Household Chores Essay, Research Paper

Many of us have common household chores. Some more than others; we have some we absolutely hate, and some we don?t mind. A common household chore I hate is cleaning up and doing the dishes after supper. Although my sister Emily and I rotate this harsh act every other night I am always trying to finagle her into doing it for me. To me doing the dishes is a form of punishment that no one should have to endure.

There are just a few little jobs to be taken care of in the process of cleaning up after dinner. The first step that should be taken is getting the condiments off the table and putting them away. The condiments include items such as ketchup, mustard, salad dressings, salt, pepper and others like these. These things should be put where they belong and out of sight. Also, all the dirty napkins or cloths should be thrown away.

Next, gather each pot or pan or dish that the food was served in, and scrape the leftovers into individual plastic containers. Put away the Tupperware and put them in the refrigerator to be eaten at a later date. This is important because if anyones’ mother is like mine, there are starving children in China, so every bit of food must be put to use. If there is food that is not edible, like that has fallen on the floor, then there is always the option to give it to your pets.

The third job is scraping the dirty plates and bowls. To do this you may use the dirty utensils that were used with the plate or bowl. Simply carry over each dish with the utensil to the trash can. Make sure that you get all the scrappy food into the trash can and NOT on the floor. If the food ends up on the floor, then an additional job will be added. This job is not fun, especially if it is carpet that the food spilled onto. Then you have to scrub the floor and so forth. Otherwise, assuming you made it into the trashcan with all the food left on the plates, make sure you get everything that you can into the trash. Getting all the little bits and pieces off the plates while scraping them makes the next step much simpler.

The next step is rinsing the dirty dishes. To do this successfully, you must turn on the facet using hot water and a sponge or SOS pad, or scouring pad. Use the SOS pad, or scouring pad, to get all the crusty parts of food to lift off the plates and bowls. You need to have all the dirty dishes in the sink at the same time so as you wash each dish, the seemingly endless tower of dirty dishes goes down slowly and you have a sense of accomplishment, which is motivation to go on to the next dish. After one dish is completely rinsed and scrubbed, put it in a separate pile on the counter above the dishwasher. Rinse each dish, plate, cup and piece of silverware thoroughly, for if you do not do this, the pieces of food left on the dishes will inevitably be cooked onto the plates in the last cycle of the dishwasher.

Now that there is a big pile of rinsed dishes on the counter, the next step is to load the dishwasher. Simply open the dishwasher and put all the dishes where they belong according to what kind of dishwasher it is. After the dishes are cleared from the counter, the counter will probably be very wet. Wiping the counter off with the sponge should clean this up. You may wipe the water so that it goes into the dishwasher so it doesn’t drip on the floor. When the counter is cleaned off, you have to find the powder-like detergent that goes into the dishwashing machine. It is usually located below the sink in a cabinet. Open the soap holder in the door of the dishwasher and fill it up with the soap. Close it again and close the dishwasher. Set the cycle for short wash and the machine will start washing the dishes.

After this, you still have the pots and pans that are too big or not the right material to go into the dishwasher. These items need to be washed by hand. This is done the same way as rinsing but you must add an additional product to the process. This is the soap. Squeeze the bottle of soap onto the pot or pan. Then use the scouring pad and the sponge to get it spic and span. Then set it in a dish rack in order for it to air-dry. Put a little bit of soap on the sponge and use it to give the table and counters and the stove, one last good wipe so that there is not any pieces of food or puddles of water anywhere. One thing to be sure to do while wiping the table is when you find a piece or pieces of food that needs wiped off, put your hand at the end of the table in the shape of a cup to catch the crumbs and so forth. This keeps them from going on the floor. Make sure you dump your handful of crumbs into the trash.

You are now finished washing the dishes. Just push in all the chairs around the table and you are officially done with your chore. Return the sponge to its place in the sink and go forth with the rest of your day.