I (unapologetically) go to bed with a dirty kitchen

Guess when I have the most energy?

5:30am. 

I know my day is beginning whether I want it to or not. My alarm goes off at 5:00, I snooze it once usually. Then I put in the kcup, I put in my contacts, brush my teeth, and pop in an earbud. Lately I've been trying to make it through Exodus and Leviticus, and I'm always a few days behind on the plan. I need the most empty version of my head to listen to The Old Testament genealogies and laws and I'm only getting that at this time of day. 

Anyway. 

That's when I clean up the kitchen from the night before. 

Now, relax.

I put away leftovers after dinner and usually leave the pans to soak. Most times I wipe down all the counters too. But I don't touch anything in the sink. Instead, I load the dishwasher and run it at 5:30am, and I wash all the pots and pans. 

The internet is full of moms who swear that they cannot rest until the kitchen is clean and the house is "put to bed". That's nice. Seriously, great for them. But when I put in 60 minutes of putting the house to bed at 7 or 8pm, I'm so exhausted that I can barely take a shower, let alone enjoy even 15 minutes of tv or reading or whatever it is I feel like doing in that kid-free time before I pass out, counting down the hours of sleep I'll get if I go-to-sleep-RIGHT-NOW. 

In the summer, sure. Before I went back to work, absolutely. On the weekends, usually. But during the average school week, I do not clean the kitchen at night because my time to decompress is more important than the feeling of a clean kitchen. 

This is how I also know I'm Type B and not Type A: I don't get an ick feeling from leaving a dirty kitchen. It doesn't actually phase me or affect me at all. Sure, I feel better about myself and my time management if I clean the kitchen at night. But I don't get that creepy, crawly can't-sleep feeling so many of you seem to describe. I don't think about it at all. If anything, I sometimes feel disappointed that "ugh yeah time management got me again" if I get up in the middle of the night to get water or milk for Sutton or something. But otherwise...

This guy watched me do the dishes the other day.