Broken Dishwasher Strengthens Marriage

Our dishwasher is broken. It has been broken for several weeks. We now hand wash the dishes. Sometimes that is a time demand that is tough to keep up during our busy days. We are unable to replace the dishwasher at this time due to other priorities and the need to research a new one, with the hope of getting a reliable one.

For much of our marriage the rule is whoever cooks does the clean-up. That has been practical because of our cooking styles. Glen cleans up as he goes. I love to spread my cooking mess around the kitchen like a junk yard of culinary fun. So, naturally, Glen prefers that I clean up after my cooking adventures.

Last night, Glen and I did the dishes together. He washed and I dried and put away. This old fashioned activity got us up off the evening couch, postponed our TV vegetative states, and took us away from our laptops. The laptops have been known to consume the evenings, since we both work and play on our computers, side by side, as the night slips away.

I have to confess that time spent side by side doing the dishes provided a time to unwind together, accomplish a goal with immediate reward, and a venue for light-hearted, random conversation. It was fun. I really enjoyed it.

I hope we do more dish washing together. It was just such a simple way to enjoy time together, like a leisurely ride in the car. Plus, the cook gets out of the kitchen faster when two tackle the dishes.

So, in this day and age of so many "conveniences," do we lose that easy going time together that inconveniences provide? That are a path to slowing down and sharing life in conversation? In addition, we stopped eating out as often several years ago. I discovered how we each enjoy the creative process of taking time to collect and combine various food ingredients into a rewarding (usually) evening meal, less expensive and usually healthier in portions and nutrition! Back to the simpler way of living step-by-step. We also clean our home on our own now, due to budget cuts. That is relaxing and rewarding, too. At least for us. And it involves a bit of physical activity, which is always good. Big, yet subtle, benefits. Finding time is still the challenge, but the benefits are nice. Am I crazy?