Periodically, I'll post some tips and tricks for domestic sanity. No, it isn't crafty - but it is domestic.
Today I'm going to 'fess up and tell you that if you come to my house mid-morning, you'll see a dirty kitchen. That's right. It'll be dirty. But, if you're here after lunch, you'll see that it's clean. It'll (usually) be clean before bedtime again.
Somewhere in my journey to domestic bliss, I learned that if I became a slave to keeping my kitchen clean, I'd never sit down. I'm the mom in a family of five. We do a lot of eating and a lot of dish dirtying. Now, instead of rushing in to clean the kitchen every time it gets dirty, I wait until the kids are eating. We sit down and eat dinner as a family, but during breakfast and lunch I serve as a go-fer. Who am I kidding? I am a go-fer at dinner, too. The only difference is that at dinner I make a concerted effort to SIT with the family and eat.
The rest of the time, I clean the kitchen and talk with the kids while they eat. It serves a dual-purpose. The kitchen gets clean and I visit with the kids while they eat. Okay, really it's a triple purpose - I don't have to sit and look fascinated when the kids talk about legos for the gagillionth time. Plus, it gives them a chance to talk without me interfering. I'm in the room, I hear what's happening, I follow the conversation, interjecting when appropriate and I get the kitchen cleaned while they're eating. I'm also already up on my feet when go-fer duty calls. By the end of the meal, they're full, we've visited, I'm not insane from talking about Kung Fu Panda (again), and the kitchen's cleaned.
How often/when do you clean your kitchen?
~ G
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