I'm gonna spam you...
I've been holding onto a fic rec post since before the new year, and I am going to post that, but this isn't it. This is about dishes, specifically the washing of them.
My dishwasher died about 3 months ago, and it's not an option for me to replace it right now (hi there four new tires, hi there winter oil bills). Two people, one being a teenaged boy, generate a lot of dishes. Washing them generates a lot of resentment on my part.
In September Time Jr. started Latin. Stay with me, now, this is related to the dishes thing. The Latin was a disaster from day one. The teacher was well past retirement, and had an unfortunate tendency to ramble on, forget that he forgot to assign homework or tell the class about upcoming exams, and wander off in the middle of class to who knows where. I was not the only parent to call the school with concerns. I tried to convince my son to drop the class, but he was determined to stick it out. A couple of weeks ago he burst into tears and admitted he was completely lost. Keep in mind that he is under an IEP (individualized education plan) due to some neurological issues. I called his guidance counselor and special education supervisor and asked that he be dropped. Of course, it's too late, but...they talked to the head of the world languages department, had a joint meeting with my son, the Latin teacher, and the head of world languages, and agreed to let him drop without penalty and to remove the course from his permanent record. P.S., the Latin teacher is retiring at the end of the year. So, what to do for the spring semester? By some unbelievable miracle, there was an opening in Culinary 1. Understand that Culinary 1 is one of the most popular electives in the entire high school. You usually have to be an upper classman to have any hope at all of getting in. The high school has a commercial kitchen, the teacher is great, and Culinary 1 is all about baking. Cookies, cakes, pastries, filo dough, yum yum yum. Everybody wants to take Culinary 1, from the super brainy honors students to the football playing jocks. Not only do you get to eat what you make, but you get to take the leftovers home...except they never make it home because kids in Culinary 1 are the most popular kids in school. When you have a stash of fresh baked oatmeal raisin, peanut butter chocolate chip or snickerdoodle cookies, everybody is your friend. So, my boy is happy, he loves the class, everything is good.
Yesterday, after my typical long, exhausting day at work, I got home about 6:30, knowing I had to do the breakfast dishes so I could start to make dinner. And...the sink was empty. My lovely boy had seen the dishes, and washed the dishes. In Culinary 1, you have to clean up the kitchen and wash the dishes before you are dismissed. How totally awesome is that?
My dishwasher died about 3 months ago, and it's not an option for me to replace it right now (hi there four new tires, hi there winter oil bills). Two people, one being a teenaged boy, generate a lot of dishes. Washing them generates a lot of resentment on my part.
In September Time Jr. started Latin. Stay with me, now, this is related to the dishes thing. The Latin was a disaster from day one. The teacher was well past retirement, and had an unfortunate tendency to ramble on, forget that he forgot to assign homework or tell the class about upcoming exams, and wander off in the middle of class to who knows where. I was not the only parent to call the school with concerns. I tried to convince my son to drop the class, but he was determined to stick it out. A couple of weeks ago he burst into tears and admitted he was completely lost. Keep in mind that he is under an IEP (individualized education plan) due to some neurological issues. I called his guidance counselor and special education supervisor and asked that he be dropped. Of course, it's too late, but...they talked to the head of the world languages department, had a joint meeting with my son, the Latin teacher, and the head of world languages, and agreed to let him drop without penalty and to remove the course from his permanent record. P.S., the Latin teacher is retiring at the end of the year. So, what to do for the spring semester? By some unbelievable miracle, there was an opening in Culinary 1. Understand that Culinary 1 is one of the most popular electives in the entire high school. You usually have to be an upper classman to have any hope at all of getting in. The high school has a commercial kitchen, the teacher is great, and Culinary 1 is all about baking. Cookies, cakes, pastries, filo dough, yum yum yum. Everybody wants to take Culinary 1, from the super brainy honors students to the football playing jocks. Not only do you get to eat what you make, but you get to take the leftovers home...except they never make it home because kids in Culinary 1 are the most popular kids in school. When you have a stash of fresh baked oatmeal raisin, peanut butter chocolate chip or snickerdoodle cookies, everybody is your friend. So, my boy is happy, he loves the class, everything is good.
Yesterday, after my typical long, exhausting day at work, I got home about 6:30, knowing I had to do the breakfast dishes so I could start to make dinner. And...the sink was empty. My lovely boy had seen the dishes, and washed the dishes. In Culinary 1, you have to clean up the kitchen and wash the dishes before you are dismissed. How totally awesome is that?