The end of the day can be a busy time for many people. Families want to eat, do homework, or go do activities, get all the kids brushed and dressed up for the next day, and get them to bed. So washing the dishes can wait all night till the next day. By including washing the dishes in the bedtime routine, families will have the work done in the kitchen so that everything is prepared for the next day.
Set A Regular Time
A regular time for washing dishes can make the task easier to fit into everyday family life. Families should set aside a regular time for dishwashing in their evenings to allow it to become a habitual activity that occurs after other tasks have been completed. Depending on the family, doing the dishes can occur right after the evening meal. Other families may find it best to do the kitchen cleanup before the children are to go to bed.
The timing of the dishwashing should be set according to the general schedule that the family uses for their evenings rather than something that causes added stress. If the evenings are generally busier for the family and the children are going to bed later, then the family dishwashing can become a shortened activity to avoid added stress. Clearing the table, loading the dishwasher and removing food residue can be enough cleanup to put off more thorough dishwashing until the next day.
Assign Family Responsibilities
Dishes don’t necessarily have to be strictly the parents’ or the people responsible for managing the kitchen. The parents can give some age-appropriate tasks to their children so that they do their share of cleaning up the kitchen. The younger ones can bring whatever they have in the sink to the kitchen while the older siblings can handle table clearing, loading the dishwasher, and putting clean plates in their place.
Each family member can be given a predictable task that makes it easier to get everyone involved in doing the dishes. Kids are less likely to stop what they are doing to ask a parent for instructions on how to help with the kitchen cleanup when they know what responsibilities to take on. Those responsibilities can change as family members grow and can handle more involved kitchen duties.
Connect Cleanup With Bedtime
A child’s job can be incorporated into another bedtime routine as a way to make the chore stick, by attaching it to an already established habit. One way to do this would be to make sure that the children can’t brush their teeth or get ready for bed until they have finished the kitchen cleanup. In addition, this chore can be turned into a part of the bedtime routine that becomes more solidified every night that it is followed.
Parents can use this as a reminder to the children that other tasks need to be completed or cleaned up before bedtime. Returning cups and dishes to the kitchen as well as cleaning up any leftover food can become a bedtime routine. This would lessen the morning cleanup and lightens the load from everyone’s morning routine by minimizing the amount of leftover food from the previous night’s dinner.
Make Dishwasher Use Simple
I think that the use of a dishwasher would be an excellent idea when it comes to making washing dishes a nightly chore. All family members should know how to operate or use the dishwasher properly and what their individual jobs are in order to prepare the dishes for the dishwasher. Doing this can help minimize the amount of work that needs to be done to clean and dry the dishes after they are put back in the cabinet after being washed in the dishwasher.
Making sure that the detergent needed for the dishwasher is also easily found and not in multiple places can help too. Both dishwasher pods and detergents have directions written on the packaging about how to use the pod or detergent for the best results for a particular dishwasher. The pods and detergents should also be kept away from children in order to prevent them from consuming any of the poison.
Keep The Sink Clear
A clear sink is an indicator that the family has addressed as much cleanup as they can before bed. Dishes that can’t go into the dishwasher can be washed or soaked to remove any food that might be stuck on them. The surfaces in the kitchen where meals are prepared and eaten can also be wiped so that no food residue is left overnight.
Families don’t necessarily have to do an extensive deep cleaning before bed. They just have to make sure that the essentials, like using the dishwasher tablets and taking care of food storage, are attended to before they leave the kitchen for the night. This can help make bedtime less inconvenient without keeping families up too late.
Prepare For The Morning
The morning can be much less hectic if the family knows that the dishes have been taken care of. Plates can be put away so that breakfast preparation can be faster in the morning. This can allow the entire family to have a more peaceful morning as everyone gets ready for the day ahead. The dishwasher can also be emptied before going to bed or first thing in the morning so that its use can be maximized.
The family can also prepare for the next day’s meals in the evening to reduce the amount of work they have to do when everyone is trying to get ready for the day. Containers used for lunches can be returned to their storage place, and the area designated for meal preparation can be cleared so that they are ready for use. Doing these things in the evening can help ensure that morning routines aren’t slowed down by kitchen duties.
Conclusion
Making dishwashing a bedtime routine makes it easier for families to get clean dishes done without spending too much time on it, thus reducing the stress of an otherwise hectic evening. Having a set time for it, giving responsibilities to everyone, making it easier to use the dishwasher, and also preparing for the next day’s breakfast can help families take care of the most basic of chores without having to spend too much time on it. Thus, this can help avoid the morning realisation that dishes still need to be cleaned.
