Riding bikes through a muddy puddle, rolling sideways down a grassy bank and…washing up! The first two activities are perhaps best left to the under tens but washing up is something that can amuse the whole family and help mums – who spend up to a week a year standing at the kitchen sink doing the family’s washing up.

Persil National Washing Up Week is all about getting families together to do the washing up. It is a great way to spend time with the kids and interact with them after the family meal. Getting kids involved teaches them the value of helping out with chores and ensures that the job gets done quickly and efficiently. It is also a way for them to say a big thank you to mum by helping out with the washing up, and telling her all about their day as they do so. It also means more time for the fun things in life to do together, such as drawing, potato printing, creating pasta pictures or baking!

Getting the kids to see the fun side of lending a hand with the washing up can sometimes prove tough. If that sounds familiar then join the experts with the tips for getting the whole family to the sink after mealtimes….

Dishwashing guru Deirdre Taylor and Parenting expert Catherine Hanly joins us live online on Tuesday 1st May at 3pm with advice about making washing up fun for the whole family.

For more information visit www.nationalwashingupweek.co.uk

H: Lis Speight, host
D: Deirdre Taylor
C: Catherine Hanly, parenting expert

H: Hello and welcome to the Parenting Show, brought to you today by Persil, I’m Liz Speight. Now, do you feel as though you spend far too long standing at the kitchen sink? Well I you’re a mum chances are that you spend around a week of every year doing those dreaded dishes, and even though that chore only takes around 10 minutes or so, 70% of us admit to putting it off as long as possible. Maybe that’s because you have to leave the family and go into a different room to do the dishes, missing out on maybe spending quality time with your children. So how do we get over this, what’s the answer to this problem, how can we make washing the dishes fun and how can we get the children involved? Well I’m delighted to say that to answer those questions and many more I’m joined by dishwashing guru, Deirdre Taylor – there’s an introduction

D: Hello

H: And also parenting expert Catherine Hanley. Welcome along ladies. Now this is an interactive show and we love your questions, so if you want to know a little bit more about how to get your dishes really clean, and also how to get your kids involved with doing the washing-up, we don’t just want mum and dad to be standing there at the sink – then do get your questions in to us. All you have to do is type your name and where you’re from in the box on the screen, pop your question in there and press submit and it’ll come through to us here in the studio and Catherine and Deidre will try to get through as many as possible. But let’s kick off first of all by asking you two ladies, how long do you spend at the kitchen sink would you say, every day?

C: Every day, probably I suppose about sort of 10 or 15 minutes a day

H: It’s not that big a chore then really?

C: Not that big a chore, but yes my mother always taught me to wash up as I went along, so

H: Ah right, good tip

C: Yes it was a good tip and I don’t tend to leave things to crust over for days and days

H: So you’re not dreading it quite so much then –

C: No just a little bit, a little bit all the time

H: And how do we make washing-up fun, I mean I wouldn’t have said it could be really fun could it?

C: Well there’s lots of different ways I mean an idea really is get the kids involved from a really early age, so while you’re doing the washing-up at the sink, perhaps you could have a dishwasher bowl full of suds and your toddler could be sort of washing their tea cups and saucers alongside you

H: Sounds a bit messy

C: A bit messy but you kind of have to embrace that

H: Yes

C: Also it means they’re in the room with you, so it’s not like you’re in the kitchen trying to get through what you perceive to be an onerous task and you’re all on your own, and you’re sort of thinking, well 1) I want to get it over and done with because I’m here on my own or 2) I’d like to spend some more time with my child, why not do both things together and have them alongside you

H: So thinking about it in a different way really I suppose you could be talking about colours and all different things couldn’t you?

C: Absolutely

H: It’s an experience

C: Parents and I have to say it’s probably mums in particular who are going to be stuck at the kitchen sink, spend a long time – as you say sort of 7 days in an entire year doing the washing-up, so just think of how many hours that is that you could be spending more quality time with your kids

H: A week of every year, that’s horrendous! Would you say you spend that long Deirdre?

D: I would probably spend a little bit longer because I’ve got more children, I’ve got 3 children so I probably spend about 20-30 minutes each day

H: It’s quite a long time isn’t it?

D: It is

H: But then lots of time to spend with your children as well doing other things, but there we go. Now we’ve already had lots of questions in from you, but keep them coming in. Jill wants to know “what is washing-up week all about?” and that of course is what we’re talking about – so what’s it all about?

D: Well it’s a campaign by Persil to encourage everyone in the family to wash up so you know it not just to be mum washing up because I think our stats show that it’s 1% - only 1% of children actually are actively involved in washing-up

H: Whatever age they are?

D: Yes which is quite horrendous really isn’t it?

H: Because I know when I was growing up washing up was one of those jobs that you were sort of allowed to do because you could get involved etc. There might have been a few breakages along the way. I also think as well that dads maybe that’s their job because it’s the one thing they can do around the house that they’re not going to muck up! What would you say about that?

C: I think it’s also a case of sort of sharing responsibilities as a family. I mean if it is the mum that’s perhaps got the meal ready then it’s the job of everybody else to work as part of a team, to do the washing-up whether it’s the husband or whether it’s the children. I mean everybody’s got their own role to play in the family and washing-up time is just the sort of time when you get everybody involved

H: And so you can have a chat while you’re doing it as well, can’t you?

D: Yes and in our household we have the scrabble system –

H: What’s this?

D: Well we put different letters, different scrabble letters into a cup, so w for washing up, d for drying, t for tea-making, c for clearing up and n for doing nothing

H: N, that’s a very sought after letter I suppose isn’t it?

D: It certainly is

H: And do you weight it in your favour, do you sort of try and cheat a little bit?

D: Well that would be telling now wouldn’t it?

H: Oh dear. Now we have a question in from Kate and she wants to know “I’m concerned with water wastage and have a real problem with bubbles always staying in my glasses” – so she rinses everything. Is she using the wrong washing-up liquid? I suppose she’s worried she’s using too much water because you’re washing up and then you’re rinsing them as well

D: Doesn’t sound like she’s using the wrong washing-up liquid, it is important to rinse your glasses and all your cutlery and crockery as well

H: And how would you do that then, with running water or –

D: Ideally if you’ve got 2 sinks you could dip your glass into another bowl

H: Right

D: Otherwise what I tend to do is I do use a washing-up bowl so it does save on water, but at the same time whilst the water’s running in I’m quickly sort of washing it and rinsing it at the same time

H: Oh that’s a good idea

D: And then putting it onto a drying rack. Again some people like to use tea towels. If you’re going to use tea towels make sure it’s a soft towel so it doesn’t actually scratch your glasses

H: Oh that’s an interesting point, I hadn’t thought about that

D: Yes make sure also you regularly wash your tea towels as well.

H: Because you don’t want to wash all your dishes and then put all those germs back on with your dirty tea towel

D: Absolutely

H: And what about rinsing, could the children get involved with that do you think?

C: It depends what age they are, I mean really when they’re sort of very small you’re just talking about them either playing alongside you or helping to clear the table and put dishes away. When they get to sort of 6 and 7 and upwards then yes they can certainly sort of help and you know kids do like to be involved, they do like to be sort of given responsibilities so hopefully when they’re about 5 or 6 they can sort of get them involved and make sure that they don’t think of it as a chore, that they think of it

H: Exactly we think of washing-up as a chore but to them, how do they know that going shopping is – we see it as a chore, how do they know I mean –

D: I think young children do love playing with water and you know they love playing with bubbles, so you know actively get them involved

C: Absolutely

H: And what about the mess though?

C: I think you have to embrace that, I think either you’re going to be sort of doing the job all on your own in the kitchen and you’re going to be pretty much a sort of lonely person at the kitchen sink, or you’ve got to embrace the mess. It’s sort of either / or really

D: Yes I do think some mums are a bit of a martyr to the sink, and they don’t want the mess, and then they complain that no one’s helping them so –

H: And it doesn’t have to be every night I suppose, does it? What would you say to that?

C: I’m sure lots of families have got rota systems, I mean you say you’ve got the sort of scrabble system, I’m sure lots of other families say, you do one night and you do another night. I know that somebody else in our offices they have a system that whoever prepared the dinner basically they get up from the table afterwards and they can go and sort of sit and read a book, while everybody else who hasn’t been involved in preparing does the washing-up

H: It’s only fair isn’t it?

C: Absolutely everyone takes a turn

H: It’s not mum’s task to do absolutely everything in the house is it? And what sort of age should you be getting children involved then, as soon as they can walk?

C: Well the thing – 2 and 3 they can sort of be doing sort of playing in the kitchen alongside you. I mean my daughter is 4 and she helps certainly clear the table and takes things up I pass to her and she’ll put them away in the cupboards, into shelves and stuff and I mean well you’ve got older children so –

D: Yes I’ve got 8, 15 and 17 and they’re all actively involved in helping

H: Yes. I don’t know why we’re surprised about this because they should be shouldn’t they really, but sometimes it seems mum’s job isn’t it? Mum does everything, but there we are. Now Clare has written in, she wants to know “the palms of my hands are really sensitive to water to I always wear gloves. I finding that I still experience painful cracking after doing the washing-up, what would you recommend?”

D: Does she think she could be allergic to the type of glove that she’s using?

H: Oh that’s true because some people, is it latex that they’re allergic to?

D: Yes and there are a range of latex-free gloves available

H: Right, that’s worth trying then isn’t it?

D: So she could try those, yes.

H: Maybe just moisturising your hands after you’ve done the washing-up?

D: Tends with the cracks in the hands I think you have to use a product that’s got urea in it and that’s good for the cracks

H: Right so it’s obviously not the water and the suds that’s causing it, unless she’s doing something else as well during the day so – try changing your washing-up gloves, that’s a good tip isn’t it? Should you be using washing-up gloves as a matter of course do you think?

D: I prefer to use washing-up gloves because you then can use much hotter water

H: Oh right, that’s a good point

D: And you know hotter water’s going to help with the washing-up, it’s going to help cut through the grease more easily

C: And it doesn’t ruin your manicure as well

D: Keep your hands all nice and soft

H: Exactly. Now we’ve had plenty of your questions in but keep them coming. Izzy wants to know “how much washing-up liquid should we use when washing-up? My husband uses loads and I use very little. What’s the best solution?” Now I know my husband is very bad at this, whenever he’s finished doing the washing-up there’s bubbles piling out of the sink and he never rinses it down either, so using too much washing-up liquid – can you use too much?

D: Well you can use, I think it is a bit of a man thing and they do like to use a bit deal of it.

H: I wonder why that is?

D: But depending on, it does depending on the area that you’re in

H: Of course yes

D: Because if you’re in a hard water area then you’ll need more washing-up liquid, so I think you’ve just got to be a bit sort of, you know use your own judgement on this. Personally I don’t like a huge amount of bubbles

H: You can’t see what you’re doing can you?

D: No

H:And at the end should you have sort of no bubbles left because all the detergent’s been used up, if you’ve got too many bubbles left does that mean you’ve been using too much detergent I wonder?

D: I think actually you should have a few bubbles left

H: A few left, and always rinse the sink round as well. I hope my husband’s listening. Now then going back to children as well. Boys versus girls. Do you think the girls are more likely to like washing-up or should we be getting both involved?

C: I think you should be getting both involved

D: Yes definitely

C: I think you get out what you put it in so if you’re always involving boys and girls from an early age then they’re going to view it as perfectly normal. I mean when I was growing up my brother and I had to both help with the washing up and drying up, and he certainly doesn’t think of it as either a boy’s job or a girl’s job, so yes you have to just start with both of them and start them young

H: Yes. And what sort of knock on effect do you think this has for adulthood to get involved with the chores?

C: I think it’s really important because it’s back down to no this is part of your responsibilities as a family member and I mean you’re going to get boys and girls involved with washing-up and taking part in household chores, you’re going to hopefully turn them into sort of lovely grown-ups and adults that they’re respective partners when they end up partnering up with people are going to thank you for, because you know they’re going to be, they’re going to be the best people to have in a student house because –

H: Yes

C: Because they’re going to want to do washing up and stuff like that and yes they’re going to be nice partners in later life so you’re preparing them for adulthood

H: Exactly, it’s all a learning experience isn’t it? Now Becky’s written in, she wants to know, or she says “hi I love the idea of getting my kids more involved with the washing-up, but how can I make it appealing to my 12 year old son?” It doesn’t sound like he’s very keen on getting involved so – how would you drag him away from the telly and get him more involved in the washing-up?

D: I think sort of gradually if you get him involved and I know some people, they might use some sort of encouragement –

H: Bribe is what you’re saying? Maybe you could say, “do the washing-up and then you can watch the telly or” – it’s just working out how things work in your household I suppose, and also Becky would know her child best so she would maybe know what’s involved. There we are. Good luck Becky. It doesn’t sound like your 12 year old is very keen on getting involved, but you know everyone’s got to have a go haven’t they, otherwise the dishes don’t get done. Now Hazel wants to know, she says she has 3 children, all with a very large age gap between them, that’s a little bit like you, you’ve got quite big age gaps. The youngest is 4 and the oldest is 15. What family activities would you suggest to keep them all interested?

C: Well I think certainly when you’re talking about doing the washing-up, it’s just basically tailoring their part of their job to their age, so they’ve just got – she’s got a 4 year old you say?

H: Yes

C: Well the 4 year old can certainly help with sort of putting things away or clearing the table, or even setting it in the first place, but you’ve got to say – sorry 14 year old or 15 year old?

H: She’s got 3 children, youngest is 4, oldest is 15 and one in the middle

C: Well I mean the one in the middle can certainly help the washing-up if they’re obviously tall enough to reach the sink and –

H: And if they’re not you get them a chair to stand on

C: The practicalities – and there’s no reason why the 14 year old couldn’t do it all by themselves you know

D: Absolutely no reason

H: And the more of you doing it as well the quicker you get it done, that’s the basic thing isn’t it?

D: That’s right and ok you know when they first start they might be a bit slow at doing it, but you know over time they’ll speed up

H: Absolutely. Now what do you do about breakages, it’s sort of inevitable if you’ve got 4 year olds helping out that you’re going to get some things broken. How should you best react to that?

C: Well I think if you’ve asked them to get involved you shouldn’t be so precious about it. I mean if you’ve got beautiful crystal or particularly nice china then maybe that’s the kind of thing that you want to wash up yourself if you want to be absolutely careful. But if you’re talking about your basic crockery, basic kitchenware, basic crockery - I think not to worry too much about it

D: I mean we have breakages and the most important thing is they don’t tread on the breakage

C: Yes

D: You know that’s just one of those things

H: So don’t give them your best heirloom family Wedgewood to wash up

C: Yes exactly

H: Pots and pans, everyone can have a go can’t they? Get your scrubbing brush in there. Now Dan Leby wants to know “my son has eczema – is washing-up going to affect his skin?” Quite a lot of children have allergies these days don’t they to various things?

D: They do and in fact actually two of my children have eczema –

H: But they still do the washing-up! So how do you get round that, do they wear washing-up gloves or -

D: No. Rianan who’s 8 she doesn’t actually do much of the washing-up, she’s more of the clearing and laying of the table activity, and James, it hasn’t really affected his eczema, but that’s not to say it might affect someone else’s eczema because I think it, you know it does vary on the child and the degree, the severity of it

H: But they could maybe still do the drying up and putting away

D: They can dry up and they can sweep the floor and they can lay the table, so there’s other jobs as well that they can do

H: Yes exactly because even if they can’t do the washing-up there’s other jobs that they can do as well in the kitchen

C: And that’s what we’re talking about, we’re talking about spending time in the kitchen together and you know even if somebody’s doing the washing-up, as long as people are in the kitchen sort of helping, as you say putting things away, clearing the floor and stuff, it just means that you’re all together as a family, you’ve got the opportunity to talk to each other

H: And why is that time important do you think these days?

C: Well we’ve seen a lot of campaigns you know about the importance of getting families to sit around the table, family meals because it’s a time to actually, to discuss the day, to talk to each other, to find out what’s going on in your lives, what’s going on in your children’s lives and really what National Washing-Up week is all about is actually extending that so what we’re saying is that table talk doesn’t just finish as your family meal finishes

H: And everyone runs off in different directions

C: And everyone scoots off to the various rooms, the TV room, stuff like that, but what we’re talking about is actually you just extend that a little bit further for the next 10 minutes or so just while you get the washing-up done

H: And maybe if you were standing with the son and father doing the washing-up together, maybe that’s the time when you could talk about something that maybe they wouldn’t talk about at the table and that’s when little things come out maybe that they would be too shy to talk about at another time of the day maybe

C: Absolutely

D: Yes it could happen like that, and also I think it encourages them, you know with team work as well, it shows them how an actual team will work

H: A bit of bonding going on

D: Yes

H: It’s no bad thing is it? Now we’re just over halfway through the show now, you’re watching the Parenting Show. We’re talking about washing-up and how to get your family involved with doing the washing-up, how to get your family involved with doing the household chores, by spreading the load a little bit, and they’re never too young to start apparently. And we’re joined today by dishwashing guru, there’s a title, Deirdre Taylor and also parenting expert Catherine Hanley, so we’re getting through quite a lot of your questions so keep them coming in. Now Bonny wants to know “my daughter gets involved happily as she will help wash a plate and then Barbie will go for a swim.” That’s a nice scene isn’t it? “My son is a year older than her, he’s 5 and doesn’t find it as exciting, and I’m worried that this is turning into a mother / daughter bonding experience.” We were talking about male bonding earlier, mother / daughter experience and the little lad’s getting a bit left out. How do you make sure that everybody gets involved?

C: Well I think if she’s doing it with her daughter, when it comes to the evening meal maybe her husband or partner could get involved with the son and maybe that could be their time? And maybe or particularly if he’s not so keen on doing the washing-up maybe she could think of a special job for him to do, make him feel like he’s part of it and he’s got his own special task to do in the kitchen to get him involved. So there’s lots of things that she can do. But absolutely, I’d still plug away at it and still try to make sure that he is involved so he doesn’t feel like this is a time that he gets left out on. Perhaps if washing-up has evolved into this mother / daughter time then perhaps the pre-lunch bit or pre-dinner bit, the whole setting the table and making that look nice, maybe that could actually be the son’s job so don’t sort of kill yourself in trying to get everything to work on both children at the same time so get him involved in another way

H: You just end up with tantrums then

C: Absolutely and I could see how he would want to feel special and how he might feel a little bit left out, so it’s about finding something that would be right for him

H: Maybe clearing up toys in the – mind you that would be in the lounge. But you don’t know how people’s houses are set out do you

C: No some people have got large eating / living spaces, yes

H: Ok. Now we’re talking about doing the washing-up with younger children; what sort of hazards might there be? I mean when you’ve got knives and glasses and that sort of thing – how do you make it safe for children?

C: I think wearing gloves is probably a good idea if you can get small gloves. But you mentioned earlier on as well if you do break anything -

D: The most important thing if there’s breakages for your child not to tread on the breakage

H: Right

D: Actually I think – personally I feel that with young children I don’t let them handle knives

C: No

D: It’s probably an older child. And they’ve then got to get used to handling them as well

H: It’s all a learning experience, we’ve all learnt to do that haven’t we over the years so at some point when you think your child’s able to cope with that I guess introduce that into the washing-up. But there’s plenty of plates, pots and pans they can deal with

C: It’s probably the same thing as well with glass with delicate glass as well, I mean if you’re talking about using plastic tumblers, that’s fine for sort of small children to wash up but when you’re talking about thin and more delicate glass that may actually sort of liable to shatter or to break if too much pressure is placed on it, then that may be something for either an older child or for the parents

H: Just put those to one side and maybe do them at the end in a different bowl or something

C: Yes

H: Because you want your glasses to be nice and sparkly don’t you? Now Angela wants to know “it’s not washing-up that I hate, it’s actually the drying and putting the dishes away. I hate drying. Any tips to make this more exciting?” Do you in fact need to do the drying, can you just leave it there?

D: You can just leave it. If you rinse it in hot enough water and you place your dishes on a drying rack then they will just air dry

H: And is that hygienic?

D: Yes that’s very hygienic and probably more so than using a tea towel

H: Any tips on making the drying –up more exciting, maybe singing a song or something? Stand on one leg?

D: I mean we both like listening to music so I mean that does help or you know you can listen to an audio tape while you’re doing it

H: That’s a good idea, like having a book, a book reading tape going on. That’s a really good idea isn’t it? Now we’ve had a question in from Johnny and he says “my 7 year old keeps pouring the water in the bowl I give them for washing-up onto the floor and he’s generally very disruptive. The whole thing is getting too stressful for both of us.” Should he just give up?

C: No I don’t think he should give up. I think that’s the easy way out and I think it’s sort of you know trying things like this that are sent to test us as parents. No he shouldn’t give up but I think maybe if the kid’s pouring the water all over the floor well then equally the next job is –

H: Clearing the water up

C: Here’s the mop, and if you’re going to do that then you also have to do this, there’s a cause and an action so take responsibilities for what you’re doing so no I would say plug away, I know it’s painful

H: It is quite stressful being a parent at times isn’t it, especially around meal times and bed times and everyone’s a bit tired and what have you, but you know you’ve got to get into your routine I suppose and he’s got to learn, your little 7 year old

D: He’s got to learn because otherwise there’s no doubt he’ll start doing the washing-up badly and you won’t ask him to do it again

H: And then no one will marry him! Of course we’ve had lovely weather haven’t we, so you could of course take the washing-up outside maybe, is that a good idea?

D: Why not

C: There’s no reason why not

D: Absolutely you can wash up in the garden if you so wish

H: That would be quite nice wouldn’t it?

D: Yes

H: And also then the children get involved, not so messy and if they drop things they’re less likely to break on the grass as well. That’s a good idea, I might do that tonight. Now Tiffany’s written in, she wants to know she says “hi I’m a mother of 7” – 7 children Tiffany, you’re busy, and she often spends much of her day washing-up after everyone in her home. “Do you have any advice on how to get the washing-up done and still spend time with the family?” Which kind of sums up the whole thing really doesn’t it?

C: My question, that would be if you’ve got 7 children what are you doing all the washing-up? I’m not sure what age range that spans –

H: But one’s got to be at least 7 I would have thought

C: Yes this is absolutely what we’re talking about, we’re talking about you spreading the burden, spreading the load and this is a job that every member of the family should be sharing and taking responsibility. It’s not her job. I think as a society we sort of hopefully moving away from the sort of child centric family that we’ve all been sort of looking at where the parents do everything and the children do nothing, and I think if you want to have sort of nice, well-rounded adults when your kids grow up, this is where you start. Absolutely, she’s got 7 children, those 7 children should be taking their own sort of roles and responsibilities in the family

H: And realising that mum’s actually probably quite tired as well

C: Yes absolutely. Goodness with 7 children.

H: Crikey it probably never stops. I’ve only got one, that’s enough! Goodness me. Now how often should you actually be doing the washing-up do you think? I mean can you leave it all for a week or should you do it every day or –

D: It’s best to do it every day. I mean you don’t really want piles of washing-up sitting there. Once you get mould on the food it really isn’t very hygienic at all

H: No and Catherine you were saying you do it as I go along –

C: I do it as I go along, it’s sort of no – rather than letting a sort of great big mounds of washing-up sort of pile up by the sink, I can’t bear that, so I just do a little bit, little and often really

H: And then it’s easier because when all the food dries on it doesn’t come off as easily does it?

D: Absolutely. I mean in our household I mean when we have a cup of tea we don’t always wash it up straight away but then we do actually pour away the tea dregs an fill the cup with water and that prevents tannins staining the cups as well

H: Yes. We’re not students at the end of the day – well we’re not anyway. Any students out there, I know what you’re like with the washing up. We were dreadful in our house, we had – ended up having a rota in the end because it got left and left and it’s quite disgusting isn’t it? But Simon Park actually wrote in and he says “how long is acceptable to leave dirty dishes after a meal before it becomes unhygienic?” I mean how long do you think, I mean every day really

D: Probably every day. Actually from the Persil Washing-Up survey, quite a lot of people did leave it till, you know for a couple of days

H: I suppose if you live on your own though I don’t know it’s sort of tempting to leave it. I don’t know whether Simon lives on his own

D: Well if you’re going to leave it, let it soak in a bowl, a washing-up bowl.

H: Or just rinse it off a little bit maybe and then put it to the side and then do the whole lot in one go. Now Simon’s also got another question, he says “I’ve ruined 3 non-stick frying pans with a scourer. How do I keep them clean and retain their non-stickness?” If that’s a word!

D: Well first of all he shouldn’t be using a scourer on them

H: He doesn’t say what sort of scourer of course, maybe not the metal ones, but how should you clean a non-stick frying pan?

D: Well some non-stick frying pans really they just need to be, you just need to pour some boiling water over them and jus wipe them out. They really don’t need a lot of cleaning. Certainly don’t use a scourer. And I mean you know they are really badly burned it’s probably because he’s using them on too high a heat and that’s causing the food to stick

H: Right. So they should last quite a long time should they, the non-stick frying pans?

D: They should last, you know, several years

H: He said he’s ruined 3 so – maybe give up cooking Simon, I don’t know!

D: And he’s probably using metal tools on them as well

H: Yes that’s true so you need to go a bit more gently on the non-stick frying pans

D: Yes

H: Now we’ve had a question in from Surgee, and he or she wants to know “shouldn’t I just buy a dishwasher?” Wouldn’t that just solve all the problems? A dishwasher, is that the way to go?

C: I’m sure lots of families do have dishwashers, but I mean there are always things that you don’t want to put in the dishwasher. I mean in our family it’s things like Tupperware boxes because they always warp slightly if they’re in too high a heat

H :Things flip over in the dishwasher – that always drives mad, we’ve got a dishwasher

C: I think there’s always something you don’t – and we talked earlier on about very fine crystal and nice china

D: You don’t want to put that in. Anything that’s got you know china with a gold or metal rim on it, that’s going to wear off in the dishwasher, you know the things like wooden items, salad bowls and things like that you can’t dishwash, anything with bone handles, so there’s lots of things that you can’t put in the dishwasher, and you know that you’d then start to wash by hand

H: So you’d end up doing the washing-up anyway

D: That’s right and a lot of people don’t put a lot of big items like roasting pans in them, in there as well so they end up washing those by hands so –

H: And I think maybe washing up by hand is probably better for the environment as well because you’re maybe not using as much water, but I don’t know that for a fact but you would think dishwashers use a lot more but I don’t know that for certain. Going back to soap and allergies and what have you, I mean are you ok to put your hands in the soap do you think, particularly with the younger children?

D: Yes certainly it’s not harmful to your hands at all

H: Because they’re sort of formulated aren’t they to be kind to your skin. Now Ruth Green wants to know “how do I stop my kids running out of the door as soon as dinner’s over?” Sounds like she needs to pin them down a bit!

D: Lock the door

H: Some sort of barrier system I think. Bit of encouragement? But I mean at the end of the day how do you make washing-up fun, we’ve talked about getting the family involved. What sorts of things can you do for the younger children maybe to make it a learning experience for example?

C: I think in terms of making it fun we sort of mentioned music as well. I mean maybe this could be – certainly when your kids get to a certain age it could be something that you do without the adults being around

H: Right

C: I mean maybe this is the time that parents can sort of go off into another room and put their feet up and actually it could be the kids all doing it together and it could be almost their bonding time to do, they could have the music up as loud as they like and I’m sure if the washing-up’s getting done the parents won’t mind

H: And if you have the music up loud you won’t hear them arguing will you?

C: It’s your turn, no it’s your turn!

H: Now what about learning things, you know learning about colours, learning about different pieces of crockery, learning about where things go and different materials and things as well with smaller children, I suppose you could do that

D: Yes that’s good and also you can learn about different shapes as well, looking at rectangular roasting pans or circular plates, so you can teach them a lot while you’re washing-up

C: And even before the meal as well, sort of laying the table, the actual idea of laying out sets of things is actually very educational, showing children what left and right is, what goes on the left, what goes on the right

H: Oh that’s a good idea

C: The fact that there’s a set of items that goes at each place, there’s loads of ways that kids can learn from all those activities in the kitchen

H: Yes rather than seeing it as a chore, try and make it fun. I know it’s difficult every night! Now Adrian has written in and he says he’s a single dad and he finds it easier just to get on with it, but now I’m thinking about getting the kids involved. He says “how do I approach this?” now he’s been doing it for ages, the kids have been sitting back watching the telly, how does he make the switch? This is a good question

C: With difficulty but I mean it partly depends on how old the kids are, how long they’ve had to sort of get into the sort of ingrained position where they sort of rush off and don’t do the food. I mean I think maybe if he can and if they’re of and age if they can sit down and he can sort of talk to them and say I’m working all day, or I’m looking after you all day, and I’m making the dinner, and now what I’m expecting you to do because you’re sort of grown up and I consider you to be important, we’re all important members of this family and now what’s going to happen is this is going to be your job. And maybe make it something that’s going to be – not a chore - but actually almost like as a right of passage

H: Oh right that’s a good idea

C: This is now something that you’re going to be doing and I’m going to give you this responsibility because I trust you

H: Yes and what about charts as well and stickers and things like that, is that a good idea?

D: I think that’s more appealing to the younger child isn’t it? The stickers and the star system

H: Do you have that in your house with your scrabble system?

D: No we don’t have the chart system, they’re a bit too old for that

H: But it’s worth a go isn’t it if it’s going to encourage them –

C: Anything that works, honestly

H: And what about giving them some sort of treat, if you’ve managed to do the washing-up 7 times or something and you’ve got all these stars, is giving them a treat a good idea or is it showing them that – mum doesn’t get a treat does she?

C: Actually I would shy away from the treat unless you’ve really got some – I mean unless we’re talking about you’re starting from a position where for years and years and years your kids haven’t done it and then it’s going to help you to work, but yes this is just a job that happens every day as you say in the house. I don’t think that the kids have to have treats to do it

H: No. Because poor old mum, or dad, and how do you get dads to do it, that’s another thing. That’s a whole different subject! But going on, we’re talking about basically getting your kids involved, getting your family involved in doing the washing-up. So what do you think are your top tips as to trying to get your family involved with doing the washing-up?

C: Well I would say you can never start too early, so as soon as you can get them involved and I mean I think we were talking earlier on about don’t be too precious, don’t – I think a lot of people and I have to say it probably is more women than men, view the washing-up in the kitchen as their space, and I’m the only person who can do it right and I’m the only person that uses the right amount of washing-up liquid and nobody else does it, I think you’re going to have to step back a little bit and be a little bit less precious about it and more inclusive you know

H: Ok, we’re almost out of time so any top tips quickly?

D: Yes I agree with all that, especially about not being too precious about your kitchen space

H: A bit of water never hurt anybody did it?

D: That’s it

H: Well Deidre and Catherine thanks very much for your top tips and I hope you at home will be getting your kids involved with doing the washing-up. If you need any more information then all you have to do is either press the link on the screen or go to the website which is www.nationalwashingupweek.co.uk. So thanks to all of you who wrote in with your questions and we’ll see you next time. Bye bye.

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