I have a healthy husband but he's away at work for 12 hours and when he's back I don't expect him to start washing the dishes but he does his bit whenever he can, I have 3 boys ages 7, 5, 3, I think they're bit too young to handle the china and glass dishes besides I don't think it's safe to leave them unattended with the hot water taps, they're short and can't reach the tap without a footstool anyway.
My sympathies with you , yes they are too young to help out. For now buy different color glasses and different color plates to assign to them for drinking and snacking. Colors should be assigned in the morning for the rest of the day. It will be a game for them and will lessen some burden on you.
They do not have dish washers ( machine) in UK ? In US even a home in jhonpar patti has dish washer and people do use them.
My sympathies with you , yes they are too young to help out. For now buy different color glasses and different color plates to assign to them for drinking and snacking. Colors should be assigned in the morning for the rest of the day. It will be a game for them and will lessen some burden on you.
They do not have dish washers ( machine) in UK ? In US even a home in jhonpar patti has dish washer and people do use them.
lol...I haven't bough one yet...all desis I know use their dishwashers as cupboards.
I have been busy for a few hours and did not get to participate but some great suggestions.
To sum up, I'd say:
Get a small dishwasher, it will make things easier for you.
Excellent suggestion of getting light plates; it will change your life. In the U.K. they are difficult to find. Fine china should only be for guests. Go to Wembley (I'll find the shop name) and get some Corningware/Corelle. They are extremely light and also quite resilient; excellent everyday dishes for a family. We have not found anything similar anywhere else here. On top of that, they have all the plates, bowls etc we need for desi dinners (like salan plates, with a shallow bowl and flat edge). Our set has three different sizes of flat plates; large dinner plates, medium side plates (great for kids) and small side plates (also handy for snacks). Not all the designs have all the types but you should be able to find one with the things you need.
We purposefully (in my parents house) got a large sink with a drainer on both sides. Left hand drainer has the rack and is for clean dishes. The right hand drainer is for dirty dishes. Plates are the only things to go into the sink itself (i.e. after dinner everyone puts their plate in the sink themself and then one person has the chore of filling the dishwasher and turning it on, because there is a method to fill it properly). Cups and glasses go on the right hand drainer so if someone wants a cup or glass any other time, they can just wash/rinse one lying from here rather than taking a new one. I generally use a mug but you can get a container and also put it on the side - all cutlery goes in here. Then when you come to do the washing, fill it with hot water and some washing up liquid to soak for a bit before you wash them.
We wash as I think CB mentioned. Start with the less greasy things like the cups/glasses and cutlery. You don't need the tap on for this. Soap everything up and keep them on the side as you do so. When all this is soaped up, rinse under the tap one by one. Rinsing off this soapy water will get a lot of the grease off the dishes that are in the sink. Then move on to the dishes in the same way, leaving the muckiest for last. We also have different sponges for different things, so you don't make glasses more dirty with a greasy sponge used for pots etc.
For pots and pans - don't put them in the sink. You can even leave them on the cooker. Boil a kettle and pour boiling water in each pot and some washing up liquid and leave to soak for a bit. Wash them after everything else is done, one by one in an empty sink. Put the pot in the sink without spilling the water away just yet. We have plastic utensils from Ikea that we use for non stick pans and you can use this to rub/scrape the sides and bottom of any pan while the hot, soapy water is still in there. The bulk of the salan/rice/whatever stuff that usually remains stuck to the pan comes off easily. Then you can pour this water away and wash the pot.
My mum got some amazing sponges from the pound shop; I think they are for bbq cleaning. They look like regular washing up pads (except charcoal grey in colour) but they clean steel amazingly well.
There are 10 people daily at my parent's house for dinner plus all the mess my brother's make during the day. I run a tight ship during dawats as there are usually about 30 people even for a small get together, so everything gets washed asap. The key is not to pile everything haphazardly in the sink and get through the different types of things one by one.
I have a healthy husband but he's away at work for 12 hours and when he's back I don't expect him to start washing the dishes but he does his bit whenever he can, I have 3 boys ages 7, 5, 3, I think they're bit too young to handle the china and glass dishes besides I don't think it's safe to leave them unattended with the hot water taps, they're short and can't reach the tap without a footstool anyway.
Go to Ikea and buy those pretty plastic plates and glass for kids. Thats what we have done. For our little one, we dont have to worry that she will drop the china plate or glass.
Beautiful tips there Stoppit , many thanks for sharing them with us .
Do we still fine corelle? I have never seen plates like those around anymore .. I am using corelle plates that my mom had in her collection and never used !
But they are super awesome .. for every day use as well as for the times when guests come and kids can be handed those lighter plates instead of the heavier china or stoneware ones that I use ...
Yup CB. My mum's is Corelle. Just last year her and my khala went to the Wembley shop as my khala wanted a new set (she got a square plate one). My mum's one was still around to her surprise so she got some extra plates to replace broken ones and for when we have extra people around. I stole some too for our flat :p
Plastic dishes... I can see the convenience and I think up to the age of 4 it's okay but from my own childhood I would say it's not a good idea to baby children. They should be taught how to handle dishes (amongst other things), use cutlery etc.
actually its not plastic that is needed .. Melamine , works really well .. greese doesnt stick on it, its light weight and washes really quick and healthy option too ...
haha...but you know it's hard to clean the grease off from plastic.
Gone are those days. These days plastic itna zaberdast aar aha hai that its easy to clean and also its hard to tell the difference unless you touch it aur waisey bhi, Dishwasher zinda baad ho
… that is why i use it definitely once a week …