@JimmyJames70 @Dad_O what is it that you do in that kitchen night after night to make it so messy? Wait. Maybe I don't want to know…
Innocent enough, but it got me thinking: why the hell is the kitchen so hard to keep clean?
Tonight, I decided to investigate.
Yesterday, Amy and I teamed up to clean everything. All the dishes were done, right down to the silly crap that you have to handwash. That meant that when we went to sleep there was literally not a single dirty dish in the house (and as it turns out, when that is the case, the cupboards don't really have room for all the clean stuff, but that doesn't come up much).
So tonight as I loaded the dishwasher, I took inventory of how many dirty dishes our little family of three managed to accumulate during the approximately 12 hours between when I leave for work and when we put the little one to bed.
Here's the list, again, keeping in mind that we are a household of two adults and one small child.
In no particular order, tonight's dirty dishes include:
- Two sauce pans (with lids)
- One large frying pan
- Two whisks
- A wooden spoon
- Two serving spoons
- One pinch bowl (I think that's what it is)
- Seven glasses
- One kid bowl
- Three kid spoons
- Eight forks
- Eight spoons
- Three steak knives
- A butter knife
- A measuring cup
- Two kid cups (with lids)
- Three Tupperware containers
- One measuring cup
- One snack cup
- Eleven plates
- Eleven bowls
- Eight forks
- Eight spoons
- Three steak knives
- One meat tenderizers
If you do the math, that works out to just over 30 dirty items per person per day. So, @JimmyJames70, to answer your question and mine, that is why the kitchen is so hard to clean.
Although we are, it seems, finally getting a grip on it and I think have managed to cobble together a system that at least gets us back to zero each night. And really, how can we ask for anything more than that?
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Ok... I'm home all day. Granted with out the toddler. But I don't even come CLOSE to using that, then add in toddler and husband once we're all home and i'm still trying to do the math. It's making my head hurt. :) If i were less environmentally/cost conscious, i'd say paper dude... but alas...
ReplyDeleteWe reuse cups and glasses for all of us all day long, so that helps our count. We find the difference to be who is in charge of the meal - I use fewer utensils (why whisk if I can use a fork?) and I clean up as I go. My wife is quite the opposite. Ahh well.
ReplyDeleteThe part that cracks me up is the eight spoons and eight forks. Here's a trick: use the same fork through the whole meal. I know it's tempting to use one fork for the meat, one fork for the mashed potatoes and another fork for the peas...but that's really not necessary.
ReplyDeleteWhat the eff are we doing all day that generates so many dishes?! I'm the one here all day, and all I can come up with is Evil Dish-Dirtying Gnomes of Hatred.
ReplyDeleteMy suggestion would be not to eat! LOL...you have more then my family of 5 (includes 3 children 6yo and younger). However you did identified a problem, researched it, calculated the data and same up with a solution....IMPRESSIVE! Good luck
ReplyDeleteMy husband always blames me for the messy kitchen. And he would be right. For some reason I love to put random things on the counters, like bras. Why do I put them there? I have no idea, but my husband usually finds one there at least twice a week.
ReplyDeleteOh. My. Goodness. See, when I read things like that it makes me want to RACE to the market and get some paper plates. Holy Cannoli! I saw your blog linked at the Miller Mix today as one of her favorites. Came to say hi : )
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