I only serve snacks here & sometimes have to prep them - cutting, cleaning fruit etc. I do wash my dcks containers too, usually wash up towards the end of lunch time - no dish washer either. When I had 3 little ones together it did feel like I was cleaning & washing all the time, and they were all in high chairs - on the ground tho'. But the ground would get so dirty and I'd have to spend a lot of time cleaning it! I'm down to two now, and they've gotten bigger they're on the kids table and a lot less messy than they were before.
Like P & L said, if you had left overs from the night before that would be easier on you to serve that...