Chores. Every parent’s favorite subject and every child’s most groan-worthy. There are so many types of chores that need doing, well, all the time. I would argue that chores — from cleaning up the kitchen and raking leaves to taking out the garbage and mowing the lawn — serve two important purposes when it comes to raising kids. One, they are an easy way to teach your kiddos the simple knowledge of how to do these tasks. Two, it helps them become more independent as you back off the training phase and give them the reins.
Putting your kids to work on household chores also means you don’t have to do them. Okay, so three key purposes.
All of these examples are on the docket in my house, but it is the kitchen that dominates that list. Mainly because we are foodies. All five of us love good food. The kids and I eat like horses. And my wife is an amazing cook who manages to prepare some kind of glorious dinner almost every night. All of which translates to a whole lot of dirty dishes and nearly endless KP duty. Enter the dishwasher.
Taking a close second in our house of Things We Are Thankful For, behind my wife’s chef skills, the dishwasher is a lifesaver. While sharing that this appliance has run constantly, without issue, for years, I am simultaneously knocking knuckles on my wood desk. It’s a critical piece of infrastructure and one that has created a sort of sociological experiment among my family, and a funny one at that.
Some say that in every partnership, there is one person who loads the dishwasher like a Scandinavian architect and one who loads it like a raccoon on meth. Were my wife reading over my shoulder right now, she would absolutely agree that she is the raccoon in this scenario and I’m the architect. Or, you could simply look at the dishwasher after each of us has loaded it.
When the kids were little, it was a shared task with my wife. Until I was discovered rearranging her work, which she found funny, irritating, and probably a little disturbing. This led to me taking ownership of this all-important household chore. That is, until the children got bigger. It started with having them clear their dishes after a meal. Then rinsing plates and utensils, and scrubbing the big stuff. Finally, the dishwasher entered the picture, and at this point, our little trio of hungry animals manages the entire KP duty process.
However, my youngest daughter has emerged as a distinct Scandinavian architect on the dishwasher front, and a territorial one at that. She took an inherent interest in my Christian Bale in American Psycho-like method for setting up the dishwasher … just … so. It is admittedly absurd, but she’s on my wavelength and realizes there is to be no goofing around when it comes to placing dirty dishware.
To the point that she will not allow her siblings to load the dishwasher and barks when they get too close. When her grandfather, my dad, visited and attempted to take on this task, she stood over him and pointed out all the aspects being performed incorrectly. I have even received texts from her inquiring as to what buffoon loaded the dishwasher.
Fortunately, all of this happens in an environment of laughter. At least from myself. But my daughter? She isn’t kidding around and, frankly, I love the dedication to an otherwise ho-hum household chore.
