I am amazed at how I am THE only person who realizes how to load the dishwasher correctly.
And by correctly, I mean that all the stuff gets exposed to the jets and not piled on top of one another. That should seem obvious, however it's not. I don't know what my family thinks happens when the dishwasher door closes. Tiny little dishwasher fairies take each dish and cup and fork and such into their little hands and scrub them down? With a sponge? And Dawn? (Yes, one of my kids did put Dawn in the dishwasher once. It was...bubbly.)
Equally annoying is the haphazard way they shove stuff in there. The wasted space! It KILLS me! Me, who can't pack a trunk to save her life, can squeeze service for 12 into a dishwasher if I have to. But my family, they can't manage to get 3 cups and 2 plates in there. I don't get it. It's not that hard.
I don't complain, though, because I'm glad it gets INTO the dishwasher and doesn't stay piled in the sink or, worse yet, stay on the table. Still, I don't know why they haven't picked up on my neuroses.
I am the first to admit, I have next to NO spatial planning skills. If someone were to tell me that something was so-and-so feet by so-and-so-feet, well, they'd probably be met with a blank stare as I zoned out, especially if they added a "square" to that measurement. I CAN pack a suitcase, but that's about the extent of my planning skills. Seriously.
But for some reason, when I get in front of the dishwasher, I go into Savant mode. Cups and plates and bowls get shifted until everything is in its place and I'm sure they will all get clean. I don't know how this skill came about, but I have a good idea.
I come from a family of six and we accumulated a lot of dishes. For whatever reason, my mother barely washed anything by hand. My guess is because she washed EVERYTHING by hand before she was blessed with a dishwasher, so she NEVER wanted to have to do dishes EVER AGAIN! I can't say that I blame her.
Over the years, I've lived in places that had dishwashers and some, unfortunately, that didn't. Since this one does, I am just like my mom. TAKE NO PRISONERS! IF IT FITS, IT GOES IN!
The rest of my family needs to get on board, though, and learn the art of stacking and squeezing. Perhaps dishwasher lessons are in order? I am not above that...
