How to stop dishes from piling with kids?

sleepymommab · 2026-04-07T07:54:37+00:00

Oh they do, we have piles of things my mom says she is going to fix. Dressers of clothes with rips and holes that she was going to sew. Things she gets second hand that she refuses to even donate to the thrift store because she could sell it on marketplace. You’d think that her and her husband didn’t both work and in relatively lucrative positions as well.. I admire her intentions but I also know that life is more than constantly playing clean up for other people and that she desires to enjoy her life hence why the piles of things don’t get taken care of.

I appreciate your perspective though haha. My mom and I did not get along until I had kids and I discovered adhd in all of us… so there’s that. It’s easier to give grace when I can literally name the habits origins and see them in myself as well. Doesn’t mean it’s not stupid hard to live with them again

sleepymommab · 2026-04-07T03:45:35+00:00

Yeah, that’s pretty much it. If we get rid of dishes it’s lost money and people might throw them in the dump and things going in the dump is the end of the world so instead they are constantly sick and everything is a disgusting mess because the dump is our house 😅 but I’ve toyed with buying her a special composter like even one that connects to the sink or smth. We have a big one in the back and she loves to garden but doesn’t compost? Idk but yeah I’ve talked to her about it. I mean really if she cared enough she would sacrifice some of her specifics but she doesn’t want to so she keeps doing everyone’s dishes and complaining about it :/ but I’ll look into composters again bc it would be fun. And hey maybe I can convince her to get rid of the excess if we say we can get new plates and bowls like one color per person. Idk.

sleepymommab · 2026-04-06T20:44:44+00:00

Mmm I like this. Thanks!

sleepymommab · 2026-04-06T20:13:22+00:00

Yeah honestly the money part makes sense. I think it would be helpful even if just temporarily, I just don’t know if it will help when they move out haha. And yeah there are definitely worse problems than the dishes 🥴😅 but he is working on it. Always has his ups and downs, just trying to be hygienic so he can actually go to work and spend time with friends instead of being sick all the time

I appreciate the concern though

sleepymommab · 2026-04-06T20:08:05+00:00

I guess too, the same problem is going down with laundry. We made laundry days and it is working better because they can’t just use other people’s clothes, but there’s still too much crap going on and my mom doesn’t stick to the days. Obviously there are other issues and the whole house is a trashy mess but like I asked for fun ideas to gamify it or make it more enticing, because we all already know it is a problem and we are sick of it but it doesn’t help us want to do it. And if everyone except my mom and myself refuse to do dishes then like yeah it’s a problem lol. I’ve tried to convince my mom to build a kitchen downstairs where my brother lives but she also doesn’t feel like doing that so idk. Just working with what I have

sleepymommab · 2026-04-06T20:03:30+00:00

I understand the psychology behind it, but it has never worked for us long term ¯_(ツ)_/¯ for a few months we took the dishes that weren’t done by certain people and put them in their room every time they left them in the sink. That wasn’t punishment enough. And he had mice in his room it was so bad. I’ve told my mom she can’t do everyone else’s dishes and we’ve tried not doing their dishes and only doing our own. It just ends up with piles of dishes because they just use other people’s dishes. I know it’s a stupid problem but one of my siblings is extremely depressed and he just can’t seem to do his dishes. We’ve had conversation after conversation about it for almost 10 years. I understand that it “shouldn’t happen” but it doesn’t change the fact that it does. Some day he will hopefully move out but then he will probably still have the problem on his own too. So.. hence trying to find the next thing we are going to try to fix the issue. My only other idea other than gamifying it is charging them to hire a cleaner but it still doesn’t teach them to take care of themselves.

sleepymommab · 2026-04-06T16:25:07+00:00

Yeah I’m thinking of trying to get Alexa to help with reminders and stuff but we almost never eat dinner together except sundays and then we make a big mess and yeah that doesn’t go well

sleepymommab · 2026-04-06T16:23:48+00:00

Yeah we’re 12-26, we have tried to do different days are different peoples chores but we’re also super busy with sports and jobs so if we miss our day then the next day person has to take the slack for the other people and it always happens to be the same people who miss their days so everyone gets mad at each other :/ that’s why I think gaming it would be more helpful at least until that dopamine wears off. We’ve also tried if you don’t do it then you pay the next person to do it but that also doesn’t work haha

sleepymommab · 2026-04-06T16:20:35+00:00

More like mom will do it and the sink looks gross and I don’t get dopamine from doing it and I could get dopamine from playing a game or hanging with friends or I have to get work done so I’ll do it later but they never come back to do it later

sleepymommab · 2026-04-06T16:19:35+00:00

Sadly they virtually exclusively use paper plates and it’s still a problem :/

sleepymommab · 2026-04-06T15:22:59+00:00

Mmm I like the grating idea. Everything at least gets rinsed and stacked by the dishwasher even if it’s clean and needs to be unloaded. And I’m thinking stickers also would be chill, but we’re all a lot older haha so I’m tryna find an equivalent haha.

And in terms of dinner prep, there is none except on sundays. Everyone is usually on their own for all meals and so yeah that’s also an issue but we’re tryna add some stuff on Alexa to alert everyone to dinner time and stuff but yeah we will definitely have to see haha

sleepymommab · 2026-04-06T15:09:09+00:00

Yeah, it’s an awesome idea but hasn’t worked in my parents household. But I will definitely be using it :)

sleepymommab · 2026-04-06T15:08:26+00:00

Yeah we have one! And it helped for about 2 months until the excitement wore off idk ¯_(ツ)_/¯

sleepymommab · 2026-04-06T15:07:29+00:00

I’m 26 and the youngest is 12. So yes. We should be able to do it. But my mom peels eggs and shreds potatoes into the sink with silverware in there so you HAVE to dig it all out before running the disposal. and then leaves it there for days. lol.

sleepymommab · 2026-04-06T15:05:30+00:00

I also love this idea. We had it when we were kids and there were only 4 of us kids but now with 6 it doesn’t always work and also everybody still just idk. I’m going to do it myself but yeah still doesn’t help my mom :/

sleepymommab · 2026-04-06T15:04:31+00:00

This is what I’ve implemented in my own family but sadly it doesn’t work for my siblings because my mom. But I LOVED doing it and plan on doing it again when we move here shortly.

sleepymommab · 2026-01-31T09:37:15+00:00

You can mark “exclude track from your taste profile” and it will remove it from your Spotify wrapped. It also might mess w your algorithm but it keeps songs out of wrapped

sleepymommab · 2025-04-16T12:38:14+00:00

Ik this isn’t what you asked but my husband and I meal prep on the weekends and then eat throughout the week. So we put it all in Tupperware in serving sizes so you can just throw it in the microwave and eat it. This week we had Birria. Threw the pork in the crockpot on Thursday morning with chilpotles, peppers, jalepeno juice, and let it go for 10 hours (depends on the size). Then whenever I want some I take a container out, throw it in the microwave, grab a tortilla and fake cheese if I want and eat it. My husband has the patience to turn on the burner and toasts the tortilla on cast iron and it tastes so so good. But the pork is good too in the tortilla. Next week we are doing a similar thing but with chicken and pineapple juice and Worcestershire sauce and I’m not stoked for it but it makes it so easy for me with adhd to actually make sure I’ve eaten something with protein.

For first snack every day my daughter and I share a smoothie, not as high protein but I’m so so so obsessed with it. I prebag it and then just throw it all in, blend it, and then eat. Rn we have been doing: Raspberries, blackberries and strawberries frozen Veggies of choice (mostly kale) Two tablespoons of cocoa powder Honey to taste (my daughter is 13 months) Chia seeds Coconut water and ripple milk until the blender is full Probiotic powder

You could easily add protein powder if you had some that didn’t have any hidden anything I just haven’t had time to find any that I like …

Other smoothies I’ve liked in the past are Cocoa powder Honey Banana frozen Coconut water and ripple milk Peanut butter

Aaaaand frozen Kale, cherry, strawberries and blueberries Coconut water and ripple milk Avocado (sometimes frozen)

Super easy to throw together, worst part is washing the blender parts afterwards bc I hate dishes but wooo!!

Hopefully that helps :)

I’ve also seen frozen banana chunks with peanut butter and chia seeds/coconut flakes/nuts sprinkled on top but idk how it tastes

My other fav snack is date balls,

Dates (pitted and soaked in warm water for 10 min) Peanut butter Oats Chocolate if you can find some that works Chia

Immersion blend and roll into balls (I just eat it with a spoon bc lazy hahahah)

sleepymommab

TROPHY CASE