Kitchen Goals: Cooking - Cleaning

[Mini Mia]

I have developed a bad habit of piling up dirty dishes until I can't see what's beneath them. Today, after fixing 'weenies & kraut' and 'fried cornbread,' I washed everything I used, except the pan & lid for the 'weenies & kraut,' since there's enough for two more meals. It shall go into the fridge once it has cooled down. (Probably ready to go in fridge ... I best do that before I forget.)

My goal is to either wash what I use when done with them, or rinse them off and set them in the dishwasher to run once it's full. (I've made this goal numerous times, but hoping eventually it sticks.)

What are your kitchen 'cooking - cleaning' goals?

[Phalon]

Oh-my-gosh, one of my biggest pet peeves are dirty dishes piled in the sink; I'm actually gritting my teeth just thinking about my family doing this. I'd rather they stack them on the counter next to the sink than in the sink, but if they're on the counter, why the hell not put them directly into the dishwasher which is right below where you're stacking them?!

I have lectured them so many times how *&%$ing simple it is - you use a dish, cup, or whatever, you rinse it off, and put it in the dishwasher; it takes literally less than 5 seconds. During dinner, I don't clear the table - it's everyone's responsibility to take their plates and utensils to the sink, rinse them, and put them in the dishwasher. It's a group effort to wash the pans and whatever doesn't go into the dishwasher, and put food into containers to go into the fridge.

Anything used after dinner or in the morning, is the girls' responsibility - it was LX's daily chore when she lived at home, and when she left for college, it became BP's responsibility: empty the dish-drainer and the dishwasher if clean, and put any dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Ten minutes tops if the dishwasher is clean. LX had it down to a science, and if her friends were here, they knew they had to put their own stuff in the dishwasher because LX wasn't going to do it for them. BP, not so much...

...since she took over, it seems every dish as a chip because there are times she slams them a bit to roughly while putting them away as a signal she's displeased at having to take precious time out of her schedule to do something so mundane as emptying the dishwasher. She and her friends also cook a lot more in my kitchen than LX and her friends did - LX's and her friends' idea of cooking was microwaving chicken nuggets; BP and her friends cook entire meals from scratch. They'll clean up after themselves if I'm around; if I'm not here, they'll sometimes leave dirty dishes in the sink....and they will stay there until BP cleans them up herself, because I'm not doing it, and she'll not be able to hang out with her friends until she does.

Urgh, end of rant. Like I said, it drives me nuts just thinking about it!

[Mini Mia]

I know people who are ‘neat freaks.’ They’re _too_ OCD about it. I don’t want to be OCD about cleaning, but I wish I was a teeny bit more ‘freakish’ about cleaning than I am. I bought several cleaning books when I moved out on my own. One states that a child old enough to make a mess is old enough to clean it up.

I’ve seen videos of small children going out and catching snakes by themselves to sell and make money to feed their family. Children are capable of handling more responsibilities than a lot of adults think they are. Though I think there should be a line drawn in what they’re made to do. Their chores should be age appropriate. I feel sorry for the children who have to grow up too fast and are loaded down with adult responsibilities.

[Phalon]

I'm by no means OCD about cleaning, or even a neat freak. Dirty dishes in my kitchen though - it's probably the easiest thing as far as keeping things clean to do; dirty them, rinse them, put them in the dishwasher. We've got a big kitchen, but since the house is about 130 years old and was built without plumbing or electric, it's poorly laid out - there's a lot of wasted space, and very little counter space. A stack of dishes next to the sink or in the sink, means I'd have to first take care of them just to prep dinner. (Oh, how I wish when we did the house renovations, we could have done the whole kitchen! A total kitchen redo though, was just so far out of budget, I had to pick-and-choose between the necessary and the wish-fors!)

Children are capable of handling more responsibilities than a lot of adults think they are. Though I think there should be a line drawn in what they’re made to do. Their chores should be age appropriate. I feel sorry for the children who have to grow up too fast and are loaded down with adult responsibilities.

I feel the same on all accounts. No one is doing a child a favor by coddling them too much - kids need age appropriate responsibilities in order to grow into responsible young adults. On the opposite side, is piling too much responsibility on a child - let them be kids while they can. Although they're expected to do a few things around the house, I've always told the girls their main "job" is school, which is a full-time job, and then some!