Festive Fledglings Flap Frantically Towards A Calm, Clutter-free Christmas!

[SingToTheSky]

OK so clutter-free is a bit ambitious. But anyway, all welcome to join us for a jolly holiday thread, in which we very loosely follow (or at least half-heartedly mention now and then) the FlyLady system of housekeeping.

I’ll be posting links and reminding us all of various tasks up until Christmas Eve, for those who want to follow the system - and if it’s like previous years there will also be some specific extra missions to help us prepare our homes for Christmas. However, we really are just a bunch of frazzled Mumsnetters who will be very happy to welcome you along for chat whether you follow the system or not! We discuss housework, sure, but a whole lot of other stuff too.

We will also continue with the Keep Calm Corner, in which you’ll find various diverting questions, memes etc.

And finally a huge thank you to Foxes who did a fab job of running the thread for the first time in November! 💐

🎄❄️🎁 Wednesday 2nd December 🎁❄️🎄

Zone - 1 - hallway and dining room

Daily Focus - anti procrastination

Today’s Mission - spend 15 minutes sparkling up your dining/kitchen table and chairs

Today’s Holiday Mission - clean and fling! Take a bag round with you and chuck some stuff throw away.

✈️ FLIGHT PLAN ✈️

🎄❄️🎁 The Keep Calm Corner Advent Calendar 🎁❄️🎄

Just a lame joke for today, I know we’ve discussed Christmas carols a few times on the last couple of threads 🥰 but if you want to recommend any others please do! Carols are one of my favourite parts of Christmas, I miss having a decently working piano to play them on! I might have a go anyway though.

Here’s a link to one of my favourites. I figured sometimes I’ll share some festive music rather than a question. I absolutely love Pentatonix, I’d love to see them live.

🎅🏻🎅🏻🎅🏻🎅🏻🎅🏻🎅🏻🎅🏻🎅🏻🎅🏻🎅🏻

Zoo- I did stop and think
Cafe au pair......is it like Cafe au lait....🤣

Zoo what colours are your curtains and cushions currently?

welldone on finishing all the painting and getting room back to a room.

Sing - i got it! Lol 🤣

Woolly- I also hate the nest heating system. It switches on during a hot day and on cold days it stays switched off. We have had many a cross words about the rubbish thing that he installed just because its a bloody gadget fad. I manually switch it on and off now. I liked my old timer switch and thermosat.

I nearly fainted this morning as Dh complimented me....'welldone on doing the kitchen, it looks nice.'
(Thud.)
(That was me falling on the floor.)😊

I mumbled a thanks and said I got a bit more to do and then start in the sitting room.
I am going to do another kitchen cupboard today.

I did something nice for myself, I started watching a 1950s film called The Broadway. I loove the 1950s swing skirts...wish I could twirl like that. Sigh.

Ohhh I love those skirts too. My fave dance is the Lindy hop, I love it when they do them on strictly! Especially Kevin and Kelly’s from a few years ago.

Hazel I hear you on the eating affecting how you feel. I’ve really struggled keeping a handle on it since coming back of meds and I’ve no doubt that’s contributed to the extra aches and lethargy I have.

However the post just arrived and my friend (who I’ve only seen once between lockdowns and is now in tier 3) sent me cake for my birthday! Mail order cake! It’d be rude not to eat it of course but I’ll share with the Caglets. A bit. 😂

Morning everyone! Sorry I never did catch up with everything yesterday so I'm just going to jump back in.

Glittery butterbean gratin sounds nice and something I've never thought of!

Loving the advent KCC sing [smile

This morning's school run has completely taken it out of me both mentally and physically...ds had s mega tantrum which caught me by surprise as it doesn't happen so often anymore (thankfully!). Anyway first of all he was screaming and in his upset was edging closer to the road so I had to pick him up and carry him for his own safety (he is 4 and and quite tall which makes this very difficult to do!) Then when we got far enough away from the road he still refused to move. I ended up dragging him along at one point before I realised how awful that made me look 😱 but we were getting later and later and I just got really stressed!
I ended up getting so upset I almost cried, I thought I'd hurt his arm. I don't think I actually did but I just suddenly felt awful..both kids went into school/nursery very subdued

My arms ache like crazy now and I know the kids will be fine and probably have already forgotten but arrrrrggghhhh isn't parenting so hard some days?!

I have been to a couple of shops this morning and now finally sitting with a coffee to try and cheer myself up. Then I'm going to have lunch and do a power hour to catch up on stuff because I haven't done any proper flying for a while really. I was hoping to make some soup today too.

Sorry for the mega essay 😂

sing is it your birthday today? Sorry if I missed it!

It’s not till Monday foxes my friend was ahead of the game! :o I won’t be leaving the cake till then though.

sing the 10% off thing is a Tesco Clubcard scheme which you pay £7.99 a month for - Clubcard Plus it's called. You get 10% off two shops, up to £20 off each time (no we've never hit the limit) and there are various other bits on the clothing and such like.

foxes I was once immensely cruel to S2 and made him walk all the way home from nursery when he was screeching at me, then discovered that he'd hurt his foot (blister, iirc) and felt really guilty. Why couldn't he have said his foot hurt?

MrsTidy great news on the laundry room! and on the not losing it - do you think the knowledge that you'd just done all that productive stuff in the laundry room bolstered you up? I Am A Competent And Capable Adult kind of thing? Hope the little ones are doing ok today.

Today I have sent out PCC papers for next week's meeting (but not the agenda because I appear to have somehow lost all the notes I made at Standing Committee meeting - must have forgotten to click on Save, argh) and put a lights wash on. H has made bread and biscuits and when he's finished in the kitchen I will make a tuna pasta bake.

When I was little we used to put up our decorations the Saturday before Christmas (unless that was the 24th, then it was the 17th). I haven't managed to hold to that but previously we always waited till after S1's birthday on the 12th. Now he's not actually here (sob) so I suppose we could do it at any point... but need to tidy up first!

We have foil festoons and honeycomb santas and tinsel on the (artificial) tree and multicoloured lights. Vast swathes of MN throw up their hands in horror. We also have an olive-wood piece from Bethlehem, a stained-glass wreath from Lakeland, painted tin mediaeval-style trumpeting angels, UNICEF baubles and a nativity scene made in South America so I think we just about claw our way back into middle-class acceptance . For a couple of years we had warm white icicle lights on the eaves and red lights in the cotoneaster, but the red ones have died.

Aah I see thanks merry! I’ll look into that as it could be worth it since we get most of our shopping from tesco.

Foxes hope you’re ok. Tantrums are awful and feel infinitely worse when people are looking 😣

I’ve had a lovely afternoon at the home ed meet up but I’m peopled out and cold now (which as discussed last thread, means my joints now hurt more. 😩 I have yoga tomorrow so hopefully I’ll be ok for it.

And I bought snow in a can with stencils in tesco so that’s exciting!

I love the sound of a stained glass wreath!

dancing no cushions currently,curtains are a kind of fuschia(sounds vile,looked better in real life).we have quite big window in here and curtains are very expensive so I figured I could die them..initially I thought chocolate or navy and was leaning heavily with chocolate,but failed find any dye in cheaper shops,so navy it is!nelly cats highly disturbed by change if colour and the room being upside down for a few days.shes kept out of the way and only ventured in occasionally slinking off quickly with fluffed up tail.today she's finally returned to her basket atop the cat tree,but is looking nervous...

Foxes we all have days like that lovely.sometimes there are reasons,often not why it all seems to go tits up.
Sing we need photos of said stencils on windows!

Well we went shopping after lil zoo bloods were done(she was incandescent they gave her numb spray without asking as she prefers not to as hates the sensation on her skin..they ended up having to wiggle and change band pressure as blood wasn't flowing well,but she was still adamant would've been much more pleasant without spray!)

We went sainsbo and that means zoolets beloved mini cucumbers as treats,lil zoo fave hummus snack pots and a selection other bits we can't get elsewhere
I also picked up a lavender hand cream set for dd2
We nipped into Poundland,which in on retail park round corner for few bits,do wanted couple bits from boots,and dd2 was looking other potential gifts(fearne cotton stuff) and I couldn't resist sliding into m+s food hall for Belgian choc rice cakes(d.f) and iced buns with raspberry jam.in there they had a Percy pig Xmas tree(small real tree with Percy light /decorations) she was beside herself and do bought it as been ages we seen her do animated.once it's in position I will post pic(later today/tom)

Shop a put away
Walk local card shop do to get his aunt n sister cards then came back n made lunch

TV licensing turn up mid prep and inform me if not got license n behind payments so might be prosecuted.fuckuty fuck.new plan set up via debit card(account can't do direct debit and my capacity remember when things come out wouldn't be good)

Hoping no big fines

Lunch made,incl one wrapped up for do to take home as he's helped today
I had nap pm.still tired and so cold...my joints seem hurt more when I'm cold so feeling but sorry for myself

To do
Feed everyone and tidy up a bit

Zoo ds or I tell them we when go in that they are not using the spray. It is one of the first thing that are said. Ds is not fond of the stuff either, he said it makes it hurt so much more but the spray makes it hurt from the cold. Apparently they can do ds' bloods at the doctors. I checked several times as we have been told this before and ended up at the hospital because minors have to be done there. So we will have to see what happens when ds has his done.

I am in an arse. If one more person says "can't we put the decorations up" after creating some sort of drama that requires me to spend time and energy resolving instead of sorting the decluttering and cleaning of the house so it is fit for decorations. The whole stinking lot is going in the garden and I am setting fire to them. Enough with the fucking pointless self created drama!
Also the 1st set of school books/work that are going to be burnt in the summer is going to be art. And it will have an accelerant on that!

On a plus note the builders are done done, and completely left the building.

Oh bugger zoo can you check back on your bank at all to make sure it’s really as behind as they say? Can DP pay for now if you can’t (he’s got to be useful for something)

I’m sort of regretting booking yoga given I also have the psych appt to get to. DH is really achy today too. You’d think tramadol would work at least the first day 🙄

merry I think my dc have done similar before! 🤦‍♀️

Zoo that's lovely you bought that for your dd, I'd love to see a pic, I was in m&s too today but I didn't see it!

Hillssorry about all the stress but yay for builders finishing!

Sing snow in a can with stencils, that sounds amazing, I wonder how easy it is to do, I'm hopeless at stuff like that!

Ta das
School run / nursery run and major stress as per above
Went to a couple of shops, got a few Xmas bits, collected a parcel, returned a parcel, got a few bits for dinners
Got home and had a coffee and tried to de stress a bit!
Made some soup - and I don't like it dh says he does but he may be being kind as he can see I'm stressed out today!
Emptied all the bins - the only tick off the home bleugh list today, I had hoped I would do more tbh but it just wasn't the day for it!
Cleaned dining table (was that the mission today?! If so hooray!)
Tidied living room
Took stuff upstairs, took other stuff downstairs 😂
Checked a load of Xmas presents to make sure right sizes etc and stored away
Sorted socks and put away
Did a LOL
School / nursery pick up, thankfully much less stressful!
Sorted out kids bags lunch boxes etc
Cooked dinner, sausage pasta and garlic bread, which everyone loves to that's good!
Wiped sides and cleared plates but the rest of the clean up can wait until later

My arm is hurting from carrying ds this morning, I had him under one arm , no easy feat!

Oh and also today the food waste bin spilled everywhere so I had to pick food slop off up the floor - so that was great fun and then ds dropped his Lego man on top of his POO and I had to rescue it 😱😱😱 honestly I think I need a stiff drink!

Please let it be known that I have fully disinfected said Lego man (I wanted to bin it but ds was distraught!)

So that's my day 😂😫

I’ll definitely take a pic of the snow spray! No idea how it’ll turn out. But the caglets love decorating for Xmas so I figured it’d be a laugh and it was under £2 😂 It would be lovely to do the whole French doors but I think it’s better to keep it out of Cagletini’s reach.

Waiting for boiler man to come as well, it’s been leaking all over the kitchen counter 😑 DD1 is currently giving Cagletini a bath 🥰 she might be an annoying teen sometimes but she is a lovely big sister 😀

Oh god foxes just saw the end of your post. Can you leave it in some kind of disinfectant overnight? 🤢 Although I’d be worried about the paint coming off. The lady who runs the HE group was trying to get ink off a table today, I said try something with alcohol on it and she ended up using hand sanitizer 😂 got the job done though 😂

Percy tree

Closer look at the lights

hills it is said they can't do kids at docs,but I see no reason why when the child involved refuses spray and doesn't kick off.

foxes I'm afraid my OCD wouldn't had to throw Lego man and replace him😔

Hope tomorrow is smoother for you!

Awww cute tree! It’s worth it when you see the older ones still excited about something like that I think. I’m still waiting for my paperchase birthday voucher code so I can get DD1’s rainbow tree 😅

sing yep it's in disinfectant overnight! It is still freaking me out though!

Zoo it's a really old Lego man, I don't really know how I'd find the same one, but then again as sing says he may not survive the disinfection process anyway...

Love the tree zoo 😍

Zoo it is an insurance/training thing I think and you need someone who has the pead specific training/insurance etc to do on the whole, which most GP practises don't have. I think we might squeak it because ds is nearly 16 and then the rules might be different. But fully expecting to be told to go to the hospital. Always takes us far longer to get there then it does for the appointment. I do know that we were refused treatment at an A&E because it wasn't the children's hospital and they weren't licensed to even issue some paracetamol. It baffled me at the time and tbh still seems a bit batshit now. But hey ho.