New Dishwasher

Up to our elbows in soapy water

Yes, this is Jaren valiantly washing the dishes

There were SO MANY dishes to wash

Sure, she has a smile now. But would she still be smiling
after having to wash dishes by hand all summer?

I stalked the cups in the background. Something I use to
do as a kid. Isabel did a great job stalking the bowls.

Yesterday afternoon Hannah quickly informed me that there was a whole lot of water by the dishwasher. I walked over and sure enough, a puddle of water had formed below the darn thing. We quickly put towels around to gather up the mess and I called my hubby. I can't seem to figure things out on my own (not a good thing, I know). I let the washer run it's course and waited for Brent to get home to take a look at it.
Brent pulled apart the entire washer and much to my disappointment it couldn't be fixed. So I had to pull out some old tricks. I started to fill up the sink with warm soapy water and started dropping in the silverware. This brought back many memories of my childhood. I washed the dishes A LOT growing up. I remember, without fail, I would have to run to the bathroom to go number 1 while the sink was being filled. My goal was to make it back before it overflowed. I remember hating to do silverware!! I would leave it to soak in the bottom of the sink until very last. I also remember one time doing a whole counter full of dirty dishes, in cool water, with a toilet bowl scrubber. I had not idea at the time what I was doing. My Dad came in when I was just putting away the last of the dishes to air dry. He took one look, felt the water and I had to do wash them all over again. I was so proud of myself and then my little bubble was burst.

Anyway, I digress. As I was washing the glasses a thought popped into my head, " I have other dishwashers!! I don't have to do this." So I called up Jaren and Isabel, since their chores this week were to Load and Unload the dishwasher. I explained the situation and this was Isabel's response, " Isn't this what POOR people have to do?". CLASSIC!!!
Jaren had no idea what to do. I explained that the soapy sink was meant to wash and the other sink filled with hot water was for rinsing. I even demonstrated for him. This was his response,"Oh, I didn't know that's what I was suppose to do." I then realized, again (this was not the first time), that my children are growing up in a completely different age then myself. I didn't have the luxury of a dishwasher until I was a Senior in High School. Does that mean my family was poor? Probably. But I also realized that my children need to learn how to wash a sink load of dishes. One day we might not have electricity. What would we do then?