Friday, November 25, 2011

Who did your dishes?

Have you ever noticed how it is the grown-ups who slave away all day in a hot kitchen to prepare a terrific Thanksgiving Day meal, and then how it's the grown-ups who get stuck with cleaning up the mess?

How come the kids head for the living room and the videogames and the football on TV, while the adults clean up?

It's because they have been allowed to do it.

What's a better plan? Work out ahead of time that the "kids" (some of those kids are 30-40-50 years old) will be expected to help clean up - until the job is done. The older folks ought to be able to head for the living room and settle into the most comfortable seats, while the "kids" do a bang-up job (without too much "banging") in the kitchen - loading the dishwasher (carefully!), washing the "good" silverware by hand and drying it (and putting it away in the silver chest), scrubbing all the pots and pans (and actually getting them clean) and then putting them away. Emptying the dishwasher when the dishes are done, and carefully putting away the dishes and glasses. Emptying the trash and garbage. Wiping down the counters and cleaning the sinks.

Now THAT would give grandparents something to be really thankful about!

What was it like at your house? Who spent an hour in the kitchen cleaning up?

No comments: