FLYing through March: Fledglings Assemble

[SilveryMoon]

Welcome to the March Fledgling FLYers thread

... where we (loosely) follow the step-by-step Flylady housekeeping system (in our own, unique, relaxed style) with lots of and chatting along the way.

This little-and-often system is designed so that we 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 us 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 we get when we are overwhelmed and everything needs doing all at once.

To avoid being inundated with details, we advise not signing up to the Big Tent

We are in the process of 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.]

Flylady site here

Don't worry if you are behind; just jump right back in and it will all come around next month again anyway!

All the links for the babysteps and missions will be posted here every day and we'll all be here to cheer each other on.

to SC and Blue for leading us through January and February and for the brilliant OP I've just cut and pasted .

Let's get the old dust balls rolling for March!

Morning all (well almost)

Done
Beds
Windows
Dd ready for school
Washing up
Dry clothes put away
Signed off at Jobcentre and onto New Enterprise
Had prize form Belvoir arrive with 6 bottles of cordial, now where's the vodka?

To do
Couple emails/ phone calls
Catch up on this week's missions
Start my own business (see how nonchalantly I put that in? )
Collect DD from school
Early celebratory dinner out
Dd to Woodcraft Folk
Subdue overexcited DD, and get her into bed.

It's all go in the Goth cave today!

Just had a call from Glasgow Life (Council), my induction for starting work is on the 25th.

Done
Beds
Windows
Dd ready for school
Washing up
Dry clothes put away
Signed off at Jobcentre and onto New Enterprise
Had prize from Belvoir arrive with 6 bottles of cordial, now where's the vodka?
Couple emails/ phone calls

Currently cleaning wall cupboards, following the Fat Fairy's advice, 1 cupboard at a time. Just allowing crockery cupboard to dry before putting plates etc. back in

to do
Catch up on this week's missions
Litter tray (ew, forgot this morning)
Start my own business (see how nonchalantly I put that in? )
Collect DD from school
Early celebratory dinner out
Dd to Woodcraft Folk
Subdue overexcited DD, and get her into bed

Quick question, as I was cleaning the tops of the wall cupboards, I suggested to DH that I put a layer of paper or something down, to ease future cleaning, which got a . So what do you think? Good idea or a faff?

Sounds like a good idea Goth although slightly reminiscent of cleaning out a guinea pig hutch!

I'm having a BLEUGH day today. Dd1 woke up in the night (unheard of) and when I went to her I realised all our electrics were out. Cue lots of rummaging around in the dark. Then dd2 woke up unusually early this morning.

Was supposed to be having a lovely morning at toddler group this morning but dd1's behaviour was terrible and we couldn't come home because I run the group. Spent the whole time feeling which makes it v difficult to be welcoming to new people.

Also, we are remortgaging at the moment and have a surveyor coming to value our flat on Friday so I'm supposed to be getting things all spic-and-span but I'm way too knackered and pissed off today.

The girls are asleep now - maybe I'll just admit defeat and go to bed...

well I havent done any housework yet today and i have just got home from town, am feeding dd, and have to take the car to the garage in just under an hour. and I haven't had lunch yet.

No housework here yet either, helped in school, went to the Drs about elbow strain, spent several hours on an OU essay that I have been struggling with and 15 mins crafting for World Book Day outfits. Which if I had all the time in the world I wouldn't mind, but I don't so I do IYSWIM. Oh and two loads of washing done.

I need to do a litter pick on the floor, there are small toys and various bits of debris everywhere.

Goth well done on the work front. I do sometimes put newspaper on top of my high cupboards but It's been a very long time since I've looked up there (would need a stepladder as standing on a chair isn't high enough, they stop about 4" below the ceiling so not very easy to clean). I definitely used to do it in my old house where they weren't so high.

my high cupboards are so high that only dp can reach them, from the top step of the step ladder. Therefore they never get cleaned.

My DH is shorter than me so he's no use for cupboard top cleaning either.

Need a list....

ta da
bloods
book car in for service
3 loads of washing done
take out recycling
put bike and skate board away in garage
collect recycling sorting boxes out of garage
meeting in next town
Bank in a different
town
Shopping for crafting bits need to finish off a project
financial review
shower and hair wash in peace
Speak to ex
ring credit card company
ring saving account people to find out wtf they have do re account changes
remove recycling from car
pick up a pocket money tin for ds so his pocket money is inaccessible and not scattered all over the floor
find the new uniform bits needing labelling for friday ds has grown AGAIN
sort out paperwork for school trip
Sort out paperwork for Ds' camhs meeting
Go to the post office
Get folding up to date
Yell at ds about getting lounge tidy (currently littered with his toys that he refuses to tidy up)
Deal with several hotspots in the lounge
Sort a box that was in storage in the study
Drink far too much but somehow not enough caffine
sort new diary cos i lost the last one
15mins in my room
Remove nail varnish
check fb/twitter/mn

About to sort out the remaining internet stuff before i head out to deal with more car stuff and then crack on with the lounge and laundry. All fun here ....

I feel so rubbish ATM regarding DD1. She is 5YO and while she can read letters and easy words, she is finding it hard to read, but refuses at home. School probably think Im the worst parent in the world. OK so I dont read with her every day (I can't 2 nights as I go out to courses 45 min drive away), but when I do try she wont read. Im just rubbish. School have already told me off once.

Now Ive just had to move DD2's hand away from the plug for the upteenth time and its the end of the world for her.

Anyone else have days when you feel like the worst parent in the world? Im feeling like that now. Why did I have children if I can parent them the way I should?

Sorry for a whinge. Just want to get it off my chest and nowhere else to say it unless I start a thread, but dont want to be flamed.

Anyway today's list

tada

• turn on washing machine (I still need to load it tonight first)
• dry laundry
• put laundry away
• make beds
• wash up 2X
• Ring adult learning about possible work experience and ECDL course thats running at a time I can make
• Homework
• meeting at school regarding DS

to do

• wash up after tea
• Shine sink
• fill washing machine for Thurs

not doing

• 2nd load
• meet up with MNers (double booked myself)

Will be back later with personals.

update: am back from the garage, the best part of 200 quid lighter

instead of spending my spare half hour doing housework earlier I got distracted by dd giving me big cheesy grins- her new trick. no regrets there

ta da
car to garage
smile at dd

erm that's it

to do
sort stuff to go on eBay (free listings this weekend)
shine sink
make dinner (dp doing)
declutter
clear hotspot- dining room table
sort parcel to return to Amazon (I bought one of those mirrors to go in the back seat of the car so I can see dd in her car seat, but it has a crack in it)

lileth no advice but you have my sympathy. I feel like that sometimes too, when I get impatient with dd crying .

Lilleth I think we all get like that, Dd is currently in her bedroom instead of out at Woodcraft, as she played up when we were out this evening. She wasn't really naughty, but she was warned a number of times to stop. I find helps. Hopefully she'll calm down soon, and maybe go to sleep. Quite disgruntled, as I was looking forward to it too.

lileth I too completely sympathise. Try not to stress about the reading and ignore the school of they're making you feel bad. You are a good parent and know your dd better than anyone so back-off the reading for a while if you think it would do her good to have the pressure taken off a bit. She'll get there :)
If it's any consolation, I am also feeling like I have failed miserably today. I had a nap this afternoon which was probably good for me but dd1 woke up in just as foul a mood as she was in this morning so I've spent all afternoon snapping at her every misdemeanour. She is full of a cold so I should probably cut her some slack but my patience goes out of the window when I'm this knackered

Have done no housework today which doesn't bode well for our valuation on Friday. Does anyone have any top (and easy!) tips for how to get our flat valued highly by the surveyor?

Lilleth - I struggled with both mine and reading at that age, they are 7 and 9 now and both very good readers, despite for a long time being in the bottom quarter or so of their classes (which wasn't very cheering for me when I went in to help with reading). You just need to persist and ride it out, maybe try some home books instead of the school ones. I also struggle with DD (7) and very easily fall into shouty mode with her when she JUST WON'T BLOODY WELL LISTEN. I am really trying, sometimes she is a perfect angel, but getting her out the door in the morning drives me demented. DS played up at school hometime and we had a tantrum from him too, but I am better at walking away from it with him somehow (he isn't quite as militant as DD, but has AS and therefore melts down a bit more easily).

Anyway, I have been pressing on with the DCs and their chores (or learning to be a grownup as we are calling it, haha). Each DC has been out with me on their own one night to the supermarket (while the other was at cricket or Brownies) and done the shopping with as little intervention from me as possible, including the self service checkout and loading it into the car. DD did a really good job of helping get dinner ready tonight too, and the sausages she chose on Monday were delicious.

Whoknows 'learning to be a grown up' is a genius idea!

Can't wait for mine to be old enough for that :)

Evening all.
MrsB Managed to get a drink in at the pub yesterday with her dp. Sounds lovely, can?t wait for summer, think we?ll be doing a bit of that sort of thing ourselves
Mercury Has been up since literally the crack of dawn. Hope you?ve had an ok day at school and manage a bit more of a lay in tomorrow.
feet heart Has been sewing feathes onto her dd?s book day costume. Roly Poly bird is a great one, hope she copes with the attention ok.
Ds1 went today as Peter Pan (his theme was traditional story characters) and ds2 went as a dinosaur (his theme was animals from books. We have been reading Dinosaurs Love Underpants my favourite book).
Peas Has been trying to keep on top of things. Just remember there is no ?catching up? you are where you are, if you miss a mission, don?t worry, they too roll around again quickly.
Enjoy the craft evening, sounds fun!
BigPigLP has a poorly dd so still not much sleep happening. Hoping she feels better soon and you can all get some rest.
Goth has been doing lots of cleaning in her kitchen and wants to know how we all feel about putting a layer of paper or something on the top of the cupboards to make cleaning in future a bit easier. Well, I am a fan of it. Not sure what would be best to use. Clingfilm maybe? I have clingfilm on the top of my fridge/freezer so I just rip it off and put a new layer on. I?m a bit scared to look at the top of the cupboards.
ellesabe has had a rough day. A disturbed night, early morning and a dd whose behaviour was challenging at parent/toddler group. Hope you are all feeling a bit calmer now
Lilleth You are not the worlds worst parent! I know exactly how you feel though. My ds1 (also 5) struggles with literacy. His teacher says he is a full year behind.
I do loads of stuff at home with him, we read every night, we look at flash cards, we practice writing in different forms (ie lists, letters, etc), we go onto websites and play literacy games, we play sight word bingo, we watch phonics songs etc on YouTube, we play games that encourage memory, play rhyming and audio games and he is still behind.
My ds1?s strength is maths, although he is still below national average in that, but he is much better and confident in maths than literacy.
What?s your dd good at, what does she enjoy?
Literacy, although vital is not the be all of the whole world, and she may just be in a plateau and fly next year. Don?t be too hard on yourselves or each other, encouragement and modelling behaviour is the way to go. Let her see you reading, writing, gaining enjoyment from these things, it will all come, honestly.

Had the meeting with ds1's headteacher today. Told her I didn't think that enough was being done to enable my ds1 to succeed and that although I am happy to support the school in his education, I do expect them to support me in doing that by informing me of his targets and giving me information on what he;s been doing and what he needs to work on.
I told her that I was very dissappointed with the level of negativity i get from the teacher and if she is like that with ds1, then I don't blame him for not even wanting to try.
I also told her that his teacher spoke of an IEP and SENCO and why have I not seen and signed the IEP? Or been told of SENCO's involvement.
Turns out these things are not happening, that ds1 is progressing and if he continues this progress he will be on track at the end of next year.
I am feeling better about it all and the head told me about the new measures she is putting in place to improve pupil assessment etc.

LINKS FOR THURSDAY 7th
babystep 7 A good one! laying your clothes out before bed.
mission cleaning the taps
daily focus is errand day. Food shopping, appointments etc today's the day.
flight plan for that routine if you want it
habit of the month is getting dressed to shoes.

Well all done apart from homework as Ive been applying for jobs instead. I was on the Reed jobs website and I applied for a few jobs through there. Anyway I went into my emails as I have been copying and pasting the advert, my letter and each CV (these have changed slightly to emphasis each job) so I can save them so I know what I have put should I get anyway. Yeah so I went into my emails and there was an email in my inbox from one of the people I had to apply to saying:

Dear Lilleth

I have identified the following position that I believe may be of interest to you or possibly someone you may know.

Position name, position place

Please click on the link below to view details of the job.

link

If you are interested in this position please contact me on phone number or apply online.

I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.

Yours sincerely

name and contact details

This was sent at 7:41PM. Does it look like a real email? Obviously I have changed a few things there so no-one gets identified. Its a bit late for people to be working unless she's stayed late or works from home. I was thinking of ringing tomorrow. What do we think?

Anyway, I have a plan re DD1 and reading. She likes to be read a bedtime story. So I have said why should read to her if she wont read to me. It will only take 5 mins a time to read her book. So thats the plan, although she said she didn't like it.

Tomorrow's list

• turn on washing machine
• dry laundry
• put laundry away
• make beds
• wash up 3X
• Shine sink
• fill washing machine for Fri
• Ring about job
• Homework
• running club
• Read with DD1

Silvery Hope things start to improve at school now you have had a word with the head.

Lilleth You have nothing to lose by making the call re job. You'd soon know if it was dodgy. Don't agree to anything that you ahve to pay for.
Any chance the e-mail is cebtrally sent? I get e-mails at bizarre times on-line job search pages telling me they have found so and so post, please use these contact details.

Re the reading, if my ds doesn't want to read, I don't force him, I agree to read to him (they still get a lot out of that) and every now and again I'll say "ooohhh, I don't know that word, it;s hard for me. Can you help me please?" And he'll say "that's easy, it says 'dog' or 'the'" or something that I know he knows so we build up confidence like that and then I ask him to help with a word I know he struggles on so we can work on blending.
Whatever compromise works though.
Good luck with it

Lilleth - I wouldn't click on any links if you think they might be even remotely dodgy. If there's a number to call you could check it out on the phone first. I frequently feel like the worst parent in the world too - I think it comes with the territory. I remember the HV saying to me "babies are machines for making parents feel guilty". Oh, and re reading, maybe you could take turns to read a page each of her book? Works sometimes with DS1 when he's not in the mood.

Silvery - glad school meeting was encouraging.

Going - started new business - what a great thing to have on a ta-da list!

Should have been doing house bleugh in between work today but went shopping instead. Nice to have the opportunity once in a while. I think we've nearly chosen the tiles for the bathroom too, with a lovely Mediterranean blue border that really lifts my spirits :)

Morning all

Dd slept until 6 this morning which is definitely an improvement on yesterday.

What an intriguing email Lilleth!

Good luck with the new business Going.

Im at work tonight so I am only aiming to do the basics as I need to have a nap this afternoon.

To do
Make beds
Dcs up fed, dressed and to school
Swish and swipe
Unload/reload dw
Hang out washing
Reload wm
Fold dry washing
Put away socks, pants etc
Small pile ironing
Mission - scrub kitchen taps
Declutter/tidy food cupboard
Nap
Dcs swimming lessons
Make dinner
Work until 6am

[limps quietly back onto thread after being ill AGAIN]. I'm hoping to get started on FLYing properly again next week, I'm just trying to catch up with the mountain of washing at the moment and marking my spot. I was warned by friends that having DD would mean broken nights, nappies, unending washing and all that, but no-one warned me that I would get ill every other week. I thought the babies were the ones with the week immune system, not me! Moan over.

Glad to see you're all still managing impressive ta da lists!

Snow hope you're feeling better, maybe have a word with HV as you do seem to be run down.

Done
Bed
Windows
Dd to school
Post office
Grocers

to do
Litter tray
Play with cat-he looks bored (or maybe sleepy)
Finish kitchen cupboards (about half way round now)
Do some 'work'! Researching mainly today
Collect DD
Dinner
Wash up & SS

Morning all!
I do love a good list!!! Spurs me on, and reminds me of what else needs doing!
Hopefully today I'll make up for lost ground yesterday (my day off!)

done
empty d/w
up, fed, beds made and all out with relevant forms/snacks etc etc.

to do
MANY things....
bag up charity shop stuff and put in car (or DH will go bonkers!)
dusting
bathrooms
filing
washing
mealplan for wknd

Have a good day x

todays lists:

ta da

up, dressed and been to postnatal group
took stuff to charity shop

to do
declutter
shine sink
hotspot (dining room table, as I didn't do it yesterday)
sort stuff to eBay (also didn't do yesterday)
sort parcel to go back to Amazon (ditto)
lay out tomorrow's clothes
washing