This is a touchy subject in my house and I am hoping that someone reading this might be able to offer some insight. I realize this might sound like a trivial question; however, it has become quite the topic of conversation in my house.
At our old house, I always tried to run the dishwasher at night. I read somewhere that it saves on water and electricity if you run the dishwasher when no other appliances are working (ie, at night). So, this is the habit that I have gotten into. In the morning, I would go to the kitchen and unload the dishwasher as I would pack my lunch for the current day. Any remaining dishes that had gotten stuck in the sink would then be transferred to the dishwasher. This was a great system.
At our new house, I have tried to keep the same routine. It is so much easier to unload in the morning and have a place for the dirty dishes to go when they are brought to the kitchen. Which brings me to another question...Is it rocket science to put the dirty dishes directly into the dishwasher? Just curious. Anyways, the dishes pile up in my sink all day long, not put into the empty dishwasher, but piled up in the sink. When I get home from work and start dinner, since I am in the kitchen, I load the dishwasher at the same time. There will undoubtedly be "extra" dishes leftover once it is ready for a run. So, these dishes, and the dishes that are used to snack all night are then left in the sink. Again, dishes left in the sink. Before I go to bed, I will start the dishwasher and run it overnight.
So, this is where the problem arises - at the old house, the kitchen was on the first floor and our bedroom was on the second. In the new house, our bedroom is off the kitchen. Hear the problem?
I understand that there is only a certain amount of effort that I put into being quiet when I unload the dishes in the morning. I also understand that most of the time, I am the only human awake. So, yes, this makes me the Big Bad Wolf in this story. And that's ok. I do the majority of the housework, so it gets done on my terms and in my own way. That is ok. Since I am pretty anal, it's just better this way.
As I am the Big Bad Wolf, let's call my family the 3 Little Piggies. (Oh, I am already watching tomorrows topic write itself in my brain!!) Anyways, when I, the BBW put the dishes away in the morning, my 3LP are under the impression that it is deliberately to awaken them. The "banging of the dishes" as this routine is called, is causing quite a stir. But they need to get put away, right? That would be the logical choice, to put the clean dishes away where the clean dishes go, right? However, remember that I live with the 3LP.
So my question is, what happens when my perfectly good system is disrupting the sleep cycle of my 3LP? At what point do I just say "Screw It" and quit using the dishwasher? With our elderly dishwasher and the spit like pressure inside, it might just be easier and more cost-effective (since many of our dishes will take a few spins thru the cycles before they make it back home) to just wash them by hand. But if you know me, you know my slogan, "If it can't go in the dishwasher, it can't go in my house." so, really, this is not my favorite choice. We live by easy.
What else could we do? I really, really, really don't want to run the dishwasher during the day, especially in the summer, when the air conditioning is already making my electric meter spin itself off the side of the house. Do I get it ready and hit the button as I am heading out to work? And put them away while I make dinner? Do I still run it at night, just not put them away? Do I run it right after dinner and put them away before bed? And what do I do with all the "extras" that don't fit, since we have to use a different plate / cup / bowl for every different thing we eat or drink? Or do I just say screw it and beat the dishwasher with a sledgehammer. In which case, I will need to invest in a small portion of the Amazon rainforest to supply my disposible dish needs.
I know that the easy solution would be to engage the 3LP and make them help out. However, did you forget the part where I said I'm anal. I don't like when they put stuff away, cause then I can't find it. And I really, really don't like when they load the dishwasher. They did not read the manual, so they do not know the most effective way of loading. This makes sense to me. So, how do I let them get their beauty sleep, mostly just the brickhouse piggie, while I still keep up somewhat on the housework? And I need solutions that do not involve me involving the 3LP. That is not a road I want to go down at this time!
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