The after dinner kitchen dash

My biggest battle is always keeping on top of the potential disaster zone of the kitchen.  It doesn't take much for this to turn into the messiest room in the house.  There are a few ways that I have overcome this, although it is a constant battle to keep the mess at bay.

1. Straight after dinner, while the kids are still having dessert, pop into the kitchen and unpack the dishwasher.  It only takes a couple of minutes and then it's ready for the next load.
2. Once the kids are done, get them to clear the table and scrape the remainders of the meal into the bin.  They can help stack the plates in the dishwasher if they are old enough.
3. Once the dishwasher is on with its next load, make sure anything left on the sides in the kitchen is packed away or thrown.
4. If the bin needs emptying or the recycling can be put out, now is the time to do it.
5. Next, grab two disposable anti-bacterial wipes.  Holding one in each hand, wipe down the surfaces as quickly as you can.  Depending on the size of your kitchen, this shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes.
6. Wash down the sink with anti-bacterial detergent, wash off with clean water and dry.
7. One last thing to do to keep yourself on track with your laundry: empty the tumble drier, transfer the fresh laundry from the washing machine into the tumble drier and put a new load into the washing machine.  Take 5 minutes to quickly fold and pack away the dry laundry.  You could even do this after emptying the dishwasher if the kids are being a bit slow!

Et voilà!  An almost perfect kitchen every evening.

I can tell you now that the 20 minutes maximum this takes will be well worth it when you come downstairs in the morning and behold such a beautifully clean and tidy sight!  The more often you practice this, the quicker it gets, and the more hands you can rope in to help, all the quicker it will be.