(How I wish this was a photograph of my kitchen, and not just a random photograph from the interwebs!)
Some rooms in the house I'm finding are easy to keep tidy than others. The upstairs loo is always tidy. Sometimes the bin needs to be emptied, but it's never overflowing. The bathroom is almost always tidy. Our bedroom is generally pretty tidy. The bed is made almost every day, dirty dishes don't congregate, dirty laundry normally end up in the laundry basket, and clean clothes are normally put away.
But the kitchen. Oh, the kitchen! This is a room that needs a lot of work. It get tidied and cleaned, and I close my eyes for two seconds and it's messy again. It's currently looking rather good, and a plan of attack is required to keep it that way!
1. Wash the dishes and pots as cooking is happening. The first job when cooking will be to fill the sink with hot soapy water. In the lulls in cooking, the utensils, dishes and pot will be washed up. It really feels amazing when the cooking has been done, the meal eaten, and all that's left to do is wash the plates and cutlery we have just used.
2. Create a post-dinner routine. The current one sucks. It's eat dinner in the sitting room. Sit, sit and sit some more, and at some random time take the dirty dishes through to the kitchen and set them down by the sink. What needs to happen is we eat in the dining room, and at the end of the meal, take the dishes through to the kitchen. As the sink is being filled, put away the pre-dinner washing up. Then transfer any leftovers into single portion containers and pop in the fridge or freezer. Wash the dishes, take out the veggie scraps to the compost pile, and clean the counters.
3. Sweep the floor. Since Ava joined us, I've noticed an increase in the amount of dirt and sand being brought into the house. The floor needs to be swept every single day.
