Tuesday, July 18, 2006
A Waste of Space
My automatic dishwasher is rarely used. Well, first of all it's old and crustified and gets soap granules stuck all over the dishes... yes even when I use Cascade. My husband tells me we need to get a new one. Well, the list of things we need for this house is a mile long but I'll tell you why that one is not on the top of MY list! I'd rather have more cupboards.- We have some anodized aluminum tumblers that we use often... they are a great alternative to plastic for my clumsy kids... while still giving that fresh cold sweat that glass will give to an icy beverage. But we can't put them in the dishwasher because the harsh chemicals will cause the anodization to break down. We also have some non-stick cookware which as all of you know, can't be dishwashed either... and then there's the cast iron skillets and the giant crock pot that won't fit...
So usually I'm left doing at least SOME dishes by hand. Plus, most dishwashers require you to pre-wash or at least rinse off the dishes before you even load it up! Well, if I'm going to pre-wash half my dishes and then wash the other half by hand, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me to be "saving time and energy" by using the old machine anyway!
Doing dishes is almost therapeutic anyway (Clearing the table, wiping up the messes on the table and floor, putting away food... that's another story that stays the same regardless of using the machine or not). Getting a hot, sudsy sink full of water and doing the dishes just 'feels' good I guess. I wonder if that's oxymoronic that a mother finds peace in doing work? Hmmm... maybe I'm just wising up to the fact that my therapy will never be afforded at the nail salon or massage parlor. Regardless, at least I've embraced some aspect of my domestic life, right?! (I've yet to find peace in changing a blown out diaper.)
At any rate, I've found it easier to do all my dishes by hand, bit by bit throughout the day as needed, rather than stockpiling until I'm energy shot after dinner. The only thing I like my dishwasher for is when I find sippy cups under a kid's bed that has long since molded whatever's been inside of it... or when I discover last month's leftover rigatoni stuffed way in the back of my fridge emitting nuclear gasses from some tupperware... THEN I am more than happy to run a load to sterilize my plastic.
Dear husband says we have to get one because it's a selling point when we move out of here. Sure I suppose... but I don't plan on using it much in the meantime. I'm quite content to do dishes the old way, which is not only more efficient in my case... but also allows me a moment of reflection in allowing the "Joy" to wash away all my dirt. Okay, that was my poor attempt to be poetic and witty but you get what I mean.
-Ellie, Oak Harbor
Labels: Reflections
one of us ::
9:18 PM ::
1
Comments
