June 2014: half way through the Flying year, fledglings get themselves in gear!

[slackcabbage]

Heartfelt and huuuumungous thanks to Goth for being such a superlative, consistent and professional thread leader throughout May (and wow to all those fantastic round-ups every night).

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.

Flylady link here.

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):

1. start or repeat baby steps

1. repeat baby steps + do 15 mins a day decluttering in the current zone

1. 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!

Three key 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.

If you are new then trying to spend 15mins decluttering and the babysteps is the most. Some of us (mentioning no names!) can have scary looking lists but don't let that worry you! Do what you can, anything is better then nothing, and don't judge yourself against others.

If all else fails, a + the power of three technique + a bit of support on here can work wonders!

Oh and don’t let it put you off if we appear a bit cliquey – some of us have been on here for years – but all lurkers, oldies and newcomers very very welcome!

Everything went well yesterday apart from there being a points failure just outside Glasgow that meant the parents train was stuck in a tunnel for 20 minutes!

SC it should have been Scotch Pie he can't get them where they live in England.

Good evening!

Phew! Rabbits are reunited and eating independently! I was up several times in the night feeding them strawberry leaves. It reminded me of looking after a newborn, except with more fur

They are very sulky though and haven't forgiven dh or me for putting them through such horrors yesterday. And boy, rabbits can win prizes for holding a grudge ... .

Oo-er Goth don't like the idea of getting stuck in any sort of tunnel. Glad your parents made it eventually though and hope they have a lovely stay, and that you can stop cleaning now and have a lovely time with them ! [Scotch pie looks delicious btw!!)

Hope the sleep walking sorts itself out Bitchy. My sister and I both grew out of it eventually around the age of 13 or so. (I can see the difficulty with your pragmatic ds - haven't recently but when dd was upset at night-time I could get out the imaginary "monster spray", wave it about liberally under the bed for a bit, and all would be well .) Not so easy in your ds's case! Maybe just taking him through the causes (sure you have already thought of that).

Whoknows [excited] see you in the naughty corner lounge bar tonight 21.00h (UK time) with some Les Diables Rouges shirts at the ready and a crate of Leffe Blonde on ice . Which reminds me... must change my flag back ... also fickle

Swan thanks for sore throat cure! Crikey! Think you might wipe out several other ailments at the same time with that recipe! Have given it a miss today because we have lots of socialising going on this weekend and I don't want to blast eveyrone with garlic fumes ... but maybe later! Hope you had a lovely lunch with your friends! (You deserve a bit of time out!)

Big waves to Blue (glad to hear you are taking it easy!)

and to Alice and everyone else!!

Tired tonight so going to post links early and then head off for a bit of r&r and an early night!

Have a lovely evening everyone!

Can you believe that is another week nearly gone?

And a tough one for many people on here so well done for getting through it.

Don't know where the academic year has disappeared to either ...dd breaks up at lunch time tomorrow for nine weeks!

**

Baby-step no. 27 for Friday 27th is: here. A good one that prompts us to think about supper every night in advance of those 'opening the fridge and scratching one's head' moments.

We are in Zone 4 : The Master Bedroom (June 22 – 28) this week here.

Declutter in Zone 4 for 15 minutes a day!

Detailed cleaning list here if you are at that stage.

Friday's mission (the last of the week) is here clean your dressing table or whatever serves as one.

Friday's daily focus is: cleaning out cars, handbags and purses day.

The monthly habit for June is drinking more water.

To summarise the above, today's flight plan can be found [[www.flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=-120 here]] and will update itself automatically.

*

Hope you can all relax a bit this evening too! You deserve it!

OK, Allez les Diables Rouges!! Should have a fairly decent chance against S. Korea I would have thought ... but I know nothing ... .

Hurrah for the rabbits bouncing back, SC!

DH has just persuaded me to accompany him to a uni reunion at the end of July, leaving DM to babysit for the boys. (She made the mistake of offering and he jumped at the chance).

Will someone else be able to run the thread for a couple of days on 18th July?

Well, despite talk of taking it easy, had a massively argumentative morning with the boys and did some housework.

Ta da!
Caught up with accounts
DS1 got all the Mr Men books in order
Located desk and spare bed from beneath the junk
Put all the anti-Govey paperwork in a folder for when we write a book...
Chucked tons of junk paper in the recycling
Patched knees of 2 pairs of trousers
Darned knees of 2 pairs of trouser
Cut 2 pairs of trousers off at the knees for shorts
Did some ironing as iron was out anyway
Put out worst downstairs hotspots
Lunch at friend's café with boys
Aldi shop done and put away
Gave 2 outgrown jumpers to neighbour's grandson
Mended 2 wooden railway bridges
Zumba

If I can manage to hoover tomorrow the house will be nearly respectable again!

Bitchy - Grr to people fillings kids' heads with monsters! DS1 still gets freaked out by a massively age-inappropriate reading book he had from school about aliens a year or more ago. Matter of fact is the way to go with him, too.

SC - mm, Leffe! Is there any left?

Thanks, swan. DH is very despondent and wants to move away so as to have nothing to do with the school. Will have to lump it for a while though, as there isn't much other option round here.

Can probably manage a couple of days in July, Toffee.

If not I will be about around the 18th, just not at the end of the month.

Very pleasant evening, should be more tired than i feel but that is the lapse in the no caffine rule today I suspect i shall feel it tomo.

Some one remind me I need to:
Boil up and jar the Jam
tidy my room
finish prepping ds' room for his sleep over this weekend
not eat all of the cake.

Bitchy - remember to boil up and jar your jam, tidy your room, finish preparing your son's room - and to eat all the cake .

Blue - so sorry you and DH feel so despondent about the school. It's awful that the school's and parent's views have been ignored.

To do:

Tidy kitchen
Home ed
OU tutorial (by phone)
Contact LEA to arrange meeting (fourth attempt)
Support DS1 during his online lessons after lunch
Get outdoors - fresh air and exercise

Anyone have any ideas about helping DS2 overcome his fear of bees/wasps. It seems to be getting worse every summer. He was stung twice in one summer a few years ago and now he is a nervous wreck whenever anything buzzy approaches. I have ordered a spray-on insect repellent to give him more confidence when we're out and I'm trying to gradually expose him to bees/wasps, eg have ordered 'Bee Movie' - an animation - to watch with him. Managed to get him to watch a Donald Duck cartoon involving funny bees yesterday. The trouble is, he now wants to avoid going anywhere where there might be buzzy things - and that cuts out just about anywhere!

House is looking a bit better now, thanks to my lovely cleaner working flat out yesterday, with me tidying up at the same time. It is a great incentive to have her here.

Bitchy - remember to boil up and jar your jam, tidy your room, finish preparing your son's room - and to eat more cake .

Toffee sorry, don't have any good ideas about managing fear of wasps/bees I'm afraid. DD is a bit the same after witnessing my slightly dramatic reaction to one a couple of years back. I think you are already doing all the right things (explaining about their lifestyle and that they are not on a mission of attack etc!) and the importance of remaining calm and quiet around them, how important they are to environment etc etc. I think the rest of it is just the same CBT drill as with any other fear: gradual calm step by step exposure etc etc, every incidence of avoidance builds fear up again etc etc; ensuring the fun stuff you do outside is more than worth possible exposure etc etc. Not that I have had much success with dd - she is very receptive to all the rational explanations when safely indoors - not so much outside in the path of a bee! Hoping to have more of an opportunity to tackle it when in the depths of Suffolk this summer.

Blue congrats on completion of v. impressive list (especially all the darning and mending)! Bummer about lack of alternative schools in your neck of the woods. Must be incredibly frustrating.

De-mob happy here [whoops of joy] [SC pops champagne corks and jumps about excitedly!!!] So happy it is now officially the holidays!! I lurve the holidays!!!! (But realise probably very easy for me with an only child compared to others on this thread.)

No more hwk battles, no more school runs, no more uniform washing and shoe polishing and gym kit prep, no more revision and exam stress and school meetings!!! Yaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! (Although can't help thinking that if I am finding it this stressful now with only one child at only 10 yrs, I dread to think what state I will be in five or six years time!!) Still, it was worth it as dd did quite well in her exams in the end. She did really well in Flemish and has improved in French (but room for much more improvement with that and in maths too!).

She is going to a sleepover tonight so dh and I are plotting what to do with ourselves and new found freedom!!

Rabbits getting better but still got the 'ump with us.

Nowt much else to report except boudoir still a disaster zone and garden crying out for attention. Think latter might win out somehow !

Big waves to one and all!

Toffee any bee keepers in the area that can talk to him and tell him more about bees? Maybe learning more about them will make them less scary?

I'm off out tonight with dh so posting links for tomorrow now...

on the naughty corner bar for everyone to help themselves ...

Baby-step no. 28 for Saturday 28th is: here. A helpful reminder about eating properly, drinking water and getting enough sleep.

Saturday will be our last day in Zone 4 : The Master Bedroom (June 22 – 28) here. (Flylady says it should be the cleanest room in the home - it's the reverse here - 'tis a tip!!)

Declutter in Zone 4 for 15 minutes a day!

Detailed cleaning list here if you are at that stage.

No missions because it is the weekend.

Saturday's daily focus is: here

The monthly habit for June is drinking more water.

To summarise the above, today's flight plan can be found [[www.flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=-120 here]] and will update itself automatically.

*

Ok lets look that the list:
Jam - nope
tidy my room - nope
get ds' room tidy - yep he has done it himself!
eat cake - yep

Serious burn out atm, spent most of the day asleep and feel like a zombie. very tired and ready for bed already. So i am on a rest day. There has been a little pottering with craft projects but nothing has been done so to speak of.

SC hope you enjoyed your child free evening

Toffee i have no real suggestions. fear of things that fly around your head can be a bit of a problem with all the critters in nature.

Bitchy but you ate and let's face it - that's the most important one! Yay Bitchy!!

Thanks for the wine, SC. Have a lovely evening! Glad DD's exams went well after all the stress.

Ta da!
Work
Inbox decluttered
Dusted
Hoovered
Changed sitting room throws
Put winter duvet away
Cooked nice tea
Rescued kitchen
Watched tennis

ta da
usual morning routine
kitchen tidied
washing up
one load of laundry in washer
one load folded and put away
living room tidied
budget reviewed
dining room tidied
Christmas budget sorted, list sorted (I know, I know.. the "C" word)

to do
one more load of laundry -wash, dry, put away
vacuum living room
sweep fireplace
winter prep list to start (again, I know... )
make some cake or brownies - can't decide which yet
make popcorn for dcs and supervise (read that as "referee") while they play on the Wii this afternoon
(thinking about it, will vacuum AFTER the popcorn is eaten )

Hope you had a lovely evening out, SC.

Alice - I'm impressed!

Kept falling asleep yesterday. Had a three-hour 'nap' in the afternoon , then fell asleep with DS2 at his bedtime, so something clearly not right. Feeling a bit under par today, so have delegated visit to Grandma with DS2 to DH and am going to take myself back to bed and study, in between more sleep. DH is a whirlwind of activity today, so he's making up for my inactivity.

Took DS2 to a friend's house this morning and stayed for tea and chat with the mum. Just have to pick him up after lunch, then I can retreat to bed.

Hope everyone is enjoying the lovely weather.

Toffee don't be impressed. I'm now sitting with a and wondering if I really do need to get up again.

Ta da
cleaned downstaits toilet including floor
washed kitchen floor
long chat with dm
up with ds at 8 so dh could get a few extra hoursmsleep (since ds had been torturing us since 6)

Work saga continues. Same old story, line manager makes a show of supporting us but hits a brick wall so nothing changes. I have been so angry and frustrated over the whole situation and just feel like no one cares.

And this morning I fainted while changing ds. Had to abandon him mid chnage, call for dh and sit down on bed. Am going to contact my mw and ask if I should come and see her Monday for a check up and maybe blood test for my iron levels (when pg with ds had the same prob) and it's likely I will have to call in sick. I feel so let down by my employer. Not going in I will miss my last lesson with all my classes, which means I won't be able to give them back their end of year exams/feedback and won't be able to practice for a performance in front of parents the following evening. I feel like school have created this situation and they're forcing me to let my students down. But if they won't look after me then I have to look after myself.

Sorry for me me me post. Just feeling worn out and unappreciated

toffee sounds like you need to look after yourself. Hope you're feeling better.

blue I'm so sorry to hear about school.

bitchy I always think is a very worthwhile addition to any to do list

To do
potter around house, lots of little things to do and don't want to raise my expectations with what I can achieve today....

put kitchen furniture back on nice clean floor
Deal with dining table hotspot
try and get 2 sets of reports done
rehome board games into empty cupboard
hoover lounge
clean coffee table and internal doors in lounge - covered in sticky fingerprints
think about making
Eat - entirely dependant on previous point

I have just remembered the hard way that boiling vigerously = splashing. Hot jam burns.

ds has a friend over. I got a letter today which is not sad in content but sad because it protrays how much old age has caught up with a remarkable lady. Feeling a bit thrown. If i thought about it i knew it was likely and over due but it is easy to deny it when someone seems to be so fit and active despite their age.

I have added make more cake to the todo list for today!

Ta da
all furniture, mats etc back in kitchen
cleaned internal doors
cleaned offe table
dusted and polished dresser

ouch Bitchy are you okay? You can get some nasty burns from that.