Why my kitchen is always clean

When I get stressed out or nervous, I like to cook or bake something. I have found that spending an hour in the kitchen helps me to calm down and helps me to organize my thoughts. I've been doing a lot of cooking and baking in the last 2-3 weeks. Brian's layoff set off a time bomb in me. We knew it was going to come, but it's still a shock. Luckily, he was offered a temp position at IUP to finish up some loose ends and so we could still count on a paycheck. But even that is short lived and so far with a couple interviews and a lot of applications filled out we are still without a permanent job. Then came the election, which we were pretty solid that Brian was going to win a seat on School Board, but still anything could happen. So I have been cooking a lot and that means a lot of cleaning up. I like to walk into the kitchen with clean counters so I can gather my thoughts and decide what I want to make. Sometimes, like dinner, it's already decided and I just have to fix it. Other times, I'll just decide it's time for some cookies or pie or crisp or bread. But I can't do anything if the kitchen is a mess. So I make it a point to keep my kitchen clean. I wash, dry and put away the dishes within a half hour of meals or my baking frenzies. The kids usually help me so I don't have to worry about not spending time with them. They love to help me measure and mix. And yes, the tasting is the best part. Or they dance and sing to the music that is almost always on in the kitchen while I do the cleaning up. I've even taken an end table and set it up as Noah's homework station when I need to get dinner ready and he has to do his homework. My kitchen is small and we run into each other a lot, but I think I'm happiest if I can be with my kids and cooking. But one thing you can count on, unless I'm sick or have run away, my kitchen will be clean.