What's a Minute Worth?

Last week, I picked up my copy of A Woman After God's Own Heart and came across this quote in regard to time management:
"How much is a minute worth? It's priceless or worthless--depending on how you use it."

Thinking about the results that can be accomplished in a minute well spent reminded me of my housework rewards program  I brainstormed last year--not a real rewards program, but a fun idea to reward using each minute to its fullest.

In A Woman After God's Own Heart®, Elizabeth George writes about the wise woman who builds her house (Proverbs 14:10). Conversely, she asks "how can a woman pull down her own home?" She shares that a woman can cause great destruction actively--through anger and through speaking words that "break, destroy, ruin and kill."

Yet, a woman can also ruin her home by being too passive--by "simply failing to work." She writes, "We can slowly erode the foundation of our home by our laziness, by 'never getting around to it,' (whatever 'it' may be), by neglect, by forgetting to pay a bill or two, by successfully putting things off, by not spending enough time at home. Then there's the problem of too much--too much TV, too much reading, too much shopping, too much time with friends, too much time spent on the telephone, and the latest 'too much'--too much time on the Internet."

These words were quite convicting to me, and I made a recommitment to pack a little more work--a little more exertion-- into some of the minutes of my day. Elizabeth George challenges us to find at least one thing each day we can do to build our homes. What is that one thing for you today?

Go, Bananas,Go!

Photo credit

Here's a simple tip to help your bananas last longer. When you pick a bunch at the store, immediately bag them in the clear fruit/vegetable bags that the store provides and tie them up. Being in the bag will keep brown spots at bay.

I read this tip in Family Feasts for $75 a Week by Mary Ostyn, and it really works! Last time I bought bananas, they were just about ripe. I put them in the bag, and they lasted for seven days before brown spots appeared. Once brown spots appear, the bananas are usually still fine on the inside. Sometimes, brownish bananas will be marked down at the store, and I have always found them to be great--despite the appearance of their skin.

If bananas reach a point of being too ripe for your preference, and you don't want to make banana bread, simply peel the skin, plastic wrap the banana and pop it in the freezer. You can grab your frozen bananas if you want to make bread later (just let them thaw in a bowl first). Or...our favorite use for frozen bananas--smoothies! The riper they are, the sweeter they taste--making them perfect for smoothies.
(I also cut the top part off my children's half-eaten bananas and freeze them too).

By bagging your bananas, you'll keep them fresher longer. Go, bananas, go!



Housekeeping: Nature or Nurture?

Coffee Talk Thursday



In college, I had a roommate who absolutely excelled at keeping our apartment immaculate 100-percent of the time. She would get home and scrub the bathroom, even if it didn't need cleaning. When she felt stressed, she cleaned. The place was spotless, I'm telling you. That is, if she were the only one living there. I lived there too, and I was a different story!

My roommate told me her mom was just like her--or perhaps I should say, she learned to be just like her mom, always cleaning until it was perfect and then keeping it that way. I grew up differently. One time, my roommate asked if I could pick up a little since "it was getting crazy in here." I didn't think it was that bad. Clutter made her uncomfortable; it made me perfectly comfortable!

To this day, living in (and maintaining) a cluttered home comes much more naturally to me than living in (and maintaining) a spotless house. I don't have the same drive to clean, and keep cleaning, that my roommate (and other people) possess. Whether that's due to nature (the way I was born) or nurture (the way I was raised), I don't know. Regardless, I can continue to learn tips to help me maintain a more tidy home most of the time. I can continue to develop discipline to retrain myself away from bad (and sometimes just plain sloppy) habits. I shared seven habits that can really help in my guest post at Organizing Junkie. I share other tips here, as I learn and grow.

So what do you think? Does being good at cleaning depend on your personality in terms of the way you were born, or do you think it comes more from the way you were raised, or a little of both?

When You Give Your Child a Cleaning Cloth...

My kids love the book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Real life inspired a new version of the book for my family. It all started the day before we hosted play group and cleaned like crazy. My three-year old helped me clean the glass and other smudges around the house. I paid him a quarter for helping with a good spirit and gave him lots of hugs and praise. Since then, he hasn't stopped wanting to help clean (more than I even want to clean each day!). Here's our version:

If you give your child a cleaning cloth,
He'll ask for a spray bottle.
If you give him a spray bottle,
He'll ask for something to clean.

When you give him something to clean,
He'll spray and spray,
And you'll have to remind him to
wipe and wipe until it's dry.

When it's dry, he'll ask for something else to clean.
When you give him something else to clean,
He'll be so happy, he'll spray until his bottle's empty.
Then he'll ask you to refill his bottle so he can clean some more.

After he's cleaned some more,
He'll ask you if you can mop the floor.
You'll say no.
You'll be surprised you've been shown up by a three-year old,
who is more motivated to clean than you.

The next day, he'll see the spray bottle
And you know what he'll ask.
He'll want to clean some more.
So you'll let him.

Then he'll look at the floor.
So you know what he'll want.
He'll ask to mop the floor.
You realize you should probably mop your floor...someday.
He'll help you.
Tomorrow.

What's The Problem?

Ok, so the title of that post sounds sassy, doesn't it? What I mean, though, is that when we are feeling frustrated--like something isn't right--in any area (parenting, marriage, housekeeping, etc.), the first step in solving the problem is to first figure out exactly what the problem is. Then we can make a plan to address it and work to improve it.

One housekeeping frustration I've been having lately concerns laundry. This system helps me stay on track with folding and putting laundry away. The problem is that everyday, I take all the dirty laundry down to the laundry room and empty the baskets there. Lately, this has been creating quite the pile on the floor. It looks quite a bit like this. Not a pretty sight.

So how do I solve the problem? I think for me the solution is to resist the urge to grab all the dirty laundry each day and dump it downstairs. Do set loads each day, and only gather up what fits in that load (colored, gentle, whites, etc).

Sure, there won't be clean and clear laundry hampers throughout the house. But I have a better chance of maintaining a clean and clear laundry room floor! Plus, it won't be such an embarrassment if an unexpected guest needs to use that bathroom.

I would love to hear how you keep laundry from piling up in your laundry room. Your systems may really help me (and others) too!