Fledgling Flyers - Mad as March Hares

[MiniMarmite]

Welcome to the spring(ish) edition of the fledgling flyers.

Some of us will be flapping falteringly and others flying faultlessly towards making our homes look perennially spring cleaned!

Here you can do any of the following:

• repeat or start baby steps (again!)

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

or

• reinforce babysteps and do daily missions if you have finished decluttering

This is what it's all about - Babysteps each day to try to get some order back into our home with LOADS of support from our regulars.

So join in! We start this thread on March 1st, but you are welcome to dive in at any point in the month.

Hop along to reserve your place...

Morning all,

PA - glad we're not alone with the alan Titchmarsh thing, DD asked to watch his programme this morning too. I like him as a gardener, but this afternoon programme def makes me say "stick to the gardening Alan". Glad you are getting over the bombshell.

Trading standards for the garage? Having said that, we've been ripped off in the past, I have never reported, but I do tell people to avoid the Nissan Dealership in Basingstoke like the plague......

Right,
Gym
Tidying
DW
Washing
15 mins declutter in garden
Sofa diving
find a replacement for outdoor tap that has broken and fix it

Better go, see you later

Quick post because at work but wanted to say to dem if you want any advice about PGCE i can give you my e-mail address if you want. May not be able to help but worth a try?

Hello all,

Just dashing in and out

Bit of a mad weekend and v. busy start to week as old friends are passing through town tonight and I am killing the fatted calf ...

Hope everyone OK

Just wanted to say

I'm so pleased Mummy is back!!! Hurray! - suddenly feel all reassured !!!

And is that DidEinstein I see there too? Great stuff!

I do love it when everyone returns to the fold ....

Must dash. Haven't done body-clutter
step (last one I think, being end of Lent, if no-one minds) so back later!

Happy Flying. Waves to everyone frantically with rib of beef in one hand and feather duster in the other ....

Not sure I can catch up with everyone this morning but:

SR - glad party went well and at late night pencil sharpening. That is just what my DD would be doing too!

DEM - sorry things are hard, hope you can find someone to help.

MrsD - we need to sort garden out as well and get a move on with actually planting things rather than looking at the packets longingly

I hope to get back on track after what felt like a busy w/e - DS poorly on Sat (headache and then sick) Have a horrible, horrible feeling that it might have been a migrane but I really hope not, he's only 4
He was back to normal by yesterday thankfully and the Car Boot Sale went really well - 17 happy booters, well over 300 happy punters and just over £300 raised for the school. Lots of positive vibes from everyone and lots of people already booked for next month. I knew it was a good idea

Today I have already done:
Run
Morning routine
Removed most of Boot Sale posters from school and park
2 mins hotspot (kitchen as usual!)
Rung insurers to let them know Boy Cat has been referred to a specialist vet and therefore to expect a BIG bill

Need to:
Go to Costco for bargain washing powder and to price up 'refreshments' stuff for next Car Boot
Put ironing away
15 mins in living room - don't like it being the last zone of the month as it rarely gets a full week and its my worse room by far
Clean kitchen floor and refuse re-entry to cats and their muddy bl**dy paws
Swimming lesson for DS
Make Easter Bonnet with DD for DS (he has no interest in it at all but she is keen to make him one - I predict an 'interesting' morning on Weds when he has to take it into pre-school. DH's problem tho, he is doing school run, I am taking Boy Cat to specialist vets!)
Afternoon and evening routines
Early night - aiming for 10pm

Right M1 to Watford

Feetheat Car boot sale - you are fantastic to have organised that, and raised a lot of money (and helped all us declutterers and rummagers too!) How did you find the school coped with insurance of premises for the event, if lots of outside people coming in? Just interested as our school always says this is one of the issues.

House is looking way tidier
bathrooms [done]
bedrooms [hoovered, and beds made]
kitchen surfaces cleared
rubbish removed
playroom [hoovered}
packing [even bigger pile now - will take to my mum's and leave there - craft kits for hols, old blankets, picnic stuff, sewing stuff, wool - it's nice to think of rainy summer days where we might actually get round to doing crafty stuff at my mum's in Eire. There doesn't seem to be space or time here or is it just the frayed nerves...
In London, we seem to be always trying to get the kids OUT, whereas on holiday, it seems easier to just open the door and say off you ggo and play in that nice muddy field...come back when you've had some fresh air and make a pompom.

still need to do dw
reload, such a lot of scuzzy dishes. Dh worked v. hard yest, but parties spawn mess don't they?

Decluttered baking cupboard

Evening everyone,

Starting to get back on track here. Been in from work half hour and have managed to:-

wash up
washing on
tidy
mop living room floor

I suspect that is because there is no-one here bar me so no-one to get in way.

Feels all winter like here, very cold and raining all day . Rest of day includes:-

pick dc's up
tea on (sausages, mash and veg)
DS to Beavers
Mum 'popping in' to pick up something which means hlaf an hour and a coffee hence mad tidy when got in from work.)
Tidy bathroom/S and S while running bath
Have bath
Watch TV.

Back later.

Evening ladies,

SR, dont be impressed by the number of jobs. They all only total to 24 hours a week. I used to do lots more as self-employed, but had to reduce when DD3 became ill. Its really nice doing little bits - I dont get bored. One down side is that I can very rarely organise to have all 3 off at the same time, but next week I seem to have managed it!!

Well, washing pile is now a mole hill.
Kitchen has been blitzed.

A little bit of work to do tonight, then rrreeeeellllaaaaaaaaxxxxxxxxxx.

Time I came out from behind the newspaper again but since we last spoke I have thinned out all of the seedlings in my little greenhouse Took all Saturday afternoon but found a nice sunny spot in the garden to sit in. Also took 30 spare strawberry plants to school last Thursday so feeling quite virtuous on the garndening front even though it needs a good clear out.

Tonight I'm going to finish the ironing and then put away all of the clean washing in our bedroom. Then its a load in the WM for overnight, unload & reload DW (its on now), shine my sink and s&s.

That feels manageable for a Monday evening - will update you later...

Aparently part of the problems is that i don't know how to have fun ?!? Scuttles around looking for a dictionary.....

Actually work life balance has been all wrong but boy free so going to make most of it. not teaching tomo due to other things in school so off for tea and a nice out.

The feed back is pretty far and conclusive and they could have failed me out right (didnt but a very near miss). Got three weeks to prove I am making significant progress and then upto school to decide if they want to keep me for a few extra weeks to sort the issues out.

Not going to fly, just survive and use this week to find myself again. Ds' ishoos have taken over everything again and i need to readdress.

Ellie - not sure you can help it is implementing discipline, and delivery ishoos. Mostly demenour in front of class. Hence the fun bit. Aparently need to not take life so seriously,oh and my sense of humour is too dry for them. Cant do much about that but fun is another thing.

Will catch up again when can. Thank you all for kind words. happy flying.

Evening all,

Just checking in to admit to minimal flying since yesterday, when we arrived at the in-laws. I must get back into it tomorrow though, as the hot spots are multiplying and a swish & swipe wouldn't go amiss either (DH has a kind of granny annex here, with a bedroom, bathroom and small hall). The DC have also accumulated a worrying amount of toys here; DH is not keen on getting rid of anything, so excess toys tend to end up at his parents.

I was planning on having a work-free week over Easter, but spent a couple of hours this afternoon correcting the English menu of the Indian restaurant we went to last night. Quite enjoyed doing it, though it did make me feel very hungry.

elliepac I can empathise re your early start, as all three of mine had phases where they would be awake and ready to start the day at around 5. We have blackout blinds too, but although they helped with naps (a thing of the past now ), they didn't make much difference to the early starts. No helpful suggestions I'm afraid, other than the fact that she'll grow out of it sooner or later (which you probably know already) - I now have real problems waking up the DDs (8 and 5) and DS (3) can generally be relied on to sleep until 7 now.

PositiveAttitude That's a shocking difference in price for your MOT. I wouldn't know who to tell either, although I suppose you could always spread the word among friends and acquaintances. I took my car in for its MOT last week and was to find out it will cost 1000 euros to get it to pass and I'll probably have to pay around the same next year. As that's about twice what my car is worth, I'm reluctantly going to have to replace it.

I'll be back with a list tomorrow morning - hope everyone's week has got off to a good start.

Arggh! I don't think I'll be flying well for the next few days as following the carpet flooding incident a couple of weeks ago it appears that the floorboards under the carpet are still not dry. So the furniture is all piled up, the carpet has been removed and the fan heater will be on constantly to try to dry the damned thing out. Then the carpet can go back on and get cleaned to get the smell out!

Its all very frustrating as I am going to have to try to entertain DS upstairs as much as possible as we have left all the carpet gripper stuff exposed. Still, it will force me to declutter the lounge a bit I guess!

Evening Fledglings

Hope you're not feeling too neglected - I was having trouble MNing due to RL getting in the way again! Minimal flying here today - early start and late finish at work but DH seems to have things under control, phew.

How did the daylight savings go for all those with little ones? Since being unwell DS's sleep has been a bit disrupted so I think it may have been a good thing here.

Ellie How old is DD and what time does she have her nap? My DS is 19 months and has a 2 hour nap at 1 p.m. and then goes to bed about 7:20. I love the quiet time in the afternoon too so I'm planning to keep the nap and put DS to bed later in the evenings when he starts to need less sleep. We do seem to be lucky in that he seems to need a lot of sleep (probably due to constantly dashing round like a mad thing).

DWM so glad to have you back, cba is inevitable from time to time...will try to remember to nag you a bit .

ChairMM poor you with the carpet/floor boards situation. Hope all is dry soon - I guess the rainy whether and damp air aren't really helping

Frazzled sounds like you had a busy day off, hope you found a little time to relax.

DEM so sorry to hear that no-one is helping you with the PGCE situation

SR glad the party went well. Leftover party snacks, yum . Alien musical statues?

I hope you are having a good time with your family Aberita. You can't be inspired to do flying all the time, maybe a few days break will restore your energy for it (or not .

PA hope the bombshell is resolving or whatever needs to happen x

PurpleW well done on the cat grooming. My neighbours used to do mine but have moved away - thankfully we have a short-haired cat so he's not looking too bad!

Hi MissB, glad you finally managed to get a 'turn' on your computer, well done for keeping up the routines .

MrsD great idea to add the garden as a zone, especially with the Alan Titchmarsh fixation in full swing! PA I always used to see Michael Barry from the Food and Drink Programme at our local swimming pool!

I hope your entertaining is going well SC and that you cooked the beef rather than the duster!

Well done on a successful bootsale feetheart - sounds like all your hard work paid off.

Hope you are ok MrsGok

Morning All

Today's babystep is one I need to improve at - looking ahead to next month's events.

We're in the living room for decluttering and, if you survived your adventure down the sides of the sofa, mission.

I've not come up with a witty title for the April thread yet so any ideas please let me know! All I can think of is to do with April Fools' day which doesn't seem appropriate somehow! How about Fledgling Flyers - we're no April Fools?

Evening all,

Managed most of my list, didn't declutter the garden as too rainy but did manage a couple of other errands. Just going to put in an order for some garden stuff online now. See you tomorrow.

Evening!
Well, I am sitting in bed with lovely clean sheets and some hot chocolate. What more could a girl ask for?
Mad day at work - all very stressful and the friend I thought I could rely on to be supportive just made stupid comments Tomorrow is another day.
feetheart well done on excellent boot sale. I must go to one soon - plenty of stuff!
pa the expensive quote sounds like daylight robbery - I think I would just spread the word as it were! Hope the bombshell is sorting itself out OK.
Sounds like a good name, minim DEM hope the school continues to be supportive and things work out.
DD1 seems a bit more positive this evening - has been to help with Brownies and two of them had brought her Easter eggs! Very sweet
DD2 also cheery and enjoyed doing some quite complicated sown cards at Guides.
DH washed up
No missions done but am planning some catching up when I have a few days off after Easter.
See you all tomorrow

Back from spending far too much money at Suttons Seeds. Good title MM. Are you happy to carry on into April or would you like someone else to volunteer (she says, thinking about the implications).

Going to follow MissB's example and have some hot choclate, just the thing with the rain lashing down outside.

DEM yes fun is vital to prevent burnout in all dealings with kids, said sad fun-resistant mum. I need to work on my f-factor. My son was v.sad to other day to miss his French lesson (had to take him to an appt) I want to go..Mr B makes me laugh - he does this funny voice...

MissB lovely dds to be so helpful.
Aberita snap, my mum has a granny annexe for me too, slowly silting up with relegated clutter. It's only just in last year though we've had it - to take the pressure off granny cooking endless meals for visiting relations. I'm going on Wed for two weeks, and then in summer hols.
Ellie hope dd gets hang of sleeping in.
I think I tried blinds, northfacing rooms, clocks, in the end nothing worked except our determination NOT to get up before 6.30, and then dh's complete attention after that time (which was still too early really)
Dh is a saint, he always got up with ds2. I don't mind being woken up at night several times, but I just can't start the day that early without feeling faint.

oh everything else has gone out my head...
Done
lunchboxes for tomorrow'st rip
no..need to wash uniform again
sink is clean
kitchen appears clean as does house
ds1 is still ill, but asleep, another quiet day tomorrow with him
but I've enjoyed WATCHING GLEE

mini-marmite can't think of anything catchy - poss use words fluffy, blossoming showers Enchanted April younger than Springtime there, I've run out of stock April phrases..rushes off to bed to find fluffy duvet.

o, my goodness the time!

Another early morning here though at least it was 5.45am not 4.45am as it has been Can't even blame children as its my stupid body clock that is set too early!

Thank you for nice comments about the Car Boot Sale. I really can't take all the credit as there were lots of other people involved. I just took the lead as it was my idea initially and I wanted it to work (plus 'bossy big sister syndrome' comes to the fore on such occasions )

SR - must admit I know very little about the insurance side of things but as it has never been an issue when we have run Boot Sales at School Fetes I assume it is covered by either the school's insurance or the School Association's. I do need to check it out though and will let you know what I find out.
Where abouts in Eire are your parents? We are off to mine in N Ireland on Easter Tuesday for 5 days, our delayed Christmas trip (snow meant our flights were canceled )

MissB - if Luton isn't too far we are going to be doing Car Boot Sales all through the Summer. It might be a bit too surreal having RL and MN coincide though!

PA - I'd tell everyone I know about the garage and get your DC to spread the word to their friend's parents. Might as well make use of their contacts.

*ChairmumMiaow' - have you been in touch with Insurance company about the flood? They can get someone to sort out dehumidifiers, heaters etc (and pay the electricity bill) as well as sort out the carpet afterwards. We had similar disaster in kitchen when DS was toddler. Stairgates good idea for wandering DCs too - we had to pen him into the living room, not a happy boy but did stop him fiddling with things electrical or falling down a big hole in floor

On subject of DS I am going to have to have a Proud Mummy moment if you will indulge me. He has only been going to swimming lessons since mid-Jan, went up to Stage 2 three weeks ago and last night they had their first go at swimming on their backs without floats of any sort. He swam the complete width of the pool in one go on his first attempt! Both the teacher and I were . All of the others are at least a year older than him and no-one else managed more than about 5m. I'm still nearly bursting with pride and astonishment

Better do a list I suppose though some of it will be oddly familiar from yesterday's!

Morning routine
Work
15 mins in living room
Hoover downstairs
Bring Costco shopping in from the car and find somewhere for it to go - this might involve sorting out cupboard under stairs and bits of the garage which is why it is still in the car
Clean kitchen floor and continue to refuse re-entry to cats and their muddy bl**dy paws
Make Easter Bonnet with DS, DD lost interest yesterday
Afternoon routine
DD and friend to Brownies (other Mum doing pick-up)
Evening routine
Early night - aiming for 10pm, made it by 10.40pm last night, must try harder

That list is far too long to be accomplished in one day!
Hello to everyone I haven't mentioned, hope you have a productive day.

Bit of an epic there, sorry

Morning! 'Proper' coffee on the go here if you fancy - had a lousy night's sleep - woke up at 3 and couldn't get back off til about 5 and in order to do that I had to come downstairs, sort out the washing and watch TV for a bit So needed a bit of a kick start!
Pauses to go and shout up the stairs......

feetheart absolutely fine to indulge in maternal pride! You are among friends here - and your DS did fabulously! I have a deal with my mother in that I can ring her and say am going to do maternal gloating - but am happy for her to do grandmother gloating too The best was when DD1 won year award for achievement and I rang my mother and not only gloated shamelessly, finished with 'and YOUR daughter never won an award like that' because I never did!!!

So far today I have
-nocturnal washing
-nocturnal sorting
-nocturnal bleaching of loo
-swish and swipe
-morning routine

Swimming tonight but might try and do the mission too. I did spend a lot of time last night thinking about what would happen if I pulled the settee out
Hope you all have a good day.....

MissB yeees, behind the sofa was where I used to put the wrapping paper, and um - oddments...including half the dining room table. It is better now.
Feetheart parents in Westmeath, not quite northerly but Midlands. My sister lives in Dublin, but she's a Londoner. I won't attempt to explain family layout, too confusing. I grew up in Westmeath and London.
That is pretty amazing about your ds!

MORNING
tend to ds1 who is still ill
get dressed
dcs have been taken to school with lunchboxes raincoats for trip to Museum
dw
beds
laundry done first load and hung out more
pick up Euros later today
buy another suitcase
pack first suitcase
tidy books in kitchen
throw away stuff from fridge tbcontinued
gardening tbcontinued
write letter of instructions to cat sitter
pay gas bill still
finish ds1 homework with him to hand in at end of today

stillhave a sore throat

Good morning! I wouldn't mind some of your coffee missbennett as I had quite an interrupted might's sleep - it started with DD2 wetting the bed, then DS wanted his nappy changed, then he lost his book down the side of his bed, then he wanted to come into bed with DD1 and me; I kicked him out after about a minute as it was obvious none of us were going to get any sleep if he stayed.

Well done to your DS feetheart! How old is he? My DS will be 4 in July and I'm wondering whether to start swimming lessons with him in the autumn or to wait another year. DDs did two swimming courses last year, 20 lessons altogether - and still couldn't swim afterwards. We ended up paying for them to have private lessons; after the first, DD1 could swim a width and after the second lesson, a length. (Although I'm sure she wouldn't have made such quick progress if she hadn't had the 20 lessons previously, much as I felt like they'd been a waste of time and money at the time).

I need to have a look at the babysteps and missions that I've neglected since we've been away, and see which I can do here. Have just read the eating and drinking babystep (I'm sure chocolate does count MiniMarmite - especially if it's dark!) - I really do need to remind myself, or rather force myself to drink water as I rarely drink anything other than tea, coffee and wine.

Aberita on the swimming courses

None of mine started lessons till they were 5/6, but they went to pool in holidays, general romping from age of three. Ds1 could swim before he started lessons. I don't think I took him swimming at all before he was three. I think it was just splashing around that converted him. Ds2 was confident but needed a course of lessons at 5/6 before he could actually swim. They all liked going underwater from early age. They don't do swimming lessons anymore, I'm a bit slack, I think they just had too much on, but we still go swimming at least once a week if they are not ill .