The Reluctant Dishwasher-er

This post is dedicated to Ash, Jenny, Michelle, Sheri and my long-suffering husband, Mr T…

I’ve recently made a discovery of life-changing proportions. A discovery so incredible that even the uncovering of the first T-Rex bone pales in comparison. I’ve discovered The Dishwasher.

Approximately 1 year ago my family and I moved into a rather nice house with a rather nice kitchen and rather nice mod-cons. We spent much of Moving Day opening and closing all the many cupboard doors to determine what which was what and which what should go where. Pulling open one particular door we were not terribly excited to find a dishwasher – what a waste of storage space! Over the course of the year, and always with a hint of suspicious curiosity, we occasionally opened this door, but never ventured to use it. ‘Are you nuts?!’ I can hear you all screaming. But before you judge me, you need to understand what a ‘dishwasher’ represents to me, or at least what it used to represent. You see, I’ve always considered that using a dishwasher is the height of laziness and I have a particularly unhealthy aversion to laziness, which probably means that if you delve deep enough into the depths of my soul you will find someone who is ultimately very lazy but who will do everything in their power to hide this fact.

Standing at a sink and washing up with hot water is not the easiest of tasks to undertake when you have a condition like MS. If I’m honest, I haven’t really done any washing up in the last 7 or 8 or even 9 years… that’s been one of the many jobs my over-worked husband has taken on. I should stress here that it is only in the last year that we have had access to a dishwasher (if you don’t count the 2 years that we lived in an apartment with said appliance prior to my diagnosis; and yes, it remained unused). So, what changed? When was the eureka moment? Why have I only now come to realise what a life-saver a dishwasher can be? There were 2 turning points. The first came as I sat with a glass of wine watching my husband wash up. I suddenly realised that he spent an awful lot of time at that sink and wouldn’t it be nice if he could just sit down with me for a moment and not worry about the mess in the kitchen?! The second epiphany came as I was listening to Radio 2 on my way to work. An environmental expert was extolling the virtues of using a dishwasher instead of washing up; apparently it uses less water – I had no idea! Always one to practise what I preach (Save The Environment etc) I went home that evening and placed a ban on the washing up bowl. From now on we were to load the dishwasher once a day and use it, actually USE it. O. M. G. What a revelation! I hadn’t realised how much of a burden washing and drying up had become. It was taking over our (my husband’s…) life and now that burden was gone, like this massive weight lifted from us. The dishes get done out of sight and out of mind and they come out squeaky clean – literally squeaking with cleanliness.

I know I’m ridiculously late to the party and I thank you for humouring me here, but if by the remotest of chances there is anyone reading this who has a dishwasher and doesn’t use it – Get using! It will transform your life.