September Fledglings gather here, let's banish clutter at the start of a new school year!

[CallingAllEngels]

Here we go again- a new month to whip our houses into shape!

If you're suffering from CHAOS (can't have anyone over syndrome) and STUFF (something that undermines family fun) then you need Flylady.

Don't sign up for emails on the Flylady website as you'll be inundated. Everything you need to know will be posted in the thread on a daily basis.

Depending on the stage you're at with FL you'll be:

1. Starting or repeating FL's babysteps.

1. Repeating babysteps + decluttering for 15 minutes per day in current zone.

1. Reinforce babysteps + daily missions if you'vefinished decluttering.

4.Number 3 and detailed cleaning anyone here yet??!

Bear in mind:

1. You're never behind!

1. No perfectionism allowed.

1. Your house did not get into a mess overnight, it won't get tidy overnight.

Some of the fledglings have been chatting and flying on MN for 10 years. I still think of myself as a newbie sometimes (even though I've been here for 2+ years!). Everyone's welcome! Old timers, newbies and lurkers alike, come and share your ta das, to dos and a whole lot more

Sorry for lack of OP links - am posting on the laptop that time forgot and am just keeping my fx that the OP posts!

Will be back on August 31st (pretty late probably!) with links for the 1st September.

Ta da
Between us, family has

• swept outside front porch and cleaned front door.
• two loads of bed laundry done, including one sheet which got done twice due to bird poo.
• post-breakfast kitchen routine (pots in dishwasher, empty surfaces and wiped down).
• post-morning bathroom routine (clean and Karcher shower, clean sink and clean toilet).

To Do

• 15 minutes on hotspot in Entrance Zone (Thursday).
• 15 minutes on the walls and window around dining table (Wednesday).
• vacuum downstairs.
• post-tea kitchen routine.
• issue clean bedding to occupiers and assist where necessary.

and camhs is done until next time I have been shopping and am just about to sit down with a cuppa before sorting the paperwork for my volunteer stuff.

Hello all!
Well today is MOT day so just stuck in the house waiting for the dreaded phone call of how much it will set us back this year

To do
Collect car from MOT and try not to faint at the cost
Ironing
Empty dishwasher

Ta Da
Posted amazon parcels
Cleared porch area
Tided book case

Am procrastinating madly. Work is tedious, the other work-related thing I need to do is scary/daunting... Need a kick up the bum!

so far today

cleaned what I can of the bathroom
hooved upstairs
filled a black bag full of old clothes
polished and hooverd living room
done one lot of pots
2 loads of washing
took DS1 to doctors for preschool jabs

just waiting for DS2 to wake up for feed but think that will be if for today big job wise going to watch a film with DS1 for being so brave

then normal evening routine later

ta da
CAMHS
Shopping
Deal with volunteering paperwork
Go through paperwork CAMHS gave me
Sort out internet stuff
Tidy and clean half the windowsil in my room
Find space for new books

Were CAMHS any help this time, Bitchy?

DS2 and his friend have been playing on the Minecraft app for HOURS and I'm feeling guilty. Suggested taking them out to the playground, but they were appalled by the idea. I'm worried the boy's mum will think I've neglected him. He wouldn't touch any of my food either - only the snacks his mum has provided.

It'll look as if I've locked them in the bedroom with no lunch and no exercise, won't it?

On the positive side, I'm making progress with my OU essay .

When are they ever Toffee? Of course there was nothing for them to see. It takes so long for them to see ds that he is fine by the time he sees them. And it bares no resemblance to when he is not fine.

I'm sorry, Bitchy. You are doing so well, but I know what a struggle it is, and it would be good if CAMHS could understand that your DS is only fine because of the level of input from you.

Actually that fact was acknowledge

I have just discovered that my printer will print double sided but I was rather when the first page was printed and the printer decided to swallow the page back. Tis working fabulously though. Only another 150 pages of training stuff to print Think i better put new black cartridge on the shopping list for later.

Evening all. Just going to drop links tonight then post my ta da - dog tired!

Babystep number 5 is to start listening to positive voices instead of negative ones. I’m a bit about this one, but it works for some. Don’t forget to stick them on a post-it .

Friday’s mission is to dust the windowsills, light fixtures and ceilings in the Dining Room and Entrance. All the missions for the week are here.

Friday is Declutter your Handbag and Car Day.

Here is Friday’s flight plan.

Ta da
work
washing up
ds in bed

tomorrow's to do list
blood test
book ferry
pay credit card

exhausted after 3 days of work so ready to go to bed!

Wow mamachelle I am so impressed at you getting that much done with such a small baby! I think I lived in a bombsite for the first few years months.

Sorry CAHMS were crap Bitchy. That has been my experience of them too unfortunately.

Ta Da
Pegged out washing
Wiped around bathroom, kitchen and downstairs loo
Went swimming
Went to work
Came home
Put a wash on
Cooked dinner
Brought washing in, ironed it, put it away
Sorted out DS1's swimming kit and rugby kit for tomorrow
Sorted out Breakfast Club money for DS2 and DD
Tidied up downstairs
Supervised music practice x 3

To do
Put another wash on
Water garden

I am so tired. Going to have an early night just as soon as all the DC have had their showers and put their uniforms to wash.

Well, I patched quite a few areas of plaster today, so tomorrow hopefully I'll be taking down the shelf, moving the tv and tv stand and wallpapering the wall. Fingers crossed it goes up quickly and easily. And no more plaster crumbles off. God, these walls are awful.

Good, I'm glad they acknowledged what a good job you're doing, Bitchy. That's something, at least.

Thanks for the links, Engels.

ta da

More OU work
Dealt with Minecraft addiction in DS2 and his friend
Dealt with tricky behaviour from DS2
Played with kittens
Waved off DS2's friend late afternoon
DS2 and I made dinner together: homemade salmon nuggets, sweet potato chips, broccoli and carrots
DS2 and I made friends again
Ate dinner (refused by Ds1 because he decided there was a risk from using eggs in the cooking. OCD is getting worse again. Really couldn't be bothered to argue, so now he's gone without dinner )
Washed up - took ages
No because I'm donating blood tomorrow

Am summoning up the courage to present DS1 with his new online timetable, starting tomorrow. I've told him how many lessons he'll be doing, but his response wasn't very positive. Fortunately, DH is taking DS2 out tomorrow, so I can just focus on getting DS1 through each lesson.

Thank you for the guidance Engels especially given your busy working week.

Ta da
Between us, family has

• swept outside front porch and cleaned front door.
• two loads of bed laundry done, and all but one bed made.
• post-breakfast kitchen routine (pots in dishwasher, empty surfaces and wiped down).
• post-morning bathroom routine (clean and Karcher shower, clean sink and clean toilet).
• post-tea kitchen routine and dishwasher on.
• load of laundry in the washer, ready for morning.
• 15 minutes on hotspot in Entrance Zone.
• vacuum downstairs.

Didn't do

• 15 minutes on the walls and window around dining table (Wednesday).

I'm struggling with evenings at the moment. Old regulars will know that I expect a lot of my children (boys really, dd is only 4) in terms of independence and they thrive on it and it makes them organised and proactive. We've had the same routine for the past 18 months or so and I've just shifted their bedtimes half hour later than they were. (Ds2 is 8- 8pm, ds1 is 10 and 8.30pm). Earlier still than their peers I suspect but they like their sleep and are great at getting up.

Now it's all gone to pot. Everything takes twice as long, nothing is running smoothly and I'm getting stressed as a result. What have I done wrong?

Here's our current schedule: ideas welcomed!

3.45- home from school, have a snack, and change out of uniforms.
4.00- play (I'm a cm so they have lots of children and activites to choose from
5.00- whole group tidy up
5.15- dinner
5.45- homework and I see mindees home
6.30- screen time (usually minecraft!)
7.30- make lunches, pack bags, fill water bottles
8.00- ds2 to bed, ds1 reads or does whatever
8.30- ds1 to bed.

In between I have dd to out to bed for 7pm, get my and dh dinner if he's here, get laundry done, cm paperwork, tidy up, clean kitchen and general household admin bits ready for the next day. Tonight everything was 20-30mins behind and this doesn't work for me.

Everything's slipping and I feel anxious. Any thoughts?

DD loved her first day yesterday and said today that she has the best teacher ever! We have the first homework project topic and it's Scotland - so we can call my family's heritage into play.

Yesterday evening, DD and I spent ages stuck in traffic and roadworks and the police cordoning off the road due to an "incident", to then find there was a problem with the pool's chlorine levels and training was cancelled. Cue a trip home full of traffic and roadworks!

Today I have been pretty lazy so my list is rather short

• Popped to shop to buy essentials
• Posted DH's Governor forms
• Emailed fabric option details for commission
• Photographed some of DD's outgrown clothes
• Unloaded D/W
• Cooked dinner
• Washed dishes and shined sink
• Organised invitations for DD's birthday party

How is that different to before Nick - apart from the later bedtimes? Our evenings are so utterly different to yours (extra curricular stuff every week night) that I don't really know what to suggest to be honest, but I still know the feeling of it all slipping later and later. The steps I've taken to combat it are getting up earlier to do chores (me only) and being stricter about the amount of TV time after dinner. If I'm honest I think that later bedtimes and consequent loss of free evening time is inevitable as they get older, but can be counteracted to some extent by them getting more independent, I find it helps not to think in terms of before and after DC bedtime, it is all just evening to me.

One thing I do find helps is making the packed lunches alongside the dinner, then they just need to be assembled and water bottles filled in the morning, DCs then pack their own bags and have put out their own uniform the night before.

Alice - could I just say how seriously impressed I am with what you are doing with your house? We haven't decorated in 10 years, avoid buying new furniture (tiny rooms and size of everything is critical).

Toffee - is this still your first OU module? How many credits is it and how many hours per week has it needed? I've just enrolled for a 60 credit one and am very nervous as I have only done 15 or 10 credit ones at a time (60 in total). It has just dawned on me that I have got the same amount to do in the next 9 months as I have done in 2.5 years so far. Shit!

Anyway, ta-da!

Morning routine
School
Work
School
Home
Afternoon routine
Change sheets on guest and our beds
Dinner
Watch GBBO with DCs
Reading etc with DCs
DCs to bed

Glad it's Friday tomorrow.

Things that are different, hmm good point. Not much I guess. Ds2 had hot dinner at school last year but I can't afford that anymore so he takes a packed lunch. He's slow but likes doing it. He also has meds he has to take before bed so this adds to the time he spends faffing in the kitchen.

What sort of extra curricular activities do you dc do whoknows ? Mine have some but it doesn't affect this particular routine iyswim.

alice whoknows has just reminded me that I meant to tell you (and I hope you don't mind!) that I've screenshot some of your lovely photos for inspiration. We are slowly decorating too and you've done a great job

Nick - could you keep a note of the exact times when you do everything for a couple of days and then see where you're losing time? Maybe you need more time to get the dinners eaten or bedtimes sorted or something. When this happens to me, it usually means I haven't allowed enough time for something.

dizzy - sorry you waited all that time in traffic, only to discover the pool was shut. How frustrating. Glad to hear your DD loves her new teacher.

WhoKnows - this is a six-month access course (not sure how many points - 30, I think), which ends next week. The trouble is, I got very behind with the reading, so I'm having to catch up on all that before I do my essay. I'm reading chunks, then writing another bit of the essay based on that chunk, then reading another chunk, etc. DH asked me how long "this bloody essay" was going to take today and it does seem as if it's going on and on, but that's because of the reading and the fact that I'm having to cope with repeated interruptions from DC (and kittens). If I'd been able to shut myself away for a few days alone, it would all be done and dusted by now. I'm sure you will adapt to the 60-point course, although you'll have to be very disciplined, I imagine. I'm really impressed you've done so many short courses! I'm tempted to do another short one, just to have something ongoing, but I think I'll give myself a break first, especially with home ed.

Well, had a word with DS1 about installing the LEA's online system on his computer. His response was, "No, I'm not doing that." Then he said he didn't need to do anything like that because he was educating himself online. No, I said, he wasn't home educated because he didn't want to be anymore, so now he's doing online learning with the LEA until school is sorted, remember?

Words have been had and I'm about to go up and install it now. Dreading the fallout.

On a positive note, the kittens ate a spider. Full marks to the kitties (but I am avoiding them licking me for a few hours).

Monday - DS swimming lesson 7-7.30
Tuesday - DD ballet 4-5 and DS Cubs 6.30-8.15
Weds - DD Brownies 5.45 till 7.15 and DS trampolining (next door building) 6-7
Thurs - DD drama 5-7
Fri - both tutoring 6-7 and DS youth group 7-8.15

Means we eat at a different time every night. I have tried to get them to drop one or two things but they love it all. Hard work logistically though.

Toffee - our cats eat flies, gross but useful! My course is 9 months, I've just joined a FB group for it which is incredibly busy, not going to be able to keep up with the chat on there. You've done really well managing it with home edding, in theory I should be fine in term time as I only work 3 days, but the other two do seem to get gobbled up with shopping, housework and meeting friends for coffee

That's what kittens are for toffee mine brought me half a mole this morning though so we'd maybe better gloss over that!

I find that my evenings slip massively the first week or so after the holidays nicknacks. In our case I think it is mostly getting used to fitting so many more things in in term time than we do over the holidays - not least having time to catch up and talk to each other in the evenings. I will probably try and gradually tighten the timings from next week until we're back to more reasonable bedtimes!

Have done no flying whatsoever- we'll gloss over that too! Have a 5am start tomorrow to get to London for 9:30. Not looking forward to that at all!

DS is 10 and DD is 8 BTW Nick.

whoknows I am dreading that level of extracurricular activity!
Mine are a bit young for too much evening stuff yet - dd has riding on a Saturday morning and that's pretty much it, but I know it won't last as she gets older