It's September so the Fledgings Fly, as we wave our clutter bye bye

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

Welcome to the ongoing Fledgling Flyers thread for September, thanks to Bitchy who kept us posted through August.

Right, most of you should know how this works. It's a three pronged attack.
Phase one: The babysteps master these and you will be working like clockwork.
Phase two: Adding in Decluttering this will help you keep on top of the amount of stuff contributing to CHAOS.
Phase three: Missions Targeted activities to keep the chaos at bay and starting the deep cleaning.

The golden duster of Flying is stage 4: deep cleaning. This is for most me anyway, somewhat unrealistic and in theory you don't need to worry about it until you have finished decluttering that's never then. Just do it if you want to.

Now for those of you who are completely lost, lets rewind a bit.
CHAOS: Can't have anyone over syndrome. We've all been there

The fly lady approach works by breaking the house down into tiny activities which you do repeatedly until they become habit and don't feel like chores any more. The house is split into zones, each zone is tackled for a week before moving on and comes round again at the start of the next month.

There are lots of experienced Fledglings on here, hence lots of advice and support and chat about anything except housework some days. the main thing is that you can post any time you like even if you haven't lifted a finger around the house that day because with Flylady you just pick up again the next day and off you go again.

We advise against signing up for Flylady emails as they can lead to a great deal of clutter in the Inbox, each days steps will be posted on this thread to save you having to find them yourself.

In the meantime here is a link to the Flylady website for anyone who would like a browse.

Getting started Remember - don't subscribe to the emails!

Re geography position I would be happy to take up that opportunity thank you!

Oh and I attempt a full time PhD. Ha bloody ha. That's why I needed help to get organised and a housework routine, hence flylady and the organised document.

Really desperate to get downstairs and started on my crafty stuff but DD very unsettled and experience gas taught trying to leave too early is foolhardy.

engels i teach full time plus HOD role. I have a non-existent social life and my house looks like a shit tip half the time and all with a 4yr old and 9 yr old. It has got harder as they get older if anything (apart from when they were little and didn't sleep) because there is so much to remember to do, places to take them etc. My only solution has been to lower my standards. Without this thread I would have disappeared under a mound of laundry and filth by now. I am not a brilliant fledgling flylady.

toffee i agree about that last episode. Can't wait for the new series. It is one of the few programmes that DH and I watch together!

Great, EyesDoMore . I'm afraid the pay and working conditions aren't great though .

Toffee - once I am out of hospital I am going to try the free trial of NEtflix, so I will look for it on there.

eyes, what is the organisation document?! Is it like a control journal?

Ta Da
Early training
Coffee with friend
nap
collect ds from school and speak to teacher about training impact monitoring.
Feed and prep for ds' training
Double check training kit
Ds' reading
ds to training
ds in shower and in bed

I am just about to grab a snack and head to bed too. Will catch up in a mo. night.

Just checking in to say thanks all for the birthday wishes for DS. It's been a fairly tame one as he's been in childcare do we're going to do most of the presents and celebrating on Sunday which is party day.

Currently slumped in front of Bake Off. Took DD to babycafe this afternoon for some socialising. Other than that I've cleaned the kitchen. There's still a bit to do but the rubbish and recycling are out, bits and pieces moved back to the garage... Starting to look a bit more like it should do.

Still need to make pass the parcel and party bags :s

Evening all,

I'm very tired, didn't get much sleep last night, so not going to chat too much. The DCs came out of school having both had good days and we have all had a nice evening. DH is feeling much better. DS wanted a chat about his Aspergers and what it means this evening, he is worried that it makes it hard for him to make friends, that is my biggest worry for him too. I try and support his social life as well as I can but I also feel I ought to be doing more to teach him the skills he needs. Back to my big pile of self help books I think, they've been gathering dust over the summer. Hmm.

Flying wise

Ta-da!

Morning routine - done apart from shine sink
Work
Afternoon school run
Relax with DCs for a bit
Start putting stuff back in understairs cupboard (all moved yesterday to let the plumber get in to the boiler) while putting aside some to get rid of
Made dinner
Made packed lunch x 3
Made a huge batch of pasta sauce to freeze
Made and iced fairy cakes for packed lunches
Mammoth washing / clearing up exercise
Speech therapy / reading with DCs
Clothes out for tomorrow

Links for Weds 5th Sept

Babystep Write down and banish those negative voices

Mission Clean out the fridge

House was briefly impeccable today. Then DS2 got hold of a tube of glitter, pulled all the cushions off the sofa to make a bouncy castle, they both made train tracks, scattered a load of Gruffalo magnets everywhere, and I made chutney...

Hey ho, it was nice while it lasted and DM reckoned she could see the underlying tidiness...

Trying to decide whether or not to go for a trip to Cromer tomorrow for the last day of the holidays... Forecast is dry but chilly. Can wrap up warm, I guess, but not so much fun for paddling.

Glad your DS had a good day, Trazzle. Really need to think about DS2's party. I've got a plan for a cake, but most of the rest will be played by ear, I think.

whoknows gosh that sounds tough. I hope you can find some answers.

Blue thanks! If nothing else I am extremely grateful for Sainsbury's stocking a Fireman Sam cake so that I don't need to show my baking inability to the world!

Ps my sink is shiny!!!

Just headed to bed half an hour ago but downstairs is beginning to look like somebody cares. The sink is sparkling, dishes are done, floors are hoovered, bags packed. Now just need some rest.

Sending sweet dreamsn to fledglings

Whispers - I think Eyes is referring to a thread about organisation that was running a while back. One of the posters kindly summarised the best tips in a Word document and emailed it to those of us who asked. I have it somewhere and can have a hunt for it if you want (but it might be quicker if someone more organised finds it first. As you can see, the document hasn't had much impact on me ).

WhoKnows - have you told us your op date yet? I'm sure 'Walking Dead' will cheer you up afterwards . I hope the self-help books provide you with some useful pointers to help DS1. It must be tough for both of you when these things crop up.

Blue - glad you had a brief moment of house impeccableness today, at least! I wish I could say the same.

Trazzle - good luck with the pass-the-parcel bags. For some reason, I find that game one of the most stressful aspects of my children's parties. Last year, I put a sticker inside each layer as well as a small sweet, so that each time a child unwrapped a layer, they put the sticker on themselves (well, I usually had to remind them) and then we knew who had had a turn. It did save all the "Has he/she had one yet? " palaver.

I am hoping DS2 will want a trip out with a couple of good friends this year, rather than a party (he will be seven) and that last year was the last time I will ever have to do pass-the-parcel.

Bitchy - that sounds like a bit of a non-stop day. Hope you catch up on sleep tonight.

Right, have finished ironing tomorrow's uniform and put the last few labels into shoes and on clothes, lunchbox and water bottle. All the bags are hanging on the front door so we won't forget them. Clothes and coat are laid out. Socks are in new shoes.

Am just putting DS1's first morning's work in his box file. I told him tonight he needs to be dressed and to have had breakfast by the time I get back from the school run at 9.30. He needs to complete his work before we go to a meeting with his English tutor at midday. He is spending the afternoon with his best friend, whom he hasn't seen for three weeks.

I have done the washing up and just have the last bit of shopping to put away before bed. Looked at my control journal and realised my routines are all out of date and need rejiggling.

Off to finish my jobs now, then going to bed at a decent hour for once.

Night all.

I've just found the last half a dozen episodes lurking in my Sky+ box Toffee, together with hslf a dozen Good Wife and about 2 seasons of ER, maybe I won't need Netflix. That's a brilliant idea wiyh stickers in the pass the parcel BTW. I'm booked in on the 26th.

I've lost track a bit but hope all the birthday parties this week go well.

Hi who knows I too have to fit in speech therapy ds2 is getting quite resistant! DS1 struggled with making friends so we practised different scenes and how he could repond we practised conversations. He has some good friends now and he takes cues from them now if he feels unsure.
Back to flying I achieved the mission and started to re-trace baby steps drink your water is a hard one me -who knows why - and swish and swipe-

That's good, WhoKnows .

I forget to drink water too, Mymum. Can go ages without drinking and not notice.

Woken up about 5 this morning by DS2 and haven't been able to get back to sleep since, so will have to function on less than a full night's sleep today.

After the school run, it's the first session of home ed with DS1 this morning. We are starting small - some reading, handwriting, a bit of Science and then I'll let him play on a Maths CD-Rom. Might get a bit of tidying up done in the kitchen whilst he works, but I'm not expecting to get much done.

Meeting DS1's English tutor this afternoon, then he is being reunited with his best friend after three week's apart. He has stocked up with his friend's favourite food and drink to welcome him home.

Hope you all have a good day.

Time to switch off MN for the day.

marking place.

Hi all just checking in from holiday glorious weather which makes a change from the last one

Am on my phone and can't work out how to PM, but Whoknows I will be back from Monday if that's ok?

engels I work full time too (company director) and have a 3 year old and a 1 year old. It is very hectic, but we are very lucky to have good childcare - we have a nanny (cheaper than 2 at nursery round here) and my parents look after the children for odd hours if we both have to work late. Struggle to stay on top of the house though, which is why I'm here!

Morning all!

Mindee arriving any minute so a quick dump and run!

To do:
recycling out
shred
shine sink
Clean out fridge a la mission
Walk dogs
DD and mindee to playgroup
School run later
Start deep cleaning playroom
Routines
Clean bathroom

BBL!

That's fine PMPY - I'm ok till the 25th.

Ta-da!

Check email/MN on phone, download newspaper and podcast for later
WM on
Up, showered
3 x packed lunch assmbled, water bottles filled
Breakfast me and DCs
Empty DW and clear drainer
Refill DW
Wipe surfaces
Shine sink
Sweep and mop kitchen floor
Get dressed / make up (minimum - damage limitation)
Paint nails
5 mins MN
Brush teeth

Off to school in 5 mins

Thanks for kind words re DS, I do need to do some role play with him. He has actually done very well with his socialising over the summer. I find role play hard (I reckon he gets a lot of his AS tendencies from me, I also have poor imagination and love routines but my social skills are intact, that's the difference). We've got The Rules of Friendship Book which is very helpful.

Urgh toooo early, not enough sleep, tooo much to do today. Shit, late must do school run.

Oh and forgot swish and swipe.

Back from school, washing is on the line, off to work now.

oh dear, reading yesterday's list of things I was meant to do! Today, none of that is going to get done, and I have now another (different) list

however
feeling like zombies, hope we didn't look like zombies, Dh and I
have just about managed to get two out of three children off to school
washed
uniformed
hairwashed
PE kitted
pencil cased

Whoknows I was thinking from your posts how nicely your ds1 managing socially, playing with his sister etc,enjoying IofWight caravan - I think he must be doing better than he thinks. I wonder whether part of ASD is that they themselves worry more thn is usual about what other people think of them, as well as the usual misreading.
Yesterday I was proud of ds2 joining on various impromptu football games at park, then when he started lecturing a poor little six year old about penalty areas, proud when he bicycled happily again and again round park, and when he started complaining his sister wasn't playing with him...
He seems to have gone off to school alright today, organisationally he is driving me mad as he plans NOTHING, not a pencil case, not even asking where PE kit was. He has been so thoughtful this holidays (intellectually I mean, as well as occasionally emotionally) and enjoyed so much hanging out with his cousins; I HOPE he will get a lot out of classroom teaching and enjoy learning, except his writing is so terrible... and he knows it...

toffee enjoy first day...don't worry too much if it takes unexpected twists

Right,

twelve year old and I are going to spend most of today outside I hope. Not quite sure in what shape or form. He is in a cheery mood, so I want to keep it that way before the horror of whpping him into shape over homework etc sets in on Thurs...The impression I get of his first year at secondary was that he made an effort for about eight weeks, then his work got sloppier and sloppier due to parental collapse.. We will have to try a different mthod this year, kitchen table, no music, no telly after school, more chores, and less homework at weekends...

DD has been waking at 6am for teh last three months - today she clearly tired of that and slept until 7.25am

Issue being that it was my first day back to work after a month and her first day back at nursery

Thanks to the hard work of the last few days however all was not lost and we got everywhere we needed to be on time and so far nothing I need has been left at home! except for my motivation

Breakfast done
Lunches made done

whoknows I feel for you and your son, I was extremely awkward at school but my DM refused to help, knowing he has you to talk to will I am sure help his confidence as he gets older.

toffee I am looking into HE for DD when she gets to school age depending on what needs she has at that time, maybe even flexi school if our primary allows it.

Hope your having a better day carpe
Have managed to clean kitchen windows, bit smeary but better.
Time to wake up DS...