Housework: Doing the Dishes

Doing the dishes is probably one of the most difficult tasks for me considering my health. In fact, I spent three days struggling to do the dishes. It wasn't that we had some insane amount of dirty dishes before I started or that we dirtied a whole bunch after I got started. The problem is that I am extremely limited in how much I can stand there and do the dishes. They wouldn't even be finished now, if DH hadn't washed the rest of them this morning.

I can pretty well manage getting the dishpan out of the cabinet under the sink. I even do okay getting the detergent up, putting that in, and finding a brush and the drying rack. Our dishes aren't impossibly dirty because we always rinse them well after use, and generally keep them stacked on the counter beside the sink.

Because of my pain, I can't stand more than a very short time. I've tried taking my office chair in and put in front of the sink, but it just doesn't work very well. Sitting isn't that much more comfortable than standing. A lot of the time, DH tries to take care of the dishes because of these difficulties. But he can't be everywhere at once, so I do what I can.

We thought about a dishwasher, but we don't really have the space. It would also be overkill for a family of two that rarely has guests. Both the purchase experience and the cost of running it outweigh the benefits. And it would take us days to fill it. I also still wouldn't be able to empty it because I can't bend down. Although it may be possible to train Molly to retrieve the clean dishes out of the dishwasher, I don't think that would be very hygienic.

What I do when I do the dishes is start with as little water as possible in the dishpan. I then washed the little that I can and put it on the drying rack. Then I go rest for another half an hour or so.

By the time I come back, the water has gotten cold. I add more from the hot tap. I again wash what I can and put it on the drying rack. I rest again.

I repeat this cycle until the drying rack or the dishpan is full.

When the drying rack is full, I rest until it is dry enough to be put away. Occasionally I assist the drying with a towel, but not usually. Then I put away everything that goes above counter level. Everything goes on the counter, I stacked neatly for DH to put away later. I can't bend down to put things away.

When the dishpan is full, I empty the water out and start over. We recently got a new dishpan that is smaller, which makes life easier for me. I only need to tip it in the sink to empty it. The old one was larger, and I had to stop earlier, because I don't have the strength in my hands to lift it very well. When I tried, I often spilled water all over the place. So sometimes I just had to do the dishes until the dishes were full and leave the full dishpan for DH. So the new one is much nicer for me and I like the pretty purple color.

So I repeat like this until there aren't any dishes left.

There are some things that I don't wash. Things that are really heavy like the cast-iron pots and pans are just too much for me to manage. DH has to get those too.

Obviously, having me do the dishes is also very expensive in oil for heating the water and in the water itself. This is why DH does his best to do the most of them. I also try to get them before we have very much accumulated, because then I might be able to do with only one dishpan of water.