DISHWASHER 101
So, in therapy I am talking about my knees
and my life.
Basically, I'm talking about how bad my knees hurt
and how much I need to get them fixed, and how I'm NOT DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT.
My word for this is inertia, which means
"a tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged."
Everyone in the world I have talked to
who has had their knees replaced
says the same thing:
"Don't wait! I wish I had done them years ago."
I haven't talked to a single negative person.
I have however, read a few horror stories
on the internet, which scared me.
I'm also the strong one.
I am the tough one. The stoic one.
I take care of everyone.
I don't want anyone (especially my husband)
taking care of me for however long it takes.
So, the long range goal is to get my knees fixed.
The short range goals are different.
We talk about how I have taken care of everyone
for a long time - except for myself.
I don't practice SELF-CARE.
So, in order to practice self-care,
I went to the doctor today and got
paperwork for bloodwork, a mammogram,
colonoscopy, you know, all the good, fun stuff.
Now to just get it done.
The therapist and I also talked about cooking.
Which sounds weird, I know.
I love to cook.
I HATE HATE to clean up the kitchen.
I mean, I would rather do almost anything
than clean up a dirty kitchen.
And there's a reason for that.
When you're a wife and mother,
you spend a lot of time in the kitchen.
Planning meals, cooking meals, making messes,
cleaning up, washing, drying, putting away.
And I don't know about anyone else, but for me,
I am always the LAST one to sit down and eat.
Without fail. And I am tired.
And my knees are painful at the end of cooking.
And my knees are painful at the end of cooking.
So in talking to my therapist, I had a revelation.
I HAVE A DISHWASHER!
A brand new dishwasher that has been sitting
in my kitchen for three years and has
been used once.
And still has two pans in it from the one time
I used it.
My therapist sort of looked at me like I was nuts.
"You have a dishwasher?"
"Yes."
"That is brand new and has only been used once?"
"Yes."
"And STILL has dishes in it from that first wash?
"Yes."
"And you hate doing the dishes?"
"Yes."
"Have you thought about using the dishwasher to help you clean up the kitchen?"
"No."
"Hmmm."
I guess I am not the sharpest tool in the shed.
So Assignment #1 for the week is, guess what?
USE THE DISHWASHER. Duh.
I think I can do that.
The other thing we talked about was eating.
I told her that my husband keeps late hours
and eats at "interesting" times.
Like breakfast at 12pm, sometimes no lunch,
and dinner at 9pm.
Which is so bad for me.
He often goes to bed at 1am or later.
Bad, bad, bad for me.
Because I am starting to follow his habits.
My husband has also told me to eat what I want
at whatever time I want and he will get his own food.
So Assignment #2 is to eat my own way.
Which is less meat, lots of salads, fruit, veggies.
And at the times I want.
And eat it early and go to bed earlier.
I can try to do that.
So, I would like to hear from people
who ACTUALLY use their dishwasher.
How often and what dishes do you put in?
Do you pre-rinse?
When do you empty?
My husband says he will empty the dishwasher
and put the dishes away if I will load it up.
Now, that's teamwork!
Having a therapist is a very great thing.
5 comments:
Dee - When you say "pre-rinse," you don't mean pre-wash, right? Basically, no I don't pre-rinse. I really scrap them and put them in. If a dish has been sitting in the sink, and has water in it, then I rinse it off. Lots of things go in - plates, bowls, glasses, mugs, coffee pot parts, pottery, things that need to be dusted and can withstand the dishwasher (that's my favorite). Let your imagination run wild. But...No cast iron. No fine china or silver (I hear, I don't have any). I stopped putting pots and pans in because with time the handles turned narly. Knarly? I hear you are not supposed to put "good knives" in it. I don't know why. I run it when it is full or when it gets a little smelly, so every two to three days. Depends on how fast you fill it up. When the kids were still at home, I ran it every night. Use that jet dry stuff - it makes a difference. I empty it when I need to start putting more dirty stuff in it. Run it over night, and the next morning it is like the good fairies came and cleaned up. Sort of. Colonoscopy on Friday. Grown up stuff. Blah!
Just wanted to say I feel your pain, so hard to find time for self care
Sometimes i buy myself a veggie tray for dinner. Healthy, no hot kitchen, easy clean up.
This is Robyn Wellman btw 😊
I do Pre rinse. Some dishwashers really need the help. We run our dishwasher a couple times a week. Everything except my good knives go in the dishwasher. Steve always unloads it. I could not live with dishes in the sink. I rinse a few thing & put them away....you will enjoy cooking much more. Ann Mulhern
You guys,I have used it twice now.
I find it so much easier just to do them myself. Ugh, I need a personal chef and clean-up person!
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