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!!

Ooh, influx of fledglings whilst I was posting! Going to drink my and catch up now.

Morning on the beautiful, sunny day

Quite list dump and I'll try & catch up later:
To do:
Home bleughhh
Weekly big shop
DS swimming.

Done:
One load of sheets in w/m

ChitChat - sounds like a frantic day you have ahead of you. I hope it all works out ok.

Linzer - phew - glad your DH has recovered so quickly.

WhoKnows - hope you find a solution to the hairdresser issue. I know it is often tricky for children with ASD.

DS2 calling for me, so must go...

Toffee I meant to say this earlier but was so pee-ed off that everything else went out my head that DD3 went to a PRU. Do NOT believe all the bad reports about them. Ours was absolutely fantastic and I have only just resigned from their management committee. It might be worth popping along and seeing what is on offer for DS1. You would then have some support and may not feel so unsupported. Off to work now, but I would happily chat off board if you wany to about this (or anything else) you know where I am!!

Quick lunch-time catch up (two days worth ):

[Looks around for Bitchy ] Hope you are OK!

Toffee hope you and your "hungry peasants" (that includes your dh!) are feeling a bit better now although at your ds?s temp!! That really is high ? he must have felt rotten. No wonder he is feeling a bit grumpy today - hope the sunshine works its magic!

Brilliant that cleaner was lovely and it went well - you deserve the support. Sorry to hear that stressful school issue continues though... that is so tough x

Ignore my whinging this morning btw - nowt serious - c'est la vie and the weekend is approaching!

Linzer think I will spell "schock" the German way from now on!! (More emphatic somehow) Arf at your cross-purposes intercom conversation!! (I've had plenty of those!!!) Glad your dh recovered quickly and hope work load doesn't prevent you having a bit of enjoyable family time this w/e!! at 9/11 ?words aren?t adequate really are they?

[schock!!] at a child being left alone for ¾ hrs at that age on reg basis!!

Mrs Play Dough Chitchat sympathies re: putting it all back on (with a bit extra). Lost weight when I was in UK and then gorged so much on Belgian bread (embraced it like a long lost friend!!) on my return that I am now plumper than ever

I hereby grant you official permission to deffo deffo put visiting godfather in pub!! He will enjoy it and much less stressful for you with everything else you have on your plate today!!
Hope your ds1 has a lovely day tomorrow!!

Deffo need to low carb (interesting to hear about energy dips Whoknows] And sympathies re your dh and putting out clothes the night before. My dh is utterly hopeless at this too!! He can?t even prepare his own suitcase without forgetting something vital like socks or pants!!! Am very admiring of your ?training techniques? however!!
Digression alert> I had a horse once who was terrified of the noise of clippers? worked it out in the end by v. v. gradual exposure ? not sure if this works with dc !!

I keep bleating on about this ? apologies for provenance - scroll down for sassy water recipe ?really is tasty and effective

Scatty hope you've managed to banish the critters for now ...

Jax what are oopsie rolls? (Agree about almonds)

Swan glad to hear you were rewarded (or rewarded yourself anyway!) for daughterly duties!! Hope your dd feeling a bit happier today. (I don?t ?do? dressing gowns either (a) would give postman PTSD (b) always seem to have damp sleeves)

PA See my post of 29 Feb, 20:34:50. ?Uncle? Nesbit is my physical manifestation of same (regular visitor chez moi )!! Hope you have recovered from your trip to mainland and re: paed consultant ? I guess you are going to be saying quite a lot of goodbyes between now and July - not easy

Whoknows/Elliepac Snap re: loosening the reins!!! And well done to your newly independent dss!!

[Very PFB alert!!!] Had dd gone to tennis last night, we were planning that she came home by herself for very first time (it?s a 4 min walk across our road to a school complex? and she can walk back most of the way with a lovely boy in her group) Had set up my gsm with my name and number on front screen for her exclusive use (in case of probs) but it didn?t happen because of her malingering ?next wk perhaps ?I know I am going to be worried though, ridiculous though it sounds

Enjoy the sunshine MummyNickleby!

Huge waves to Blue (definitely fling those shirts of your dh !!) Ellie (good luck with short list) Nettie Bitchy Feetheart MrsDroitwich Neenook and loads of fledglings I am sure I must have missed!

Better get back to it!! Gloriously sunny day here and I am very tempted to stray ... but must go and tidy bedroom/bathroom once I've finished in the office ....

Right, it's too nice to bleughhh now so:

Ta Da
Sheets & towels basking on brad the washing line
Weekly shop
Reported a woman for parking in parent & child and forgetting she didn't have a child (pet hate of mine)
Renewed house insurance - halved it!!
Paid balance of Butlins holiday

To do:
Swimming with DS
Might do bathroom after... If not, I shall add that to the bleughhh for tomorrow morning.

Aargh. DS's friend's mum arrived just as I'd finished the English lesson, was trying to field a phone call from one of the other mothers and find a missing hat belonging to one of the students at the same time. She asked whether it was OK to leave the children in the garden (we'd arranged for her youngest to come too) and I said yes, fine. Only to discover about five minutes after she'd gone that she'd left all three of them!

I have to take DD1 to her dyslexia lesson in half an hour and I can't fit seven children in my car. I was planning on taking DD2's friend to the playground too but have had to phone her mum to ask her to come and pick her up, as I just can't fit them all in the car. (She was actually supposed to be staying here all weekend with her brother but, as I posted yesterday, her little brother is ill so that's been cancelled now.)

Apologies for the rant but just had to get it off my chest!

SC It's perfectly understandable for you to be worried - not PFB at all. DD2 said a couple of weeks ago that she wanted to walk home alone from ballet (held at the school, about 10 minutes' walk away) and I must admit I was quite relieved when she phoned me after she'd been walking for not much more than a minute to say she'd change her mind and could I pick her up. She's very sensible and walks the same route with DD1 twice a week, but I couldn't help but worry about her.

Waves to Toffee, PA and MummyNic - must dash as we have to pick up DS before DD1 sees her dyslexia tutor and it will take a good 15 minutes to get them all ready...

Apologies for any typos - no time to proofread!

[Flaps wings in mummy-bird indignation at behaviour of Linzer's acquantaince ( at the cheek of it!!) and MummyNickleby's parking infringer (if that's a word)!!

Will fly soon I promise ....

Toffee re DS1 haircut - a friend's daughter has just finished qualifying as a hairdresser and, as DH can't easily leave the house, she comes and cuts and washes his hair every few weeks. Might a mobile hairdresser work for DS1?

SC I followed the link for sassy water and did the quiz (nesbitting again ).Would have been negative without the wine and caffeine which put me miles over. Might try the water.

Was going to ask Jax about oopsies but Linzer got there first.

To do
Fetch washing in
Fold, iron, put away 3 loads washing, incl 2 from airer
Wash up
Kitchen hot spot
Bedroom hotspot
Load old electrical stuff into car ready for tip run tomorrow
Decide on dinner and do something about it
Nap (am v tired today, perhaps why nesbitting)

Did I answer about oopsie rolls?

Ive been mopping and coffeeing today - mostly coffee. Met a friend that I havent seen for months and we sat and caught up over lots of drinks and didnt realise the time until 12.30!

23 degrees here today - so my car said, still had a cardigan on though.
not much flying today, although I did bleach the yuk off and out of the soft plastic rim thing on shower screen door, cleaned upstairs bathroom and mopped upstairs bathroom floor and dining room.

oopsie rolls are made mostly from eggs, whites whipped, yokes whipped with pinch cream of tartar, pinch salt (I dont add sugar/stevia/splenda) fold egg whites and yokes together and plonk on a baking sheet for 20-30 mins at 150C

Lo carbing, means I cant eat bread/pasta/rice etc so these are a god send now that I know how to make them.

sorry no personals, cant keep up with everyone and everything at the moment. DD out playing with friends, - she is almost 9 and is only round the corner on the green, but it makes me nervous - not even my pfb!

DS drawing in his bedroom... but he has walked to shop with his friends and back, but he is 12.

Well today has been slightly more productive.
I feel overwhelmed by Spring suddenly, it is the light soft evenings especially, reminds me of being young

done
blood test at hospital, results on Monday
tackled several hotspots
cleaned living room mantlepiece and decluttered
sorted out various piles of Cds
sorted out craft cupboard
finally put some stuff in my new filing cabinet (still load more to sort though
I
SC dd was being so awful and spoilt about her violin practice this morning (she has not practiced a note all week) Finally she did 2 mins, and then spent 20 mins arguing the toss about how she didn't have time to do any more I don't really know what to do. I am pouring money down drain on the violin, she is good at it, but she needs to practice more than 2 mins at week yet she insists she wants to continue, and loves her teacher.
On the plus side ds1 can now play "Hawaii Five O" theme tune on his! A talent indeed.
Long convo later (unrelated to anything but turned out to be relevant today with friend about someone else's spoilt 12 year old dd who has been given everything but slapped her mother the other day and screamed at her for 5 hours...So I'm feeling worried about dd's deterioating expectations, generally spoilt etc...
I think I had better just make a decision, to pay for lessons she doesn't practice for, or call her bluff and stop violin. It is all driving me insane and yet as you say so unimportant in the scheme of things when these poor parents have lost their precious children, and would probably give anythign to have them back to argue with

Toffee If you de-registered for a year do you think it would take the pressur e off him, and the perhaps the idea that he might have to go back to school might be hangng over him, causing further anxiety? Is it a very oversubscribed/difficult school to get back into? It must seem a tremendous uphill/uncharted future, having him at home long term, but I think feeling he should be in school is quite a pressure isn't it for both o fyou. Anyway, I can't talk, all my children seem to have tremendous ups and downs educationally, and I really don't know what to think about formal education in general. On a beautiful day like this, the idea that we could just do our own thing is very tempting. The children's school is on strike on Wed, but not some classes (different union) and, the children are so annoyed to be going to school!

Hope Home ed board will offer some insights. Dh keeps telling me he hated all his teachers/lessons but liked the friends - very odd really, if what he was meant to be getting was an education.

Jax idea of a ds of 12 drawing in his bedroom for pleasure makes me swoon with Ds has never drawn anything willingly in his entire life

Oh yes, ds1 got two detentions today, and was back late...So much for school...

swanthing he is really into manga style cartoons and likes art. I bet your DS is a sporty McSport. Mine isnt - apart from his new ski phase - he gave up martial arts last year and nothing will tempt him back.

Swan - if DD loves her teacher, maybe a diary of practice times signed by you and presented to her teacher would shame her into practicing more?

Rubbish day, very little accomplished - feeling rather panicked now!!!! Going to be running around like a crazy woman for the rest of the evening.....

(I blame skype and my sister!!!!!)

Right, off I go.....

Hi all. Just popping in after 2 crazy days at work.
Thankfully nit infestation seems to have cleared.

To do
DC put stuff away
baths
Smurfs

This is why I love this thread - you all give such brilliant advice.

Honu - a mobile hairdresser is an absolutely fantastic idea! Why didn't I think of that ? We have a hairdresser opposite our house, so I suppose I thought that was easy enough. However, as even that isn't possible for DS1, a mobile hairdresser would be perfect. Still stressful, but at least DS would be able to run up to his room at the first opportunity. I will do some research.

Swan - funny you should say that about school hanging over us all. DH and I have just been talking about that very subject. We are going along with the LEA/school's plan to provide online teaching for DS, but neither of us believe he can ever be reintegated into his secondary school, which is the aim. We can't quite make the leap into de-registering - but we are teetering on the edge. I do agree that remaining part of the system may be casting a shadow over life for DS1. I would be very sorry to cut ties with those teachers who have tried so hard with DS1, but that is the wrong reason to stay.

Those of you who are secondary school teachers ( Ellie, Honu - I'm looking at you!) - how much do you think it matters if children miss a couple of years from age 12? Does the GCSE work start in Year 9, or does all the work done before then provide essential building blocks for GCSEs? I suppose that might be the case for Maths and Science (oh, and languages), but everything else can be learned from Year 9, can't it? Or can it?

My head is in a terrible whirl over it all (my MN name seems particularly apt ).

Oh, yes - er - this is a Flying thread. I have done some ironing. And some washing up. And cooked for everyone. Am now drinking .

Scatty - glad the nits have been vanquished.

Chitchat - sympathies re rubbish day. I know that feeling well.

Jax - catching up with your friend sounds good.

Linzer - grr at being left with seven children! Seven!

MummyNic - good for you to report imposter parent and child car!

SC - the sunshine did work its magic, thank you. DS2 much cheerier now.

PA - I have PMd you.

Evening all. I've been working on the computer all day, so why do I want to spend my evening on it too?? Addicted, moi?

Linzer - or even [schock] at 7 children! Hope it worked out in the end.
Toffee - No idea about secondary school stuff, but plenty of
PA - I got the eraser sponges from Aldi - they're a "special" though, they don't have them all the time. They sell them in other places too, I think, but don't know where, sorry.

No flying today, but hoping to get some gardening done tomorrow.

Waves to all...

Toffee - I will PM back in the morning when brain is more awake!

BES - Oh rats, no Aldi here. I might see if Amazon do them.

SC - I think I could love your Uncle Nesbit. >

Major waves to everyone else, sorry, brain not functioning well enough for too much scrolling and although I have just read through all your posts I have the memory of a goldfish by the evening.

Got through work this morning and have typed out a measured, sensible response to this morning's email. It will not be sent until tomorrow after another read through. First draft was full of very un-Christian thoughts and words. DH has persuaded me that a calm, measured answer will get me further than the expletives I first typed!!

Evening all,

Back down to four children now - DD2's friend is staying overnight (I felt a bit guilty about having to send her home earlier, even though we hadn't specifically arranged for her to spend the afternoon with us after her mum's weekend away had been cancelled). The afternoon wasn't too stressful in the end as we spent most of it at the playground (I'm finally getting to the end of Wolf Hall), although I had to allow a lot of extra time for everything as even just getting the little ones into the car can be quite time-consuming. Another mother peered into the car when I was picking up DS from kindergarten, amazed at the number of children in there, and asked whether I was a childminder!

Blue I find that I actually spend more time on the computer (MN etc.) when I'm working, as it's so tempting just to flick across and have a look at something non-work-related - as I'm doing at the moment, in fact.

Toffee I'm not surprised your head is in a whirl - it sounds like a big decision you have to make.

Apologies for so few personals, but my eyes are starting to get very tired... and I need to get back to work.

PA - I get the eraser sponges in Homebase, they are on a special JML stand next to the washing up bowls etc.

Linzer - I flick on and off MN rather a lot when I'm working, but I don't log on (I'm office based, therefore different IP address, if I log on there it unlogs me from the home computer and my phone which is annoying as I have a long password). I get a different view as normally I have a lot of topics hidden, it make me feel more detached as I don't just go straight to threads I'm on but look in as an outsider (use my phone for Thread I'm On!). Can easily waste quite a lot of time just reading though.

I'm tired tonight too, been lying in bed watching telly and crocheting for a couple of hours as my back was very achey earlier and it needed a rest. Had a super Flying morning, got downstairs looking immaculate before friends came round for coffee at 10.30 and then we all went straight out to the garden anyway so probably no need but glad it's done. Also did school gardening club, a bit of shopping, some OU work and 2 loads of washing before fetching the DCs from school, then we just had a nice relaxed evening without going anywhere for a change and all sat down to work out who is going to be working when over the Easter holidays and which clubs and activities the DCs are going to go to.

Bugger, I've forgotten how to pm and it's obviously too late for my lark brain to function! Toffee, when I find out I'll pm you re DS1.

Honu You should be able to click on Message poster at the opposite end of the blue bar from where the poster's name appears. Or you can click on Inbox at the top of the page and then New message, but you have to type in the poster's name if you do so. (Too much like hard work for me.)

WhoKnows Sounds like a very productive day - you definitely deserve a rest this evening. Even just looking at the Threads I'm On, I can waste a ridiculous amount of time. I have also been wasting far too much time on FB this evening, discovering quite a few "small world" connections - mainly to do with MNers on the German thread and RL friends. Have also just discovered that my friend here whose three DC I looked after this afternoon is friends with someone who's friends with an old school friend of mine from Wales. All very spooky.

Having been saying for about the last hour that I really am going to go to bed, I really am going to go now... have finally finished work (apart from the proofreading, which I'm too tired to concentrate on now) so I have no more excuses for staying up.

Morning lovely fledglings. Hope you are all in fine fettle.

Sorry to miss the chat on here last night

[SC emerges from under duvet and starts brewing coffee in the naughty corner. Looks under quilts and cushions for Bitchy]

*

Today's baby-step (no. 24) for Saturday March 24th is adding swish and swipe to your morning routine

No missions or zones because it is the weekend

(But for those who wish to get ahead - next week we will be in Zone 5 (the sitting room) and Zone 1 (entrance hall) here

Saturday is family fun day here

Have a lovely weekend everybody!!

[Naughty corner is empty (apart from Uncle Nesbit asleep in the corner)

• now's your chance PA

SC leaves offee brewing for all and prepares large platters of Danish pastries and bowls of fruit salad]

Going to get a bit more shut-eye. Back later for personals!