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.

Happy Canada Day everyone!

thanks for all good wishes - dog walking isn't always so exciting round here lol, we normally see coyotes at a distance - first time i've ever been threatened by one (am now slightly concerned about bears as we're heading to bear country lol. wish me well!)

so, today we are off to the airport to pick up mil (oh, and di i mention we are going to the mountains ) so in theory my house is gleaming... right? well, i've got an hour left before we leave lol... how much can i get done in that time?

well, after about 18 years, mil must know i'm no domestic goddess by now... but spare room looks presentable.

welcome to admylin and houseofcrazy - i'm not very good at this flying lark - i seem to get waylaid by life...

so, i'm on babysteps this month as well. with maybe the odd mission if i'm feeling gung ho.

(linzer - will aim for postcards this w/e!)

back tuesday! might pop in before, but can't promise. happy flying everyone!

Evening all.

I wish I had put my list up today as I have managed to tick off 3 things (they are important things though), cook a meal and shine half my sink.

It's a double so the other half has dishes in (but they are clean) so does that mean I've failed my first day? I know I'm not doing anything else today, when I get up from this computer I'll fall into bed. It's quarter past eight here so I will try to wait abit longer.

I'm exhausted, 35 degrees today and the same expected tomorrow.

My list is written on 2 A4 pages so it's quite long, will see how far I get tomorrow.

Found you all again

Back from a fantastic holiday. Now need a holiday to recover. (seriously!!!) The Greeks certainly know how to celebrate a wedding and the Scottish know how to drink copious amounts of alcohol, so a Scottish wedding in Greece was rather a long affair. The night's festivities ran into breakfast each day, then we started again!!
Villa was lovely and right on the beach. I swam in the med every day! The only flying I did was from Gatwich and Athens! Although one evening a messy coffee table caused me too much stress and I just had to clear it!

Have done absolutely nothing today, apart from being the worst mother ever because I sent DD4 and DS to school! I am not looking at the washing mountain until tomorrow. The last thing I feel like doing is getting up for work in the morning!!

Welcome to the newbies and big waves to everyone else. I will try and be back to normal tomorrow!

Evening all,

Only popping in briefly again as I'm working so don't have much of a flying update. Sink was shined by our cleaner this morning but I'm planning to shine it again this evening to get the month off to a good start.

PA Welcome back! Have just seen your photos (or your DD's, I think) on FB - Greece looked wonderful.

admylin That sounds like some list - and I thought you were put off by everyone else's long lists! Too hot here as well; I can't concentrate on work.

Nick Have a lovely time in the mountains! Will look forward to postcard.

Toffee Hope you're feeling better soon.
I do have a control journal but rarely get any further than the first page of it - my morning routine, which I tick off as I go along (it's in a plastic sheet).

DH is now back from Turkey (a day later than I was expecting as I hadn't read the e-mail with his flight times properly), we've celebrated DD2's birthday and I've now left him in charge of the DC while I MN work (have just noticed the time; I hope he's put them to bed!) May go and have a quick (and v. small) glass of wine with him so he doesn't feel too neglected, and then it's back to work.

Lol at my list, it 's got the move on and all the things I'm meant to de-register and arrange. Actual flying as in keeping the house clean is not really involved except for cooking and trying to clean my sink!

Evening everyone,

a very busy first dayof the month for everyone apart from me . As your leader, I have led by example and done......nothing . Oh well, please feel free to sack me although seeing as I am starting babysteps again(for about the 11th time) all i need to do is shine my sink before i go to bed and i'm done! result!

admylin was worried about huge lists and then posted a huge one herself . Welcome to flying, list obsessed nutters that we are!

linzer Happy BIrthday to DD and welcome back to DH good luck with the wor although am not entirely sure a glass of wine is conducive to your line of work...in my line of work i think it would inspire!

pa is back from a fab hol where she drank copious amounts of wine and cleaned a bloody coffee table...newbies take note, this will even take over your holidays!

nick has conquered coyotes and is now going to tackle bears! (and the mil is coming ). Have a lovely time with your family on Canada Day!

toffeefudge is feeling like poo yether DH is coming up smelling like roses . As far as Control Journals are concerned, some of us have them and swear by them, some of us have them but don't use them and some of us don't have one! I do have one saved which a fabulous lady called Dreamteamgirl gave me a while back which I can send you if you want.

sr has been designated a soft touch by DS . But had another whirlwind of a day. Well Done!

nettie completely ignored everything we tell her and spent hours cleaning her garage . Does no-one listen to me, 15 mins i tell you! . She needs pa to do some bike stroking...we all know how much pa loves a bit of bike stroking .

sc is a very proud mummy of her clever and lovely DD . She also hadan epiphany and realised she didn't like cleaning....really ? SHe is right however when she says that a little at a time is the way to go...clearly way too little in my case since i've been here since september and still can't see the floor in y bedroom!

qod hope DS became a little happier...and you can content yourself with shining your sink but that is all you have todo today .

feetheart superlative list...gold star for you today!

dem great list, short and easy to achieve so you don't burn out. Well Done!

houseofcrazy how did it go today?Congratulations on completing your first day!

lpp yay! Another returning to the fledgling fold . Of course you can come back, how did you get on today? Remember a little at a time!

I think that's everyone. Big waves to om mrsd dwm and everyone else i have missed out!

Back in a mo for steps!

Yay! Welcome back PA

Stifling here ... can't sleep ....

Great round up Ellie

Hi again ladies.

Well I managed to Shine my sink and do one load of washing up

After DS had his nap and some lunch I took him round to MIL's, so he was happy seeing his little auntie and perked up a bit.

To hot, tired and braindead to say hi to everyone.

Hello, hello,

Quite a lot done today, but visitors staying tonight, so only on for a few mins, catch up tomorrow hopefully.

Fell asleep at 7.30, woke up at midnight when DH came to bed and now can't sleep, so here I am. Still feeling rough. Have a big box of tissues beside me and MN to keep me company.

Ellie - thanks for the offer of a control journal? Is it a Flylady one? Is it helpful? I'm not sure whether I should make one up myself in a plastic folder, or use Flylady. Hard to compare without actually looking at the Flylady one.

Liked your round up again. And congratulations on such a lovely report for your DS.

And the same to you SC. Am wondering what my DC's school reports hold in store for me now.

Linzer Have you followed Flylady's advice on the control journal or did you just make it up yourself? Presumably you didn't follow her advice on evacuation procedures!

PA - sounds like a fabulous holiday. Glad to hear you went cold-turkey on the Flying (apart from the coffee table, that is).

Can hardly keep up with all the names on this thread now, but am going to have a bash. So, waves to Still, Nettie, Did (huge respect to you for moving without removal men), Mini, House, MrsD, Swan, LPP, Feet, DEM, Nick, Queen and Gentle (where are you, Gentle? Get back on this thread and fly!).

Wishing you all a very shiny sink!

Ellie - there wasn't meant to be a '?' after 'thanks for the offer of a control journal', just a full stop. And me a proofreader too. Tsk.

Ellie - just looked at Flylady's control journal again and think I'll make one up myself. Really can't cope with being told to 'get dressed to lace-up shoes' every morning!

Morning everyone.

Dh has just left for work, I was going to go back to bed as couldn't sleep due to the heat (or I was having a hot flush) but it's slightly cool at the moment so I had better stay up and enjoy it as it's going to get alot hotter later.

I'm off to read about control journals.

So is it hot in UK or are some of you also abroad ( I know Linzer is in Austria)?

Morning all,

Busy day here today:

DD2 and DS to Kindergarten
DD1 to school to pick up end-of-year report
Buy motorway sticker for new car
Take old car into garage in Vienna, pay for new car and collect insurance docs
Back to insurance company here with docs
DH back into Vienna to collect new car
Shop for birthday party food
DD2's birthday party
Collapse in a heap

Toffee Hope you're feeling a bit better this morning. at you going back to correct your post as I did exactly the same the other day with virtually the same call-myself-a-proofreader comment!

I did follow FlyLady's instructions when I put together my control journal, but not to the letter - I don't have a section for emergency contact numbers etc., although I probably should.

My control journal is divided into five sections:

1. Daily routines (morning, afternoon and evening routines, each in a clear plastic sheet so I can tick off each item as I go along)
2. Weekly plan

Similar to daily routines, but with a plan for each day (e.g for Monday I have clean bath and shower, hoover, dust, empty bins, spend 15 mins in zone and mission)

1. Zones

Detailed cleaning plan and weekly missions for each zone

1. Menu planning and shopping list
2. Miscellaneous info

I've printed out various useful bits and pieces from FlyLady's website and added them to this section, e.g. her tips for not getting sidetracked, scavenger hunt list, crisis cleaning 101 - I should probably add the holiday tips that SC linked to the other day.

Bear in mind that I put together the control journal five or six years ago when I was feeling rather more ambitious than I am now and was aiming to do far more than baby steps!

Waves to everyone else - happy flying!

Morning everyone,

I thought I had posted the steps last night but clearly not .

Today's babystep is the controversial lace-up shoes. And the mission for today is here.

Have a good day everyone. Back after work!

Morning all

late yest I managed to
get buggy on eBay (already at £200
picked dd up from nursery
bathed dc
bed dc
gym me
kitchen and sink rescue
bed too late (ah well)

today even more manic so far have

ds still of nursery so dropped dd off
booked appt with vets for putty cat
made bed
ocado shop

still to do
dw
wm
living room rescue
cat to vets
banking
kitchen rescue
loft organise (chap coming to look for fitted wardrobes )
sort out bedding for caravan db and family down beginning of this weekend and dsis and her family down at end of week!
Clean sofas
sort out welcome pack for caravan

Think my list has gone on to weekend list but if it means I get it done that's fine

linzer wow that is some control journal!! Hope dd birthday is fab today
ellie I am sorry of fearless leader that i did not follow your advice. I will follow it from now on I promise (after I spend hours making loft space presentable) brill round up
admylin v hot here in Essex 25. Where are you? Have I missed you telling us?
toffee Lol at correcting yourself (always hopes you proofreader are not looking at my punctuation etc!!) I think I decided against a control journal as I felt I would procrastinate over that rather than getting on with cleaning. But looking at linzer control journal I'm thinking again. Hope you feeling better.
pa looks like a wonderful holiday hope work goes ok today
nick have fun in mountains

Waves to qod scmrsd mm*lpp houseswandemfeetheart

Hope I haven't missed anyone, better get on and find dcat otherwise will get nowhere!

Have lovely day

Morning all

Well it's 34 °c here at the moment which I think is about 93 . something or other ...

A day for tackling the cool (but still cluttered) basement methinks and the guinea pigs will get a cool bath ...

This morning I was up early and have DONE:

Morning routine, inc dw on, wm on, s&s (master swipe still not quite possible but getting there)

Cleared 2 worst hot-spots: dining room table and kitchen 'basket' thing

Tidied and hoovered sitting room (dd now systematically covering with Playmobile and marbles again)

Dyed the Barnet Fair

To do:

Finish tidying up master bedroom and landings
Put away towels and ironed clothes
Declutter and tidy basement for at least one hour in 4 x 15 min bursts
Continue laundry
Afternoon/evening routine + one hour ironing

Formulate plan for days when we are here during holidays over next two months ie:
Entertainment for dd (outings, friends to play etc

• schedule necessary stuff such as uniform buying/haircuts/dental appts) One hour decluttering and sorting office every day One hour ironing every evening whilst listening to French study CD (fortnightly ironing lady now on maternity leave - sob) One hour basement every day.

I think that's possible to do whilst entertaining dd, partic if I do basement first thing and ironing last thing.

Trouble is I need to tackle roof as well ...and another storage room that my sister is going to be sleeping in when she comes and stays ... aggghhhh

[Realisation FINALLY dawning on SC how much she has stupidly left herself to do ......]

Still, 15 mins at a time and all that....

Have a good day everyone and enjoy the sunshine!!

Linzer - ooo, thanks for all that info on your control journal. I'm going to do one now. Will buy myself a folder tomorrow and get started. I always enjoy planning and making lists - it's the doing that's hard.

Still - am feeling tired just looking at your long list. Best of luck!

Finally got to sleep at 5.30 this morning, but not before discovering DS2 on the computer at 4.30am! He had been to the bathroom and claimed he didn't know what time it was. Sent him back to bed and have banned him from the computer today whilst he contemplates his crime.

Still have a streaming cold. Misery. And have to have my MRI scan this evening (the one that was cancelled before). How am I going to stay still for half an hour when my nose is streaming? I'm not going to be a pretty sight, am I? .

After taking DS1 to nursery, I managed to:

swish and swipe in the bathroom
load the dw and turn it on
put a load of washing on
make the beds
tidy the kitchen

Am now working (when not MN-ing).

Maybe I can have a nap whilst I'm having my MRI!

Hi all.
DS still being a moany moo and impeding my progress. I'm supposed to have done some picnic food, and have only managed to make one sandwich.
Am up and dressed, but not wearing shoes as it's too bloody hot.
Only plan to do another load of washing up and shine sink again today.

Good luck everyone.

linzer thx for postcard ds loved tv tower and wants to go right now! Looked Austria and germany up on the map quite far! Ds asked me what ur name was and I had to struggle to not say linzer

sc Gosh more organising and a further insight into school holiday time when mine are out of toddlerland!

toffee hope MRI scan goes well. pretend Im quite used to chasing DH off computer at ungodly hr!

I'm in a cafe with ds just trying not to face list of things to do!

Poor cat needs to have 8 teeth taken out! I only took her for her eyes [bad parent emotion]

bbl

qod sorry meant to say well done and I've got sick moany son too!!

Hellooooooo everyone!

Thanks for all the welcome backs!

Welcome to Admylin and HoC

Ellie we managed to get to day 5 of the holiday before DH turned to me looking very wistful and announced that he really missed his bike. (wonder how long it would take to say the same about me, if I went away ...... a month- or until he ran out of clean underwear, probably!!) Made up for it yesterday and much stroking went on and he disappeared for about 4 hours. Tour de France starts Sunday, so will have wall to wall cycling for a month now on TV!

SC - Blimey, it was lovely to lay and sunbathe and swim at 36 degrees, but certainly could not muster up energy for actually doing anyhting constructive!! AND your list looks mighty long! 15 mins, 15 mins (x 100)

QoD - I'm sure you've said before, but where are you? Hope DS is feeling better soon.

Toffee - I was really proud of my control journal that i made about 7 months ago ....... must admit I have not even looked at it for about 6 months!
Not as organised as Linzer, obviously!

Hi to nettie, Nick, DWM, DEM, MrsB, MrsD and everyone else.

Well, I actually made it into work today, which was miracle number 1, then miracle number 2, I actually produced some work!! Now ready to head off home, via the pet shop to buy a rabbit hutch. Bunnies being chosen next week and a run being produced by a friend. These rabbits are going to live like the Beckhams, I tell you!! 15 foot run!!!
DH had organised an evening out with work tonight, which I really didn't want to do, but got my head around it as it is probably the last one we will do (he leaves there in 4 weeks), but just as i ma looking forward to it he has just text to say its off!
Our wedding anniversary today (22 years), so a little miffed that a romantic evening was put aside for something that is now not going to happen.

Not a lot planned for thi afternoon, still needing to recover:
DD2, DD3 & DD4 to dentist after school
Washing machine marathon needs to be tackled
Errrr ..... ummmmmm ...... realistically, not a lot else!!!!

not stopping, migraine today so relaxing suffering. Was greatful that they canceled sports day this morning. my head wouldnt have tollerated shouting children. Got interview for job next week so looking forward to that. And ds is going to his dad's tonight so not too much of a problem in terms of quiet weekend. but manic between now and then and have to drive. it will be a late night which i really dont want. hope all are well. night.

Hi, very hot,feet hurt (Feetheart did you think of that when making your nickname?)
just been to long, far away, Dr appt with dd (well she wasn't meant to come but ended up there too)on bus/tube.
dd now in excellent mood after meeting charming professional Mothers are such amateurs.

I hour left to tidy whole house which is foul, and smells of old shoes, good thing I've washed all the laundry. Still to put away. Then I have to go to Hertfordshire to drop ds1 at 6.00. Scout camp till Sunday.

Then I have a weekend off from one child - woohoo. Two to go.

SC that is a very optimistic plan. Have you considered child swopping to giv eyourself occasional day off?

Just chatting to my very handsome next-door neighbour on our front-door step (on whom I have a secret crush) when DS2 came trotting out of the house wearing a sanitary pad stuck to his leg.

Positive - another one with a control journal! We are like a secret society.

Back to work now. No flying going on here today.