Edward, like Ruby before him (and possibly like every one-and-a-half-year-old), loves to put things in other things and take them out again. Packing and unpacking boxes, putting toys in and out of the toybox, and taking clothes out of the drawer, unfolding them, and then stuffing them back in are all activities that he enjoys on a daily basis. This makes unloading the dishwasher the perfect chore for him.
The only potential problem that I could have envisioned with Edward unloading the dishwasher (aside from the fact that he cannot reach the cabinets) is the smashing and complete destruction of every one of our dishes, but I felt that, by closely monitoring him and assisting as needed, I could take care of that problem. There was just one issue that I hadn’t counted on when I started letting Edward help with the chore.
Edward licks every dish as he takes it out of the dishwasher, and then hands it to me to put away. I don’t know if he feels that they are not clean enough and that he is helping out, or maybe he just likes the taste of clean dishes, but either way, I wish he would not do that thing. Plates? Licked. Silverware? Licked. Sometimes sucked. Cups? Licked. Now, if I grab them from him quickly enough, I can often prevent the licking, but not with forks. He loves forks the most, at least for licking purposes, and he will not give up a fork to me until it has been properly coated in saliva and ready for the drawer. My gut feeling is that this is not sanitary.
Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the help with the dishes and all, but isn’t the fact that the thing was in your mouth half of the reason we are washing it in the first place? I tried to explain this to him, but he didn’t seem to care. So now Ruby helps too. She is on lick patrol. Edward picks up the dishes, Ruby snatches them out of his hands, and I put them away. It’s not a very efficient system, and it often involves crying, but at least the dishes are getting done and my children are not destroying anything else, and isn’t that all a parent can ask for, really?
