Let Them Load
My Saturday Suggestion is to let your kids load the dishwasher!
One of my dear friends who also grew up with a working mom gave me this advice when I first had kids. She said her mom used to make sure the dishwasher was empty before they sat down to dinner so the kids could load it up after the meal. They knew it was their job and they never even had to discuss it. Brilliant!
I’ll admit, this one took me a while. The chaos of little kid life did not always allow me the calm and organization to do the same thing every day before dinner. When I could, it made a huge difference. What I found was that my family wasn’t avoiding helping, they just needed a clear mission.
Even if you need to rearrange the dishes a bit before you run it, you’re building great habits for your kids and saving yourself time.
We now have this magnetic sign which lets everyone know if they should load or leave their dishes in the sink. It’s a huge help and now we often have a clean sink. Wonder of wonders!
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About the Author
Erica Mauro is a mom to two teenage boys, Will who is neurotypical and Michael with Autism and cognitive delays. She holds a BA in Psychology from Colgate University and a Masters of Psychology in Education from Columbia Teacher’s College. Before staying home with her children, she worked as an elementary school teacher. For five years, she served on the Board of Directors of the Molly Ann Tango Memorial Foundation, a charity dedicated to enriching the lives of children with special needs. In partnership with her husband Dave, she aspires to parent by using daily life as an opportunity for therapeutic intervention, seizing on real experiences as opportunities to build skills and strategies for Michael in a joyful, loving home environment. On the tougher early days, she just tried to get everyone safely to bedtime and start fresh in the morning. *wink* 
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