I am thankful for my dishwasher.
I don't like to wash dishes. I suppose it's not on my list of horrible things, but it's not on my list of fun things, either.
 |
| We saved this metal dish pan from my parent's things. This held our rinse water while washing dishes. |
When I was growing up, we didn't have a dishwasher. My parents always said why should they buy a dishwasher when they had four perfectly good ones already--meaning me and my sisters.
Every night after supper, my parents would retire to the living room to watch the evening news while we cleaned up the kitchen. My oldest sister was a good singer and knew a lot of songs so she usually led us in singing while we worked. I really liked that part. But the washing, rinsing, and drying were not so much fun.
However if truth be told, I spent the lion's share of my time goofing off and left most of the work to the others. One of my go to activities was to soak the label off a jar, tear it into little pieces, and put it back together on the cabinet fronts like a puzzle. The wet pieces clung well and I tried to make the pieces fit exactly right. While I enjoyed doing this, I had even more fun irritating my oldest sister. My younger sister and I knew just what to do to push her buttons. I'd like to say that I was mature and didn't bother her, but I wasn't and I did. We could always get to her by singing, "I Want to Be Loved by You" in the style of Mary Ann in one of the Gilligan's Island episodes.
As time progressed and my two older sisters went to college, I assumed more responsibility in the kitchen. Eventually I went to college and my parents finally got an automatic dishwasher. They said it was time since most of their "dishwashers"were gone now.
Not having had a dishwasher growing up really made me appreciate the one I had when I moved out on my own. I have been happy to have one ever since. So for the convenience and help of a dishwasher, I am thankful.
Ooh, yes!! My family was similar to yours in that we got a dishwasher when I was the only one left at home. It was a portable one that we had to move around the kitchen and we hooked the hoses up to the sink. I was highly motivated to learn efficient techniques for stacking the dishwasher as the more I could squeeze in, the less I had to wash.
ReplyDeleteI find that I am much more willing to entertain if I have a dishwasher. Doing all that clean-up by hand ... no thank you. Spoiled, aren't I?
I've heard that washing by hand uses more water and energy, so you're doing your thing for the environment when you use the dishwasher not being spoiled. ;)
DeleteAfter I went to college, my parents got a dishwasher and a color TV. I always teased them that they had a plan to deprive me of the important things in life.
I still wash dishes by hand. When I moved in here, I found out the dishwasher didn't work, would put water all over the floor so my brother, who owns the place, disconnected it. So I wash them by hand. Oh well. Those are funny stories you have of times washing dishes (or putting labels together like puzzles) with your sisters.
ReplyDeleteI guess washing everything by hand is probably easier than cleaning up the mess the dishwasher would make every time you used it.
DeleteI have more stories about washing dishes with my sisters, but the post was already long enough to make the point. Maybe I'll do a follow up sometime with more stories, like the silverware wars we used to have.
I grew up without a dishwasher, but, I wasn't required to wash any dishes until I was much older. My mother bought me my dishwasher when I remodeled the kitchen, in 1997, but I didn't like to use it. I still wash the majority of my dishes by hand, but, save up the dishes for a couple of days and run the dishwasher once a week or every 10 days because I was told that I should run it to keep the hoses flexible!
ReplyDeleteI imagine that it would take a while to get a full dishwasher load since most of the time there is just you there. There are three of us here right now, and we run it a couple of times a week. My husband likes to wash dishes, so when he is doing the hand washing, he washes everything including things that would go nicely in the dishwasher. When he does that, it takes longer to fill.
Delete