Dish Duty

After dinner this evening Rachel brought a stool to over to the kitchen sink so that she could help me do the dishes. 

"It looks like fun!" she said. 

I let her wash out all the ziplock bags.

"This is fun!" she said.

Then I told her it was my turn—all that was left were the big pots and pans that didn't fit in the dish washer and those needed a good, motherly scrubbing. 

"Aw," she sighed, "I want to keep having fun!"

Instead she went downstairs to colour in Grandma's office. She came back upstairs with this picture:

Miriam's on the left, Rachel's in the middle, and I'm on the right. And look—we're all smiling this time! 

Rachel is standing on a stool rinsing out a ziplock bag (apparently above her head). I am by the sink helping (apparently she's standing on a stool in the middle of the floor while rinsing a ziplock bag above her head—spacial issues, I guess, because it didn't really happen that way). Miriam is watching us work together (and probably wishing she could join in on the fun).

Above the sink is the window and the box we're in is the house—you can tell because it has a chimney.

At first I thought it was funny that she wanted to help. After all...

Rachel + Dishes = Easily the Biggest Source of Contention in Our Home

But then I realized that she loves playing in water—putting away dry dishes is obviously not half a fun as washing dishes in a sink full of water! And then I remembered that I have a lot of fond childhood memories of washing dishes with my siblings. Not all of my dish washing memories are happy, but a lot of them are. We'd make up little games to play between turns and stood side by side talking while we were taking our turns. I wonder if we're missing out on something by having a dishwasher—not that I mind having one. I just think that I wouldn't mind not having one, for the most part.

There are a few days of the year when a dishwasher would really come in handy—Thanksgiving comes to mind (probably because tomorrow is Thanksgiving in Canada and we don't get so much as a day off here, even though it's Columbus Day)—and if I ever end up without a dishwasher again I reserve the right to whine about it upon occasion. But today, I was grateful to be working side by side with Rachel, chatting about life, and having fun!

"Successful marriages and families are establish and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance  forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities."