TIME SAVER (?)

After 18 years of procrastination, the Yenny household has finally modernized our kitchen. Where once there was a "Little House on the Prairie" level of technology there is now a dishwasher and garbage disposal.

For any of you familiar with Yenny boys and frequency of trips to the emergency room, you'll be happy to hear the switch to turn the garbage disposal to "on" is safely out of reach to all but the tallest of Yennys. I can't even reach it.

Wish I could say the same for the dishwasher.

Can't tell you what a time saver that baby has turned out to be. After-dinner, pre-dishwasher conversations used to go something like this:

Mom: Whose turn is it to wash the dishes?

Son #1: I did them last night.
Son #2: No, you didn't. I did them, so it's your turn.
Son #1: Nuh-uh. It was your turn, but you had practice so I did them. Mom said you would take my turn tonight and tomorrow, so now it's your turn. And it's your turn tomorrow, too.
Son #2: Well, it was my turn last night. I can't do them if I'm not home. And I didn't ask you to take my turn, so it's not my turn tonight.
Daughter: Well, I'm not doing them. I did them EVERY night last week and there's no way it's my turn.

As this point everyone notices that Son #3 is hiding in the bathroom and it's decided by vote that it's DEFINITELY his turn.

Time of conversation: Approximately 20 minutes
Time to do dishes: Approximately 20 minutes

Now that we are blessed with the wonderful time-saving device called a dishwasher, after-dinner conversation now goes like this:

Mom: Whose turn is it to load the dishwasher?

Son #1: Not me. I unloaded last night, so it's his turn.
Son #3: Not me. I rinsed last night. Plus, I cleared the table yesterday and today.
Son #2: I had to do the dishes this morning because someone forgot to turn the dishwasher on, so it's not my turn.
Daughter: Well, I'm not doing them. I loaded the dishwasher EVERY night last week and there's no way it's my turn.
Son #1: I didn't eat here tonight. I just got home. So it's not my turn.
Son #2: Well, I might have eaten here, but I didn't like it. Plus, I had to put all the stuff away that you couldn't reach so it's not my turn; it must be your turn.
Son #3: No, you had practice last night when it was your turn, and mom said you would take my turn for the next week.

Everyone looks accusingly at mom, who makes a mental note to hide in the bathroom during future dishwasher discussions.

Time of conversation: Approximately 45 minutes
Time for JY to load dishwasher: Approximately 20 minutes
Time for everyone to deny it's their turn to unload dishwasher: Approximately 45 minutes
Discussion next morning about whether dishes are clean or dirty: Approximately 10 minutes
Time for me to set table directly from dishwasher to table: Approximately 5 minutes

Wow. Don't know what I'm going to do with all this extra time.