Dana/Nony here: A story from one of you, who (just like me) never thought something as simple as washing the dishes would have such a huge impact:
Thinking back, when I set out to clean the house, the very first thing was the dishes then it migrated to the kitchen and out from there. My dishes have been clean for over a week now and I have gotten SO much done as a result.
My house FEELS clean even though it’s far from it. If my dishes are clean, I can start with something else when cleaning. It’s amazing and a novel idea. Who knew?
This week, I have gotten a MUCH needed room painted. It has been down to the drywall (complete with original owners writing on the walls) for 3 years now. It’s now PAINTED! I got it done because my dishes were clean. Wow.
I also got ALL of my laundry done on Monday. All in one day for the first time in my life. I told my daughter the washer was closed until Friday so her clothes had better make it down for that last load. Now I’m not behind on laundry.
I got so much done, I relaxed last night for the first time in a while. Now . . . I won’t mention that I was so relaxed that I forgot to cook supper and my 12 year old ate ice cream for supper. Baby steps right?
Nothing wrong with ice cream for dinner. When our local ice cream place opens we walk down everyday Sunday and get dinner there during the summer. Sundaes on Sunday, something that my grandmother used to do with my mom and aunts and my mom did with us.
Yes! This is our “tradition” for Sunday nights when we don’t have school on Monday!
My husband was out of town for a couple of weeks recently, and I thought, “not as many dishes, okay to slack on doing them so frequently. . .” Ugh! I should have reviewed my ebook from Nony and heeded the warning not to start down that path.
I can soo relate! Doing the dishes daily makes ALL the difference!
It really is true! Being in just a two-person household dishes have never been a real struggle or problem. But funny enough I found that keeping strictly on top of them does make everything else easier! Your kitchen is less messy so you’re more inclined to wipe those counters. Your dishwasher is empty and clean so if you tidy up around the house you have a place to put all those stray glasses and coffee cups. Which then makes you able to wipe your table…. and so on and so on…. It really is amazing the surprising effect from such a seemingly simple insignificant task. It really makes a huge difference!
Keeping the dishes done also encourages the rest of the household to take more care in the kitchen, wiping benches down if there is a spill, putting things away, throwing out trash. I always regret when I get behind on dishes because mess cascades out from there.
I just bet the 12 year old didn’t mind. 🙂