The Amazing Dish Machine

For my entire married life I have washed dishes by hand, taking, as I see it, valuable time at the sink that I could be spending with my family. (Besides, does anyone really enjoy this tedious task?) Many times I have used the dishes as a way of burning off steam and having some time to think through some frustrations or just bang around a few cups and bowls. But I am in no way attached to this sort of anger management therapy. So a few months ago, my husband bought me a cute little countertop dishwasher as a birthday present.

During the days we waited for our new servant to be delivered, I talked to the kids about how wonderful it would be to put the dishes in the machine and let it do the work so I would have more time to spend with them. My son came home from school on the day of the delivery and upon seeing the dishwasher exclaimed excitedly, with sparkling eyes, "Your dishwasher is here??!! Yay!, now you have more time to spend with us!"

But today I had to take a minute to jot down my older daughter's take on the wonderful new machine, after overhearing a conversation with a friend playing at our house:
Peach: "Sometimes I help my mom with work around the house."
Friend: "Yeah, sometimes I help my mom with the dishes."
Peach: "I don't because my mom doesn't do the work. She has an Amazing Dish Machine who does the work for her! So she has time to spend with us!"

What a refreshing thought. A little reminder not to take forgranted our Amazing Machines that do so much work for us! So, may we take joy in the few short minutes it takes to load the washing machine or empty the dishwasher or toss a few ingredients in the slow-cooker. (Now I just need an automatic sock folder!) ( :