Kitchen Hacks I Promise Will Save your Sanity

My kitchen is the hub of our house. We do much more than eat in the kitchen. Homework takes place in the kitchen, the laptop has a permanent spot at the end of the table, papers get piled on the bar. I’m going to guess that somewhere >80% of all conversations in our house take place in the kitchen. But it’s also the hardest to keep tidy. Stuff gets dumped on empty counters like they have a magnetic pull. Empty counters are empty no more. I find rubber bands from braces, dirty socks pulled off feet, scissors and tape extracted from the junk drawer, and a stack of coupons waiting to be sorted. What’s a mama to do? This is life, in all it’s messiness. But… I have some hacks for you that have helped me keep my sanity. They may not solve the problem of piles of papers, but they will help you tidy up! Here’s my top 3 hacks:

1.Use paper plates.        We go through a lot of paper plates. Paper plates save my sanity. As it is, I already run the dishwasher one or two times daily, so I can’t imagine how many more times I would have to run it if we didn’t use paper plates. Yes, I know, save the environment. But I’m saving water, on the dishes….right?? We buy paper plates in bulk, usually the smaller size, as we use them primarily at breakfast and lunch. It’s nice to have the kids make lunch before school without leaving a sinkful of dishes!

2.Color Code your kids. Ha! Just kidding…

Actually, color code their dishes, in particular, cups. It’s probably just me, but in my house cups apparently mate and have offspring overnight! What should be six cups is now 26…. So, obviously, reproducing! My husband came up with a plan: every child and parent gets a color of plate, bowl, and cup. Here would be an example (this is not an affiliate link, and I am not endorsing any products). Now the plate and bowl get a little tricky for me, because once you’ve used it and put it in the dishwasher, it’s the next mealtime and there’s no plate. Or you could buy two of each color- there’s another idea. But cups? Cups, in my humble opinion, can and should be used all day. And if you don’t have your cup clean, then you’d best find it and wash it!  A couple of advantages to this plan: it’s easy at night to tell who is leaving their cup and plate on the table, and who has cleaned up after the meal. And, it forces the kids (and you and your spouse!) to be responsible for your own dishes. You eliminate the argument of “It’s not my plate; I cleared my plate,” and “I don’t have a cup!” even though you’re quite sure they left one on the coffee table and one in the basement and maybe one in their room! It’s also easy to identify a non-color-coded cup: hmmm…what’s this? Someone has a green cup out, but nobody is assigned to green! You can catch them red-handed!

The caveat is this: this plan works if you work the plan. It is easy to ditch a plan after a vacation, or one day when the dishes aren’t clean. But if you always stay with the plan, ridiculously on repeat about what color cup and plate belongs to you and you, your kids and spouse will stick to the plan as well.

3. Assign a kitchen helper.

A mini-me who will be your assistant for the meals. You could do this daily or weekly. First, the extra set of hands is, well, helpful. Second, it is an opportunity for your kids to see how much effort goes into getting a meal on the table, and cleaning up after the meal. Third, it teaches them life skills. Skills like how to load the dishwasher, how to wipe the table, where we put away food in the refrigerator. Your kids will be ahead of the curve if they learn these lessons young! Fourth, it is quality time together. You get a few minutes with one kiddo at a time, washing dishes or explaining how to load the dishwasher. Will they want to do it?  That’s probably doubtful, at least in the beginning. But they may come to like it. I think my kids like being trusted with tasks. For example, I need you to get out everything we need for salad. Or, can you chop these tomatoes to go on the tacos? And they know how to do it! That feeling of confidence is an added bonus.

I hope you consider instituting a couple of these hacks; I think you will find heading into the kitchen less daunting, and more enjoyable. Investing a little bit of extra time in the beginning to get organized will be well worth it when you establish routine and as you see your little ones learn responsibility!

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