FLYing through April: Fledglings Spring into Action

[GoingGoingGoth]

Welcome to the April 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 is 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.

Thanks to SC, Blue & Silvery for leading us through since January and for the brilliant OP I've just cut and pasted.

Um, soaked to the skin - dripping wet. (Pronounce it as drew-kit).

Oh, I like that . Where's it from?

I'm intrigued, too!

Well washing machine won't be repaired until Tuesday, so Laundromat for me.

Tada list:
Empty dishwasher
Feed and water DSs
Manage to not throttle DH
Get into work

Todo:
Get some work done
Keep my eyes open
Get home in time to feed children with food brought home as haven't anything there for childcarer to feed them with! (TGIF!!!)

It's Scottish

A quick google says it has its origins from the Old Norse work "drukna" meaning 'to be drowned' - but who knows?!

Have a lovely weekend everybody.
I have lots to, but from Friday night til Sunday to do it all in, so I've bought a haggis for mine and OHs tea and a bottle of red as a treat.
xx

Blue & SC were practising their French homework

Blue should have finished the main bit of her work today, and hopefully got her curry tonight.

Castle coped with unexpected visitors, a house free from CHAOS, despite her cat's attempts

LPlate was ready for her washing machine repair man, but is stil facing Mt Washmore until Tuesday ( gin?)

Doris had an early start to a bad day, with the weather buggering up her washing plans.

Toffee is hopefully over her stomach ache

Swan is rid of her builders (YEAH!) but DH is not a fan of the kittens. (Does not compute! Kittens are the cutest, fluffiest, adorabliest, most wonderful creatures ever)
over the cleaning lady who does the ironing. hope your headache has gone now.

The day finished with a Scottish feel, including haggis & drookit, I would like to add dreek & scunnered to the list

LINKS FOR SATURDAY 27TH APRIL

Babystep 27 is to plan dinner before 6pm (Huh! I'll have you know I regularly panic over dinner at 5:45)

No Mission as the Daily focus is Family Fun Day

Flight plan for our routines, should update automatically

Jumping back on board.
Just had my ears syringed and it feels really weird. Everything is so loud!
I'll have to go back to have one ear re-done, but it is much better than before.
Kids driving me fucking mental. Constant whining all bloody day about every tiny little thing. Am at my wits end with how to deal with this. I've found myself in that horrid cycle of contiuous shouting. Need to make a change and find a better way to deal with this horrible behaviourNeed to do loads this weekend so my list will carry on for tomorrow too.
To Do
Clean litter trays
Glass shelves/mirrors/picture frames etc
Dusting
Hoover
Mop
Ironing
Clear bags and purse
Clear car
Wipe fridge
Menu plan and write shopping list
food shop
make week's sandwiches and freeze
change beds
polish shoes
hotspot and file last weeks post
study
boys homework

I know there's loads I am forgetting so will have to look at my lists later.

Hope everyone else is ok and just now going to have a quick catch up

So much for getting back on board. This afternoon I sent everyone including myself to bed for a nap.
We're off to the circus tonight (not running away, just to watch) so wanted us all to have a quick recharge.
Tomorrow will be spent loving myself.
That sounds a bit wrong

It's quiet here today!
Basic routines achieved today to keep the place ticking over.

I REALLY need to start decluttering again, as I have so much still to do since we moved into this house. I moved 32 years worth of hordeing and clutter in with me, by the boxload, with the promise that I would take the time to sort through it. That was two years ago!
When we move into our sparkling newbuild it will be pristine and empty, as we will be starting from scratch (apart from our beloved tumbledryer and a pile of wedding presents) and DH is I am determined not to lug the piles and bags and boxes into it with me. So I am writing it down here so you can all hold me to it : May is the month I start decluttering again!

Right, I am reluctantly playing in a Gaelic football match at half 6 (don't ask!) so I had better go and get ready.... happy Saturday to everyone!

Castle ooh, exciting, tell us about your newly built house! A very Irish thing to build your own house, I think the UK doesn't have such a culture of it. Certainly in Berlin, it is normal to build your own house on a plot to your own design...

Toffee I think you can have too much a good thing. Four kittens
I had a nap this afternoon, and one of the kittens washed my neck. Sooo sweet. If only they would master foot massage..

Silvery like you today I have found the tone of the children's voices very intolerable this week..If I hear one more whingey whiney complaint...and Dh is the worst. Today he was complaining about his screwdrivers, and yesterday about forks, and at teatime about the consistency of the bread!!! Hope you feel better soon, your list looks like a pickmeup.

done
swept playroom floor
bagged up recyling
wiped utility worktops
made watercress soup for lunch
tended to dd (boys went to football match)
catechism
sorted out trombone issues at music school
paid cheque to music school

todo
hoover ds1's room and remove kitten factory from it!! Cat litter all over floor (clean of course [ahem) and generally scuzzified from feline family invasion. I've been sleeping there for last two nights as no other safe room whilst building work.

Alright, he is trying harder now, and cooking the tea instead of asking whether there is any I see he has delibarately used a saucepan which has no matching lid, so that the wrong lid balances on it, and is bound to fall off, prompting bad humoured digs about how there are no proper saucepans! However, I think the best thing is just to leave the room. Hoovering can screen out a lot of noise!

Quiet day here on the thread, hope it means everyone is off having fun.

Silvery is hearing much clearer, and probably regrets it as all she hears is her DCs whining.
The afternoon nap & circus will hopefully make everyone a lot happier.

Castle has promised to start decluttering next month, so that her lovely new build will not be immediately full of 32 years worth of 'stuff'
She was also playing in a Gaelic football match this evening (I want to ask)

Swan has a kitten massage this afternoon, lovely, it's waking up to find one sucking your earlobe that I find disturbing!

LINKS FOR SUNDAY 28TH APRIL

Babystep 28 is to take care of yourself; eat well, drink plenty of water and to get enough sleep

No Mission as the www.flylady.net/d/daily-focus/daily-focus-sunday is Renew you spirit day.

Flight plan for our routines, should update automatically

The circus was great! We all really enjoyed it. The boys were very well behaved there but of course start whinging the minute we get in the car to come home.
Ds2 is a fucking nightmare. He is right now sitting int he thinking corner screaming and banging the wall. I shouted at him for standing on the sofa AGAIN, not 2 minutes after I had reminded him that we don't do that.
I tell you I am on the brink of putting him on e-bay.
I really have had enough of trying to do nice things only to have the whining all the bloody time.
I am at the stage now where I want to ban them from being in the same room together and I def don't think they should ever be allowed to sit next to each other.
Could really do with a few but of course we don't have any in the house.
FUCK MY LIFE

mine are like that after a fun event too Silvery I think it is just tiredness and holding it all together for so long..

Luckily they have all gone to bed quite peacefully for once. The boys went to a football match and were in a very scratchy state afterwards, as was dd for feeling left out
Standing on the sofa [ahem] I think ours have been doing that for years. My mum had a sofa with a dip in the middle where we used to use it to do somersaults over the top. I find them sliding down the stairs or playing on the stairs enrages me, wearing shoes indoors, tomato ketchup etc, to an irrational extent or throwing balls indoors, but for some reason I have no issue with sofa misuse.

Hope you can survive another wearing day tomorrow - you are doing a great job.

Thanks swan
Just trying to talk to dp about it (who is a huge whinger himself). He's saying every time ds2 cries or whinges for no reason, take something away. I'm trying to explain that I don't feel that is the answer. That as his parents we need to help him find a way of managing his emotions more appropriately, but dp being the fucking dipshit that he can be doesn't seem to understand what I'm saying. Or like the boys, must only understand swahili or something, because no one else in this house seems to understand basic English.

Aaarrrrgggggghhhhhhhh

I think I need to find something to relieve some of my frustration too. I have what can be a very emotionally draining job, constantly surrounded by non-verbal 6 year olds and then come home to a 4 and 5 year old boys and all the usual stuff young children bring.
I spend my day at work calmly helping other peoples children, dealing with some very challenging behaviours and then come home and can't hold it together and just start shouting.
Makes me feel really sad and angry with myself for not being able to do the calm patient thing with my own children

It is basically incredibly annoying when people (like husbands) try to offer solutions rather than just listening to how you feel. Maybe he is putting pressure on you to make the boys behave better than they need to. Maybe he just needs to accept that they are little boys and can behave badly and it is not the end of the world, but YOU need to be supported whilst they are behaving badly.
Sometimes parenting can seem a very lonely business even when there is two of you. Sounds like you might need to leave him with them so he can manage them by himself, HOWEVER he does it, and you can have a short break, a walk away, anything, for an hour tomorrow. Or maybe just one child on a little 1:1. I used to feel that when I worked in the school library. I was so good with the children in school, and then I had used up all my calm and patience energy and enthusiasm by the time I came home. I needed some time to recharge before I could cope with my children's demands as well, even if it was just 30 minutes of nothing.

Dh seems slightly less strung out now, which is a mercy. I hope we have a nice day tomorrow, and ds2 screams a bit less!

Thanks swan I think you're right. I think I'll dash around in the morning getting jobs done here and then tell dp I'm going out on my own for a bit. I will jump in the car and find somewhere to go and read my book I think.

Silvery at the risk of being unMN , I think it's often easier dealing with other children than your own, they are just able to push your buttons easier, and there's always the thought that they're yours and that you are responsible for them. I'm sure your DCs are no worse than anyone else's.

We've all ranted on here re DCs & DPs hope today gets better.

Morning. Thank you goth
Busy day ahead here
To Do
Get breakfast done
Clear breakfast done
Feed cats done
shower and dress
swish and swipe
take out rubbish
clean litter trays
bathroom shelves
mirrors/tv stand/etc
dust
change bed sheets
hoover
mop
polish shoes
ironing
menu plan and shopping list
food shopping
clean fridge
clear bag and purse
make weeks sandwiches and freeze
washing machine drawer
bleach plugs
hoover cat beds
pluck eyebrows
laundry
cook dinner and wash up
get bags ready for tomorrow
feed cats
make lunch for tomorrow
hotspots
homework
sort dry clothes
non iron away
defrost for tomorrows dinner
play/tidy
stray items away
boys bath
clean kitchen
layout clothes
check diary
study
shine sink

Fuck me, it's gonna be non-stop here today. The boys also want to go to the park.

Swan My mum had a sofa with a dip in the middle where we used to use it to do somersaults over the top - yep my mum had one of those too.

I am going to ignore silvery's list for now and go for coffee and breakfast. I woke up at 7am but refused to get out of bed ready to move now though, I am hungry. Ds is back later and I need to instill some kind of order on the chaos here. Going to be a busy week.

Morning everyone!

Ahh, I bloody love this thread; with discussion about everything from trombones to Old Norse to Gaelic football!!

Having a v. busy weekend; singing rehearsals Fri night + soup-making, French tutoring and mahoosive clean up yesterday morning, followed by friend over for lunch, Holy Communion ceremony yesterday afternoon/evening, pizza afterwards with friends, hwk supervision/laundry this morning, off to lunch with different friends in 45 mins or so.

I was very proud of dd yesterday! She woke up with a really really bad cold and I left the decision up to her (thinking she would probably drop out) but she chose to go ahead and sang her solo at the Holy Communion ceremony (not hers but class 2 years below) in front of large crowd with microphone and everything in a huge church which we don't know that well (which she found v. scary) and she did a great job!

Ground floor has been blitzed (by me as cleaner required in office) so I feel a bit better about it and have done loads of things that I've noticedshe doesn't bother with like cleaning radiators properly and manky gap between feet of oven and floor and dusting light fittings ... I could go on grrrrrr

However, whenever I blitz downstairs, the first floor suffers from all the stuff displaced from the sitting room and hall! So that's the task this afternoon/evening/tomorrow if we don't get back too late from lunch.

Also have laundry on the go ...

Hope you are all OK!

Silvery arf at "not" running away to the circus!! Hats off to you for doing the job you do and then coming home to more childcare - I couldn't do it - I wouldn't have the patience - completely and utterly understandable that you find that stressful Hope you manage to have a bit of good quality 'me' time today and good luck with the scary list!!

Swan [I daren't describe what torture our sofas endure on a daily basis - although should add that dd is very clear about what is not acceptable in other people's houses!] Sympathies over dh and cooking! I usually have lots to complain about in that department but dh was so exhausted this morning that he slept in until 10 am (which is unheard of!) and so instead of enduring the usual crashing and banging involved in the creation of a "gourmet" Sunday brkfast no-one wants to eat (which also usually involves the use of every cooking utensil in the house and a time-consuming scrub-down afterwards) dd and I had two, calm, peaceful hours eating fruit and boiled eggs, listening to music and playing with puzzles .. with a pristine kitchen .... blisssss!! Your watercress soup sounds wonderful - I always buy it and end up feeding it to the rabbits! Arf at kitten massage!

I'm with you re: the May decluttering Castle!! We shall prevail [smile!] Make sure you win this pm!

Jdub hope haggis trumped pizza!

Love the new vocab Doris! (Have noted ....plenty of opportunity to use "drookit" over here!) Hope you've managed to catch up on some sleep!

Am loving "dreek" and "scunnered" Goth! Dare I ask???

Hope you feel better Toffee dh was the same with the rabbits - he was adamantly opposed to start with - and is now completely soppy over them! (Although he is so large - tall and broad - that I think he scares them a bit!!)

Hope you have a functioning wm now Lplate Arf at your wee (no pun intended!) "fire-hydrant on legs"!

Blue (re: French hwk) thanks - resorted to Google myself! Yes, was talking to my sister the other night, and we agreed that Marcus Wareing has "the maniacal gleam of the obsessive" in his eye - wouldn't take much to tip him over the edge I reckon!!

Hope the protesting muscles benefit from your lie-in Bitchy

Blimey - had better go! Big wings flaps to one and all! Have a lovely Sunday afternoon everyone!!

SC - you are right to be proud of your DD . What a brave girl! Good for her.

Morning all. Am a bit dehydrated today after an extremely pleasant evening out with friends last night .

And we have sunshine at last! DH has grabbed the opportunity to take DS2 to the beach, so I am enjoying peace and quiet and kitten cuddles.

Hope you all have a good Sunday.