Kitchen Calm Restored.
Friday, August 17, 2012 at 8:17PM We eat dinner fairly early. Around 5:30pm each night. By 6pm our kitchen is a war zone. A day's worth of dirty plastics, milk bottles, soiled bibs, dinner preparation mess etc. {and we only have 2 kids, imagine the mess-stress I'd feel if we had a heap more kids haa}
I'm not good with that scene staying like that for long. I'm not the kind of person who leaves the dinner clean-up until the morning. Some nights, I wish I could. But, I just can't.
6pm kitchen view.
This is a third of the mess. I'd started cleaning up before I thought to take a photo.
Chris cooked tonight :)
At the moment, Ryder goes to bed at around 6pm-ish. By then Ella is also bathed & fed, so 6pm is her quiet independent play time. As soon as Ryder is settled & asleep, I'm a Mumma on a mission.
Almost every evening, I stare at the mess, and think "Oh my god, where do I even start, my kitchen will never look nice again!" Yet night after night, it gets done, and order is easily reset. Calm restored.
Within 30-45 minutes, the dishwasher has been stacked & is humming nicely, baby bottles washed, sterilised & refilled, tea towels replaced, floors swept, tables cleared, plastics hand-washed and benches scrubbed down with a frothy concoction of hot, lemony goodness.
I feel an instant sense of calm when all of this is done. Like the evening can really begin now.
6:45pm kitchen scene. Ahh :)
Ella then gets tucked into bed with books & cuddles.
Sometimes wine is poured & the TV is clicked on. And I breathe. It's nice to unwind & know the chores of the day are done.
There's just something about a clean kitchen. The world is happier for it, I swear :)))
And then I get ready to do it all again, tomorrow.
Night All xx
Are you a clean up the kitchen before bed kinda person? Or a 'deal with it tomorrow' kinda soul?
clean freak, help me, kitchen, mess in {My Life}, {Real Life}
Reader Comments (9)
I' m afraid I'm a clean-up-as-soon-as-it's-done kind of person ! My hubby and children would say I have rather a leaning towards OCD ( or should that be CDO !) I just like things to be sorted out and feel very relaxed when the house is all clean and organised !
Sad, I know, but it makes me happy !!!!
I'm definitely with you on this one Claire!! I hate waking up to a messy kitchen & like to have everything clean & tidy so I can sit down & chill out before bed! I totally agree with there is something about a clean kitchen! I have a feeling of satisfaction when my kitchen is restored back to normal! Ahhhhhh :) looking at my Clean kitchen now & smiling! :) xx
Haha.. I'm a clean up the kitchen before bed kind of person and I even put the cushions/tidy the coffee table..remotes etc and put it all the in the right place!!I'm definitely ocd :) It's only my Partner and I can't imagine what it will be like when we have children. Enjoy your clean kitchen!
You sound like me Claire :) I can't sit down and relax on the lounge with mess and clutter around me. Dishes have to be in dishwasher or done by hand, toys away and our living area as tidy as I can get it, especially our bench. Your nighttime routine sounds very efficient. Grace takes SO long to eat her meal that even though I give it to her at 5.30, she is often still eating past 6 and so baths are sometimes at 6 and sometimes not until 6.30.
Hope you have a great weekend Claire x
This is me to a tee! I feel anxious unless the kitchen & living room are spotless before going to bed. A clean kitchen (& tidy house) allow me to wake up with a clean slate to start the day :-)
I have been known to leave the kitchen in a mess overnight. I have been known to dump everything in the sink and go to bed without washing up straight away. I have been known to do it all without feeling guilty. I don't do it often but I have done it from time to time :(
PS: I wish I had a lovely modern kitchen like yours. It looks beautiful compared to the 20 year old one I have. Although saying that we have had lots of happy moments in our kitchen, cooking and laughing together. It is one of the rooms in our house we seem to hang out in a lot.
I leave the dishes sometimes (especially when the Mister tells me to leave it and he'll do it the next day) but I always feel better if I clean it up before bed. It seems like such a mammoth task but once you get started it's easy to just keep going!
Amen.
(The thing I never get is why the men generally get to sit in front of the TV with their feet up after the kids are tucked in, while we are wiping down the kitchen, doing dishes etc... BEFORE our evening can officially start)
Oh, the before picture is such a familiar sight!,