Thank heaven for the internet

And may its power increasingly be used only for Good. We all have issues that we are afraid or ashamed to bring into the light of day. The internet assures me that I am not alone.

Run a search on dirty dishes on the internet and you will find that not only is this a topic of much discussion and debate, it is a highly personal and emotional issue.
Forums offer advice, suggestions and tips for how to hide those dirty dishes when company comes—in the oven, under the sink, in the laundry basket—to name just a few. Some write to vent their frustrations—“how can so many dirty dishes pile up so fast when there are just two of us?” one woman asks.

So I guess it's just silly of me to keep asking, "how can so many dirty dishes pile up so fast when there are just eight of us?"  I have often wanted to post pictures on this blog, but my kids won't let me. Come to think of it, I won't let me (see "ashamed", above). Emotional? Oh yes. Sometimes at the end of a long day of homeschooling, I want to break down and cry when I come into the kitchen and there's no room to start cooking dinner. (Usually because whichever of the kids was scheduled to wash dishes that day still hasn't gotten round to doing it, usually because of a pressing online class deadline, or because she was gone at her piano lesson or something.)

The lack of a satisfactory solution for what to do with dirty dishes, short of the unpopular answer to just wash them, [LOL] is perhaps what prompted one manufacturer to introduce a new kitchen sink. The Crystalline sink, designed by German sink manufacturer Blanco, features a sleek and striking glass cover, which also serves as a cutting board, that when in place, allows the busy cook to hide the sink and everything in it when company comes over.

That too, is funny. You can "hide" dishes when there are only, like, ten items. You can't when every square inch of available countertop space is two feet deep in dirty dishes, glasses, mugs, pots, pans and bowls. And yes, this happens at my house IN BETWEEN MEALTIMES. Because we do wash dishes two or three times a day. But if I wanted to keep my kitchen tidy, we would have to wash dishes six or seven times a day. And what with homeschooling, freelance writing, gardening, other housework, and dashing out the door to music lessons, swimming lessons, et al., we can't seem to fit that in.

We don't own a dishwasher incidentally. I know you can hide a lot of dirty dishes in there. The dishwasher IS coming, as soon as our kitchen renovation is seriously underway, but that is fodder for another post.
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