July's Fledgling Flyers : The dc's drive us round the bend, the school holidays descend, our sanity we will lend, and flying will be our friend

[elliepac]

Welcome to the July 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 July 1st.

I have just been out to yummy mums lunch with friend whose house I had never been in before. IMMACULATE HOUSE, no clutter anywhere so, I see it can be done...

Ah well, we are all different [sigh, accepts destiny]
off to pickup

Oh dear swan - yes I think that whenever I go to MIL's. Their house is always obsessively clean. And she has a 4 year old. Always comfort myself with the state of her fridge though (minging) seriously, no wonder they get stomach problems a lot in their house, their fridge is VILE.

Anyway - so far I have done the washing up and cleared the kitchen counters. Much more than I did yesterday
So I just need to do a few minutes tidy round the living room and I'll be fairly happy.

Loads to do, not much done (out all day AGAIN), going out in an hour, I feel like a headless chicken.......

QOD I still don't do most of the babysteps (been on here since Nov) and have accepted that I probably won't be doing any more than I already do. I still persist with decluttering and missions if time permits and it all helps though.

SR - yes, my neighbour's house is like that, one can but dream. Still, she probably doesn't have a nice bunch of online friends to chat with every day as she must be so busy cleaning....

Evening everyone

elliepac - really liked the round-up made me smile.

NickofTime sympathies with the wet beds, ds (nearly 6) constantly looks like he is going to be dry, but just when we have had a good run and I dare leave off the nappies, we are back to weeing again.

swanriver I spend most of my time on a good day wandering aroung the house wringing my hands and feeling sick, you are not alone.

to everyone else, it's going to take me awhile to get to know people

Other peoples spotless houses, when they have comparably aged children just make me want to weep how, how do they do it?

I have had a crapola day, off on holiday next week to stay with Mil, it is always stressful, this time loks like it going to break all records. Two parties in the space of a weekend, one huge family get together of about 40 people, and a 40th birthday party of around 80 .

I am terrible at socializing, bad at holidays anyway (control issues) and I feel like my anxiety is really winning atm, I so don't want to go, feel really sick at the prospect.

Anyway, sorry to go on, somethimes it is just nice to have a bit of a blurt.......

Today I....

Made beds.
Swished and swiped.
2 loads of washing, washed dried and some put away.
Hoovered all upstairs.
Tackled a bit of a hotspot.
Organized rat care for when we are away (sounds nothing but have been putting it off for ages)
Tidied living room.

Actually it looks better when it's written down, don't feel quite so bad now.

Evening everyone!

Sports day was rubbish. Poorly organised and a tiring nightmare. It didn't actually rain that much, a few heavy showers and brilliant sunshine in between. This caused a whole new problem as i forgot suncream and you could currently fry an egg on my forehead and a whole breakfast on my ample bosoms . No flying here today, sports day, supermarket, dc bathed and bedded, dinner, Dsis's to drop something off, home, mn . Sod flying, you guys are far more important . So round-up time!

wtwtw blurted but it's ok, blurting is a necessary evil of survival and therefore entirely necessary. She had a fabulous flying day and did really really well. Well Done!

mrsd is a headless chicken, a busy headless chicken. You want to see mak for that she does a mean chicken head, (check out her profile if you don't believe me) she might make you one .

qod is starting to build her routines and should feel very proud of herself! SHe also demonstrated a dislike of vile fridges .

nettie was happy to be off to work...i'll be glad to finish next Thursday! She wants to pinch pa's blindman, but pa was not forthcoming...spoilsport .

sr had a very busy day preparing for end of ter and holiday cottage (sounds lovely). She lost woggles but found badges (every cloud has a silver lining )and lunched with a yummy mumyin a yummy house. This caused slight despair but she was very philosophical in her outlook. I have a friend like that at work. Always looks immaculate whilst i look like have been dragged through a hedge backwards, house is spotless and tidy, mine is messy and dirty . I do console myself with the fact that she is a little dull . At least I am not dull...I don't think .

dwm had a big list and some mince. I love mince . She's then going to watch thighs!

pa is also watching thighs on her day off! Cooking delicious food and going to a BBQ and she said she was having a quiet day!

elliepac got burnt and her face is now on fire and she is sweating...where's that aftersun?

Right...now for the steps!

Today's babystep is e-mails. Easy one since we don't do e-mails .

The mission for today is here.

Have super fantabulous day here!

Good night everyone

ellie fab round up again thanks oh beetroot faced one
wtwtw gosh I'd be pooing my panties at that many parties and visitors. Hope it goes well
mrsd lol @ neighbour being too busy cleaning for lovely online friends!
qod you have frightened me! I haven't truelly looked at my fridge for ages and have packed off two sets
of visitors whom were in and out of my fridge!
swan in times of panic what else is there to do
except wring ones hands! Or head to late night tescos to buy crafty things for the kids!
mak have lovely weekend
dwm can you come moan at my dh see if it makes any difference. We had serious chat and he still
hasn't got off his ass and in actual fact has planned more time away for work!
pa now now shall I explain the sharing principles! We have to take turns then we can have stickers for
good sharing

This afternoon i have
put away ironed clothes - not
put load in wm- not
took cat to vets poor sod
order tent for next day delivery for night of cancer
research relay!
Been to camping shop for gas etc
r/r at Argos other camping paraphernalia.
Picked up dcs
had curry nice time with friends

right off to sleep now. Catch up on otherside!

all this talk of parties and fridges has made me a bit nervy!
sympathy to all others experiencing the joy of wet children (swan, wtwtw). ugh. i share your pain.

i've had a reasonably productive day though - as well as the usual dw/wm/sink (and mil did the dw and wm ) i've managed to get half of next year's cub activities organised, and i've booked the first camp of the year for october!

i'm very jealous of the tie-dying, swan. but not at all jealous of the badges - i'm going to make ask mil to sew them all on with the machine before she leaves on monday .

i told her today that she isn't allowed to go home - she's doing far too much ironing, i can't let her leave me the responsibility of taking it all over again!

dd2's surgery is tomorrow - the hospital just called and i have to be there at 0645 , which means leaving here at 0600... . it does mean that she's first on the list though, so hopefully we'll be outta there by lunchtime (miserable-as-sin-with-general-anaesthetic-dd2-permitting...) but at least it means i only have a 45 minute drive home instead of the usual 2 1/2 hours, as this one is at the local hospital! and because i'm not allowed in theatre i can have breakfast at the cafe in the hospital whilst she's under. every cloud, and all that...

so, i won't be posting until post-surgery , nor will i be so much as glancing at the dw .

but mm, nettie, curry and camping! what more could a girl want? (no decent curry in these parts unless you make it yourself )

have a lovely weekend, travellers!

I have just finished the final batch of work! Big celebration! Can get my life back again. Also have a nice cheque to look forward to shortly.

Now, I need advice from you flyladies. I was doing quite well with the routines until I was floored by all this work. So now my house looks unbelievable - clean washing to put away, dirty clothes to wash, sink full of dirty plates and saucepans, a bathroom that hasn't been swished or swiped for several days and clutter, clutter everywhere...

So where do I start?

Good morning everyone

toffee start with breakfast I'd do bed making myself then do s/s tomorrow.

Busy day here

dc up, dressed, nursery
dw
wm
s/s
work am
Argos pick up camping stuff
hope tent is delivered today
visit friend
home get ready for another night out
home to clean house
clean camping gear
get all camping gear together
bed some point very late!!

nick sorry meant to say home dd op goes well

Good morning.

Nick - Hope hospital goes as well as these things can. Take a good book with you!

Ellie - Hope you are not burning still. (had to LOL, sorry!!) My mum always said that an immaculate home is the sign of a dull woman - I am pleased to say I am the most un-dull person I know (apart from my sister who definitely needs Aggie and whats-her name. Must be my mum's influence.

Nettie - Oh I will share as much as you like: dust, dirty washing, ironing, floor sweeping, dirty bathrooms, I really dont mind. Take as much as you like!!! Now can I have a sticker? Pleeeeeaaaaasssssseeee!!

toffee - Well done on finishing all the work. As for where tos tart on the house, i would say just look at one small thing, do it, then you will feel as if you have acheived something, rather than tackling a big thing and not finishing it, then feeling like a failure, IYSWIM. For me, it would be to clear my lounge coffee table, which would take a couple of minutes. Dont panic. Babysteps, babysteps and you will soon be back on track.

SR - of your holiday plans. Have a lovely time!

DWM - Did you see Tour last evening? GRRrrrrr!! Stupidity. Poor Cav now, but no defence for that!!

A good day yesterday, apart from the parents evening. Oh teachers, why, oh why, oh why, do you have to do it!!!
I voluntarily to go to parents evening,
I voluntarily to go and hear how my DCs (DD4 this time) are doing,
I voluntarily stand in a scrum queue with other parents waiting my turn, all the parents eying each other to see who is pushing in, who is trying to push you out, aetc.
Then I sit in front of the teacher and hear "Oh, XXX is a lovely girl ....... ....... BUT ..." then it may as well be a recording, 6 times over, with 6 different teachers. ..... Distracted ,..... loses focus ...... dis-organised...... blardy, blardy, blahhhhhhh! Could the torture not be done just once, instead os systematically going from one to the next until the last one (Poor man) I sat down and told him what he was going to tell me. His response?..... No, Mrs PA, xxxxx is not easily distracted by A (friend) in my lesson, I have separated them XXXX sits on her own, and she manages very well to distract herself! "
I am so glad she is my last one to go through the education system. If she had been the first, I would have boycotted parents evenings to save my embarrassment and frustration and become one of those "dont care" parents.

So, today. Busy day at work, and need to go shopping for work supplies afterwards, so will just be doing routines today, I think.

Have a goood day everyone. Only 5 more days of school routine here, then the hols...... WHOAAAAAaaaahhhhh!

WWTWA - I find these "functions" overwhelming too - it's like there is too much to process in my brain at once - selfgrooming, children, being nice to other people, what to remember to bring, cars, keys, documents. Usually end up having a lovely time and making dh do allthe work but then he's badtempered for days afterwards...
Anyway yest after much wasted time, finally cleaned living room whilst children making clay pots..very odd that. All that time to clean when not here, and find my feet when they are???

Ds2 characteristically, is ill on last day of term! Yes, he thinks to himself, this was Mummy's last chance to go to bank, etc etc but hey I need my special moment before hols!
We have had snuggly morning. Very nice.

Friends coming round later...must focus.
will be back with list.

PA what I find mildly annoying about reports etc is that having given you targets there is no strategy for then implementing them. What use is it saying to a child, don't be distracted in class, pay attention. Once they are in school without you, how can you possibly make them do any of it? Likewise if your child's work is "messy" as ds2's is, how can you make it less messy? That's how he writes, draws, rubs things out..It's either that or nothing on the page.

PA and Nettie - thanks for the tips. Whereas once I would have been in a right tizzy over the mess, I am now much more relaxed about it. I just focused on a few things that needed doing and am ignoring the rest. So I had breakfast first (thanks, Nettie), then loaded the DW, put load in WM, changed the kitchen bin and wiped kitchen surfaces. Also took mince out of fridge to defrost (nothing ever defrosts in the fridge, does it, yet 'experts' always say you should defrost meat in the fridge). Am not making beds because all the sheets need changing.

Am now off for a quick nap to get me through the rest of the day. Am quite looking forward to collecting DS2 from nursery again and not having to think about work.

Didn't get the nap, of course. But have just placed an order for cleaning products from Lakeland and am doing some rough pages for my control journal, so I'm getting ready to fly.

And looking forward to a bottle tonight to celebrate having finished my work (Linzer, we were going to share!).

Just off to cook a proper meal after feeding the DC pasta nearly every day for the past few weeks.

Hello all, just pooping in while DCs eat tea. Off to the school disco in a minute (groan).

I just have to say something to WTWTA (please forgive cross-threading) - we're off camping soon, and I noticed a thread about camping lists on it a week or so back, have just gone back to it to compare with mine and realised it was you on there - respect!

I am going to re-name myself today as Mrs Snapdragon. I feel incredibly snappy at everyone and everything today!
Just needed to confess that to someone, so thought this might be the best place. Couldn't confess in real life, because of course, it is everyone else's fault!!

DS has just told me I need to "Chillax Motheeeeer".

School also phoned me today to tell me that DD4 is underweight and they felt she needs referring to someone. I need to scream!! Food with her ahs been a constant battle and her consultant is very aware anyway. I also dont know what her biological parents are like, as she's adopted. They may be 6 foot tall string beans too! I have had too many well meaning interferring busybodies people telling me what I should do, as if I ma starving her. If they could see what she eats each day they may understand! If a family of 7 have me (fat) DH (well proportioned and muscley) 4DCs all well average for their height. Do they think I feed her differently than the other kids?

Will be back when I have calmed down and normal positive attitude is resumed!!!

Oh, MrsS, that was me on Monday, had a deeply annoying day with a sco-called friend on Sunday, a problem with school on Monday, and so it goes on. Might add that school resolved the issue promptly and entirely to my satisfaction, am still fuming about so-called friend. Hope you feel calmer soon (wine anyone?)

Toffee - well done on the work front, Lakeland are one of my mail order weaknesses too.

Nick - hop everthing goes smoothly for DDs surgery

SR - hope DS2 better soon

Nettie - good luck this weekend

Ellie - hope beetrootness is reducing

DWM - long time no speak, hope osteopath has done the trick for your back

Back from disco (was helping so no dump at the gate and run for me). Was OK, thankfully today was cooler, the hall gets like a furnace on hot days.

Had a lovely afternoon with DD, a friend and her two DDs today, and am now looking forward to a takeaway and a glass or two.

Managed a fairly decent tidy and clean around before friend arrived so all set for the weekend, two parties to go to and lots of friends to catch up with.

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Well today has been a wash out!!

dc up, dressed, nursery-done
dw-done at 5pm
wm- nope
s/s-nope
work am-done
Argos pick up camping stuff-dh done
hope tent is delivered today-nope
visit friend-done
home get ready for another night out-done and hope by half eight, stomach cramps and nausea. Sick at 9
home to clean house-no
clean camping gear-done
get all camping gear t-ogethe-not really
bed some point very late!!-sooner later

got to get better ring outdoormegastore cancel order first thing in morning. Run to camp shop and buy bigger tent than want!
Rush home sort out stuff put tent up and join relay race for life.

That was supposed to be home by 8.30 not hoping to be home and sick!!!??!!?

back
done and dusted - she's got some faintly alarming double vision 'mummy, i can see two of everything!' but hopefully that will wear off... soon... but she was as good as gold, no histrionics at all. i fear they may have over done it slightly (instead of turning in i think they are now turning out...) but this might settle a bit over the weekend too. so, bloodshot and tired, but she's fine really. thanks for all wishes

pa - sorry but lol at 'she manages very well to distract herself'. that made me spit tea over the keyboard! you must be very proud

nettie, so sorry you are still feeling grotty. and bah to outdoormegastore. but small yay to bigger tent hope you feel better in the morning.

mrsd, don't mind if i do but i might have a small nap first. save me a glass. although if i'd been supervising at a school disco, i'd have downed the bottle by now.

no flying today, am now having to stop dd2 walking into stuff and falling down the stairs (this seeing two of everything is quite tricksy). i may even instruct dh that it is high time we tried out the only takeaway within 'it might still be warm by the time it gets here' radius.

but i promise i'll catch up tomorrow!

Just woken up after 10 hours sleep, still wearing yesterday's clothes. Think I needed that sleep.

DH certainly doesn't know how to shine a sink. Came down to all the dinner plates still on the table and a sinkful of saucepans. Still, we have no plans today apart from me taking DS2 to pottery cafe (which I'm looking forward to as it's quite relaxing), so he can make something for his fabulous childminder.

Definitely a day to tackle the messy house. Will start in the kitchen, I think. I wonder if I can persuade DH to take the bottles to the recycling place today - that's always a challenge (window cleaner, tripping over the bottles outside our kitchen door, once said, "What are you - alcoholics?!").

Have visitors tomorrow so that will be an incentive to get the house into a decent state again. If I knew how, I'd post photos of the before and afters. You wouldn't believe the state of it....

PA - hope you are not feeling so snapdragonish today.

MrsD - enjoy your sociable weekend.

Nettie - you poor thing! I hope you are feeling better today and that you manage to find a nice tent. All sounds very stressful. Hope the camping restores you.

Nick - hope your daughter gets better soon (and stops walking into things!).

Can hear DS1 moving around upstairs. Was just enjoying the peace and quiet down here and hoping to drink my cup of tea undisturbed. Ah well...

MOrning all,

Didn't manage to get on last night as was busy doing 'stuff' and then went round to BF's house for a couple of hours sans DC and DH. Marvellous!

So now it the time for round-up!

nick is glad (and so are we) that DD is ok and the double vision is wearing off. Must be horrible having double vision, I've only ever had it when I have imbibed liquid of the alcohol variety andn that's horrible!

nettie had a very frustrating day yesterday but will be putting that aside today for the relay race for life. Hope you are feeling better and good luck!(with the tent and the race )

mrsd has a lovely weekend planned with friends and managed to survive the hell that is the school disco, no mean feat! .

mrssnapdragon hope you are feeling less anppy this morning. Sounds like a tough and frustrating day yesterday, I love the fact that DS told you to 'Chillax'. Did you punch him . Hope you are ok today .

toffeefudge finished her work! yay! She also managed to crack on with the flying and achieved loads. Well Done! Hope you enjoyed the wine .

sr had some snuggle time with DS2 and pondered ona variety of issues including school reports and cleaning. To be fair to DS's teacher, he has been given things to work on but she also gave us strategies for doing this which is what a good report should do IMO.

Big waves to everyone else.

Have a few bits and bobs to do today:-
DW unloaded/reloaded
WM unloaded/reloaded
Washing on line
S/S bathroom
Tesco
Town for a meander
Book DS's birthday party

DS's birthday is late August and he has never had a proper birthday party with his school friends because it's been the holidays. He's had countless ( well actually quite countable...he's 6)family/friends parties with bouncy castle but never what he sees as a party ie soft play place. I am stuck as a stuck thing as to what to get him for his birthday as i think he may be quite a spoilt child (guilty as charged ) and he has so much stuff. Any ideas?

Step coming up!

Today's babystep is a controversial one bedtime. This is one that I am actually quite good at as no matter what I am doing, work or holiday, I always go to bed between 10 and 10.30 but there are plenty I know who struggle with this one!

No mission as it is the weekend!

Have a good day everyone!