June's Fledgling Flyers:"two flyers are "blooming marvellously" : here come the rest doing their flaming best"

[elliepac]

Welcome to the June edition of the Fledgling Flyers where we are going to attempt to restore order in our houses, chatting as we go.

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

For those who are curious, these are the Babysteps, which we all hope will restore order in our homes and make our lives a little bit easier with lots of support (and chat, and wine, and a little more chat )

So please come and join us, old and new, from June 1st.

Hello! Hope everyone is OK - sounds like busy weekends all round. swan glad the communion parties were a success - they sound like fun and I'm sure the Almighty has worse things to worry about - will no doubt be glad you were there!
Very quick post as really need to do some work on tomorrow's presentation!
Have been in Birmingham today delivering training - took DD1 as she is on exam leave. She was very useful in terms of helping run the event and then we had a bit of a mooch round and went to look for the conservatoire, which is one of her potential uni choices, and then tea out. Lovely to spend time with her and she seems much more herself and more positive about life generally. Long may it last
Righ, must fly off and do work .
Tomorrow I MUST do some housework properly!
CHAIRMUM Hope all is well and I'm hoping for a birthday twin

Morning all,

didn't get on lAast night as it is the first history GCSE on Wednesday and I was busy preparing revision material for a session today.

missb glad DD1 is feeling more positive, your girls sounds lovely

nick ranching sounds like a lot of fun (apart from the prairie oysters bit!). In my experience, DH's always make the house messier and dirtier, at least mine does! We split up for a couple of months a few years back and although I missed him terribly (hence getting back together ) I certainly did not miss the mess!

mm garage for storage. yay! We knocked our old asbestos one down a few years ago and haven't had enough pennies to build a new one yet and I miss it!

mrsd glad DD enjoyed school and good luck with the notebook. I am BRILLIANT at writing lists but rubbish at actually doing anything on them (at home that is, conversely lists are the only thing that keep me organised at work?!)

dwm glad Daisy finally appears to be on the mend. of you living the 'Good Life' and growing things!

sc glad DD is ok, milk intolerance does sound like a possibility.

nettie well done on your list yesterday and good luck with the humongous one today. Happy Anniversary !

om how's the back. You should be taking it easy. That's an order .

linzer absolutely the right decision to just focus on babysteps. I can only manage decluttering and missions when work is quiet or on holiday. Maintaining routines is the important bit.

sr am so glad the comunion party went well, sounds like a lovely family occasion. Hope the cupboards aren't bulging too much .

pa good luck to all various DC's and various exams and happy birthday to DD . Busy few days for you, is life ever quiet in the pa household?

chairmum how's you? Taking it easy I hope. Will just say now good luck and we look forward to welcoming a new member of the thread

I have a ridiculously busy few days at work so may not be around too much apart from the all impostant round-up and step posting. Two years of teaching all comes down to 4 hours worth of exams in the next week. AAaaaargh!

Ths mission for today is here.

Today's babystep is the beginnnings of your control journal. An important step in building an important document!

Have a good day everyone!

Just managed to catch up. My goodness you lot can chat (and Fly )

Busy w/e here too - first official sleepover here (not counting 3 children last month!) Far too late a night/early morning for DD and friend and wore them out completely by going to kite festival on Sunday. Both back into school-early-night routine as a result - bonus

MrsD and Linzer - I may need a supportive holding of hands come September as DS starts school then too. I'm sure he will be more than ready, I am NOT

Nick - 'I can smell testicles' comment has started my day off with a HUGE smile though I frightened the cat by laughing so much

Feeling that house is back to being rather out of control again. I think I need to reassess a few things and go back to concentrating on routines and Missions, at least that way some things get done.
So today:

• Sew name label on DD's raincoat and adjust doll's dress straps - done 'Good Mummy' emoticon needed
• Iron DD's PE kit
• Dinner money cheque
• Both DC to school/pre-school on time with all kit, bags, letters, etc for first time in 2 weeks
• Morning routine
• Work - lots of invoicing
• Various phonecalls, emails etc
• Hoover living room, hall, stairs and landing
• Mission
• Make quiche
• Afternoon routine
• DD to Fire Station for Brownies
• Evening routine
• Ironing
• Bed at decent time

That's more than enough, lets see how much gets done. Have a good day everyone.

Good morning everyone

ellie good luck with exams, my mum is an English teacher so I know how mad it gets! I'm sure all your students will get brill results.

I'm gonna wave to everyone and hope you all have lovely.

I need focus my list today

get dressed and dc dressed
swimming lessons
card buying
pack dc clothes for tomorrow and overnight things
pack my overnight bag find outfit and make up(?) for dinner
go to post office post cards and postcard
do thank you picture for nanny/grandad
cancel milk order
start shopping order for return from holiday
sort out tax credit review
file paperwork
really want to do today's wipe down of kitchen unit doors never managed it last month!!
Drop dc off at nanny
hurray off to wee hotel for d/b/b

have lovely time bye for now x

Morning all - although have just noticed it's now gone midday here...

I've just finished work for the morning, the house is a tip, I need more coffee thanks to a very late night last night (I can potter around in the evening for hours achieving very little when DH is away) and DD1 and friend are due back from school any minute. So it's definitely just baby steps for me again today (but I already have a control journal so today's is done).

Not much time for individual messages I'm afraid, but just to say:

Nettie Happy anniversary and have a lovely holiday!

ellie My SIL is also very stressed atm - she's a teacher and had 30-odd A level (equivalent) papers to mark last weekend. Hope revision session goes well today.

feetheart I think we may need a support group come September!

MrsD Cards will be posted this afternoon.

Must rush - if I scroll up any further I'll be here all day! Waves to everyone else.

Hello everyone. Have just joined Flylady in an attempt to get my house in order. Am being flooded with Flylady emails, but if the system works,I don't care. At least I already feel less worried about the amount of stuff that needs doing because I feel I will be getting round to it in good time (daily 'missions' etc). Sometimes I feel so overwhelmed with everything that needs doing and the relentlessness of it all that I lose heart. Sound familiar? Does Flylady work? How long have you all been doing it?

Quick post here while I have 5 mins at work.

Good morning everyone.

Stressful morning here today, DD2 exam stress, DS exam stress, DD3 high as a kite from birthday excitement. Sweet 16 today. We ahve told her that she can choose a couple of rabbits/hutch and run and everything she needs after our holiday in a couple of weeks. (not sure that the present is not more for me than her, cos I have been nagging for a rabbit ever since a fox dined out on our last one a few years ago.
We are all going out for a meal tonight for her birthday. First time we have been able to do this for many, many months, so really looking forward to it. Its a surprise for DD, shes hoping for a take-away, so hopefully she'll be pleased and will be ok with it. Boyfriend coming along too, so I'm sure she will be smiling!!

Ellie I am sure your students will all do well for you.

MissB I'm pleased your DD is feeling more positive about life now and Happy Birthday for tomorrow.

Chairmum - If baby arrives today it will have the same birthday as my DD. Only trouble with a June baby is that when they are 16 they have exams on their birthday, well, normally. For us that is one advantage of DD not having been able to be at school for 2 years, no exam on her 16th. All her friends have a maths exam today!

Nick Ranching and testicles sounds like fun

Feetheart Noe another one obsessed with firemen? Behave!!!

MrsD I'm pleased that DD enjoyed her practise day at school. Enjoy the summer hols, they grow up so fast when they get to school.

SC Hi there, sorry to hear DD is poorly, but hopefully if you know the cause now it can be dealt with. Do you use your ice-cream maker a lot? Often thought about buying one.

Nettie Happy Anniversary!!

Linzer - I have to stick with babysteps most of the time, then add the others in as I can. If I set myself up to do the missions and everything I know I will then fail and give up on the whole lot. The babysteps are great and you can just add in what you can. It works for me (most of the time!!)

DWM I'm glad that daisy is improving and behaving. Yuck at bees. Hate them!!! Mmmmm at home grown tomatoes .

Waves to MM and everyone else.

After work I am going home to make the dreaded birthday cake and have family members arriving later.

No, my life is never quiet, whoever asked!! In DHs book quiet = boring!! I have the most manic weekend of the year this weekend. Its the Isle of Wight music festival, so I have a houseful of "extras" who are staying, camped out on beds, floor space, sofas, tents in the garden and wherever they can find room. I spend my morning treading over half dead teenagers who as soon as they are awake seem to require humungous amounts of food cooked, they go off to the festival site, which is only a short walk away, then I pack up vast amounts of snack foods to "deliver" to the festival goers a couple of times during the day,(a 45 minute round trip by car due to road closures for the festival) then return at the end to bring home as many as will fit in the van. All brilliant fun though and DD3 is really hoping that she will be well enough to go for short spells this year, especially after the disappointment of not being well enough to go last year, after she had spent all her money on a ticket! I will do a head count one morning and let you all know how many I have here. I spend all weekend cooking sausages/bacon/eggs, preparing snacks and in the car.

Not a lot else going to be done today.

Haev a good day everyone and "see" you all later.

Toffeefudgecake - welcome!! A couple of us have beena round since August lasst year, and others have joined along the way.
Tip Number 1 - de-register for the emails and just come on here and join in with us!! You will have heaps of emails and will end up giving up because they all take over! (well, I did!)
The steps are posted on here each morning and we chivvy each other along and chat along the way. I think we chat to cover up the amount of housewwork that still needs doing - I do anyway!
But, the babysteps are great habits to get into and it sort of snowballs from there, in a good way!
You'll notice a difference very soon with just a little effort.

Must get abck to work now!!!

Thank you for your welcome, PositiveAttitude. I am getting an awful lot of emails and a lot of them are fairly nauseating, so would be happy to de-register. But will I still get the daily 'Kelly's Mission' if I do that? I want someone to tell me what to do in my house, such as clean the kitchen cupboards, as I'm worn out with feeling behind all the time and not knowing where to start.

My husband commented on the tidy kitchen this morning, so the routine is working well so far. Am about to make the beds (I never make the beds usually).

On with the routine now....

Welcome Toffeefudgecake! Yes, you'll still get the mission on this thread - in theory you do the missions after you've finished your decluttering, but I can't ever see that happening here as decluttering is a never-ending task! I usually try (not always successfully) to get the babystep done and move on to the decluttering and missions when I have time (which is rarely at the moment).

Making the beds is the one baby step that I've managed to stick to since I joined this thread (plus getting clothes out for the next day, although I used to do that before - probably not every single night though) and it makes such a difference to how the bedrooms look. It even inspires me sometimes to tidy up the bombsite masquerading as the DDs' bedroom !

Need to do a few room rescues here, I think - actually, a house rescue would be more appropriate but I only have half an hour so hardly realistic.

Welcome toffee me to make bed but not much missions have done tons of decluttering though!

get dressed and dc dressed-done
swimming lessons-done
card buying-done
pack dc clothes for tomorrow and overnight things-done
pack my overnight bag find outfit and make up(?) for dinner-done
go to post office post cards and postcard-done
do thank you picture for nanny/grandad-done
cancel milk order-done
start shopping order for return from holiday-done
sort out tax credit review-nope
file paperwork-nope
really want to do today's wipe down of kitchen unit doors never managed it last month!!-nope
Drop dc off at nanny-done
hurray off to wee hotel for d/b/b-on our way woohoo.

Have lovely night catch up tomorrow x

Evening all,

well last minute revision sessions done for paper 1, just have to keep everything crossed for tomorrow.

Despite a very hectic day I have managed to :-
WM on
DW on
make beds
clothes out
bath
S/S bathroom
DH has offered to do dinner .

Very proud of DS today, he is, in his words 'famous now because i am a published author!' . Unbeknown to us, his school entered his and other classmates in an acrostic poem competition and his, along with several classmates, was chosen to be published in a book of first poems .

nettie impressive decluttering! I hope you have a lovely evening and a wonderful anniversary!

feetheart huge list today! Am very jealous of fire station visit. I better chivvy his Beaver group along to make a visit .

linzer babystep done without lifting a finger. Result !

pa Hope DD enjoys her wonderful surprise and that the attitude family have a lovely eveninTg! Sounds as if you will need a relaxing evening to prepare for the madness of the weekend! It does sound like huge fun though, still think you're crazy though.

last but by no means least a massive welcome to toffeefudge. I have been here since September and can really see the difference! I post the steps and a link to the daily mission every day so there is no need, if you see fit, for the nauseating e-mails . The Fledgling FLiers are all you need . If you have any questions, feel free to ask and we all answer with ensuing wisdom and wit (well, some of us will!) . We do chat quite a lot but that is often procrastination . So jump in and enjoy the thread and the ensuing clean house .

Am going now to do more revision prep!

A plea in advance here now. Would one of my lovely fellow fat fairy worshippers be kind enough to step into the breach next Wednesday. Am marking exam papers this year to earn some extra pennies and have to go to a meeting in Manchester on Thursday but because it starts early am having to stay over night so won't be able to post. Pretty please...I will make you flier of the day .

Have a good evening everyone!

Hello ladies,

Today's babystep is 5 minute room rescue. 5 minutes takes little time but can make a huge difference!

The mission for today is here.

Have a good day everyone!

I'm up for stasr of the day, I'll do it for you Ellie. Can you remind me before you head off though? (or we can just all have a day off while your backs turned!)

Well evening has not gone quite as planned. DD3 slumped healthwise this afternoon after all the excitment of this morning, which ended up with us having a rather heated disagreement. All sorted and back on track, then DH phones to say he will be late home due to a car accident blocking the road. Time fast approaching for our table booking, when DS suddenly runs to the kitchen sink and is having one of his ferocious nosebleeds. He is leaning over the sink making patterns as he moves his head with the dripping blood , then nearly passes out - he's absolutely terrible at the sight of blood. Also was wearing a brand new brilliant white t-shirt. First time over his head!!! Grrrr!!!!
Eventually get out the house without blood stains and have a lovely meal, just in time, as soon as we finish eating DS starts off again and we have to exit the restaurant rather rapidly, now in another brand new t-shirt, which will probably have to be thrown out too. Get to the car with me supporting a half-fainted DS, Boyfriend having to almost carry an exhausted DD3. DD2 & DD4 are trotting behind moaning that our family never manage to do anything "normal" and DH bringing up the rear after paying the bill. Home for some birthday cake! Phew, no wonder we havent done that for a few years. Last time we did it DD3 collapsed in that restaurant and we had to persuade the staff we really did not need an ambulance, just the bill and to get home. I am sure the staff will think we are all crazy, or trying to get out of paying!!!

Big glass of white needed. nayone want to join me? Lots of cake left, too. Rather good, even if I say so myself. Chocolate cake, covered in regal icing, top layer in shape of 16 with happy birthday down the side. Pink sparkly sparkles on the 16. Hmmmmm!!

Have a gtood eveing, see you all tonmorrow.

DSs exam went well, he thinks. DD2 ran out of time, but it was "OK".

Evening all,

I'm quite happy to try my hand at posting next week Ellie, please could you remind me the day before though?

Todays list was a bit vague

Clean bathroom floor - did the bit were DS wee'd next to the toilet but not the rest.
Took DD shopping for school uniform - done but they didn't have the stuff we wanted in the right sizes, but at least we know what sizes we need now
Put some money in the bank (profit from NCT sale - decluttering + profit, lovely!)
Send some emails - to do
Sort out details of presentation to DS's teacher who is getting married - trying to organise a class of 5/6 year olds to sign a card, make flowers, get a collection from the parents all without her finding out is proving a logistical challenge!

Test smoke alarms - done (try and remember this at the beginning of each month).

On a serious note about that, we had some put in by the firebrigade 3 years ago, they were supposed to last 10 years and never need the battery changing, also had a red light to flash so you knew they were working, I got a bit lazy and didn't bother checking them apart from the red light, decided to check them properly a few months ago and 2 out of 4 had packed up even though the light was still flashing. There was a lady on the news about the same time who had found the same thing, but her house burnt down the next day before she had replaced them, mercifully no one was hurt. This has focused my mind somewhat...

Send some emails - to do
Sort out details of presentation to DS's teacher who is getting married - trying to organise a class of 5/6 year olds to sign a card, make flowers, get a collection from the parents all without her finding out is proving a logistical challenge!

Not much cleaning done today, but have done some decluttering.

PA - sounds like you are going to have a brilliant time, if hecvtic this weekend. All those teenagers are very lucky to have you to look after them!

ellie - well done to DS!

Toffeefudge - welcome on board, ask if you don't understand anything we are doing and remember that nothing is too trivial to be discussed on this thread.

Going to go and do those emails now, night night.

x-posted with PA. Oh dear PA you certainly do not have an uneventful life do you? I'll join you in a glass (mine's a red though).

I'm in pa, glass at the ready .

PA wine sounds great and much needed! Glad you managed to get out even if it was a bit fraught. At least you'll remember it!
Ellie good luck with exams and all the marking.
Hi to toffee - this does make a real difference - even just doing some of it!
Waves to everyone else and chairmum you are right - June birthdays do equal exams but at least you get strawberries for birthday tea
Well,I seem to be achieving nothing! And visitors tomorrow. Am trying to tell myself that they come to see me not inspect my house but not totally convinced

DD2 very cheery and emjoying her new GCSE timetable. DD1 not having a good day and in fact so stressed we decided that she shouldn't go in to sit an exam. It's the subject she's going to drop so no great loss but all very stressful for her Am sure we will come out the other side but 'tis hard work at the moment!

Right, I will do quick tidy up after work tomorrow and it will have to do.......

Just a quick fly past to say welcome to toffeefudge.

In London tomorrow so no flying but promise to be back on Thursday!

MissB I know it is difficult to stop worrying about house and just enjoy visitors
sorry about dd2
my dd is being v tiring at moment, v emotional and blowng hot/cold all the time- amazing how much it takes out of you when if you were to actually write down what happened it appears a list of trivial outbursts that any reasoning adult could deal with

anyway, booked the little wretches in Legoland this weekend and hotel (our first visit ever!) dh has refused to set foot in the place so we will see what it's really like

PA I want to be you more and more, where is my sparkly icing persona???
Unfortunately the only festivals round here seem to be Rugby themed.

spent gloomy day taking dd to specialist dentist, now need to book her into hospital to have a tooth extracted - whole day has been taken up with this [avoidable - don't let your child eat sweets!]dismal outing to distant orthopaedist [whatever they are called]

no housework done, apart from
done
bin
bedtime
washing up
wipe table and worktop
wash uniform
taken kids swimming for two hours to improve mood of all
tackled more of dd's project {aargh] nearly done to a v. low standard - well I give up trying to forge it - still got to do ds2's project [double forgery probably easily detected]

Ellie you will deserve the hols, I hope you get a break from marking then, or does it continue all summer?

Good morning and a very happy birthday to MissB! Any news yet Chairmum?

It's a lovely sunny day here for the third or fourth day running, so I'm wondering whether I can finally put our winter clothes away. I think I need to sort through the DC's summer clothes too and see which ones still fit - I have the feeling that DD1 has run out of shorts.

ellie Well done to DS, you must be very proud of him!

PA Can your life get any more eventful? The cake sounded delicious - v. impressed by how you manage to fit in cake-baking in top of everything else.

MrsD Thanks for the lovely postcards, DDs were really pleased and wanted to know where Cornwall is. I think I'm going to have to buy a decent map of the UK when we're back in the summer. Your cards were posted yesterday btw.

swan Your DD sounds v. similar to DD2 - it really does take it out of you, doesn't it? I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle with the sweets as they're everywhere here - shops, hairdresser's, doctor's, DD1 even brings lollipops home from school that the teacher has given her as a reward and don't get me started on my ILs...

Today's list:
Work
English (thankfully no history to gen up on today as the teacher has decided to do an English breakfast - but am hoping to dispel the myth that everyone in the UK has a full English breakfast every day)
Piano
Pick up DS's and DD2's friends - wondering about going to the open-air pool but am thinking that taking 5 children aged between 2 and 8 swimming might be a little over-ambitious
House rescue before DH gets back

Must get on - have a good day everyone!

linzer you are braver than me! re swimming outing
TODO
work am
piano and lessons
meals???
Beavers help/dd to Brownies
more project
sweep floors

Hello everyone. I feel a bit as if I've gatecrashed a party, so I really appreciate all your nice welcomes.

Just been sent a stack of work to do in the next five days (proofreading) and my eldest son (10) is off school today(supposedly sick, though I'm not sure how ill he really is...), so I'm not sure how much I'll get done in the house today. However, I did my evening routine last night and my morning routine today (although in spite of my efficient-looking lists I still sent DS2 to school with DS1's lunchbox by mistake). And I did clean my kitchen cupboards yesterday and made my sink shine before bedtime! It was definitely more uplifting going into the kitchen to find a clear sink, instead of the usual pile of washing up.

Am not sure how I'm going to find the time to clear out my fridge today, though I like the idea of just wiping down instead of taking out all the shelves. I think I spend too much time on each task usually. I'm better at 'details' rather than seeing the whole picture (which I why I can proofread, presumably), but this is not always such a good thing in the house.

Linzer - thanks for letting me know about finding the 'daily mission' on this thread. I think I will deregister from Flylady as I'm already getting fed up with all the emails.

I'm interested to find out how you all found Flylady. It sounds as if it has made a difference to you all, even when you can't keep up with the missions and decluttering all the time.

Must get on with some work now. Bye for now.

Hi . . mind if I join? Am a fledgling flyer whose house is in bad need of being looked after (blush). Shined my sink properly for first time last night and then washed my kitchen cupboards. Small start but a start nonetheless. Will tackle fridge tonight and spend 5 minutes on one hotspot.