Brightest Blessings everyone! Okay guys here we go... I can't seem to keep the kitchen clean. No moatter what I do there's always dishes piling up. It's driving me batty!!!! I know that I can be lazy but this is just plain crazy. Any ideas or even a cleaning ritual or whatever, I will apperciate anything.

StarFire

StarFire, a while back I noticed that my kitchen never seemed to stay clean. About 20 years ago my stepwitch turned me on the trick of how to keep my kitchen organized and clean. Get rid of all the stuff you never use. Or at least store it somewhere else. One set of dishes, one set of flatware, the pots I use everyday... you know what I mean. The wedding gift pasta maker, toaster we never use, and all 5 can openers - out they went. Also, food in one place, dishes in another. Once I had 'enough' instead of too much it was so easy to keep up with it.

I really have to go thank her again. That tiny piece of wisdom has done wonders keeping my kitchen, house and sometimes my life running smooth and stress free.

Blessings, Deda

Starfire, if your main complaint is dishes piling up, I have a couple of suggestions that work for me.

It's easier and quicker to wash smaller amounts of dishes than a pile of dishes from several meals, so take care of whatever dirty dishes you have right after eating.

If you don't have time to wash them right away, at least take a few moments to rinse the food off before placing in the basin or dishwasher so that the food doesn't dry and harden on the plates.

Make everyone responsible for bringing their own dirty dishes to the sink and rinsing their own plates, cups and silverware off, thus helping to lighten your work load.

As I'm cooking a meal, I rinse off any utensils, dishes or pans that I'm finished with, so that I already have most of the larger items already taken care of before I even sit down to eat.

Immediately wipe up any spills on counters, stove or floor. Again, these are all faster and easier to wipe up before they dry and stick.

Every night after the last meal, I make sure my counter tops, stove top, and refrigerator door and handles are wiped cleaned and dried. This way, the kitchen is clean at the end of the day and clean in the morning for the start of a new day.

Thank you guys so much. I am going to try both ideas and see what happens. But first I'm going to get my hubby to help me![grin]

Thelma

We have the same exact kitchen cleaning habits. We must have been sisters in another life time.

Or pulled kp duty for being naughty.

Anala

Anala wrote:
Thelma

We have the same exact kitchen cleaning habits. We must have been sisters in another life time.

Or pulled kp duty for being naughty.

Anala

I'd like to think that perhaps we were sisters in another lifetime, but I've also had my share of being naughty. [lol][lol] I don't usually get kp duty for that, though. [evil]

I do the same thing as well with cleaning my kitchen. In the south, you can't mess around too long with letting dirty dishes sitting around for too long or the roaches and ants move in.

There is nothing that can piss me off quicker than waking up to see dishes in the sink that I know I could have done within 10 to 20 minutes the night before or something spilt on the floor! Rarely have I ever let that happen (only if I'm gravely ill) and most of the time, I can't even sit still and enjoy the rest of the evening if the kitchen not neat and tidy and wiped down. I'm freaky that way.

Oh, well that doesnt make you "freaky like that" lol. I'm usually so tired by the time dinner comes around everyday. These kids...sheesh.[bounce] But i'm going to try to adopt some new habits and mabey ill hve more energy and my kitchen will be clean or at least get clean everyday... thank you guys!!!

Bright Blessings
StarFire

Just remember starfire, that it's the little things one does that makes a difference. So, taking a moment to rinse off plates or silverware before the food hardens or having everyone rinse off their own dish and silverware all contributes to lightening your load and getting the job done. Although they take a moment here and there, they really do help in the long run. So, think of them as "shortcuts," and maybe they will appeal to you more.

Do you have time on Sundays to cook your dinners for three nights? Send the little ones outside to play and make meals for the week. This way you just pull from the freezer and warm up. It saves a little during the week on pots and pans. Gives more family time too. Then call for pizza one night. During the week is hectic and with little ones it is very hard. This way most of your clean up is utensils and cups. Put the meals on paper plates and toss when done. It is hard being supermom now a days.