The kids go off to school and you look back to the kitchen only to see a big pile of breakfast dishes either in the sink or scattered throughout the kitchen. You may even see a similar scene after school with snacks or even after dinner. Dishes can seem like a never-ending chore since you can’t just stop eating, and using plastic every day is just bad for the environment. There are a few different methods you can employ in your home to make the chore easier for you.
The One Dish Rule When my husband and I were first married, we barely used the dishwasher. Every time we dirtied a dish we washed it right away. This is definitely one of the more drastic approaches for a family, but well worth the effort. You purchase a different color plate, cup, bowl, etc. for each member of the family. If that person’s dish is dirty they have to wash it before they use it again. This method will leave you with only the chore of cleaning up the main dishes used for cooking!
The Responsibility Method Again, this requires purchasing different color dinnerware for each family member, but this time you KNOW who is leaving their dishes out and can punish accordingly. This method teaches the family to pick up after themselves, which will help in other areas of the house.
Dish Day Give each member of the family a day to do the dishes. This gives everyone a chance to feel the frustration of other members leaving their dishes out. It also takes the burden off of you for the constant flow of dishes.
Unload The last way to make sure that the dishes pile up inside the dishwasher instead of the sink is to run the dishwasher every night, and unload it first thing in the morning. If the dishwasher is empty the family can place their dishes straight into it instead of stopping off at the sink first.
Pick one of these methods or even combine ideas and your never-ending flow of dishes will not seem so endless.