Have you ever heard the phrase “I should have followed my first mind?” The statement usually follows an incident where something goes wrong. Someone then swears that a little voice told them to make a different choice and that they ignored it.

On Wedneday night, a little voice told me to do laundry as I pulled the last set of clean underwear from Elyse’s drawer at bathtime. “Oh no,” I thought. “It can wait until tomorrow. There is a basket of clean clothes in the TV room.” I found out the next morning after Elyse had a small accident that the aforementioned basket of clothes was actually a basket of sheets. As I stood in the bathroom drying a pair of panties with a hairdryer, I cursed myself for not following my first mind.

So, of course, yesterday’s five minutes was dedicated to laundry. But after I spent three minutes sorting Elyse’s clothes, I realized that she didn’t have a lot of underwear.

Hold up. I bought a 10-pack of Dora AND a four-pack of Princess Tiana. How is it that I only found seven pair?

I searched my entire house for a pile of abandoned laundry. I looked under every bed. I dug through the hamper in the basement like a miner in the California Gold Rush. There was a hint of white at the bottom. “Aha!” I yelled.

It was one of Mike’s workout towels. Damn. Fool’s gold.

I gave up and washed what I had. When I couldn’t find Elyse’s Dora overnight bag for a trip to Grandma’s, I made a call.

“Momma, do you have some of Elyse’s clothes? I’m packing a bag for her to go to Mike’s mom’s.”

“Oh yeah, I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

“Do you have any of her underwear?”

“I think so, but not that much. Maybe three or four pairs. I’ll wash her stuff and get it to you.”

There are two things I know about my mom. One, “three or four pairs” means five or six pairs. Two, Momma is notoriously bad about laundry. Elyse will have outgrown these clothes by three sizes by the time she gets to washing them.

Looks like I’ll be making a trip to Grandma’s this weekend too.

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There’s a stack of unread magazines and junk mail spread across my kitchen counter like weeds in a rain-drenched field. Today, I was determined to use five minutes to make a dent in the unwieldy mass.

But something on top of the pile caught my attention. It was a white strip of paper stapled in a circle to make a hat. It had a little red cross on the front. I put it on my head and walked into the family room.

“Elyse – what’s this?”

She giggled. “A nurses hat. We made it at school.”

“When?”

She shrugged. “I don’t remember.” I felt like a terrible mom instantly, because I’m sure it’s been here for at least a week.

“What do nurses do?”

Elyse told me all about them. Nurses could be girls or boys. They help with surgery, especially ones where babies are born. They are nice, and they take care of you when you are sick.

We had grilled cheese sanwiches and Brussels sprouts for dinner. Strange, I know, but we like it. After a few rounds of Wii tennis, it was bath and story time.

This hour with my little one is what my five-minute challenges are all about. I want to clear out the clutter, literally and figuratively, so I can do the things that are most important to me. For one whole hour today, I was in a moment that really mattered. And I wasn’t worried about cleaning or bills or anything else, because I knew I would get to it eventually – five minutes at a time.

Oh, and Elyse thought that I looked funny in her nurses hat, so she took a picture. Enjoy.

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One of the problems with my five-minute challenge is finding the time around the ever-growing needs of my daughter.

When Mini Me was an infant, I could sneak in naps or chores around her feedings. She was easily distracted by shiny objects, which I used often to distract her so I could get things done. But she’s too smart for that now. At five years old, she is full of energy and questions, and as an only child, she expects my full attention. I have reacquainted myself with Barbie, Candyland, Chutes and Ladders, and Strawberry Shortcake. Now, she is learning to read, and daycare sends homework twice a week. The latest focus: reading.

These Sassy bathtub letters have been a lifesaver. I can spell words on the tub and shower wall for her to read while she takes a bath. We get education and cleanliness out of the same five minutes! If you have younger kids, these are good to teach colors and numbers too.

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=15125110

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I didn’t blog over the weekend, but I don’t want you to think I’ve given up already! I had plenty to get done this weekend, and sorry to say, none of it could be done in five minutes.

Haircare Saturday. My daughter has a long, thick mane of hair that I attempt to tame by keeping in braids. Those who know me understand this is a particularly difficult challenge because I can’t do my own hair to save my life. Taking down the old braids, shampooing, blowdrying, and styling into new braids is, at minimum, 2 hours. It used to take 3, so I am improving. Thank God I only do that once a week.

After finishing Elyse’s hair, I was off to have my own wig smoked. It was crowded at the salon, and nearly every one of Lisa’s customers needed a relaxer, and one brought in a bag of weave. Needless to say, Saturday was shot.

Praising the Lord on Sunday. After getting all confused with Daylight Savings Time, we made it to church just in time to hear the preacher give the message. Then it was a trip to the airport to turn in my busted suitcase, which is another story altogether. It should have taken less than five minute to look up my info and offer an apology, but the computers were down. The clerk was nice to me, but I could tell her attitude was up about the system not working. She was growling at the computer and muttering about how her coworkers in the back room never did any work. Total time – 35 minutes.

A trip to Target, where Elyse and I also had lunch, two baskets of laundry, and the ironing of this week’s school and work clothes rounded out the day.

So, the weekend turned out to be a five-minute bust. Oh – I did learn that I can unload and reload the dishwasher in 5 min., 15 sec. I’ll take that small victory.

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Starting the day. I realized that I’ve successfully crammed parts of my morning routine into a five-minute time span. There was a time when I could walk out of the house with a bare face and look respectable. Thos days are pretty much gone. Makeup is a requirement. I avoided it for years because I used to watch my mom take 30 minutes to apply her face, and I just don’t have that much time.

I can do it in less than five. I figured out what products are necessary for me to feel like a human being, and I stick with those. All-in-one foundation, undereye concealer, blush, and gloss. With haircombing, that takes 2.5 minutes. Today, I felt jazzy and added liner and mascara. Total time, 3:13. Check it out – I may not be ready for the Oscars, but I think I look pretty good.

Night-time cleanup. My five-year-old daughter is a creative soul, and the products of her imagination pepper our family room with paper folded into unknown contraptions, Barbie shoes, and colored pencils. I make her put things away at bedtime, but the room still looks messy. While she was using the potty, I put away TV trays, tossed broken crayons and old papers, and threw a few dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Total time – 4:47. That means I may get time to do my nails before bed. If I can figure out a five-minute manicure, I’ll let you know.

Oh, this blog did take more than five minutes; I wrote part of it this morning while my husband drove me to work. I’m going to work on being more timely with the writing.