September Fledglings: the new term has begun!

[Greymalkin]

Hello all, the new term has begun! So I'm taking the register; everyone please sign in...

I will set out the opening post curriculum once my home internet collection is restored

Ooh look --> teacher's pet!!

Sigh. Weather's been glorious here today! Why couldn't it have been like this yesterday.

Took DS2 to another party this afternoon, which was quite stressful as it was hard to find, then he was overwhelmed by the big, noisy space and took ages to settle. I wasn't prepared for being expected to stay like the other parents, and needed to get away. So all a bit hard. He was fine once he got going though.

Before and after, did lego, cooking and gardening.

Big waves and more all round!

Links for Monday 12th September: Here is the Launch Pad with al the basic information.

Baby step number twelve: delete all FlyLady's emails Hopefully you didn't sign up to begin with!!

We are moving into Zone 3, The Bathroom and one Other Room Spend 15 minutes decluttering here. If you have finished decluttering here is the detailed cleaning list

There are always two missions in Zone 3:
In the bathroom, do a detailed clean around the base and back of the toilet
The ''Other Room' this month is actually all the places round the house we 'stash and dash'. Spend five minutes throwing out rubbish and recycling.

Our habit of the month is establishing a Before Bed Routine This is actually a really good habit to develop, as many of us can vouch for.

Monday focus is the beloved [snort] home bleugh Essentially spending 10 minutes each on seven key areas of housework

And a little bonus feature for this month: FlyLady's back to school tips

Sounds like your kids are putting you through the mill at the mo Toffee If ds is not enjoying swimming then there is no point in making them go. Sport is to be enjoyed afterall. Do you mind me asking how much tutors cost? Its just that ds has speaking difficulties. He has been to speech therapist and they say they cannot begin actual speech therpy sessions until he is 4, in January. He goes to school next September and I get the feeling he is already a bit behind. His lack of speech seems to be affecting his other developmental skills. Its hard not look at other children his age and make comparisons. On another note i'm also concerned about his social skills as he has problems communicating with other children. Apparently he only has one friend at nursury and when he goes to the playpark in our local area he normally ends up playing by himself

I hope dd had a good time at the birthday party Salutary?

Today we went to my Mum's this afternoon and went for a short walk on Dartmoor. She lives in a beautiful part of the world but typically ds moaned all the way round about having to walk. He is so lazy! It was only a half hour walk to the field at the top of the hill in the village she lives in. Priceless answer from ds today - 'I don't like walking'. He's going to go far in life!

Today's ta das

Stripped beds and put in washing machine and on the line to dry
Done another load of washing
Made the beds
Tidied ds room
General tidy up
Washed dishes
Wiped kitchen tops
Bathed ds

Am now having a bath myself and unwinding from the weekend. The loo bleach situation is doing my head in now. Been over a week now. The bottle of Domestos on the window cill behind my shoulder is calling me and Jeremy Germ and Steve-Coli under the rim of my loo directly next to me are mocking me yes I have voices in my head in the form of bleach bottles and germs Someone give me a slap!

Oh ffs its bathroom zone this week lol

So the zoolets returned to school Monday,I was in community cafe Tues,and sat.routines?what routines-its all gone out the window
Place looks like bearpit(being polite)and I approaching jibbering wreck stage as can't find anything I look for in said mess......
cue depression issues
Its def time to jump back in and try take control(yes I know middle night,can't chuffing sleep due to suddenly developing eczema n its spreading all over me n itches like blazes n wakes me up as scratching)
Celeste I am so proud of your efforts on the toilet front.as for voices calling you I get them from inside my treat box ("come,come my precious.x chocolate bar wants you to sink your teeth into it.you know you want to....)
Waves to everyone.will post at least some offerings later...

Last week was a write off as spent so many evenings driving dd1 to her activities that I was hardly home. Today will be a fresh start. I also have cleaners who do all the basics but I need to declutter and do stuff like cleaning out kitchen cupboards. I have no days off work so today will be easy, hoping I can keep going for the rest of the week!

Ta das(remember I was upat silly o'clock)
hot spot dining table
bleach lav(sorry Celeste)
*Washing on
*Fed cats
*Made zoolets lunches
*Clean inside cooker
*feed zoolets
*recycling/bins out
*attack brambles that try savage me as put bins out that showed them who is boss!
*start bathroom-clean windows
*Clean sill
*Clean all tiling up aide bath
*Wipe bath n sink
*Clean round light
*School run
*Pop shop bread,milk and binbags
*washing in dryer,more on
My breakfast,then
*Clean side bath
*Wash floor, skirts
*Sort little set drawer with all our ablution Gubbins in,tossing recycling into a bag and put out
*clear and sweep landing
*sweep stairs and wipe woodwork
*sort shoe box,check for pairs/outgrown or damaged items
*hang up coats (lil zoo is excused as she can't reach properly,but D's gas no excuse hang his on floor and kick under shoe box
*Wash Hall floor
*wash in dryer,more on

Feels good when step outside and walk back in knowing hallways not a bloody assault course and I can go upstair and into bathroom in ignorant bliss of rest place be untidy hovellish

Have quick break for s drink as think swallowed too much dust do stairs I but wheezy and nose streaming,then its living room I want at least looking like a room,not dumping ground that's what my room is
Sorry such long post,look back what achieved will boost me to keep going!!

Thanks for the welcome everyone!
A couple of evenings ago youngest DS declared he wanted to sort out his downstairs toy box, so we got rid of a carrier bag full of broken bits. No other real progress to report on the Flying front.
Trying to get my head round tne Monday routine. There is no way I can carve out 70 minutes on a Monday, it's one of my busiest days. Does anyone distribute Monday stuff to ten minutes per day instead? At the moment there are parts of my house which only get cleaned once a year if I'm lucky!
I need a realistic way to improve the situation.

Impressive list above Zoo

fromeasttowest I tend go mad few days I have time then slide into chaos again,so it seems more impressive than really is!!
Could you try do 10-15mins in morning and same at night?fail that I'd just divide it by main used room,kitchen,bathroom and bedroom s and do 10 mins a day in pbe of them

Supplemental ta da
2 more loads wash done, 2nd just in dryer
Scrub kitchen surfaces to remove traces cat.again
Wipe cupboard fronts
Empty kitchen bin
Made friend mocha muffins (will give on school run.she had rubbish weekend fighting husband)
Divided living room into quarters and time 10 Min each quarter to take things that don't belong n put away and polish
Just go clear dining table(completely,stead usual just make enough space)then be time pick up zoolets!!

PS going at it like possessed woman as DP got rare day off tomorrow,and his mum been poorly and was admitted hospital Fri.he very close to her,so I want to be there for him 100% tom and this way we won't get in a pickle again til I pick up again wed(hopefully)

Hi all :)

I'm still catching up! GORGEOUS fox cub :) and sorry about the ballet SC that's the end of an era. :(

It's been a good week in terms of getting back to HE but absolutely ZERO Flying. Shocking. First pupil on Wednesday and oh gosh the house. The state of it.

I need to find the diary, seriously worried about all the stuff I've booked for this term as I have no idea how we will fit it all in or whether we've double booked stuff! And amazingly we're getting loads more interest for the various classes we're running between us (music/maths/sports) so there's that to fit in too. Which might just help pay for all the other stuff we're doing. :o

I haven't even done dinner yet. Caglets are still playing outside with a 'laser maze' they've made from an old washing line. They just brought in a grasshopper with a missing back leg. Still hopping though, it jumped into my cleavage. Perve.

Hi all,

A pretty paulty ta da list today compared to Zoo

made beds
washed dishes
emptied kitchen bin
wiped bathrooms
done another washing load
weekly grocery shop
general tidy up
made tea
washed dishes
wiped kitchen worktops

Will do ironing this evening.

I hope your MIL gets well soon Zoo

Fromwest I treat Mondays as a catch up of the weekend chores. I try not to do too much over the weekends.

Cag has mr grasshopper emerged from your clevage yet?

Yes I grabbed him pretty quick and put him outside! Naughty thing. Was cute though, I love grasshoppers.

Great that you like the Freud museum too Grey - it was great. Would love to go again, maybe a home ed trip once the Caglets are older! I've still not read the latest couple of thread pages but I noticed you mention Interpretation of Dreams, that was the first psychology book I read, many years ago now though and I found it hard to follow as a teen so I must read it again. Currently I'm reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest from the library and Delusions of Gender on Kindle.

Pizza in the oven at last. I've decided to write a list of the urgent decluttering tasks I need to focus on (after panic tidying of course... sigh) - there's a few half finished jobs that are taking up room:

Shredding old paperwork
Sorting and selling (or last resort, giving away) some old toys

OK oddly that's all I can think of! I think it's been that bad that it's making everything else difficult though. I really have no excuse not to do this stuff.

Hi all,
Zoo best wishes to your MIL and DH.

Ta da:-
A couple of loads of laundry washed and put away!
Cleaned a drawer in the freezer (and broke a bit of the drawer off unfortunately).

Did some work- related admin stuff
House not a complete mess after being "off" with DD2 all day.
Given out party invitations.

Drumroll.... have been getting bags ready and checking calendar for tomorrow as I go along today . Hoping for better before bed routine tonight as have done lots already.

I have given up on focusing on a particular zone as it just doesn't seem to work for me. I can see the logic and I do occasionally do the missions but find it more achievable to do bits in areas as I can when I am in there with the DCs anyway.

To do:
Some admin bits
Organise pencils for DD1 school bits (the excitement of my life!)
Find bday cards for two bdays next week
Laundry (of course)

Last night I limited myself to 5 mins each for laundry and kitchen tidy up as part of before bed routine and this was much better.

Oh and organising a tip run next time dad's here. The Caglets' toddler chairs have finally given up the ghost :( (they were bought and painted by a friend when they were babies) and a few other bits that need to go.

I should also organise the craft/HE drawers as they're becoming scarily messy but I don't think that should be a priority really, compared to other mess that's more visible!

Found the diary! And went through every place I could think of to find out all the stuff we're doing this term. Except the letter from dancing with exam dates etc, I'll do that tomorrow as even walking to the notice board and pulling the letter off is more work than I can handle right now. :o

Good morning All, please may I join you? I've just started maternity leave with my first and am really enjoying getting stuck into sorting our flat out but would like to apply a bit more of a tactical approach to keep me on the ball! Will start by reading through all the links. Wishing you all a good Tuesday, enjoy the sunshine!

Morning all! Gosh, this thread is moving quickly, everyone is so busy! Well done fledglings!

Ta da:
animals
collected up saucers, mugs, cups from rest of house (thanks dd)
collected dirty laundry
ironed dd's shirt and sports kit
emptied dw
cleaned bin, cleaned kitchen surfaces, (thanks for creating so much mess dh )
chucked out loads of pkts which are only an eighth full of things and have been lingering for months
filled dw,
emptied wms,
hung up washing out to dry on terrace,
td on with rest,
washed dd's swimming costume and hang up,
fed wms again
folded laundered pants and towels
paired (seemingly hundreds) of dh's socks
hung up dh's shirts to dry

To do:
prep supper
triage washing for fortnightly ironing lady tomorrow (praying she turns up!)
dye Barnet Fair
finalise menu for weekend and find ice cream maker in basement
exchange dd's friends t-shirts on-line which I wasn't able to do in the shop yesterday [grrr]
clear bed that we don't sleep on that is used as dumping ground
clean fridge door again (did it a couple of days ago but haven't got all the marks off)
once swim kit dry, re-load with towel and put back in swim bag and hang on hook
find a new place for dog food
fold linen to take to hot calendering machine
French study
clear home office desk and find banking papers

Rather a tense atmosphere here atm. Went up in to town yesterday to the main outdoor shopping hub/touristy area and I have never seen so many armed police and army personnel in my life! We are getting very used to the sounds of sirens [sigh]. DD's school uses the NATO swimming pool for their lessons and she reported truck loads of armed troops 'at the ready' there yesterday (which makes sense of course) but she said it took ages to get in because they were searched (which doesn't normally happen). Just have the sense that the authorities have wind of something that they are not talking to us citizens about!

Also, it is dawning on us that basically our evenings as a family (apart from when we actually sit around the dining room table and eat) are effectively over. DD has so much hwk that it dominates everything really. Last night she was working from 4.30pm until 9pm (with 40 mins break in the middle when we had supper). This is sadly normal for state education here (short, v intense terms with very long hols) and gets worse as you go up the school. Just to give you an idea, only 40% of pupils make it through third year first time .

Anyway, last night dd had to start getting her head's around classical Greek for the first time. I only studied a tiny bit of it at uni, and have frankly forgotten more than I ever learnt! DD is taking a two-month "tester" so that she get decide on her options for next year.

Arf at perve grasshopper Cag and thanks about ballet ! It hasn't been completely ruled out yet as school are still being very poor in communicating what is actually going to be required of dd on Wed pms but we shall see ... and dance teacher very kindly saying that dd can just come to pointe class on Fris ... We are investigating a one-night-a-week Irish dance class just in case though! That's great news about all the interest you are getting in your home edding classes btw!

Zoo at your list! Sorry to hear about your dp's mother - wishing her a speedy recovery and hope things not too stressful for your dp (and for you keeping the home fires burning). Love the sound of mocha muffins!

Arf at bleach avoidance and it being bathroom zone Celeste! Lovely to be able to walk on Dartmoor! (Although sorry your ds wasn't so enamoured ) And yes, thank you, dd did enjoy her party on Sun thanks (although was slightly sad at times as it was with her old ballet friends). She did have a great time though!

Too stressy glad to hear the evening routine going well!

fromeasttowest could you move Mon home 'bleugh' to another day? Hope you find a solution anyway.

Big waves to everyone else!

x post

A warm welcome to Furble!

Gorgeous weather isn't it? I am taking advantage and have winter woollies in the wm atm.

Morning all, sorry for late links....

Links for Tuesday 13th September: Here is the Launch Pad with al the basic information.

Baby step number thirteen: is pick a mission, any of them, and do it

We are in Zone 3, The Bathroom and one Other Room Spend 15 minutes decluttering here. If you have finished decluttering here is the detailed cleaning list

There are always two missions in Zone 3:
In the bathroom, thoroughly clean the bin
The ''Other Room' this month is actually all the places round the house we 'stash and dash'. Spend five minutes throwing out rubbish and recycling.

Our habit of the month is establishing a Before Bed Routine This is actually a really good habit to develop, as many of us can vouch for.

Tuesday daily focus is planning : meal planning, activities, look ahead to next week to see what you can do today to help – organize any birthday cards, paperwork etc

And a little bonus feature for this month: FlyLady's back to school tips

Thank you, grey.

Second load of washing is on, I'm doing the bedding, it's a beautiful day for it :)
Hoovered and dusted everywhere, changed the cat litter and food tray, moped the floors.
I'll do the bathroom sing, loo and bath in a minute.
I'm sitting down with my planner now, with a cold glass of juice.

sink, not sing