Keeping the Kitchen Clean

Time for a shocking confession from me...

My husband's friend Dan taught me how to keep my kitchen clean.

Most women would be embarrassed that a man taught them how to clean a kitchen,

but I am..

not...

well...
not really..

ok...
maybe a little bit.

Most of you know how much I struggle with the kitchen. My entire married life my kitchen has rarely been clean more than a handful of days at a time (usually surrounding a visit from my mom).

In fact, prior to baby #4, it wasn't uncommon for me to be so totally overwhelmed by the dishes that when company would come I would quickly throw large tea towels over the piles near the sink to give the appearance that they were drying under there!

*gasp*

After #4, I didn't even bother with the tea towels.

*another gasp*

So, really, in the grand scheme of things, Dan teaching me to keep my kitchen clean is much less embarrassing than letting my dishes rot under tea towels.

So, what's the trick Dan taught me that has revolutionized my kitchen?

I'll tell you in a second, but first I must explain something about myself in the hopes that I will not feel totally stupid someone out there can relate...

I didn't know HOW to keep my kitchen clean.

I couldn't get from Point A - Messy Kitchen to Point B - Clean Kitchen on my own.

It could be because I'm a very visual person and couldn't see what needed to be done. It could be I'm too flighty. It could be a million different things, but the truth of the matter is that if something isn't described to me in tiny baby steps more than likely I just won't get it.

For instance, my mom says,

"You just clean the kitchen as you go."

My brain hears,

"As you cook, your dishes magically become clean."

See the disconnect here?

So, I was quite grateful to Dan for his patience and ability to keep a straight face as he walked me through how to keep my kitchen clean. (This method assumes you have a dishwasher and a garbage disposal. If not, adjust accordingly...just don't ask ME how to make those adjustments...remember, I'm the one who thinks dishes magically clean themselves!)

1. Start your meal preparations by emptying your dishwasher...every.single.time.

2. As you cook, take any no-longer-used dishes and utensils directly to the sink, rinse foodstuff down garbage disposal and IMMEDIATELY place items in dishwasher.

3. When dishwasher is full (or semi-full), run dishwasher.

4. Repeat.

Yeah, I can hear all of you in bloggy land snickering at me, but that's ok. I'm a big girl. I can take it.

Actually, I'm going to blame it on my artsy nature. I can describe a rose, but I totally miss the fact that it is a rose! I'm more concerned about what kind of basket my fruit sits in. My dishes being clean and off the countertops really only matters to me because it might detract from my basket.

So, that, my friends, is how I keep my kitchen clean.

And if you're really nice to me I might even let you in on the step-by-step instructions I was given on how to get a meal to the table and actually eat at the same time as my family! (No, that tidbit of info did NOT come from Dan!)

Let me know if Family Table instructions even remotely interest you, because frankly, one time of totally embarrassing myself this week is plenty!