I wrote this blog a while back, and recently came upon it while doing some updating to the website. It made me quite nostalgic for my Mom and my mother-in-law.
They were two remarkable women, so different in their backgrounds, yet so alike in their strength and practical, no-nonsense attitudes.
I miss them both very much. And so I re-post this blog in memory of them.
They were two remarkable women, so different in their backgrounds, yet so alike in their strength and practical, no-nonsense attitudes.
I miss them both very much. And so I re-post this blog in memory of them.
My dear, late mother-in-law, Aphrodite, used to say that the sink was never "hungry" because it would "magically" fill up with dirty dishes over and over again throughout the day.
Of course, she had no dishwasher and probably wouldn't have used one if she had. But she never really minded the chore because it meant that the house had been full of love and visitors.
Unlike her, I do expect other people to wash their own dishes and get mightily annoyed when they don't clean up after themselves. I'm obviously not alone with this problem.
A while back a hilarious video posted by a Mom sarcastically giving a lesson to her wayward family about how to get dirty dishes from the sink to the dishwasher went viral. It touched a nerve that every mother can relate to.
Doing dishes, even if it is as simple a task as getting them into the dishwasher, is a chore few people seem to enjoy.
Of course, in my family, there were so many of us that the dishwasher could never have accommodated all the dishes, so washing them by hand was part of the daily chore list.
We all learned good scrubbing skills from an early age. And we learned that, like making a bed, washing a pile of dirty dishes can do wonders for bringing a sense of order and cleanliness to a messy room in no time at all.
It can actually be a very satisfying task because the results are so immediate and so obvious.
But, truth be told, Mom wasn't too concerned if we found the job worthwhile. She just knew it was something that had to be done, and she was not at all interested in hearing any complaints we might have about it.
So, just in case we were inclined to feel sorry for ourselves, Mom had a plaque with the saying shown above posted right by our sink as a daily reminder to us to count our blessings as we worked.
I am guessing it didn't stop us from whining, but it still served to keep us mindful of our good fortune.
And it's a message well worth remembering at any age.
Thanks, Mom.
Of course, she had no dishwasher and probably wouldn't have used one if she had. But she never really minded the chore because it meant that the house had been full of love and visitors.
Unlike her, I do expect other people to wash their own dishes and get mightily annoyed when they don't clean up after themselves. I'm obviously not alone with this problem.
A while back a hilarious video posted by a Mom sarcastically giving a lesson to her wayward family about how to get dirty dishes from the sink to the dishwasher went viral. It touched a nerve that every mother can relate to.
Doing dishes, even if it is as simple a task as getting them into the dishwasher, is a chore few people seem to enjoy.
Of course, in my family, there were so many of us that the dishwasher could never have accommodated all the dishes, so washing them by hand was part of the daily chore list.
We all learned good scrubbing skills from an early age. And we learned that, like making a bed, washing a pile of dirty dishes can do wonders for bringing a sense of order and cleanliness to a messy room in no time at all.
It can actually be a very satisfying task because the results are so immediate and so obvious.
But, truth be told, Mom wasn't too concerned if we found the job worthwhile. She just knew it was something that had to be done, and she was not at all interested in hearing any complaints we might have about it.
So, just in case we were inclined to feel sorry for ourselves, Mom had a plaque with the saying shown above posted right by our sink as a daily reminder to us to count our blessings as we worked.
I am guessing it didn't stop us from whining, but it still served to keep us mindful of our good fortune.
And it's a message well worth remembering at any age.
Thanks, Mom.
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