You've Got to Make Friends With It

Dishwashing can be a reasonable task or an ongoing nightmare. Teach yourself and your family how to cope with this inevitable burden! If you didn’t learn early on in your own cooking to clean up as you go along, please start now. We cannot emphasize this enough: a clean, well-ordered kitchen translates to a tidy well-ordered mind for cooking. Set an example. Teach, cajole, and if need be force the folks in your home to clean up after themselves in the kitchen. It’s never too early to preach this lesson. It’s just not okay for one person to get stuck with the dishes while others leave a mess behind. Then cooking is no fun. Don’t be that annoying family member, dreaded roommate, or instigator of relationship disaster. Figure out the best ways to clean and dry the dishes and tidy up the kitchen (yes, the countertops and stove too). Whether you’re working in a tiny studio apartment or a big house, ask yourself, “What’s the plan?”