Pardon me for being a teeny bit materialistic this week, but I really must take time this Gratituesday to appreciate my dishwasher.
It’s just that I didn’t realize how much I appreciated my dishwasher until I was so sick for several days. At one point when I had about two minutes worth of energy, I took the opportunity to load a few dishes into the dishwasher. At that moment, I was so grateful to have a dishwasher, I thought I might weep. How wonderfully nice to have a piece of machinery in my kitchen that is happy to be overloaded with as many dirty dishes as I can fit into it…and then with the push of a button it will make my dishes all sparkly and ready to eat on again.
I suppose that I certainly can’t be grateful for my dishwasher without first and foremost being grateful for my father-in-law, who bought it for me.
For all of our married life I was used to not having a dishwasher. When we moved into this house six years ago, the house came with a dishwasher. Hooray. I didn’t care that it was 436 years old. It was a dishwasher.
And then about a year after we moved in, the dishwasher stopped working. I was bummed, but not bummed enough to do anything about it. In my mind, a dishwasher is a luxury, not a necessity. We didn’t have the money to replace it, and I knew that I could certainly wash my mountains of dishes by hand.
And so I did. For two more years.
Then Matt’s dad came for a visit. While he was here, we fed him well….and he fixed some odds and ends around the house. It was great. He noticed that I wasn’t using my dishwasher and asked me about it. I told him that it had broken quite a while back and that if he wanted to look at it and see if he could fix it while he was puttering around fixing things that it would be fine with me. If he couldn’t fix it, I was okay with that too.
He looked at it and saw that it wasn’t fixable. The very next night after dinner, he took us all to an appliance store to pick out a new dishwasher. Wow. I was not expecting that.
So now I have a dishwasher. And it works. Very well. I don’t even have to rinse the dishes much before I load them to be washed. It’s awesome.
My father-in-law’s goal was to make my work load lighter. He knew that it would help me, and that the boys would be able to help load and unload it too, which would make my work load lighter yet. And he was right.
And so, as I was standing in my kitchen loading my dishwasher last week with my tiny bit of strength…I recognized how much I appreciated my dishwasher.
I do believe I need to call my father-in-law once again and tell him how grateful I am for it. I just bet he’d enjoy hearing how much his gift means to me.
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I can’t wait to hear about what you’re thankful for this week! Write about it on your blog and come over and link up!
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I can’t even imagine how you live with six people and no dishwasher. What a wonderful father-in-law!! I would much rather wash the dishes than have to cook, so if your ever want to come use my tiny kitchen, you’re more than welcome!!! :)
Oh Laura, I would be so grateful also. Your father-in-law sounds like a wonderful man who not only bought you a new dishwasher, but cared enough about you to notice what you needed. I think that’s awesome! And I’m so glad you have a great dishwasher too. :)
Oh, I am GRATEFUL for my dishwasher. It’s running right now! The time I find myself most grateful for it is when we have company.
Plus, I’m happy for how it came to be.. Mother’s Day, the first year we were in this house, I walked in and my husband and two older sons had installed it for me. It was a complete surprise! So each time I’m loading it, I remember… and I feel loved all over again.:-)
My first apartment after leaving home didn’t have a dishwasher, but it did have a sink that was almost big enough to lay one plate flat in the sink. I was the environment’s worst enemy that year with disposable everything!
I’m so glad I found your site and GratiTuesday! Dishwashers are wonderful…but I’m so anal that I have to clean my dishes before putting them in! It’s a curse but I deal with it! lol Glad you have a great one!
I remember growing up that some of the best bonding times with my Grandma was over doing the dishes. My how times have changed haven’t they?
Have a great Tuesday!
Dishwashers are wonderful things!
All mommies with small children should have a dishwasher. :)
Dishwashers are man’s greatest invention!
Oh wow, no dishwasher? Yikes! I like washing dishes by hand somedays, but there are just some things that’s just easier with a dishwasher!
Hey! Thanks for stopping by my site. I love your blog and have already printed several recipes that I want to try!
There is nothing wrong with being grateful for things we own :) It is wonderful of your father in law to provide you with a dish washer. I would be extremely grateful for it too if I had spent several days sick
I am so thankful for our dishwasher, too. :) When we moved here, we hadn’t had a dishwasher for most of the years we had been married. We were amazed at how much more time we spent together doing other things besides washing dishes!
Blessings,
Michele :)
I don’t have a dishwasher or a washer and dryer in the rental house we have now. I haven’t had either for many years. But I’m going to keep believing that one day I will have those things. They will be a great help to me.
That’s a lovely post. What a nice father-in-law. I could write a similar post about my aunty and my clothes dryer …. maybe I should.