd managed revision ok and you were not subjected to rant on lifestyle choices and marriage
swan glad sleepover went ok. Hope you both recovered by this evening. Brave brave woman well done to ds1 on workbook comments. at granny's skating rink. Governor is going well, very busy. Ht leaving beginning if summer so this week I am short listing and after that interviewing. Very interesting frustrating and Definately keeping me almost out of trouble.
bitchy love pj 3 yr old also love "renew my spirit my sodding arse" I agree too
mummynickelby wow at wonderful back to bed morning. My dc are desperate to go to peppa pig world must do it this summer.
just your work sounds fab well done. I got excited that you might be able to help some fledglings with there journey. Hmm might have to try fennel leeks cabbage mix
toffee I know poor in laws but I think it's too cold and they feel stuck in a hotel room bored staring at each other. It's such a shame as it was supposed to be a special holiday to celebrate the end of mils treatment. Hope ds is having a great time.
sc a field of crocus sound fabtastic or is it crocii lol
ellie sounds idyllic you make me want a caravan and that's saying something well one near a forest
pa lovely to hear from you. So exciting. Eh what to you mean sanity and this thread are not bosum buddies

Waves to chitchat mrsursa scatty whoknows

I started this on my phone last night but fell asleep in the process.

Tada

Homework
Tidy house
Dinner pork chops
Picnic in park went to 3 playparks
Cleaned up more cat pee from mil dressing room and changed litter. Window been open all night to get rid of smell. Don't hold out much hope as mil can smell things a mile off.
Tried brushing velvet cushion on sofa to make it not stand up so much. Not successful

Can't remember what else

Today i have to
Choose towel rail and bathroom without killing dh almost came to blows last time we looked. He said my design ideas were pathetic
Check how old bathroom suite going on eBay
Take ds to school
Come home sort out caravan for mil
Take dc both swimming
Dinner ?
Attend ladies circle meeting planning our next fundraising event.

Obviously not in the order above but I think that's enough to get on with.

Hope you all have fabulous days

Morning All was up early so have made a flying start to the day.

Will read back later to catch up after busy family (no flying done) weekend.

Moring routine done

To Do
2 more loads of washing (two done) plus drying, ironing and away
Bathroom Mission - renovating our shower - tackling limescale on glass
Banking
Dinner - salad - well it is Spring here today
Work - prep and meeting this afternoon
School trip meeting
Finish home bleugh - one bedroom to tidy

Hope those who were poorly or looking after poorly ones are over the worst. Interested to hear about the workshop some of you are attending as I have an education interest and am always keen to add to my knowledge and to pass on to parents.

Coost - re bathrooms and design - best of luck - tiles were the test of marital (dis)harmony in this house!

Aargh, I've just lost a long post with personals and everything. I was just thinking I ought to save it in case anything happened, and clicked the x at the top of the tab by mistake. Grr.

Anyway, quick summary:

I will do better, both FLYing- and posting on the thread-wise.

nettle / MummyN DD2 is also desperate to visit Peppa Pig World, but the logistics make it virtually impossible for us to go. We're planning to go to London in November, but it would be quite a long day trip even from there.

PA Welcome back (not that I've been around much).

SC Have been reading about your struggles with your DD with interest (as I have similar problems with DDs) and sympathy (ditto) - although it looks like you're already ahead of me on encouraging independence.

Toffee Have heard that reactions to your own pets can be less severe - particularly if it's cats rather than dogs that you've always reacted to, anyway.

ChitChat Hope your DS is better and that it doesn't go round the whole family like it did here.

Blue Sympathies on the reaction; I'm allergic to penicillin too.

WhoKnows Hope your cold is better now. I've been falling behind with everything too (running, FLYing, etc.) and even my manicure is looking the worse for wear now.

Quick list for this morning:

Food shopping done
Put shopping away
Washing in WM
Make appointment with dermatologist (six-monthly check now two months overdue)
Wrap birthday present for party this afternoon
Order stamps online
Send invoice

Must get on, as the morning is already half over - that will teach me to write long posts...

Morning all. Bit of a quick post because in-tray is calling. Hope everyone OK.

Feetheart/Whoknows I am sorry - I think I got my facts in a twist and mixed up who was running half-marathon at weekend. Feetheart I see from Nettie's post that it went well for you - congratulations (can't find your post sorry) but huge achievement!! Whoknows Hope you are feeling a bit better today.

Nettie sorry your in-laws had such a rotten time - hope you managed to get things fixed! (And no - I avoided issue by going to church in lang I couldn't understand [coward emoticon] but don't think there is same 'issue' here as separation of church & state = everyone has to get married by equiv of registry office anyway (before getting married in church if they want to do that) ifyswim. Did a quick surf re cat pee removal and found no idea if any good but you never know!

PA Agree if you are looking for sanity then this might not be the best place to find it Truly lovely to have you back! Sorry to hear aobut your dd2 but glad all OK now. Gosh - 17th July is not long away - must be equally scary and exciting to finally have date set in stone!! Sorry jobs proving tedious. Instead of mass turf out, could you try Fat Fairy method (poss equally tedious) but maybe a bit less exhausting for you? Hope you are back for long haul!!! Getting pigeon-sticking withdrawal symptoms !!!!

potential newcomers despite what I said on here last night - you are very welcome (but preferably not 30 all at once!!!) [hope]

Flaps wings at everyone else!! Hope you have a productive start to the week ...

xposts

JWIM congrats on your Flying start!! Agree about tiles and marital disharmony!!!

Linzer sounds like you have recovered but take it steady!! Thanks for sympathy, I have no idea what I'm doing really but will let you know how reward chart goes!!

Final thought,

how is your dd this morning Ellie?

Eek, I knew there was something I'd forgotten to do - buy bread. I have a mind like a sieve atm and don't remember anything unless I put a reminder on my phone.

SC Good luck with the reward chart - and yes, please let me know how you get on. I've tried reward charts before but, while it's definitely encouraged the DC to do homework, piano practice, etc., it hasn't helped so much with changing their behaviour (the constant squabbling, in particular). I also think DS needs to be encouraged to get dressed without any help and I generally need to encourage more independence.

Well this morning was strangely calm And i had an appology for the one issue that arose. No arguement just a sorry I forgot. seems like spending all day yesterday dealing with behaviour was not actually wasted.

although i checked ds' room and his idea of tidy is not mine but he definitely made progress in there yesterday.

Today is not going how I had planned it yesterday. Don't expect much.

SC - This parenting lark is quite difficult when both parents aren?t on the same page, isn?t it?!

Swan - I?m really hoping that boys aren?t as into sleepovers from an early age!!!

Bitchy - that?s the problem with not being able to do much for so long, when you are able to get things done there?s soooo much to do! How is your back now?

Coost - fingers crossed you can get back into your own home soon! You might need to buy something for the cat pee, that smell is a sod to get rid of.

MummyNic - the days out sound lovely!

Just - wow, you really do so much for others.
Toffee - what?s the course you?re doing on Tuesday?

Scatty - Nice to see you back

MrsU - my old mentor had 2 whippets, they were the most adorable things! Remembering that brought back some memories (happy and sad, she died a year ago)

Linzer - glad you?re feeling a bit better.

Ellie - what a fabulous weekend for camping. Glad you had such a good time.
PA - Welcome back PA!

Blue - Don?t tell me it?s cricket season already??!!

Had to take DS2 to out of hours GP yesterday as he deteriorated. Temperature, not eating, sore throat, sore tummy (curled up in a ball and holding it!), throwing up, diarrhoea. Probably strep throat, is on penicillin. Poor thing is as pale as can be, and did a very good imitation of Velcro yesterday ? mummy lap, mummy hug, mummy sit..........

Looks a bit brighter today, but still clearly very ill. Nearly fell over backwards when DH OFFERED to go into work late so that he could do the school run and I could stay at home with DS2, an offer which I eagerly accepted! This behaviour needs to be encouraged!!! (Especially when it gives me time to catch up with this thread! )

Hopefully the velco phase has passed, as I need to get on with some decorating today. Will do a tada list later as I haven?t got the energy to think through the numerous things that need to be done.

ChitChat - get well soon to DS2 - sounds nasty, poor mite! "Cricket season" in this house is whenever DS1 can persuade DH and me to play with him - not very often.

SC/swan/Toffee - reward chart got us through the morning quite successfully, but nearly made us late because it took so long to stick on the stickers... [facepalm] Will have to rethink slightly, or allow extra stickering time...

Need to do a bit more work this morning, but will try to do the mission before collecting DS2 from playgroup...

Whizzing past having spent too much time on all the wrong things, so will restart later, but wanted to say Sanguine well done digging out that link, at least people may realise it isn?t all actually as cut and dried as it can seem. :)

ChitChat - tomorrow's course is on getting a statement for your child.

DH has just come back from the dr, who told him he might need to be hospitalised! EEK! He really is ill! He has been put on a week's course of steroids and antibiotics, as well as his usual inhalers. I am sorry for him, but whyohwhy does this happen when I'm going away? I hardly ever go away on my own. Anyway, we have arranged for MIL to come over and I have set up a rota of parents to do the school run, so DH should be able to manage.

DS1 said, "So you're leaving us to be looked after by an old woman and a sick man?" . Yep, that's about it.

Am spending the day preparing for my trip. Catching a train at 4ish this afternoon, staying overnight with a friend tonight, then meeting Swan and WhoKnows tomorrow morning. Will be lovely to meet them in RL.

PA - great to see you back! So sorry your daughter had meningitis - that must have been beyond scary for you all - but I'm relieved to hear she's much better now. It's great that your trip is still going ahead. Have you thought of keeping a blog (then we could all follow your progress)?

Blue - glad the chart helped this morning, in spite of the sticker slowdown.

ChitChat - your poor DS . Hope he gets better soon. Glad DH is helping.

Linzer - glad to see you are back with us again . Hope you are right about one's own pets.

DS1's English lesson is just ending, so I'd better go. to everyone else.