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Having a child impacts your life in many ways, but it impacts your household appliances in only one way: it uses them as they were never intended to be used. Nothing gives a cleaning machine a workout like a little kid. If you have gotten by without a dishwasher so far, consider the following ways to parent with a dishwasher and see if it might be time for you to invest.
When you are a parent, you use your dishwasher…
1. For the White Noise: The dishwasher will need to be quiet enough to run while everyone is asleep (because it will, all the time) but make a pleasant enough noise that it will lull the new baby in the bouncy seat to sleep if you set her in front of it.
2. For the Actual Dishwashing: Obviously, when you have a baby you have a lot less time on your hands, and a lot more dishes.
3. For the Sterilization: Many infant baby products require higher levels of sterilization beyond that of standard cleaning in the sink. After they reach about three months of age, you can stop using the special sterilization equipment, but the dishwasher provides a high level of heat and cleanliness that protects them while their immune systems are developing.
4. For the New Toys: I try to at least rinse any new toys I give my son, especially if they are made of China-produced plastic, were not completely boxed in, or are an item I know he will put in his mouth. The dishwasher comes in quite handy for this task if I have no time for this often tedious chore; you can even throw them in there after your child goes to bed and those new toys are clean before your child wakes up.
5. For the Old Toys: For plastic toys that have weathered their share of spills or for garage sale finds, nothing beats the magic cleaning power of the dishwasher.
6. For the Toothbrush: I regularly zap my son’s special toothbrush since it often ends up in places in our house that toothbrushes are not meant to go (like the heating grates in the floor).
7. For the Bath Mat and Bath Toys: When accidents happen in the bathtub, they are not pretty. Inevitably, the more unpleasant the accident, the more toys and bath products floating in the water when it happens. This is an unfortunate reality of parenting that no one really warns you about. While you will have to clean your child and your bathtub, the dishwasher can take care of the rest for you, provided you throw it all in those washable lingerie bags and put them on the top rack.
Editor’s Note: This article intended for people who have already conceived a child or who already have a child. It is not recommended for those people still considering having a child. Extra (Hour)dinary Parenting bears no responsibility for the unintended birth control-like effect this article may have on people who have yet to reproduce.
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I love this Ode to the Dishwasher Post! I'll put anything in the dishwasher (within reason, of course). And what's funny is that when I have the machine about 3/4 full and want to run it right then, I'll scurry around looking for those random things to throw in that needs cleaning: toothbrushes, the burner covers on the stove, kitchen drain stoppers…whatever.
Oooh. I left that one out. Cleaning random things that need to be
cleaned. Good one. See – you are so ready for the parenting gig!
Very nice ideas and very resourceful as all mothers are. I do see your point with having less time on your hands. Heck I can't even apply make up. Thanks for this valuable post about the different uses of dishwashers. Who wouldv'e thought it could be that useful to us mothers. I wish we could use it to automatically clean ourselves.
I know! I wish we could use the dishwasher in power showers –
At least it gets easier.
especially for hair. During the first six weeks I barely had the
energy to raise my arms.
Very informative topic for every parent. Thank you for nice suggestions.
Please update us with your valuable thoughts.
Thanks Eric! I am going to try to post even more often these days.
Writing is all about finding the right rhythm.