How tidy is your kitchen during the day?

[Mrsh3103]

Right that's it..... I'm moving house!!! I need a kitchen big enough for a dishwasher!!!!

[childcareclair]

Oh my word, you do not know how pleased I am to hear I am not alone! Amazing. I do my best but I still have one side board that collects stuff to be sorted out at some point, FLYLADY calls it a hot spot! It's more like a mountain but hey ho.

[The Juggler]

My kitchen is always spotless. The sides are clean and clear of all clutter. The floor sparkles. The cupboards are all sorted and perfectly arranged. The sink is empty and shining...




...oh no, my mistake, it's nothing like that at all


We use the kitchen for playing, so it does have to be pretty clean & clear. Today the children had mats down & were lying on the kitchen floor. The floor is clean. I just hope they can't see under the cooker from lying there!

sounds like mine mouse

[Stapleton83]

Try and wash and tidy as I go as the children often sit in the kitchen to do activities but I do have to confess that by the end of the week it looks like a bomb has gone off with piles of paper, pictures etc left out

My view is as long as it is clean and hygenic for food and the children/parents are happy I am ok!

Sam x

[Jiorjiina]

Mine generally looks more a warzone. Three small children all day and a large and hairy dog are not conducive to a tidy kitchen. If I can keep my feet from sticking to the floor and the cupboards and worktops within three shades of their original colour, I think I'm doing pretty well!

I had Ofsted out to my setting last Wednesday due to a police officer ringing them and making a referral due to my kitchen being filthy (a carrier bag attatched to a cupboard door handle where I was emptying lunch and crumbs on my work top) id only rung the police has my car had been broken into on the 5th of august the Ofsted inspector was here 3 hours hunting for dirt and couldn't find any

The police are notorious among social workers for reporting cases of neglect and insanitary homes when they're actually just really untidy and could do with a good wipe down. I hear that it's because the police mindset after training is often similar to soldiers in the way they're taught to be neat and tidy. I know a couple of social workers who actually ran a seminar for their local police to demonstrate to them the actual difference between 'untidy and crowded family home' and 'insanitary house' because it was such a waste of social workers time.

[kellib]

Mine isn't too bad when mindees are here, usually just lunch dishes left over etc.

It's the days mindees aren't here it's really a state as I can't be bothered to clean on my days off lol

[littlemiss60561]

Hoorah! I love this site! Therapy at your fingertips! My names .... And I'm not perfect !
My dds evening job is the dishwasher. I've tried and tried and shown and begged her to empty it in the evening, so that I can fill as I go during the day. Less mess, less embarrassment for me, and more importantly to her...less flippin work as its mostly done!! But.... No.... She just huffs and puffs (generally) at "I didn't even know we as this many plates/cups/spoons" i reply we have more but they are all in your room ! is there a symbol for rocking???!
My kitchen is tiny. Covered in bits of paperwork, leads, bits of "needs fixing" toys and small bits found on my morning floor walk lol My solution , hessian bags. Great invention. Scoop the lot into a bag just before parents arrive / new parents visit/ in laws turn up.... Job done. I then put them in my room.
Problem with this is there are 2 hessian bags in my room and I've not cheated like this for a few weeks now.... Oops

[littlemiss60561]

Maybe we should start a new trend,., not how wonderful is my play room but who's got the messiest house!

[munch149]

Mine isn't too bad when mindees are here, usually just lunch dishes left over etc.

It's the days mindees aren't here it's really a state as I can't be bothered to clean on my days off lol

This is like me. My family think I'm really messy but I vacuum, mop, clean and tidy every day of the week before, during and after work, the last thing I want to be doing on a weekend is tidying. I have a blitz on a Friday after work as I finish a bit early but then refuse to do much other than load the dishwasher until Sunday evening. So annoyingly my house is always a mess when people visit

[westbrom44]

I try to tidy as I go, washing up, loading the dishwasher and wiping the kitchen worktop and table. I'm not a naturally tidy person but hate mess so I do have to work at it.

[lisa1968]

DS (16) and DD (10) are trained to empty the dishwasher in the mornings before school so i just put the dirty stuff in it as I go along.my kitchen is fairly big and I use it for play,painting etc so I TRY to keep it fairly tidy...
......the kitchen table, however, is a different story........
......it's full of pre-school magazines,learning journals, diaries,post,........
...I need a secretary!

[Sweetpea]

My husband has only two things I expect from him before he disappears for work. Get one of our children dressed and make sure the dishwasher is empty. Then I have a good start at least to the day.

I've found that by repeatedly arranging the dishwasher contents in unorganised ways has driven him to the point of insisting he now does it!! Result

[ziggy]

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!

I'm moving into another rented house at end of next month. My new landlord just called in and children were watching dvd while i made lunch. Kitchen looked just dreadful. I apologised for mess and said house only looks like this while i'm working. Luckily he just laughed.

Then estate agent came. Wonder why no one pops in when place is clean and tidy????

[kellyskidz!]

Ditto to all messy kitchen posts!
Today we had breakfast, I dumped the pots in the sink and off we went out for the morning, then I was annoyed when we got back in that I had to wash them, as if they would have washed theirselves!
And now I'm looking lunchtime pots are in there too
Soaking, I shall call it. They need soaking. They are soaking.

[babs]

All my littleones bring me thier bowl or plate and I load the dish washer in hols I have older child that asks to wash up.. but I clear as I prepare..

[caz3007]

For those that don't have dishwashers, lets teach the LO's to wash up properly. One of my mums is always on about life skills a lot, so got LO dusting the other day, I just do it before they come so forget they like to do things like that. Lesson two, sweep and mop the kitchen floor

[lovemykiddies]

Hi all I did have a little chuckle to myself at this thread because I'm not even qualified as a childminder yet and my kitchen on a tea time looks like a bomb has gone off hahaha :/ with my four children I just class my house when untidy as dry mess hehe. it's clean but at least I can say its lived in. Well that's what I keep telling myself anyway :/ x

[primula]

Kitchen isn't to bad really but it the upstairs that is embarrassing!

[singingcactus]

I have a huge stack of pots by the end of the day. But that's okay cos it's better for the environment and my utilities bill to not be filling the sink with hot soapy water a couple of times after every meal. If you do it all at the same time you need one bowl for glasses,cups and crockery, then another for pans and silverware. You are doing yourself and the environment a favour by leaving it till the end.

That's what I tell myself. I am very believable too. Honest face and all that.

[Katie1980]

Mine generally looks more a warzone. Three small children all day and a large and hairy dog are not conducive to a tidy kitchen. If I can keep my feet from sticking to the floor and the cupboards and worktops within three shades of their original colour, I think I'm doing pretty well!



The police are notorious among social workers for reporting cases of neglect and insanitary homes when they're actually just really untidy and could do with a good wipe down. I hear that it's because the police mindset after training is often similar to soldiers in the way they're taught to be neat and tidy. I know a couple of social workers who actually ran a seminar for their local police to demonstrate to them the actual difference between 'untidy and crowded family home' and 'insanitary house' because it was such a waste of social workers time.

Mind you I am suprised at some Social Workers as they around here make wrong assumptions. I have experienced this first hand, when my sister had a problem and all three kids 11, 4, 8 months ended up staying for a few days, house looked lived in with kids bits around and he said it looked dirty and chaotic. he had a field day at her house 5 kids in one small 3bed house with minimal storage but could have been sorted if partner was not the rival to Mr Trebus took us months to finally get Social Services to change their minds and actually help them