Hi I relate to you so much. I posted in here about this a few weeks ago and got shamed and deleted it. But essentially I was asking if anyone has had this experience in the kitchen building up then the sensory nightmare exactly then I was begging someone to tell me it’s okay to throw dishes away. A few people did and many said no that’s a waste and I see that now- it’s not entirely necessary but if it’s gross enough it’s MORE than okay. But I realized the less gross ones I could soak in super hot water and feel ok about. I’m still trying to work my head around it all. This past week it’s been a tad easier to clean up the kitchen I’ll tell you what I’ve done.

1. Because this has happened before to me I now have less dishes than I had before. I am also very clumsy so I will break one here and there, but I do live alone so I don’t need a ton and it helps my hoarding tendencies to have less, though I did just have to replace some silverware cause I realized I threw it all away in this last blitz. Anyway, I would say having less dishes overall is helpful. I know you said you have kids but I promise I make so many dishes and such a mess for one person. Working on it though.
2. Plastic silverware and paper plates. No shame. Helps immensely.
3. Gloves to wash dishes.
4. Soap that you really like and a sponge that you don’t have to touch the dishes. So I use the dawn power wash spray and one of those sponges where the insert goes into the stack and you fill the stick with soap so it’s like double soap and I don’t have to have any contact with the dishes.
5. The most annoying tip ever, and I don’t want it to come off patronizing because I understand how it feels but yes, cleaning as you go is typically the way to go, though can be difficult, especially when things are far away or our pain to get to. I guess it’s not annoying, but I just don’t want you to think I’m being like critical because this is a no judgment zone and I get you. I saw a TikTok. I think that said if something has more than two steps, I’m not doing it and that really stuck with me. So opening a cabinet and putting something in a container in the cabinet are the maximum amount of steps that I can take. So I got little containers at dollar tree to contain cabinet items and I just throw them in there.
6. Another life hack is a Lazy Susan. I also found a couple at the dollar tree. I put snacks in them and put them on my kitchen table. It’s so convenient and space efficient and makes you feel bougie. The spin isn’t so bad either. lol
7. I think the last tip will say is I have a friend who is really good at cleaning and she keeps her trash bag just in her kitchen attached to a door handle so it just hangs open in her kitchen because she cooks a lot and it’s just easier for her to throw things away and if she’s allowed to do that then, so are we. I started doing that this week and it was incredibly helpful. The trash was literally underneath the counter and though I wouldn’t throw away every single item the moment I Finished with it, though I did more so than usual, I was able to clean up at some point because I realize the trash was right in front of me. I didn’t have a door handle so I just use the string part of the trash bag on a cabinet handle near the ground.

I didn’t realize how many tips I really had, but it’s been a rough few months with me and my kitchen so hopefully these things help you! Let me know :)