I'm very neurotic about keeping my kitchen clean, especially with all my cats. My husband's idea of doing the dishes is to wash off his plate in water (hot or cold), dry it off, and put it back in the cabinet. He never goes near the dishwasher, not to put dishes in, rarely to get dishes out. I tease him about not knowing what or where the dishwasher is. Yesterday, he announced he had cleaned the kitchen for me. He was trying to help because I've had a bad last couple of days. When I walked into the kitchen, there were some dishes in the dishwasher, some left out. I proceeded to lavish praise over this deed to show my graditude, and decided to include some education: "your supposed to wipe off all of the kitchen counter", "this can go in the dishwasher, but this can't ", "did you forget to put this in the dishwasher?" , "the sink looks good, but you have to clean this off too". If he was willing to try, shouldn't he do it right? That way I don't have to come back later and do it all over again. He endured this with a smile, and returned to his TV. I shook my head at the floor where I discovered all the counter crumbs.

After thinking about this, I realize he is smart. Very smart. He knows what he is doing, where the dishes go, what doesn't go in the dishwasher,and how to clean the sink, for the most part. If he plays dumb, he gets out of the work, most all the time. It's not about getting out of the work, it's about avoiding the 'education comments'. But every once in awhile, he is willing to forgo the 'lecture' just to be of some help.

I am a very lucky woman.