Feisty Fledgling Flyers flutter through Feb with flair, finesse, flaws, failures, fortitude, feedback, fiascos, fabulousness, friendship and fun!

[sanschocolat]

[The fiascos are all mine btw !!]

And just for Just, February is the new January that was the new January before

If you are struggling 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 wine and cake 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 something 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!

It’s up to you, but 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!

Points to keep in mind:
(1)No perfectionism allowed - this is harder than you would imagine
(2)You are never behind just start where you are and anything you do is progress.
(3) It didn't get into a mess overnight, it won't get tidy over night - accept it will take time to get on top of things and you will be happier.

Humungous thanks to Bitchy for steering us through the hectic January thread and for the wise three-line mantra above.

All regulars, lurkers and newcomers welcome!!

SC - huge sympathies. That is so unfair of your DH. Actually, MrToffee did the same thing not so long ago and I ended up being the one who had to cancel and stay at home . I really hope you manage to find someone to babysit.

You are right about posting on the health boards about DS1's treatment. I have done a search, but there's very little about it on MN.

pushme - yes, I agree. And the psychological impact of waiting for puberty to kick in naturally (in about two years or so) would be too detrimental to DS.

DS1 loves his new skateboard (the one I bought that was exactly the same brand as his old one) and went to the skatepark for the first time in ages yesterday. However, it was empty and he was freezing, so he didn't last long. He did do a bit of skateboarding, though, so it's building up his confidence again.

However, his OCD was bad last night and he can't face going in for his lessons today. He's not in a good state, so I'm not pushing him. Am going to start setting him work, I think, because he's just not getting any education at all now.

DS2 is off school with a tummy ache and headache, so DH has had to go into work on his own.

Ta da

Swish & swipe in bathroom
B/fasts
Calpol for DS2
Back to bed with hot-water bottle for DS2
Washed DS1's sheets
Phoned school and learning centre
Washing up
Wiped down kitchen surfaces and cooker top
Unloaded and reloaded d/w

Toffee really great that your ds1 has been out skate-boarding again! Sorry to hear ds2 unwell though.

Thanks for your support re: dh. It's a bit of a recurring theme between us. He travels all the time so it is, in a sense, my 'job' to be here, so he can do his ifyswim. (School has 19 weeks holiday a year - every Wed afternoon off.) However, bigger issue is that I left my own job/friends/family to be here and yet, ironically, he is forever 'not here' [arrrrrggghhh].

And when I protest about not having enough control over my own schedule he says that he is under pressure from his clients and has very little control either! Which I can't really argue with (as he is under a load of pressure/the main breadwinner ). It's just a really frustrating situations! Grrrrrr.

Haven't given up trying to find baby-sitter yet though!!

Ellie hope you are liberated from hospital today!

I was in a very similar situation when DH was working for a company, SC. He was under pressure to be available at all times, to the extent that he didn't dare take time off even when I hurt my leg and couldn't walk. It's not fair on you that you can't have any leisure time, though. Sounds like you need to find a regular babysitter. Good luck with your search!

Thanks Toffee! In reality, I probably have much more leisure time than most on this thread, so shouldn't really complain. Would be nice to be able to have it planned occasionally though!! You're right - we do need to sort baby-sitter - and dd's sleeping issues!

and on naughty corner bar for everyone.

Thanks, SC.

Morning all,

Fingers crossed you get a babysitter SC, I've finally got DH trained to put his trips out on the calandar, of course now I just have to remember to check. At least his is only a couple of times a month. He's out on Friday too, so we can always get virtually drunk together

for Just & Ellie hope you are both doing ok. (We need a grape or chocolate symbol)

Toffee I think DS1 going skateboarding has to be a good sign. I'm sorry I've forgotton how old he is.

Done
Beds
Pack lunch
Dd to school
Lidl then Morrisons
Now slumped with

To do
Laundry on
Dry laundry away
Windows
S&S
Litter tray
Collect DD
DD to Woodcraft
Assist at woodcraft - I volunteered to help make the new banner! Lots of sewing ahead
Dd to bed (she's always hyper afterwards)
Washing up
Ironing

DH working, so will probably do some squares.

BBL

doing
we are sorting out ds1's bedroom today.
He is having tremendous problems with academic organisation, not helped by the way his room is. There are far too many books in there, and he doesn't read any of them, just listens to the Sports Radio all the time.
But in the meantime his paperwork is a nightmare, 11 subjects all over the place...random bits of work which were done loose leaf, as well as school books, last two years work which he keeps referring to...

Again dh just doesn't get it. He has a messy office but is perfectly organised and productive, so he cannot understand why ds1 should not be able to manage to remember stuff. But he can't, and is laid back with it, so gets detentions all the time. Such is the muddle that we cannot even tell what he has or hasn't done at any one time, as he always pretends he has done what he needs to, or that it is in his locker

Ds1 is very much a creative browser so we don't want to throw out the baby with the bathwater, and he is also a happy soul generally, punctual and quite energetic, so it is difficult to find the balance in ordering his life, and allowing him independence. But like most people he loves to come home and find his room has been tidied by someone else!!!

Dh has planted two big shrubs in the garden and cleared out the alley of rubbish this morning

I have dropped ds2 at school; roads amazingly clear for some reason despite tube strike

SC I hate organising babysitters, partly because my children don't like being babysat, and won't go to sleep with them in the house, so I feel for you. Ds1 has been given a prize for performing which will be presented on Speech Night, and the date just happens to be my book club night; and I haven't been for the last two meetings so it would be incredibly rude not to go for this, when they asked me repeatedly if I could do that day So dh will have to sit through the interminably speechifying this year, and I will just have to get a babysitter. Not till next week though, I had better think fast.

God, I am just awful. Slacking in posting, although to be fair, I am doing things still!!

ta da
usual morning routines, school run
laundry
charge mobile
washing up
double checked budget
updated current budget on spreadsheet
checked diary for this week and next
updated wall calendar for this week and next
checked bank
tidied kitchen
tidied living room

to do
meeting
oil sewing machine
review and choose a new recipe from SW site
clean one drawer in dining room cabinet

Slow afternoon, I suppose. By the time the meeting is done, school run is done, and I've dealt with STBXH while he's here for contact this afternoon, I'll just want to put my feet up and relax.

And drink loads and loads of

Hi all

Haven't caught up with thread yet sorry. Right I need to get focused and into some routines... house has turned into a tip again

ta da
sent email with wrong name
try to get doc appointment and nearly cry in frustration
Go back to sleep
speak to DM and lose a few hours
check emails.
shower and breakfast
look at time and panic...

Hello everyone. I sort of dropped out of the world for a bit there, I was a bit despondent about being limpy again. I'm on the mend though now! Thanks Toffee and SC for the good wishes on the last thread - with any luck the old stick shall be decluttered very soon

Right, I'm back on this - it really helps.

Things I've done in my absence are:

Set up deliveries for heavy household things, using Ocado midweek voucher.
Tax return
Long standing annoying finance admin
Kept up with decluttering my bag
Sent two pieces of furniture I was storing at my mother's to a charity shop. As I have decided I am not keeping things I don't love on the off chance they'll be useful
Decluttered bathroom

To do
Acquire some vegetables
Eat them
Washing
Drying
Putting away
Washing up
Sink
Swish and swipe
Ironing
Some deep cleaning in Kitchen as I went a bit mad and did all the decluttering last time (very small kitchen)
15 mins declutter

Ta da

Lunch
DS2 to friend's house (miraculous recovery )
Work at home
Avoided answering two phone messages

Leisure time....what's that? :/

So busy here atm. DD2 keeps getting headaches and I am not sure what to do. Think maybe she needs a visit to GP but she is seeing a specialist for her eyes and has a referral for her teeth. She is only 7 and it all seems a bit much.

DW rnning with last night's dinner stuff so not actually sure we will have enough crockery for tonights dinner. And we have run out of butter so not sure what we are going to do for packed lunches tomorrow.

Another productive day, although dh is still blowing hot and cold over any reorganising plans and I think I might just have to send him back to be re-programmed/genetically modified He has just supervised all the boys homework though whilst I was at Beavers.

dd friend over (a new one, who needed impressing!)
stopped ds2 embarrasing dd when introduced to new friend (luckily she thought he was sweet if childish, and was charmed at idea of them being twins making an unfortunate reference to the fact that they look quite similar)
roast chicken for new friend
grocery shopping (in the afternoon before they came home)
picked up ds2 by car
dropped off dd's new friend by car (so lots of driving today, including night driving)

Beavers to help - started to sing Kookabura as a final "campfire" song, suddenly realised Gay your life must be would not go down well, so had to change it on the hoof to Merry Your Life Must be..the parents must have thought I was weird.
.
quick rescue of reorganised playroom
swept a bit of the alley
put lots of old saucepans to wash in utility and then had to put them back in the garden as there wasn't time to wash them before dd's friend appeared (and the telly room connects to the utility)
food compost

Toffee I have a 14 year old who show a lot of testosterone positives and negatives. Very independent, yet very bashful around girls, very driven by things he is interested in, absolutely not interested in stuff that doesn't interest him, slightly distracted from everyday boring stuff, quite relaxed in general, given to sudden screaming fits, quite loud, quite optimistic, quite enthusiastic/energetic (ie: he will suddenly get up and disappear off to the cinema or walk home a different way because he wants to see a different tube station) Yet this is someone who is inherently quite shy and unsociable. He has a sort of drive that I think I associate with men rather than women, singleminded, not really weighing up alternatives or thinking things through much, but quite good at focusing confidently, making decisions without worrying too much what will happen next. Apparently all the pathways in the brain get overridden at this age as the influence of hormones makes all these new circuitry, temporarily disabling the old pathways, which is why teenagers are forgetful and disorganised yet independent and risk taking. I think testosterone is like thyroxine, in that it does what it says on the tin, and it is not unnatural to take it, if you are missing that vital amount (I say this as someone who takes thyroxine)

Eustacia cream cheese or mayonnaise often replace butter in our house!

Definitely get headaches checked out. Have you checked the carbon monoxide in your house?? A friend found her boiler was faulty after a long period of headaches.

Yesterday I spent the morning walking round the charity shops in town looking for some bits for DD to wear as they were having a WWII Evacuee day today. Got her a grey shirt and jumper, cut down a pair of outgrown school trousers to make some shorts, and she topped off the outfit with DH's flat cap!

I also made a box for her gas mask (snorkel mask) and a luggage type label to wear. They all looked fabulous this morning and had a workshop where they could see real artefacts etc.

Today has been more mundane, so Ta Da

• D/W on and unloaded
• CQs into bank
• Bought some bits for tea
• Washing load on and hung to dry
• DD to swimming training
• To school for meeting about residential trip
• Collected bikes from Halfords
• Washed pots and shined sink

Done:
S&S
Empty and reload DW and put on (finished now and should empty but CBA)
One load of laundry done and dried and away, wet muddy dog towels washed, dried and put away, new load put in and ready to go tomorrow
Swept downstairs (should mop but CBA)
Gone through big Ikea bag of clean laundry that was upstairs and sorted into ironing and non ironing piles
Put away bone dry laundry on airer that's been there for a couple of days

Didn't clean the fridge as it's ram packed with food and I've not long done it so might do a shelf a day over the next week or something.

What I struggle with is the constant repeat cleaning and tidying, particularly around meal times. So much food on the floor or smeared down doors/cabinets etc.

Our bedroom floor is actually free of stuff for the first time in WEEKS. I might actually be able to not fall flat on my face en route to the bathroom now.

I need to stay on top of the laundry. If I miss more than one day I pay for it and it takes forever to catch up again.

To Do Tomorrow:
Need to sort the pile of magazines and post on the stairs
Phone British Gas

thanks swan

Evening all. Do hope you can get a babysitter sorted, SC and totally understand the frustration, esp when you've been looking forward to something for so long.

No real flying done today, but acquired some free books and got a fun project to work on for a bit. :)

Big waves to everyone else.

Aargh busy week with work, sorry not had chance to catch up on posts, or do much flying. Sink is clean ish, family is fed and laundry is more or less under control but that's about all that can be said for chez cyber at the moment...

Swan - thank you for your reassurance about DS1 taking testosterone. I hope it will help him overcome his anxieties. Not too sure about the risk-taking/screaming aspect of it though .

Eustacia - good point from Swan about checking the carbon monoxide; children always get the symptoms first. No harm in taking your DD to the GP too. Always best to have these things checked, especially in children.

dizzy - your DD's outfit sounds fabulous .

Peanut - I too am in danger of falling flat on my face en route to the bathroom at night. I'm sure my DH doesn't mean to leave stuff on the bedroom floor purposely to trip me up .

Blue - hurrah for free books and fun projects .

Ta da

OU work
Collected DS2 from his friend's house
Cooked two separate meals for us and DC
Dinner
Drank ginger beer (wine disgusting )
Tumbledried clean sheets
Made DS1's bed
Phoned friend to arrange get together
Phoned DM
Texted someone to avoid ringing them back
Didn't return another phone call from someone else because I didn't have the mental energy
Bath and bedtime routine - DS2
Laid out clothes for tomorrow
Unloaded and reloaded d/w again
Saved remains of lentil & veg curry for tomorrow's lunch
Telly time
Hot chocolates
Encouraged DS1 to go in to the centre tomorrow
Ordered new top for DS1 to wear to the skatepark

The sink is not shiny and there's still washing up to be done, but am going to prioritise 'bed at a decent time' instead.

X-posts, Cyber. Sounds like you are doing fine to me.

Eustacia the others make a good point about CO BUT as you mention she is under a specialist for her eyes it could be something to do with that which is triggering her headaches. I have a very mild stigmatism and the optician corrected for this with my glasses lenses the last time. I physically can't wear my glasses for more then about an hour without a headache being triggered. As much as it seems a lot for her, as ds managed to cope with 14 medical professionals of various types at the same I can also assure that whilst no one likes that many people involved that your dd will be fine especially if she knows that the whole point is to get rid of the headaches.

Yeah flying has taken a back seat again. I have a virus that is trying very hard to settle in my lungs and whilst it hasn't succeeded I am feeling like crap, struggling to sleep at night and wiping out during the day. Not ideal by anymean but i am working on blanketgate take 2 although hindered by the fact i have run out of one colour (the main bulk colour) and I really don't have the energy to be bothered to make the trip up to the big city to get more. However, I have a shit load of half finished projects and various not yet started but got the bits projects I have plenty to keep me going.

I hope to manage to do a few bits tomo but am really struggling.

Oh dear, I know I'm late....but I'm parking my broom in here for February. I need to get back into a routine again!

My routines have ground to a halt. I'm cringing at Mt. Washmore and I definitely can't have anybody over!

For the first weekend in ages I am not travelling anywhere. Looking forward to getting stuck in (and catching up with the thread and with some sleep!)

We received the first drawdown cheque for our mortgage today so, after stalling for more than two years, it's full steam ahead! Which means...we'll hopefully be moving out of here by July and into our own house! Which means getting on top of the cleaning and clutter now!!!! Yay!

Back tomorrow with personals, but for now Swan : well done on your driving progress!