1 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:09,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning. 2 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:16,840 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:22,400 Speaker 1: tip is to establish a household rule that nothing stays 4 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:26,200 Speaker 1: in the sink. People spend a lot of time in 5 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:30,360 Speaker 1: the kitchen, and keeping the kitchen from descending into chaos 6 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:33,600 Speaker 1: can go a long way toward making the house as 7 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:38,680 Speaker 1: a whole feel more orderly. So if your household is 8 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:43,720 Speaker 1: like mine, you have probably noticed something. Clutter attracts clutter. 9 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:47,479 Speaker 1: If one piece of mail is left on the counter, 10 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:52,400 Speaker 1: it becomes a magnet for others. People just drop the 11 00:00:52,479 --> 00:00:55,960 Speaker 1: junk mail there without throwing it out, whereas if the 12 00:00:56,040 --> 00:01:00,520 Speaker 1: counter is clear most of the time won't be the 13 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:05,440 Speaker 1: first one to leave something there. Same with communal spaces 14 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:08,679 Speaker 1: such as a hallway. A few years ago we had 15 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 1: boxes from moving in the hallway upstairs, and these boxes 16 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:16,280 Speaker 1: attracted all sorts of random objects getting piled on top 17 00:01:16,319 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 1: of them. I got rid of the boxes, and now 18 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:25,000 Speaker 1: the hallway has stayed clear for years. I didn't get 19 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:29,479 Speaker 1: different family members. It's just that now a single item 20 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:33,600 Speaker 1: left in the hallway will attract attention. What is that 21 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:38,320 Speaker 1: doing here? There is accountability for it. So in general 22 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 1: people don't do it. This definitely applies to the sink 23 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:46,240 Speaker 1: and my house. Dishes get dirty at three different meals 24 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:49,040 Speaker 1: during the day, to say nothing of snacks. But as 25 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:51,560 Speaker 1: much as possible, we try to establish a routine that 26 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:56,840 Speaker 1: nothing stays in the sink. If anyone leaves a dirty 27 00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:00,160 Speaker 1: dish in the sink, it becomes a free for all. 28 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:03,720 Speaker 1: Soon the dishes are stacked up and no one feels 29 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:07,120 Speaker 1: accountable for any of it. Better to keep the sink 30 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:12,200 Speaker 1: clear and not have the pile up happen. This is 31 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:17,200 Speaker 1: accomplished by a few things. First, the dishwasher runs late 32 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:21,280 Speaker 1: at night, after people are most likely done with creating 33 00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:25,680 Speaker 1: dirty dishes. The dishwasher is then emptied first thing in 34 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:29,760 Speaker 1: the morning. That means that when people are creating dirty dishes, 35 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:35,239 Speaker 1: there is space in the dishwasher for them to go. Next, 36 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:37,920 Speaker 1: anyone leaving dishes in the sink is called out on it. 37 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:41,280 Speaker 1: A child who leaves a dish in the sink is 38 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:43,919 Speaker 1: called back to put it where it is supposed to go, 39 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:49,280 Speaker 1: namely in the dishwasher, if the child has left the house. 40 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:53,359 Speaker 1: I tend to just do it, because even one dish 41 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:56,720 Speaker 1: left in the sink tends to introduce a permission structure 42 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 1: where if people think, oh, the dishwasher must be clean, 43 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:04,240 Speaker 1: or that no one will notice, so better to get 44 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:07,040 Speaker 1: the one dish put away rather than wait for that 45 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:10,720 Speaker 1: person to come back. The guilty party can be reminded 46 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:15,239 Speaker 1: at another point and chastise. Then likewise, pots and pans 47 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:19,520 Speaker 1: need to be cleaned immediately after. Use a scrubbrush and 48 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:22,240 Speaker 1: dish washing soap that can be sprayed onto pots and 49 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 1: pans means it is possible to do a small number 50 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:29,440 Speaker 1: of items, or even just one at a time. If 51 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:33,640 Speaker 1: there is only one dirty dish, no need to fill 52 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:36,880 Speaker 1: the sink with water and make SuDS, a practice that 53 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:38,960 Speaker 1: would seem to make it more efficient to allow the 54 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:43,240 Speaker 1: dishes to build up. Now, I understand the concept of 55 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:48,640 Speaker 1: letting something soak, but this can be done while other 56 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:53,280 Speaker 1: dishes are being done. So if you have four pans 57 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:56,400 Speaker 1: to scrub, put the one that needs to soak in 58 00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:59,920 Speaker 1: the sink first with some dish soap, and then wash 59 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 1: the others. By the time you finish the others, the 60 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 1: grime will have partly dislodged on the first pan, and 61 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:11,720 Speaker 1: then it can be dealt with, leaving it to soak 62 00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:16,240 Speaker 1: for hours means more dishes will get left in the sink, 63 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:22,000 Speaker 1: and then we are back to chaos. By having systems 64 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:24,279 Speaker 1: in place, it turns out that there is no benefit 65 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:27,160 Speaker 1: to batching the dishes, and so they don't build up. 66 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:30,919 Speaker 1: This means any time doing the dishes only has to 67 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:35,240 Speaker 1: take a minute or so the sink stays clear, the 68 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:40,200 Speaker 1: kitchen stays under control. In any case, if you haven't 69 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:43,039 Speaker 1: set a family policy that nothing stays in the sink, 70 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:47,880 Speaker 1: you might consider it. A giant pile of dirty dishes 71 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 1: makes a kitchen feel out of control. An empty sink 72 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:58,200 Speaker 1: makes it look reasonably clean. It is not that hard 73 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:02,160 Speaker 1: to keep the sink clean as long as the dishwasher 74 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:04,840 Speaker 1: is run and emptied on the right schedule. Then it 75 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:07,200 Speaker 1: is no harder to put a fork in the dishwasher 76 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:11,599 Speaker 1: than to place it in the sink. But one makes 77 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:17,240 Speaker 1: the kitchen feel a lot cleaner than the other. In 78 00:05:17,279 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's 79 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:32,920 Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Thanks for listening 80 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:37,360 Speaker 1: to before breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, 81 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:41,080 Speaker 1: you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot 82 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:50,560 Speaker 1: com Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more 83 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:55,480 Speaker 1: podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 84 00:05:55,720 --> 00:06:07,040 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.