October-fest: a fledgling (at best) might spruce up its nest (then take a rest?).

[strictlycaballine]

Welcome to the October 2012 Fledgling Flyers thread. Park your mops, buckets, microfibre cloths, golden dusters and spiders-web-removing-implements here!

A huge "thank you" to Whoknows and Pushme for leading us throughout September!! (Hope you are recovering well Whoknows - take it steady!)

If your 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, support and along the way.

This little-and-often system is designed so that you can follow a series of steps and routines each day (which gradually become second nature) in weekly designated zones of the house; defining and minimising housework - which in theory should leave you with more time to do other more interesting things instead! At the same time it is intended to reduce that panicky "rabbit in headlights" feeling when you are overwhelmed and everything needs doing all at once. No problem if you miss a day or two; just jump right back in and it will all come around next month again anyway!

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 steps and routines using a three-pronged approach (dependent on the stage everyone is at):

• start or repeat 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.

[And if you are really enthusiastic and have finished decluttering - you can go on to detailed deep cleaning in each zone.]

More info here on getting started, and the flylady system here and here Don't be put off by the barf-tastic language of the site - the underlying system is sound.

All welcome!!

My manouvers are ok, its my actual driving thats the issue eeek have a busy day today ds1 says he's ill again no temp though and he didn't sleep til 10.30 and was up again at 4.30 i very much think it's tiredness he's suffering from so he's going school, anyway must dash.

[Awards Oliviamumsnet with purple puddle visitor badge and special presentation set of golden shoelaces]

Morning all! [Effects repairs to naughty corner bar where Carpe crash landed last night]

Hope you managed to sort out the leak Carpe

Madwoman no wonder discombobulation is the order of the day with all of that going on. Hope you can manoeuvre your way through the thicket! [And good luck on Friday and Monday andfor camp over this weekend]

Huge waves back to Ellie - from a much lardier arse - my sister is fine thanks (just over here for minor op which she needs to get done 'cos of v. physically demanding job - and it was cancelled twice in UK) sitting up in bed, chatting, eating supper, hoping to be out tomorrow/Sat. [She's asked me to bring wine in tomorrow ] Must follow your example and give up cake ...

[Carries out inspection under Sowornouts carpets ] Parallel parking respect to you (esp with tractor!) Well done re: will anti-procrastination! So sorry to hear about your dh's step-dad though My fil has dreadful vascular dementia so have an inkling of what your mil and family is going through

Dizzy Top marks with your list yesterday and good luck with pre-boss visit clean today

Blue sorry to hear about the funeral on Friday Hope it goes as well as these things ever can. Safe travelling x

Shifty arf at "sticking it up in the kitchen" !

Pushme/Sowornout sympathies over hair dye woes. Ruddy stuff just reaches perfect colour (after initially being too dark) and then the roots need doing again [sigh]

Pushme I'm with you re: body clutter trials. Can't seem to shift it. Not helped by the fact that I am trying to pile the weight on (stick thin) dd and keep eating my own treacle tarts/crumbles/flap-jacks I'm not bf either!

Vigorous wing flaps to Trazzles Mymums Issima PA Whoknows Swan Feetheart Toffee Bitchy JGOWIT Honu Nicknacks Maggie Lplate Gossip MrsOnatopp Ricecrispy and everyone else I've forgotten!

Ok - had better get on - list is, er, um, same as yesterday's

x posts

Gossip hope your ds1 feels better soon

Lauren tea party in a circus tent looks good to me right now!! Esp when alternative is Flying!! Don't envy your vet's bills. It never rains but it pours does it (where equine injuries are concerned anyway). Good to know it's not recurrence of same injury though!

Have a productive day everyone!

Morning
DS didn't wake until 7 this morning
So instead of him coming into our bed for cuddles I jumped into his, it was lovely
there you go sowornout, that's just for you

Waves to all.

Best get some work done (hiding in the loo )

Gossip - good luck with the driving! Do try to preserve with the parallel parking. Once you get the trick of it it?s not that hard!

Swan - all that toing and froing is making me dizzy just reading it!!

Caballine - Oh no! Plaster repairs are a pain.

Carpe - loads of children around here have caught horrid colds, including my DS2, which he very kindly passed onto me. So if your DS is coming down with something it might be time for you to get out the Vitamin C for yourself!

Ellie - can I join you in the corner?

Carpe - yes please to the Christmas list here too. Will PM you.

Dizzy - well done for bringing up same sex couples with the head. They really need to rethink how they teach sex ed.

Blue - Sorry to hear about the funeral. Exciting work? Fabulous!

PMPY - tiger stripes, nice!!!

SoWorn - Your poor MIL. It must be so difficult for her, and for you.

Lauren - hope the abscess is easily treatable.

Big wave to everyone else!

Yesterday went to pot. Only managed to get about 15 minutes of tidying up done as I got caught up on phone calls, then had to run to do some shopping. Might have a job starting in the next few weeks so I REALLY need to get my routines established, and the house tidy and decluttered.

Need some lovely encouragement (and some boots up the backside when I?m sliding !)

[waves]

Bitchy v sorry about your friend's friend
SC you are sounding much brighter atm, anything to do with the Art classes?

any...miserable fail on flying here,
but I have made a BIG GROCERY LIST (there is literally no food in the house again, planning all gone to pot, and there never seems to be enough time to organise an internet shop (anyway dh has banned it because he says it is too pricey compared to Morrisons (which we love anyway
and order some NEW PE KIT for ds1 because he has well and truly lost it (luckily he had grown out of the Rugby boots otherwise I would be frothing at mouth over cost of that) £43 for a new Rugby shirt!!!! and he is so large I can't have hand me downs from year above unfortunately...
Also DROPPED two boys at school this morning for ds1's taster day. He was nervous, poor fellow, but it will all be over at 1pm. He was talking non-stop in the waiting area about dolphins, sneezing and something else scientific; I was really quite proud of him

so, I am tired and freezing, Dh started this morning ranting about why there was no clean saucepan for the milk for the Ready Brek, no food and no organisation. Yesterday he was out all evening on work related thing, so it ws the usual bottleneck over homework and bedtime and washing up. Must try to be more organised (she says...yet again)

However,
on a more positive note, yesterday I did
fairy cakes
tuna pasta
butternut squash soup
bacon sandwiches for returnees
netball after school dd, long walk ds2, Spanish revision ds1
cosy time watching Tangled on sofa with ds2, put everyone to bed myself by 9pm
several loads of laundry

oh yes, and on subject of parking, have been driving since I was 36 (now 47), and never mastered parallel parking! Luckily plenty of driveways round here so always a way into that elusive parking space. I love traffic, but I hate speed!

Morning all!

I forgot to add "get boys to school early with DS2 looking smart and in a cooperative frame of mind for school photo day" to last night's list. Am staggered that it was actually achieved!

Train ticket sorted but £££ :( - warning, never drop the "mandatory reservation coupon" when collecting pre-paid tickets. Tis expensive.

Suitcase mostly packed. Now got to collect DS2 and get through the rest of the day. As a result of the ticket debacle, I've got a slightly later train this evening, which should make things slightly less frantic.

Shifty - yay to 7am lie-in! Darker mornings rock!!

Morning all,

Not much to report here, still taking things very easy and watching a lot of TV.

I'm going to do my best with personals but I'm restricted to using an Ipad so can't scroll up and down too easily.

Carpe - thanks for the list, I'm going to print it out and have a good read.

Bitchy - sorry to hear about your friend's friend, that is a very hard thing to deal with.

Gossip - I passed my test (third time lucky!) at 17 and am old enough to have not had to do parallel parking, but a friend taught me a foolproof technique afterwards. However after moving to the suburbs 20 years ago I have rarely had to do it and have lost the knack again, I only have to do it about twice a year now. I still manage to do the "pull away in second and stall in the middle of a busy road" from time to time .

Pouring with rain here today, I've got a friend coming round to make me some lunch which is nice, I have had quite a few visitors, most of them have arrived bearing choccies etc so I dread to think what my body clutter is going to end up like, given the enforced total lack of exercise too, never mind!

Hello and good afternoon everyone, well ds1 has been sent home from school he's determined to go tomorrow as he has a school disco to attend. He also wants to play on the computer later so I think that maybe he has got skivalitus and managed to hudwink the school, although he does look yellow???

I went to ADHD solutions today which we all found surprisingly helpful and I am still shocked at how unsupportive ds1's previous school are, (I had to take him out as they wanted to exclude him from every fun thing that they were doing, i.e educational trips, plays, lunchtimes, and even asked me to keep him home for an ofsted report, at 5yrs old !!) the lady running it has a superb insight into how a child with adhd's mind works, (wonders if she may have had a few traits herself or has an older child who communicates his entire brain at her) also had a bit of hope in respects to a lady who has a 12 year old adhd child and she tells me that it gets slightly easier as they get older so fingers crossed.

Obviously, I have had no time for flying today and that teamed with the last couple of days laziness, I really must get on, the house is bordering on chaotic, and now I have a sick child to whinge at me contend with, I can see this being rather challenging, also dp has been to fetch some more of his belongings to clutter my tiny house up some more, sigh, well I'll catch up with you all later if I haven't worn myself out !!!!

Bitchy - what a horrible conversation to have! . Enjoy your drink in the naughty corner.

Swan - being organised... yes...good idea....

Gossip - What???!!!! Good think you removed your DS from that school!!!!!!

Right, have done a very detailed list in an attempt to get my life organised

Breakfast for DSs
Transfer items from washing machine to dryer
Load washing machine
Empty DW
Load DW
School and nursery run
15 minute burst in kitchen:

• Clean and shine sink
• Handwash dirty dishes/things that can?t go into dishwasher
• Tidy up counter LHS of sink
• Wipe down counter LHS of sink
• Wash hob pan supports
• Wipe down top of hob
• Clean splashback tiles behind sink and hob
• Throw out harvest flowers
• Start tidying counter RHS sink 15 minutes ironing Downstairs toilet:
• Scrub loo
• Wipe down inside and outside of loo
• Wipe down window sill
• Sweep floor
• Wash floor
• Wipe down ledges
• Wash dirty marks off walls
• Scrub sink
• Shine sink
• Mop floor
• Dry floor
• Put fresh mat down and hang fresh towel Make lunch Remembered to take tablets (dammit ? need to wait 30 mins before eating!) 15 mins kitchen tidy up
• Put away all lunch making things
• Dry and put away hand washed items
• Tidy extra items from counter top
• Empty dishwasher 15 minute spare room declutter ? almost everything went into recycling bin! Eat lunch - and browse MN on my 15 min break

oops, forgot:
take cushions off sofa 1 and put into WC
Scrub arms of sofa (DS's old sofa from former play room - poor thing is soaking wet now!)

Cushion COVERS off sofa.... !!!!

Flies in frantically flapping and waving at all.....

So sorry to all who are struggling with being poorly, poorly dcs, hospital visits, funerals, eating habits (me too) and everything else. I've read all posts, but am desperately behind today. Try to catch up with you all later.

Ta da
Washed my kitchen bin (think that was Monday's job)
Wrote a list of fings wot I 'ave bought for Christmas presents (last year I managed to buy 3 copies of 3.10 to Yuma for DH.... Obviously kept seeing it in Tesco, etc and thinking, 'Oh..Dh might like that'. Embarassed when I fished everything out to wrap it). I WILL be more efficient this year.

Roots still not done, nor de-cluttering, nor morning jobs, nor is flaming sink shiny (or even empty for that matter). Duvet has been roughly twitched into place I think....

OOOOOOO! CAKE! (Grabs several pieces, shoves in gob and flies off again).

Gossip - it does get easier. promise. But you have to find ways to help him cope with the world and understand it. Once you crack coping strategies then it gets easier. Social role plays are a good way to go. And don't let them tell you meds is the only way. I know a lot of people who were taken that way and have so much more problems as adults. Due to side effects and it being assumed the coping strategies weren't needed. Meds are only a way to access the child to teach them the coping strategies imo. Will chat via pm if you want but well done you for taking ds out of the school!!!

Late lunch. [Swigs Blue's gratefully]]

Lots of dust, vibrating and wobbling of house today (they are digging mahoosive hole). So loud rabbits hesitating about going outside, despite lovely autumnal sunshine.

Gossip arf at skivalitis! Good news about ADHD solutions and insightful lady.

Whoknows enforced telly watching and friends bearing chocolates sounds lovely although I know you would rather be up and about and operating under your own steam!

Blue bummer about train tickets - hope you depart in time without more stress x

It just might have something to do with it Swan
Well done on humungous cooking spree yesterday. I haven't started mine today yet! Bless your ds1 for putting on a brave face and hope he enjoyed his taster morning in the end! Sympathies over PE kit hassles/£££, dd has already lost a brand new school gym t-shirt (with school emblem - therefore expensive) and one zip up tracksuit top [grrrr] Hope your dh will consider helping with supermarket shop if on-line version banned!! Gathering in enough supplies for 3 growing dcs is hefty work - and time-consuming. (You can blame this request on your intrusive thread leader )

Yo bitchy Good to have you back. You are normally such a regular poster, it leaves a big hole when you are absent for a while. So sorry to hear about your friend's friend - that's a conversation no one wants to have to have ... Congrats on mahoosive water intake and changing eating habits ... both of which take determination which I seem to lack currently

[Aims gentle boot at Lplate's backside!] 15 mins is better than nowt remember!

Arf at Shifty's reverse early-bed invasion!!

Must get back to it! Tally-ho everyone!

x posts

Gulp at Lplateflyer's list - more power to your elbow and all that (sympathies over pill taking - I also have the kind you have to take 30 mins before eating and invariably forget)

Waves frantically to Sowornout as she whizzes by. Arf at treble present replication. I do that with shoes!

Waves again to Bitchy

So far this month I have lost 1 memory stick with important info on that was promised to someone, 5 hair brushed and god knows how much else. It's all somewhere in my room bugger. All i want atm is a hair brush as i have just washed my hair. Aparently it is too much to ask.

I think I'm still in shock about how ignorant that school is about children with behavioural problems, they're quick to label them naughty kids, and I'm yet to hear a success story from said school about supporting children with difficulties. And I feel hugely sympathetic for the parents who have their children in the school, and are not getting any support at all, one parent today said that the school wont fill in a conner's questionaire about their child because they dont feel they are qualified to do so, its a questionaire!!

Unfortunately it is common problem. I deliberately chose not to send ds to two schools we could chose precisely because of this. I am lucky that I have had experience of all sorts of sn so knew what I needed to look out for and knew personally the damage that can be done by a school with the wrong attitude. It is shoking but it does happen. They just have to prove they are doing enough to tick the right boxes for ofsted, which doesn't actually equate to any proper help for the kids. It's totally wrong imo.

Ds is 10 with ADHD. I'd love to say he's reached the easier stage, but sadly not. He takes Vyvanse, which school claim is a miracle cure, but tbh I see no difference. There's a distinct possibility that it hasn't kicked in when he leaves and has worn off when he gets back though... . Last year his teacher refused to let him join in the pizza fund raisers for an entire year because he lost his form. An entire year where everyone else ate pizza and he had a packed lunch. I still can't get over it. She was hardcore though.

At the mo he's coded for both the ADHD and gifted, so in theory gets support. Parent's evening next week. I have yet to see any evidence that he's doing anything at school, so we'll see what the new teacher thinks... He's in a split class, which I raised concerns about two days in. At the mo all he is concerned about is getting a letter signed to say he can leave school at lunchtime to go to the candy store. Over my dead body. The child eats nothing at all from his packed lunch. There is no way on this sweet earth he is replacing nothing with pure sugar and the odd chemical. He'd be excluded. he ate breakfast this morning though . That's a miracle in itself.

Right. Today is finance day. Probably all day. Joy. Bare minimum flying to clear the table and kitchen, and then to the books.