It had been a long day…no different than any other day, really. There was breakfast to make and clean up after, children to dress,
teeth to brush and laundry to fold. There were errands to do, the garden to water, juice spills to clean up and then lunch. Then there was cleaning up after lunch, picking up toys, wiping off chins and breaking up squabbles. Then there was dinner to make, a dog to feed, baths to taken and stories to be read. And when the kids were finally in bed, I had a gigantic stack of dirty dishes to hand wash.
Our dishwasher had died the night before and I suddenly felt like a housewife from the 1940s (or from the frontier days, for that matter!) standing at the kitchen sink elbow deep in sudsy water. It took me at least half an hour to wash all of the dishes and it made me very, very grateful for the time I had spent with my newly deceased dishwasher. I thought of my grandmother and all of the dishes she must have washed. And I thought of my own mother, who has washed many a dish herself after long work days followed by parenting and household chores.
It comes as absolutely no surprise to me that this modern-day necessity was invented by a woman, Josephine Cochrane. Cochrane, being upper-class, never actually washed her own dishes but (according to Wikipedia) but grew sick of her servants chipping her china when they were hand-washing it.
Thankfully I was only without a dishwasher for about a week but I’ve gotta tell ya, it really added a lot of extra work to my daily list of duties! I cannot imagine being without both an automatic dishwasher and a clothes washer and dryer. Or worse, my vacuum, with my crumb-dropping kids and a dog and cat who shed year round. What would I do? Drag the rugs out and beat them with a stick?? I don’t currently work outside of the house and as it is, I feel like I am cooking, cleaning and caring for kinder non-stop. But without these appliances, I would literally have to work from dawn til dusk to make up for these luxuries that I was definitely taking for granted.
What about you? Which is your least favorite household chore and which is the appliance you couldn’t live without? Which appliance could you give up and not miss? I can’t thing of a single one!
Our new house doesn’t have a dishwasher, and it is very hard to get used to! I hated giving up our dishwasher!
Oh man, I’d die without my dishwasher! But I have to say that my washing machine is my best friend. With a toddler that spills food and drink all over himself and his cloth diapers this is a must. My washer must never fail. However on the flip side I could do with out my dryer. Line drying is so much better but in the case of rain or needing clothing dried quickly I like using it every now and then.
My husband does all the dishes because he won’t help me with diapers. I honestly feel like I got the better end of that bargain (esp since I only have to do diapers every other day). I couldn’t live without the dishwasher or my washing machine though. I hate washing dishes!
I hate to cook! I don’t mind everything else:-)
I grew up hand-washing all of the dishes. My family didn’t get a dishwasher till I was in 8th grade. My older brother would wash, I would rinse. We also didn’t have running water till I was in first grade, so no clothes washer and dryer, no toilet either. I still wash about half my dishes by hand. My most favorite appliance is the refrigerator and freezer. I would not like to have to go grocery shopping every few days.
Like that I have a dishwasher again. About 2 of the last 5 years I have not had one. Missing having my own washer and dryer and a vacuum currently. Those items make things just a bit easier. Hope to get some here soon. Tough to get all set up again in a new place. Tougher still when you know you’ll be doing it all again next year, but that is life as a military spouse.
I LOATHE dusting!!!! Not having a dishwasher did not bother me in the past but now with two kiddos, I don’t think I could lie without it!
haha, LIVE without my dishwasher…
I just got a dishwasher a few months ago and I love it! I’ve been washing dishes for a family of 6 for a year and I hated it. I still the pots and pans by hand but I have so much more time now.
I’m with you on that one-I couldn’t live without my dishwasher. I despise dirty dishes! But my most hated of chores is hanging up the clothes. I don’t know why, but I could wash them all day but when it comes to putting them away, it doesn’t get done. :/ I think it would be *kind of* fun to go without a dryer and line dry all of your clothes and have your kids running through the sheets…but then again, no. (haha)
We get along just fine without a dishwasher, but every now and again when the backlog piles up, I would dearly love to just push a “start” button and walk away…
I Hate dishes, And I mean Hate! With 4 little ones, there is always a pile, just waiting to be done. Thank goodness for my dishwasher, and my hubby, he unloads it =)~ That is probably the one appliance I couldn’t live with out….now the TV, I can do with out that!
I’ve never had a dishwasher! Im sure once I have a second child I will be wishing I did!
i’d die without my washing machine! i wouldn’t mind handwashing dishes if push came to shove, but handwashing all of my clothes? that would take a lot out of me!
My washing machine recently died. Thankfully, we were able to get a new (to us) one in less than a week. I would rather do dishes 3 times per day than spend lots of hours and lots of $ at the laundrymat, or wash clothes by hand. We really do depend on our time-saving appliances.
Oh my goodness, I don’t think I’d survive without my dishwasher…or washing machine…or my vacuum…haha!
I love my dishwasher. The dishes are my least favorite chore. I’d rather clean the bathroom!
My least favorite chore is washing dishes. We have an apartment without a dishwasher, which means I am the dishwasher. haha. Though we do not have a dishwasher in our little apartment, we DO have a washer and dryer, of which I am VERY thankful. I hate going to the laundromat.
My first thought when I read this was I couldn’t go without my washing machine. The more I thought about it the more I realize I’ve survived (for short periods of time) without one. I’ve scrubbed many diapers in the tub and my mother even gave me an old fashion washing board when I moved into my first place (which I used!). Sadly, I recently realized I couldn’t survive without my microwave. Mine died 2 weeks ago and I couldn’t even make it 24 hours before I NEEDED to run out and buy a new one, lol.
I can’t live without any of it either. I don’t know how I’d work and keep up with the house without modern convinces.
I like my dishwasher, but am most grateful for having a clothes washer and dryer.
We haven’t had a dishwasher for the last 3 1/2 years. I understand the want of a dishwasher to prevent chipping dishes. We had a dozen or more glasses when we moved in and now we have one!
My mother in law doesn’t have one! I cannot imagineeee.
I don’t like vacuuming! I wish I had a roomba lol
I couldnt give up any appliances either…ESPECIALLY not my diaper sprayer!
this just happened to me a few weeks ago! Still havent gotten a new one, but washing dishes while my lo is taking a nap has become a peaceful time to think:)
I hate dishes but when I do them, it actually doesn’t take me that long. I have a dishwasher now but not too long ago I didn’t and I honestly don’t think it takes me any longer to handwash them than to rinse and put them in the dishwasher. The appliance I couldn’t live without is definitely my vacuum. I hate sweeping- it’s so much easier to just vac everything up!
We grew up hand washing dishes. My mom and dad said they had three dishwasher, my two sister and me. I do wash my dishes by hand because our dishwasher is not so great. I do use it to give them a good sanitary hot rinse and let them dry there. I hate dusting. Not much there to help. Must be done by hand.
By submitting a comment you grant Thirsties Baby a perpetual license to reproduce your words and name/web site in attribution. Inappropriate and irrelevant comments will be removed at an admin’s discretion. Your email is used for verification purposes only, it will never be shared.