Thursday, April 9, 2020

Anatomy of a Kitchen Counter

This is probably going to seem like a silly post, but I am constantly amazed at how my house can go from clean to cluttered so fast as a family of 5. I wanted to show my kitchen counter as proof of this as the day progressed. I took about 10 or so pictures throughout the day and just chuckled at this progression. Maybe someone else will find this interesting? Maybe?

Night before - 10 pm
Finished cleaning the kitchen and wiping the counters down
Only things out: my water class and computer

9 am - breakfast time for the girls!
What's out: children, 2 plates, 2 water cups, my computer, butter knife

10 am - unloading groceries
What's out: hot glue gun, bowl from Trent's breakfast, the girls' breakfast dishes, school work spread out, my headset/computer, and 8 rolls of toilet paper that need to be distributed, my water glass, Trent's cup

11 am - we're technically outside
What's out: girls' breakfast plates STILL out, hello to my coffee and tablespoon, Trent's breakfast bowl, hot glue gun, school work, Trent's pen, my car key, Trent's watch, and still that TP
Hi Trent! Hi open back door! {why won't these kids close the door??}

12:30 pm - lunch is served
What's out: same plates but a different meal, computer/headset, my car key, coffee, glue gun, Trent's bowl, school work, lunch fixings

1:45 pm - My lunch time
What's out - blender for smoothie, plates from lunch, glue gun, Trent's bowl, bowl of frozen peaches for Paige {that she didn't eat}, coffee {yes, I drink it this slowly}, plastic sack from an earlier walk, my car key, green beaded necklace, strawberries and tomatoes leftover from lunch, school work, computer/headset

2:40 pm - Hi Trent!
What's out - same as before but we've added Trent doing his work and a snack pack of Pringles and 2 sacks of crayons

*Big break here as I was helping Brent spread rock around the flower beds*

5:45 pm - It's time for a colossal meltdown from a tired Paige
What's out - same as before minus the Pringles plus an early dinner snack for Paige, a purple beaded necklace, squirty fruit package, and my water glass is back

7 pm - Meal 4,327
What's out - those same plates getting another meal, container of leftover Spanish rice I made on Sunday, half an apple, empty squirty fruit container, more beaded necklaces, some random bell pepper slices, glue gun, 2 knives, my smoothie straw, my car key, water cups for everyone but Brent

8:30 pm - Winding down the day...hopefully
What's out - I cleaned the stove so my cast iron griddle got moved over, Trent made some hot chocolate so we've added the mix, measuring cup, and mug, plus Brent's old cell phone they all play with, a few things were put away, yay!

9:45 pm - And it's clean again!!!

Whew! That didn't even seem to get as bad as it does sometimes, and it still got pretty awful during the middle of the day. 

How do you handle clutter in your house?

3 comments:

Kathryn Bagley said...

girl this post made me laugh! It's just me and my you'd be amazed at my clutter..ha!

Emily said...

This cracked me up. I’ve wanted to do this with various spaces in our house. We don’t have a central meeting point (that’s what I’d call your counter) so our mess is more spread out. Our mudroom tends to be the dumping ground and is among my top battles, but it can be hidden behind a door which is a real benefit.

Natasha said...

I loved the look at your counter throughout the day. Question -- do you wash the girls' plates between meals or do they just eat off the same one for breakfast and lunch? (No judgement here -- just curious.)

I was trying to think if we have a space like this in our house but we really don't. I'd love an island eventually!