A Lesson From My Dishwasher

Our faithful dishwasher of 8 years gave up the ghost last week. I walked into the kitchen ready to unload the dishwasher and was met with a disgusting sour smell. Upon further inspection I found the bottom of the dishwasher completely full of the most foul brown water imaginable. Gross! Consequently, this has been the scene in our house as of late. But, I have learned a few things standing there doing dishes by  hand.

We live in a fast paced world. Modern conveniences have cut our work sometimes in more than half. Dishwashers, washers and dryers, cars and microwaves have given us the freedom to spend our time on more important things than menial chores. Internet is lightning speed and airplanes can get us across the country in hours instead of weeks or even months. The amount of things we can fit on our to do lists today would make our ancestors stare in disbelief. 

This is a good thing in my book. I mean, lets face it, would you rather spend an hour doing dishes, or just 20 minutes doing them and then have 40 minutes to spend on something you would enjoy more? And I sure as heck don't want to carry my laundry out back and beat it against a wash board when I can just quickly throw an entire load into the washer in 1 minute and walk away leaving all the work to be done by the machine.

With that said, there is something appealing to me about slowing down. About taking the time to do the dishes by hand. Standing there with my son having a great conversation about girls. Washing with my daughter and talking about her day at school. Drying with Aaron while we talk about our plans for the weekend.

Not having a dishwasher this week has been a good experience for us. It has forced us to spend time doing a chore together, that is normally done by one person in a few minutes. I have had some wonderful conversations and have enjoyed our little week.

We will be receiving our new little bundle of joy today, so doing dishes by hand will not be a necessity in our home any more. We will be back to throwing those dishes back into the machine to let it do all of the work. But, this week has reminded me of the importance of slowing down. Taking time to just talk. To focus on the little things in life.