Throw away as you go
Keep your counters trash-free
The School for Housewives brings you short, practical, and thoughtful messages to inspire you to make your home. If you’re new here, go to the homepage for the previous Lessons; the categories are arranged in the menu bar at the top.
Somewhere along my self-training in the kitchen, I decided to impose immediate trash removal on my process.
Unwrapping a block of cheese? Immediately throw the wrapper away. Cheese should be re-wrapped properly, so you’re just kidding yourself with some vague idea that it’s useful.
Opening a package of chicken thighs? Rinse the tray and plastic or whatever it is and chuck it — don’t let it sit in the sink. Use a paper towel to open the trash door or drawer so you aren’t spreading chicken toxicity all around. What held me back was having dirty hands; figuring out my protocol made me able to deal with it right away.
Package of nuts? Grab a jar to put the rest in and immediately throw the package away. That little bit of plastic you have to pry off a condiment or spice jar? Yup…
The mentality of leaving trash on the counters until the final cleanup is not helping your overall happiness about the time you spend there. It’s not nice. It’s not aesthetic. You aren’t saving time at all, because as you’re preparing things, you’re having to move that ugly mess this way and that and the clutter is making you antsy and less efficient.
Just stop for the second it takes right then and there and throw it away.
As with everything here at the SFH, the best thing is for you to take my ideas, which come from my experience of escaping feminism to enjoy the gift of 46 years of marriage, seven children, and more than a score of grandchildren, and apply them to your situation with discernment, prudence, and confidence — and a sense of humor!
Be happy at home!
Could you become a free or paid subscriber? That way you won’t miss anything!
As a paid subscriber, you can comment and join the chat!
If you don’t wish to subscribe just now, I understand! How about…
For the longer version of this Substack and much more on this topic:
My 3-volume book on Order and Wonder in Family Life: