A Handy Habit

            As a wife, I know that dinner takes longer than the most enjoyable part (eating).  Dinner preparation and the clean-up is also part of the meal!  I like washing and drying the dishes and putting them in their places, but I like preparing the meal more and enjoy far more eating the meal with my husband!  Here is how I found a handy habit to cut down on the mundane dish-washing task and to help make dinner time with my husband more enjoyable.

After I was married, I was visiting a friend of mine who was also married.  I asked about her dish-washing habits, to which she answered that she washed them as she goes.  The simple motive behind this, to not have such a big mess at the end of the day or at the end of the meal, was enough to get me to want to do the same!  I tried, and it was a little hard to adapt for myself, until I implemented my personal idea with it.  

My way I added is to actually fill the sink about a fourth or third full with hot water and a squirt of dish soap as soon as I come into the kitchen, before beginning any food preparation.  It makes the idea of having to wash one dish at a time after they are used easier, as the water is right there and ready.  I have done these “water in the sink” and “wash dishes as you do” ideas for several days now, and dinner has been much more enjoyable with my husband.  “Dishes” is not just something that is dragging in the back of my mind during dinner, making after-dinner thoughts drudgery.  I want to continue this habit!