Is June the new January? - the Fledgling Flyers are doing their flaming best

[pushmepullyou]

Welcome old and new fledglings to the June Fledgling FLYers thread!

Thank you very much to castlelough for leading us expertly through May - I shall try not to be too haphazard with June, although I make no promises

If you're overwhelmed by clutter and general household grub then join us as we (loosely) follow the step-by-step Flylady housekeeping system or languish in the naughty corner hoping to do better tomorrow

As usual, we will be following the Flylady three-pronged approach:

1. Baby-steps (a daily step to establish routines)
   
2. Then baby-steps + 15 mins daily decluttering
   
3. (And once decluttered) babysteps + daily missions and maybe even detailed cleaning in the weekly zones
   

For more information have a look here, although to avoid a cluttered inbox, we advise not signing up to the Flylady emails. The basic principle is little and often and don't worry about perfection (no chance of that 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 and chat our way through the month.

[superfluouscurves]

Swan

just trying to imagine your dh buying fish fingers in a passive-agressive manner!!

Glad you survived the tombola and don't worry - mad dancing on the podium post school play is virtually obligatory albeit stressful for us parents - dd has been doing it since she was three!

Re: cats - (although features dogs) just finished reading Grey Friars Bobby with dd which explores similar themes re: animals/companionship/loyalty/anthropomorphism. Black Beauty too.

Here is lots and lots of

Cheers everyone!

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

Evening all,

Glad you survived the fete Swan, I too am imagining your DH flouncing his way round the freezer section of Sainsburys being rude to the fish fingers.

SC - I remember bawling my eyes out at Greyfriars Bobby when I was much younger, never been able to read it again.

Trazzles - my DH has had hints about the lawn wafted his way today but to no avail, he has done bugger all. I am rather cross with him as he couldn't even be bothered to get out of bed to see DS off to camp this morning.

Anyway, managed to transform DD's hair into ballet acceptable format (it is tricky as she has a fringe which has to be braided back into her hair before making the obligatory bun, only to find just as we were about to leave that she was hauling a face mask on elastic over the whole ensemble and pulling all the pins out. After a small amount of shouting and a large amount of Elnett we managed to repin it, but it was close.

After the photo shoot, Sainsburys and a picnic outside on the grass. I went shopping and DH took DD to the park, then we went off to the country park with DD's bike for her to practice. I'm a bit frustrated on DS's behalf re cycling, he has just got the hang of it and we were planning to really get him going this summer because his class do cycling proficiency next year and now he can't cycle because of the broken arm. By the time his cast comes off we will be going away, and the rest of the holidays are looking busy too. I really don't want him to be the only one who can't do it. I'm missing him today .

er Flying. Nul points again. Two lots of washing done and dried. Everything else looks a mess. Am grumpy because DH hasn't lifted a finger all day apart from to put one lot of washing on the line and clear the breakfast dishes. Never mind.

[Asheth]

Have been lurking here all week! So have mostly managed to keep up with missions and do some daily decluttering. Friday my sitting room looked imaculate. Today it looks like a bombs hit it again!

I totally failed to reboot my laundry every other day, so I have a huge pile of clothes to put away, which is one of my least favourite jobs.

Waves to everyone before catching up on the thread!

[CHBitchy]

Good morning fledglings.

Got an insane day, need coffee. lots and lots of coffee!

Hope you get to see the sun today.

[Swanhilda]

you've cheered me up Whoknows at least I don't now have to get dd ready for any parties as she does her own exotic hairdo's!

Today is the horror of ds1's Scramble for Africa/Kenya project. Yesterday he wrote an essay about satire for English on GT, which just repeated the same point over and over again; it is just so hard to get him to understand what he is meant to be producing - historical evidence/facts let alone putting it in a presentable format. Dh and I are already in a very tense bad mood about prospect of today's cavilling and cajoling. Let alone dealing with other children who are in a tinderbox mood.

It will be fine, just all v frustrating, and dealing with dh's "opinions" too.

I had better put all the clean washing away, that will be a start.

[Swanhilda]

Today we managed to have an argument about whether an acquaintance whose wife I know from school was a Heating Engineer/designer of large installations or a plumber. I insisted he was a heating engineer and dh kept repeating in a very arrogant manner that he was a plumber. FFS - male machismo taken to extremes. [hands soldering iron to dh, if he knew what to do with it in the first place]

[ToffeeWhirl]

Morning all. Slept in till 9am this morning . And that was after an early night too, although I was woken up at 5 by some party goers returning home.

Planning to tackle the hall today, inspired by a book I picked up from the library yesterday ('The Declutter Handbook'). It suggests that I write down how I want my hall to look. Well, I want it to look something like this, but the book doesn't tell me how to widen my three-foot-wide hall, sadly.

Think I'll start by just moving the coats upstairs (which means making room in my wardrobe, which means moving stuff from my wardrobe up to the loft, etc etc. ).

Hope you all have a good day.

[ToffeeWhirl]

Good luck with today's project, Swan. at the argument over the heating engineer/plumber.

Bitchy - good luck with your insane day

Asheth - it is so disheartening when all your good work is undone, isn't it? My house looked great by the end of Thursday, when cleaner and I worked together to get it sorted. It was back to its normal cluttered state by Friday . Well done, though, on keeping up with the missions and daily decluttering. It does make a difference.

WhoKnows - sorry you are missing DS. When does he get back? Is it today?

SC at memory of 'Grayfriar's Bobby'.

[Castlelough]

Oh dear, where did June go to? It didn't turn out to be the new January for me, sadly! While it was a hectic month, I am now on school holidays with no excuses!

Planning on crisis cleaning, some serious decluttering and lauching war on the body clutter next week to get me off to a good start!

So sorry I fell off the face of the Earth this month. Hope everyone is well xxxx

[Trazzletoes]

No flying here today. I've woken up with a tummy bug. Perfect timing since Joe is off to hospital tomorrow and I can't go if I'm sick... And no one else will go... So I'd better get better today then, eh?

We were meant to be going out for a long walk today for a festival in town. Just before we left, had a power cut and DH wouldn't leave til it came back on so we know where we are with the freezers full of food.

Now he won't go because I'm unwell and he doesn't want to have to deal with both DCs.

So this is all my fault (no doubt incl the power cut) for getting sick. How remiss of me.

So I will NOT be flying today. No sirree

[ToffeeWhirl]

Sorry, Trazzles. That is not fair. You really don't need this. Please try to rest today (I know, easy to say). DH swears by probiotic yogurt for tummy bugs, by the way.

[superfluouscurves]

Oh no Trazzles that is the last thing you need. You are bound to be more susceptible to bugs when your nights are broken and you are under such a lot of stress so (although I shouldn't probably say it) think your dh is being really unfair. Hope you can manage to get a bit of r & r today and that you feel better soon.

Castle no need to apologise - you have had a very tough month too - and it's great to see you back! And if it's any consolation, I am "starting again - again" tomorrow with crisis cleaning/Flying/body clutter etc etc so will be with you in spirit!!

Haven't had a very good start with body clutter today though. Prepared healthy melon and Belgian equiv of prosciutto for lunch. Dh decided it wasn't enough and went and prepared toasted sandwiches on top, which of course I should have resisted and didn't [sigh] Really going to have to be much more self-disciplined and put precise planning in place before every meal.

My hall needs a make-over too Toffee we haven't really finished it since decorating. Good luck with yours and glad you had an obviously much-needed lie-in.

Swan good luck with hwk project!! We are all snappy with one another too today. We are going out to a friend's house for tea but none of us want to go ...so having to cajole ... keep saying that I am sure we will enjoy it once we get there in my best Joyce Grenfell voice but no-one seems very convinced. (Actually, can't really convince myself because I hate having a social arrangement on Sunday afternoons/eves as it kind of hangs over you all weekend - silly I know)

Good luck with your manic day Bitchy!

Sympathies Asheth agree it is the ground-hog-day-ness of it all that gets one down

How long is your ds away for Whoknows? He sounds so "up for it" and brave and lively (even with a cast on) that I am sure he will be able to catch up with cycling skills in no time!

Toffee/Whoknows Yes I always blub uncontrollably at Greyfriars Bobby too ....[sniff]

Right, had better stir my stumps and try and squeeze the wobbly bod in to some vaguely respectable clothes. Had also better try and round up dd and persuade her to allow just a bit of soap and water to make contact with her face ...

Enjoy the rest of your Sundays everyone!

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

Well, just picked up a tired but happy DS from cub camp, he didn't sleep very well and was wearing the same clothes as yesterday (I am expecting to find pyjamas untouched in his rucksack). He fell on his broken arm at one point unfortunately, so hoping it is going to be ok. He is now watching the F1 with DH. I've got to get DD wrapping presents and writing cards and off to a party in a bit. Swan - she is very keen on the hairstyling and does do quite a good job of every day bunches etc now, she has been learning to plait using my hair. Ballet seems to require very high levels of neatness and uniformity (only for shows and exams luckily), so I will be doing ballet hair for the foreseeable.

Trazzles - hope you recover very quickly, DH had a bug earlier this week and was fine again within 24 hours.

Better go, back later.

[BlueEyeshadow]

Evening all!

Skived off church and actually had something approaching a family fun day today - took the boys to the big park in the car so DS1 could ride his bike down long paths, to the garden centre to see the animals etc. This afternoon played games in the garden and had a moderately civilised BBQ this evening! This might be the only nice day all summer so better make the most of it...

Oh no, Trazzles - what rotten luck. Fingers crossed for tomorrow.

Glad your DS enjoyed Cub camp, WhoKnows.

I'd like a hall like that too, Toffee - currently have no hall at all!

Big waves to everyone else.

[elliepac]

Evening all .

Had an absolutely lovely weekend at the caravan. Lots of family time which was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Followed by an impromptu BBQ here this evening with our BF's and their DC's. This included my 2 deciding to go feral and painted themselves with mud so have just spent a long time bathing them!

Will be back in a moment with links to the new thread. Been a while since I've led so forgive me if I forget something! Have been trying to think of inspirational new thread title but have failed miserably!

[elliepac]

Here is the July thread. See you all on the other side .

[Swanhilda]

Trazzles if it's any comfort the children probably won't care whether they go on the walk or not, so it is really only the adults who are missing out (ie: DH) It probably would have been quite exhausting anyway, I'm sure he wasn't blaming you,just feeling tired and fed up in general.

Well today has been semi-successful.

The bickering continued unfortunately, and I felt like divorcing dh by teatime. However...I cooked a nice lunch
took twins swimming
wrote an essay on Swift which ds1 copied out (it was a masterpiece and I had fascinating new insights into the character of Gulliver and the triumph of the individual)
Ds1 managed to do loads of homework

House a tip, and neighbour who came to look at new kitchen said a few disparaging things which have rankled, like you did the best you could when you had to cobble things together...Hmm, I have a fantastic new kitchen filled with individual objects, NOT a "cobbled together kitchen" thankyou...

Just that is helpful, that's why I am beginning to realise I need to spell it out, literally, for ds1. Let alone Ds2, God help me when I get to his homework...

[Engelsemama]

I have been USELESS at keeping up with thread this month only swooping in to whinge a few times. Going on holiday in 3 days time but I will be back on 31st July in time to fly in August

Happy flapping fledglings.

[superfluouscurves]

Have a great holiday Engels!!

Good luck in the competition Just!

Glad ds back ok Whoknows and hope his arm is alright

What a rude neighbour Swan

Ellie and Blue your family fun days sound heavenly!

Big wing flaps to everyone. See you all next month!!

[Trazzletoes]

Wow your neighbour is rude Swan!

My day has gone from bad to worse and I'm now lying here wondering whether I even have a marriage anymore when it has been made abundantly clear to me today that my husband couldn't care less about my health. So how can he actually love me? He is not fussed if I am in pain. I can't stop crying and I'm wondering whether this actually is it. He does not love me.

[ToffeeWhirl]

Trazzle - I imagine your DH is coping in his own way with what is going on with your DS. Maybe he has shut himself down and just can't cope with anymore, even if that is unfair to you. I'm sure he does love you, but maybe he just can't give anymore. What would he say if you said to him what you've just written here? I hope he would be horrified. Or maybe he is just too exhausted to be horrified.

When I was exhausted from looking after a demanding toddler DS1 all on my own and childminding too, DH became ill. I was so tired and so fed up with carrying the burden of DS1 all the time, that I was actually annoyed with him for being ill. It wasn't until a close friend told me I should ring the dr that I phoned for help. It turned out that DH wasn't being a hypochondriac - he had chronic asthma and his meds weren't working. He needed a spacer, strong inhalers and steroids to get his asthma back under control . He has never let me forget this but, fortunately, it has become a bit of a joke between us.

Sometimes we all get things wrong. You and DH are under such an enormous amount of stress that it is not surprising you are feeling the strain.

I really hope your tummy settles down in time for the treatment tomorrow. And that DH realises his mistake and makes up for it.

[ToffeeWhirl]

So tired that I am off to bed now. Night all.

[BlueEyeshadow]

((Trazzles))

[Steamedcabbage]

Trazzles sorry things are so very tough for you. It's so difficult to know what to say as an outsider but I'm sure your dh loves and admires you - I just think that men (infuriatingly) retreat when they can't cope or come up with "solutions to problems" (unlike women who tend to reach out) and that comes across as very uncaring. You are both under huge amounts of strain and I think women and men deal with that very differently. Hugely unfair on you of course when you need his support. xxx