Fledglings are raucous in August - the Flylady thread

[TooStressyForMyOwnGood]

Thanks to paxillin for our August thread title .

Hello all and welcome to the August Flylady thread. We are a friendly bunch who try to roughly follow the Flylady system. How strictly you follow it is of course up to you! Every day the thread leader posts information about which zone of the house we are in and the missions for the week.

Newbies are always welcome. All information is available on the Flylady website www.flylady.net

On the website there is information for beginners. You can also sign up to the Flylady emails but we would advise caution as there are hundreds of them.

We post our achievements (ta das) and our to do lists and any other general chatter about life / flying.

There is enough information on this thread to start getting on with things but you can also trawl through the (confusing at times) website:-

Information on getting started: www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/

The launch pad is also a good starting place:www.flylady.net/c/lp.php

Fly stands for Finally Loving Yourself. The general idea is that short bursts of tidying / organisation are more achievable than marathon efforts. Flylady advises 15 minute bursts is effort but you can tweak this to fit your own circumstances.

I'm on holiday this week with intermittent internet connection so will not be on much but will keep an eye on the thread and hopefully everyone else will feel free to jump in!

With it being summer holidays it may be pretty quiet on here but missions etc will be here for those who want them.

Ds takes his 1-2hrs before he needs to go to bed which is the recommended time for it because of the way melatonin works. Actually that is an interesting thing to look at the circadian cycle and the mechanism that melatonin and vit D have on sleep.

Right I need to go paint a thing.

I was up celeste pottering at butt crack of dawn
Tadas
Cat/kits/zoolets fed
Litter tray cleaned
Clean bath n sink
Bleach lav
Clear hall again putting shoes in box and hang up coats knocked down
2loads wash done.dry.put away
Clear n clean dining table

Morning everyone, I hope you have all had a lovely weekend.
My weekend has been pretty good and relaxing.

Ta da
Dishwasher emptied
Breakfast dishes loaded
Kitchen cleaned

To do
Wait for a parcel to be delivered
Vacuum downstairs

Then at 2 it's the village water fight, which everyone is looking forward to. Hope you all have a great day

We were told 45-60mins before bedtime einstein! It's 2mg Circadin brand. Pharmacist knew fuck all about it!

Thank you, you've reminded me I need to get more vitamin D for her.

That is the one that ds has. We are lucky as the pharmacist we use keeps it in, but it was not the first one ds had which was 1 hit which we used to have to get from the hospital pharmacy. Have a read of the instructions but typically between 1 and 2hrs depending on what he has been doing. In general he gets his about half 6pm/7pm and goes to bed between half 8/9pm sometimes before. Depends on how determined he is to watch stuff on tv

ta da
one lot of painting done and set of paint sheets in the washer.

Thank you einstein I definitely want to get her taking it/going to bed earlier but I am a bit worried about trying too much too soon IYSWIM. So it'll be a slow thing.

Need to think about what the weekly routine will be. We finally have all the info - DD is moving up a grade in tap but thankfully they've kept her class time the same. Clubs every evening in the week from next week it seems! I think I'll have to relax more about having their tv/screen time during the day so they don't feel they're missing out. No screens or telly after we get home from the clubs, and I am going to have to be super organised about dinners which is filling me with dread.

I really need the pointy stick :(

How long have you got left cag? It's gone so quick I remember when you got the bfp

Emergency flying done as family coming round
BBQ is lit
Wine is in glass

Happy bank holiday all xxx

Get thee a batch of the tinfoil lids and plastic tubs and plastic bags and batch cook. It is the only way to survive quick turnarounds/ crazy meal time vs activity schedules

Batch cooked meals we have in the freezer stocked:
Prepped and needs oven cooking - lasgana, cottage pie, chicken pie, bacon pie, steak and kidney pie
Precooked ping and go meals - spag bol topping, meatballs in tomato sauce, bread rolls with filling in the middle (mince type sauce - usually spag bol topping/mince), mince (like cottage pie meat for those who don't eat legumes and thus spag bol), mash potato for when feeling lazy there is other stuff but no idea until I go check the list
Also "butter" cookie dough and emergency cake and cinamon bread.
Surprisingly i manage to keep all this in a normal upright freezer, but i guess it helps when you don't buy pre prepped food and never keep ice cream in unless it is bought for a specific reason/event because it just gets eaten at speed anyway

You have reminded me I need to stock the freezer ready for the onslaught of madness which comes with school.

Tin foil cooking tins with lids

I blame paint fumes.

I have started getting back into a little batch cooking but need to improve! It'll be easier when we have a bigger freezer - ours is small and with warped shelves etc so fits bugger all in. I also use frozen veg a lot due to the pain I get in my arms/hands so that takes up space. When we move we are getting a massive American fridge freezer. Living the dream. :o I wish my kids were less fussy as there is soooo much more I could batch cook if they just bloody ate it!!! I'll write a list of what I could do - think we might just have to do a repeating 5 day meal plan for a bit TBH and save the more occasional stuff for weekends when I have longer to cook. How much pasta is too much...?

We've done science and I'm now planning the next few weeks of maths. Been concentrating on some basics for a while but I am deciding what next steps to add in. Need to put yet another wash on nope still not managing one daily washload routine and then properly write out what our week will look like once schools go back... and no doubt panic.

Mermaids I am now 29 weeks!

Wow 29 weeks Cag! Here is the pointy stick but only very gently --->

School starts back next week for us too I am beyond ready. Hoping to get into batch cooking Einstein, along with a long list of probably unachievable things!

ofazoo, village water fight sounds awesome . Enjoy the BBQ mermaids. Big wing flaps to zoo, celeste and everyone else.

Ta da:-
Surprisingly productive trip (and expensive ) to town to say we took the DDs...
Clothes and shoes for DH
Face wash
Photo printed out so can finally finish DD homework
Went to town fair very briefly and have come back with clutter of a soft toy and princess jewellery .

And...most exciting of all, I bought a pair of cheap new jeans. Am slightly over excited by this as I live in jeans and haven't worn any for about 2 weeks as normal ones too tight after a summer of no exercise.

To do:-
More laundry
Put away purchases
Have friends coming for tea

how much pasta is too much
cag there is no such thing as too much pasta.lil zoo would live on it given the choice

:o

Am attempting to make cannelloni tonight defrosting a tomato sauce which I'll cook with frozen mince, and need to make a big pot of bechamel (will freeze any that remains although it never seems to be much!)

Ok so the times we are home during the week are (at the latest)
Monday 6.30
Tuesday 7
Wednesday 8
Thursday 7.30
Friday 7

Need to think about how dinners etc will fit into that. We've tried having bigger meals at lunchtime - DH sometimes cooks something before he leaves for work - but they are still super hungry after their clubs so it doesn't really make a difference.

It'll be easier if at some point DH manages to wrestle some more family friendly hours (as one of us can be home getting dinner ready) but that won't be any time soon.

Cag - we are looking at a nightmare evening routine this term.

Monday - all home at 7.30-8 after various clubs
Tuesday - me and DCs home at 5, DD out again at 6, all of us out at clubs/classes till 8.30
Weds - all home at 6.15, DD and I out again 7.30-9
Thurs - DS home at 5, out again at 6.30, DD home at 6.30, DS back again at 9.15
Fri - all home by about 5.30 but DH/DD out again 6-8.30, DS out 8.30-9.45 me on the sofa with wine

I have an Instant Pot, I am hoping this will be the saviour of our evening meals.

Yikes! That's full on.

I'm totally expecting to have to skip some activities this term when baby arrives but I really hope I can manage as much as possible while I am still pregnant. I really need to improve the bedtime routine as well, they have some winding down time but it's not great. I barely read to them anymore because I'm so tired. I hate myself for not doing it TBH. And I don't know how we will fit it in. The HV suggested a bath every night just without hair washing - as sometimes hairdryer = screaming DD so she suggested doing that some mornings, we will have to get one of those shower attachment thingies for the sink as our shower doesn't work. I just hope that with the added melatonin all this other stuff (which we have tried for years in the past until we accepted it made no difference to DD's sleep - often it made things worse because each stage triggered more anxiety about the impending bedtime) will become a nice part of the day rather than being fraught and horrible.

Dinner was something of a fail - managed to burn myself while making it, and some of the pasta didn't cook properly. FFS. At least the Caglets ate some though (actually pasta fiend DS wolfed his down). Kitchen an absolute pit now.

Second day in a row I just want to cry TBH. I have cancelled my new pupil for this week as well. Stupid but I just can't face it.

Cag, if it makes you feel better, in real life I do not know anyone, including myself who actually finds bedtime a nice part of the day . I don't mean to minimise your issues, just to say that this image of a lovely relaxed wind down is often not the case! I will admit we do sometimes have lovely stories together but that is balanced by nights of messing around, complaining they are not tired, bickering, etc. etc.

Can you read to them at other times of the day instead of bedtime? Might work better with a newborn too especially if unsettled in the evening.

once, I am tired just reading that and I am a massive fan of clubs and activities! I like the idea of an instant hot pot or slow cooker - going to investigate at some point.

zoo, I love pasta too . Have been reading all this business about low carbing but just don't think I could do it! Can take or leave bread but pasta is ace and wholemeal is not the same .

Ta da:-
Lovely play date with friends
DD1 has finished her homework
Both DDs asleep
DH is I hope starting our tea

To do:-
Eat
Evening routine
Emails

Later:-
Go through some school uniform in front of telly.

cag ds NEVER has a bath at bed time. It wakes him up. We used to do ds in bath whilst tea was looking after itself, then tea, the other stuff, then bed. It was what worked for us. These days it is whenever I can get him either into the bath or shower depending on need and the amount of shouting required followed by huffing about overly steamy bathrooms/no access to toilet because he has been in there so long. It is definitely NOT a relaxing thing in this house.

once you have in one post made me very glad that ds has dropped most clubs and activities.

My own DD was not a good sleeper when younger and still has some very late nights but at least stays in bed now. She also hated baths as a baby so they were never a big part of a wind-down routine, baths were first thing in the morning! Took years to have a bedtime bath

Late nights after clubs, etc - I am hoping to have fewer of these, snacks on the way there and the golden arches on the way back was our Monday night ritual (after-school club for an hour then straight to an out-of-school activity that finished at 6.30 with a 20 min journey home). I was thrilled when DD finally liked chicken risotto, as that's quite quick to make if you use cooked chicken . Also frozen stuff that cooks in about 15 mins with froz chips can be handy to throw in when you get home. Not that I do many complicated meals anyway, I have fussy eaters

Still working my way through the laundry mountain, should really have insisted on pyjama days until I caught up

I also had a moment of overwhelm when I think of all the stuff which will start up again/needs doing when school starts. I am not ready at all!

Have we sorted anything out for the September thread, I can't remember? Stressy, you have been outstanding at running the threads this year and have done more than anyone else . I am available for September if needed.

Not much flying today - shopping done, not quite finished the washing up yet though. Could well be a two-run day for the dishwasher! Oh, did clean one toilet!

Hello, thanks for the kind words Cotswold! Was going to ask that tonight about September with the links actually? Will leave it to you guys to fight out . SC has said she is available if nobody else does but have a feeling (not sure) she did the busy September thread last year. Will post links in a bit.

Cag - try not to beat yourself up about the bedtimes, you are far from alone. We are back in a routine again at the moment, but have had a lot of problems over the years, not so much with sleep but with arguments about who has first bath (neither of mine like showers), homework, tidying up, putting clean clothes away etc. DS (now early teens) has come back to wanting to read with me after a break for a couple of years.

Our big problem with all these clubs and activities (DH and I do two each as well as the DCs) is the food, my two are nightmare fussy eaters. I'm trying to lose weight, it's enough to make me weep. Cotswold - your mention of the Golden Arches made me smile, finally this year the DCs have started eating burgers, we went out for our first family MacDs a few months ago and it made me ridiculously happy as it makes life a whole lot easier. DS has really taken to cooking lately too, which is a relief as it's getting him to try new foods.

Anyway, today consisted of washing, drying and sorting another 5 loads of laundry, supermarket shopping and a visit to my parents. House looks like a tip and we're back to work tomorrow .

ta da

washed dishes and put away
zoflora'd kitchen tops
put some washing on the line
made the beds
wiped the bathroom basin
bleached the loo
hoovered all rooms
dusted and polished the living room
done some laundry
made tea
washed dishes and put away
zoflora'd kitchen tops
bathed ds
general tidy up

mumofzoo a village water fight sounds ace

cag & once you have some late evenings ahead. I'm sure you will find a routine that fits for you all in due course. You could always revert to take aways.....

i hope you have a better day tomo cag take it easy.

*
Here is the daily summary for Tuesday (also available on the Flylady website at flight plan which should update automatically each day).

Baby-step no 30 - look ahead on your calendar for upcoming birthdays

We are in Zone 5 this week: the living room

Spend 15 mins decluttering, or whatever you can manage, in Zone 5.

When you have finished decluttering, the detailed cleaning list (if you are at that stage) for Zone 5 is here

daily focus

missions for the week

Flykids mission

August's habit is laundry

Happy flying everyone.
**

Apologies for the errors in links over the last couple of months by the way . Just spotted one from last night where I put the two zones and I'm sure there have been a lot more!

Morning all

Ive been in sleep deprived hiding for a few days

Cag by the time i am reaching 29/30 weeks of a pregnancy i have given up on most things!

Today i am aiming to have everyone up fed and dressed by 830 as prep for return to school!

Also need to catch up on EVERYTHING around the house

Morning all. Afresh, hello , was wondering how you were.

Totally agree, by 29 weeks it is just about the basics and getting through the rest of pregnancy!

Done nothing yet and also sorted no school uniform last night. Going to try to get a bit done now while kids watching telly.