The first time Brad came to my parent’s house in Maryland and cooked, I remembered my dad being kind of horrified by the mess left to clean up when we sat down to dinner.

Pots and pans piled up on the stove.  Herbs and crumbs littering the floor….

That would never happen today.

Last Monday when we visited that elementary school class, the number one rule Brad and David kept repeating to the impressionable little kids was “Clean as you go.”

Over and over.

“Clean as you go”.

See?  David’s cleaning…

And since I have been trying lately to nudge my way back into our kitchen and involve myself once again in our homemade dinners (Because I, too love to cook.  Brad can’t have all the fun.), I have also been hearing a lot of this phrase:

“Clean as you go.”

And so, Brad’s Kitchen Rules returns.

I have always been a bit of a slob.  Not a dirty slob, I just don’t enjoy cleaning.  But when I do clean, watch out.  I get every water spot, every smudge, every drop.

But most days, I like to make piles of clothes, papers, mail, dishes, or whatever else I don’t want to put away at that exact moment.  There are so many other enjoyable activities I would rather fill my free time with!

This is nothing new, but it drives Brad bonkers.  I tell him, “I’ve been like this ever since you’ve known me.  You married this.  You used to understand it.”

He hates that even more.

Recently, in order to have a more peaceful living environment and relationship with my wonderful husband, I have been doing my best to clean up after myself.  ESPECIALLY in the kitchen.  (Kitchen is Brad’s territory.  I’ll let him have it.)  I make it a point to tidy things up before I leave for work so he doesn’t come home at 1AM and furiously start doing dishes.

More days than not, this leads to me running around in a tizzy, trying to get everything tidy enough before racing off to work with seconds to spare.  As I speed down Montana in my chef’s coat, I realize I must really, REALLY love him if I work myself up this much to try not to annoy him with my piles.

Sigh.

The moral of this Brad’s Kitchen Rule is if you just clean as you go, there won’t be any racing down Montana Ave, worrying that you’re going to be late because of that smoothie you made for breakfast six hours ago.  There won’t be any dishes to worry about when you get home well after midnight.  AND you won’t have to do any explaining to Mr. Head Chef of the Mathews’ Kitchen why you left the peanut butter out – without the lid on – for the whole nine hours you were at work.  What if the health inspector came to our house??

Tip: Remending Brad that the health inspector does NOT come to our house does not help.

Ok so I get it, but I will still argue that I’d rather enjoy my smoothie or gnocchi or PB&J than wait to have it because I’m cleaning.  It might get cold!  It might melt!  It will taste so much better right now!

I’ll never win.

So I’m creating my own Kitchen Rule.  I say – drink as you go!  It makes cooking, cleaning, THEN eating more enjoyable.

Cheers!

xoxo