Okay, so I need all of your opinions. We have decided, meaning me, that everyone in our house should now take a turn doing the dishes. I know you're all thinking, what about the hubby? Now that it is spring time he has moved outside and is taking care of the lawn, and with a 1/2 acre lot that is a lot of work. So, I told everyone they would be responsible for one night a week. Remember, we have 11 people living here so dishes are no joke.
What I need your opinion on is, when you are doing dishes, should that include wiping up the table and counters. I say yes because the kitchen isn't clean until those are wiped up. My kids say no because it's not the dishes. What say you my good friends.
Last night my 22 year old was doing them and on the table were napkins, cups grated cheese, drops of sour cream, a cheese grater and so on. When I do the dishes, I clear the table and island of everything wipe them down and them proceed to wash dishes and then load them into the dishwashers. I don't know how you can "do dishes." if the table hasn't even been cleared of all of them. I guess he thought all the dirty cups run over and hop into the sink when it's bath time for them. When I pointed it out he said, "That's not dishes. Dishes are only what's in the sink and the pots on the stove.
I thought he was joking, and then my daughter yelled from the bedroom that, "That's not part of the dishes."
These are adults who are in college.
What happened to going the extra mile and leaving a place better than you found it? Do those thoughts not enter anyone's heads any more? To me doing the dishes means when you are done, the kitchen is clean.
3 years ago
I agree with you!! The table being cleared off and wiped off along with the counters is part of the job. If they can't handle doing that once every 11 days they need to move out (the ones in college and over 18) and see what taking care of there own place entails!!
ReplyDeleteObviously this doesn't work perfectly for us but here's our method to the madness. My kids have a kitchen job they are assigned to each week. We have 3 different jobs: setting, clearing, and dishes. My older kids are paired with a younger one, so they can "teach" them along the way. The "teaching" part usually is yelling, but you know how that goes. :-) At the end of the week, the pair is switched to their next job. The "clearing" job is where your issue comes in for us. Our clearers are supposed to completely clear the table which means putting the food away, getting all the dirty dishes to the sink for the "dishes" people, and wiping off the table and putting the center pieces back in their places. Ideally I want the "clearers" to sweep my floor too, but I'm not going to press my luck too much! Good luck with the dish dilemma!
ReplyDeleteMake it a 2 person job. I remember doing that growing up. Hayley would wash, I would dry and do the table. We would switch each week.
ReplyDeleteOr just tell them if you have to break it up into two jobs, they'll have assignments two nights a week instead of one. That should do it.
ReplyDeleteGood luck.