Remember, remember to Fly through November, but Fledglings will chatter a lot

[BlueEyeshadow]

If 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 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 zones of the house which are designated weekly; defining and minimising housework - which in theory should leave you with loads more time to do someting more interesting 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!

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 Flying lessons. Here's the launch pad for more experienced fledglings. Don't be put off by the barf-tastic language of the site - the underlying system is sound!

Humungous thanks to SlimChance for leading us through October and such a copy-and-pasteable OP....

All welcome!!

Dizzy is she as nice as she seems?

Arf at Commandment number 4 -no chance!

Done
Beds
Windows
Dd ready for school (DH took her )

To do
Wash up
5 min tidy in lounge
15 min tidy in bedroom -much needed
Cat litter tray
Vacuum
Mop
Make soup (Jerusalem artichoke and leek)
Prep veg for stir fry tonight

Not sure about hanging laundry out, our forecast said dry this morning, but there looks to be a huge snow cloud out there! What's galling is I missed a good drying day on Saturday because I was too lazy to hang it out it forecast rain at lunch (which didn't arrive)

Remembered to write a 'to do' list last night and am now feeling a bit alarmed at everything I need to do.

Felt a bit like a sergeant major this morning, barking orders at the DC to get them out of the house. Then DS1 admitted he was feeling anxious and needed a cuddle (I managed to get out of the sergeant major routine for five minutes for that) and then, on the way up to school, DS2 told me he was feeling really ill. He was so insistent that I brought him home, bearing in mind that lots of people are going down with a nasty virus at the moment, DS1 having been one of them. I told him that if he was pretending, I would not believe him next time (and am bearing in mind that he has several new Lego sets to play with ).

He is practising his spellings like a model child at the moment and I will set him to write his thank you letters soon. That should put him off having a day off at home if he's not really ill

OK, first part of today's list:

To do

Put rubbish out
Breakfast
Put washing on
Morning routine
Menu plan
Online shopping order
Tackle ironing pile in our bedroom (this is going to take ages)

Well, right away I'll fall by the wayside at number 1. I don't have a stainless steel sink - it's some stupid rubberised thing that the previous tenants put in. It catches every stain going and I spend ages trying to keep the wretched thing clean.

But I will be putting my Christmas music on while I work away at things. And I will take at least 30 minutes to play the piano (again, Christmas music) as it's something I enjoy.

ta da
regular morning routine, school runs
paid for DS1's various miscellaneous school fees
checked bank
checked electric and gas meter

to do
ring paed and reschedule appointment
vacuum living room
sweep kitchen
hang up 2 more framed pictures
go over budget
organise meal plan
organise next year's budget (trying to plan ahead)
double check appointments for the week
restick a laminated sign and put back up
laundry
washing up
tidy living room
tidy dining room
put clothes away from last night's laundry
sweep out fireplace

drink copious amounts of tea

Busy day... busy busy...

Fallen off the wagon a bit as getting to grips with being back at work - its only 12 hours a week but still a huge change!

Today:
Documents for solicitor
Email re work
Book hotels
Go to butcher

shhh don't tell anyone but i don't bother with shining my sink

Right bit out of sorts this morning, went to bed at a reasonable time but didn't sleep and as a result feeling tired and overwhelmed.

ta da
sort pe kits out
sort out letter for teacher
sort out lunch box
sort out new school trousers (elastic needed fitting to the skinny thing)
add buy bigger school shoes, and school jumpers on today's to do list

discover bench in kitchen
catch up with a friend
Sort out plan for this week, having looked at the weather and gone eeeeek at the issue of possible snow tomo.

Right time to stop procrastinating and actually do that sodding paperwork.

Rest of the list!

Swish and swipe
Cook dinner
Hang out load
Put washing away
Tidy living room
Start packing eBay sales

Well, I am not counting money today...soo the whole day will be spent tidying up.

done
bought extra juice
lemsip
washingup liquid
walked ds2 to Tube
cheque for ds1's music exam
found ds1's music books
an early night last night (one benefit of Downton ending) and I feel soo much better for it
oh and ds2 and I made the Christmas cake yesterday! I knew that packet mix would do the trick..he loved snipping open the sachets

Trip to Wallingford for Book Club lunch in someone's house was delightful - just getting away from endless pressure of family chores/anxieties is the answer - especially if someone else is driving you!

todo
lots..better just do it. I've started, I hasten to add.

Arghhh!!! Hate Mondays, so much to do......

Ta da :

Put rubbish out
Breakfast eaten
Put washing on
Morning routine - swish & swipe, made beds, emptied bins, emptied d/w, reloaded d/w
Mopped hall floor
Emptied tumbledryer
Reloaded tumbledryer

All interrupted regularly by DS2 showing me his Lego creations. That boy is not ill, but is still swearing he is!

To do :

Print out stuff about Ds1's timetable
Menu plan
Online shopping order
Tackle ironing pile in our bedroom (this is going to take ages)
Lunch
Appt with DS1's CBT therapist
Cook dinner with DS2 (trying to encourage him to eat more)

Alrighty... progress being made... so far so good...

ta da
regular morning routine, school runs
paid for DS1's various miscellaneous school fees
checked bank
checked electric and gas meter
ring paed and reschedule appointment
vacuum living room
sweep kitchen
double check appointments for the week
laundry
washing up
tidy living room
tidy dining room
put clothes away from last night's laundry

to do
hang up 2 more framed pictures
go over budget
organise meal plan
organise next year's budget (trying to plan ahead)
restick laminated sign and put back up
sweep out fireplace

The "drink copious amounts of tea" is now under both ta da and to do.

I've got some children's clothing that is too small for DS2, so I'm going to have DH give it to a friend at school pickup, as she has a DS that is a year younger (and another a year younger than that), so she is always happy to get extra clothing. So that's a little decluttering taken care of.

Now it's time to wade through my paperwork (with, of course, ).

I've discovered, from necessity when digging through the fridge for lunch, that mild cheddar cheese slices with a little bit of jarred cranberry sauce is actually quite tasty. And helps clean out the fridge that little bit more.

oops.. that cheese and cranberry is in a sandwich. good grief, where is my brain? add that to my "to do" list... find brain.

Ta Da
sort pe kits out
sort out letter for teacher
sort out lunch box
sort out new school trousers (elastic needed fitting to the skinny thing)
add buy bigger school shoes, and school jumpers on today's to do list

discover bench in kitchen
catch up with a friend
Sort out plan for this week, having looked at the weather and gone eeeeek at the issue of possible snow tomo.
sort out un-volunteering from a role (ds no longer in the club so makes no sense to be a parent volunteer)
Pull cv apart and rewrite based on feed back
Important emails
Sort out lots of impending changes for ds (eeeeeeeeeeeeeek!)

Another ta da :

Menu plan
Online shopping order (this took ages)
Emailed unit about DS1 coming home early
Pep talk with DS1
Lunch

Still to do :

Appt with DS1's CBT therapist
Tackle ironing pile in our room
Cook dinner with DS2 (homemade meatballs and spaghetti)

Evening all.

Aching legs here but I did it! 15k in 1:38:01 (including 7 hills!). Your good wishes got me round

Just off now to the spa with my running partner to soak our aching muscles.

Ta da
One load of washing away
One load of washing done and in td
Dinner
Washing-up
Tidied up DS toys
Chat with DM and Best Friend this am
Trip into town to pick up a few C** bits
Dentist for all 3 of us
Too much time lurking on MN C** threads resulting in impulse online shopping

Hello to all nice new folk and waves to everyone else.
Sorry, I dropped of the thread again (but have just read from where I last was) to get situation over elderly neighbour properly sorted, illness, and horrible confrontations over ds SEN statement done.
Got the guts together to throw down the gauntlet and say ok finalise it however you want and I'll see you in court, having first had a major wobble and felt I really couldn't do it again, but I'm hoping that's just because I was ill though it's taking it's tole.

Hard to believe that in his final year instead of allowing everyone on all sides to come to the end saying ‘it all worked out, no hard feelings, well done everyone’ they would seek to be so devious and damaging especially as they don't gain anything at all from it, not a penny saved, and just create havoc, work and expense through doing it.

Plus side is as of tonight I have most of my day and all of my night back for me and mine, will now be doing two to four hours per day max five days only, with neighbour, to allow her family members who've finally moved in, some break time to try and sort their family lives out, and will be cutting back further as they do.

Any form of home bleurgh will have to wait for tommorow afternoon now, so for tonight what’s left to do is:

Try to remember 'commandments'
Washing
Ironing
English
Home ed diary
dinner
Listen to friend
sleep

Toffee sounds like DS2 may have put one over you today, they all do it occasionally. We always insist DD stays in bed (without books) for a few hours if we are unsure. One time she asked to go back to school.

Engels well done, feel exhausted just thinking about it.

Just welcome back. I honestly don't know how you do it all.

Done
Beds
Windows
Dd ready for school (DH took her )
Wash up
5 min tidy in lounge
15 min tidy in bedroom -much needed
Dry clothes away
Fresh laundry on airers
Helped DH with scanner
Cat litter tray
Make soup (Jerusalem artichoke and leek)
Prep veg for stir fry tonight
Vacuuming
Mopping
Collect DD
Take DD to karate
Dinner

To do
Washing up & SS
Ironing
Pack up food parcel for parents sending them a small C*s cake and pudding.

Welcome back, Just. Er, two to four hours per day five days a week sounds like a lot to me. Just saying. The elderly relative's family should be bloody grateful. Sorry you are still having such difficulty with the LEA. It must feel endless.

Engels - well done! That is such an achievement!

Well, I still haven't done any laundry . There are piles of clean clothes in the dining room, our bedroom and in the tumbledryer, but sorting them out, putting them away and ironing those that need doing defeats me. How does anyone ever get the time?

Ta da :

Appt with DS1's therapist (last one next week )
Took boys to the park to practise skateboarding
Tidied up kitchen and did washing up
Made meatballs with vegetable sauce (DS2 refused to help though)

So now it's after 6pm, it's time to serve dinner, then it's bathtimes and bedtimes for the boys, then we are hoping to watch 'Walking Dead' and then I'm off to bed. And yet again, the piles of washing will be there to greet me in the morning .

Will have another bash at it tomorrow. Although DH is threatening to get me working with him then...

Goth - yes, he certainly did! You are quite right. I will remember the 'putting to bed' trick next time. I banned TV etc, but he was perfectly happy making up his new Lego models and reading one of his new books (the latest Tom Gates), which I suspect was why he wanted the day off. I feel such a mug now. He is still insisting that he's ill, but is perky as anything and was extremely active in the playground.

I did it myself at his age. Then my mum stopped believing me and I was made to go to school when I was genuinely ill. I was sick all over the floor in my ballet class - one of the most mortifying moments of my life. It certainly taught me a lesson about being honest. I have told DS2 this story, but it seems like he needs to live it to understand it.

Toffee it doesn't really matter does it? He probably needed a day at home enjoying his presents, all to himself, whether he was ill or not.

My car has broken down! AARGh..I think the battery is flat due to cold weather and traffic jam. Anyway it is now parked half way to school when it started urging me to STOP, and the steering wheel wouldn't turn which was mildly scary.. I ended up missing ds2 who I'd promised to pick up today, but luckily intercepted ds1 after a long cold wait and we had hot chocolate together after his homework club, so that was something. Damm the lack of mobiles in their school! Although I suspect I would be leaching money on phone credit if they had them, as dd's phone (she IS allowed one at bottom of her bag for journeys) is a money sieve.

Anyway ds2 is an old hand at getting home by himself, just that he was annoyed at not being given a lift when he was expecting one, and didn't know where I was.

So we are all a bit tired. Ds2 is now, I hope, doing a cartoon for the Battle of Stamford Bridge (1066) and I am printing off a picture of Annunciation for him, (RE homework) I didn't realise how many artists had painted it. Lovely I've found loads of Preraphaelite ones too. I am so illeducated art history wise.

I wish there was no school tomorrow, so cold and dark.

done
tidying utility room
nap
supper is batch cooked bolognese

So i have tackled the shopping (christmas AND school uniform) AND ds only had one meltdown (in the form of tears because he was told no pet) THIS is most definitely a good day! Especially as after all that I convinced him to do his homework too. So that is done and ready to go back to school.

Just sorting a few bits and bobs out to make tomo run smoother. (hahaha). Going to be crazy and insane and very very long. So i may well just stay away from the thread for a whole 24hrs yes i know how will i cope However, I am leaving a full stocked naughty corner, there are fresh biscuits and you are more then capable of clearing up your own mess. Have fun, behave and play nice with the other kids

You're right, Swan. I feel guilty because of DS1 having so much time off. Anyway, DS2's had a lovely day and has built all his birthday Lego sets. I have warned him he's going to school tomorrow.

Managed to get some laundry put away at last, have emptied the tumbledryer and sorted out everyone's clothes. Am putting away as much as possible un-ironed, but the really creased stuff can be ironed tomorrow.

DS1 fell asleep at around 6 and has only just woken up. He really isn't over his virus yet, poor thing. I think he's the one who should have stayed at home really...

Swan - so sorry your car has broken down. What a nuisance. Well done to your DS2 on not panicking when you didn't turn up and getting home on his own.

Waves from rather slow train on way home from talking translation and suchlike in London... School situation is in the Guardian education diary today too, which is all good publicity for us.

anyone?

And the batch cooked Bolognese mark 1 has proved to be horrid - perhaps the mince steamed instead of frying? I think I will stick to normal inefficient meals from now on..

Ds2 has done his history, very badly, by himself YAY!

Booked AA visit tomorrow at 8am
Big Rubbish Dump in front garden being collected tomorrow at 10am - it's been there since August I'm ashamed to say, slowly being added to.

Feeling incredibly tired again, and drained...I feel as if life consists of nothing but the demands of school, like some hungry monster that I need to keep feeding, a monster I am somehow in thrall to for the good of my children... I feel really quite annoyed with dh when he says things like..."of course I hated school and it's good the children enjoy it." Surely that is not the only point of school - presumably there must be some educational advantage to the place???Which I am beginning to doubt as ds1 is so uninterested in science maths and RE (he complained they were doing philosophy) He said today they never did any experiments because the teacher said they were too bad at science to do them properly. Which I can well imagine...30 all over the place boys, not recording data properly might well make you think it not worth doing the experiments...easier to talk through the info...but still...Set 3 is a depressing place to be.

Moan Moan Moan.

Will try and get another early night.

Hi folks - I've been a bit quiet on the thread as I had a bad week last week, a combination of problems with ds (me & school want an ASD referral but CAMHS are refusing to refer) then I thought he had ringworm only it was unexplained bruising so they were investigating the pissibility of either abuse or blood disorder. After scaring the life out of me (he was also sent home feeling sick) dr said they looked self inflicted & he admitted it.

Also been having a bad time with dh & struggling to stay on top of work. It was quite a worrying week. On top of that dd was having a wobble about her assessments next week & my dad is ill & worried he hasn't been right for 2 years now.

Things are looking better this week however & although it will take time at least I know the kids are fine (was glad ds confessed before I saw the children in need films about leukaemia.

So

Ta Da

Got ds to school with violin & baking stuff
Did a load of washing
Put away all the crap/clothes on my dressing table stool (my hot spot)
Threw away junk that had been shoved down side of bedside cabinet
RR in office - spent done time filing
Caught up on work emails
Organised help with work phone calls
Collected ds from school
Cooked tea & cleared away
Kept sink clean
Washed & dried dds leotards
Cleared off window ledge (another hot spot)

Totally failed to go to bed at a decent hour!