Rinse Aide?

We've had a few of our household appliances break in the past month.  The first thing to go was the fridge.  It's a good thing I had been lazy that week and hadn't gone grocery shopping.  With the exception of some frozen veggies and a few condiments we didn't lose much. 

The next week the dishwasher broke.  We loaded it up with the dirty dishes just to realize moments later that it wasn't starting.  We not only had the dirty dishes from the dishwasher to wash, but a sink-load of dishes patiently waiting their turn for the next go-round.  I suddenly realized that Halle had NEVER had to hand-wash dishes.  I was so excited for her to experience what it was like being a poor girl from the 80's whose parents didn't own a dishwasher.  At that moment Halle got a major lesson in hand-washing.  I proceeded to fill the sink with hot soapy water and start on the dishes.  As I was washing I heard my dad come out in the words I was saying.  "Don't put knives in the soapy water because you can't see them and you might cut your finger."  "Don't leave the water running."  "Turn the dishes upside down to drain the water."  After a half hour of me washing and her rinsing, we dried and put away all of the dishes. Halle's reply when we were done, "Wow, that took much less time than the dishwasher!"  I'll remind her of those words the next time my dishwasher breaks. 

And today the next appliance bit the dust.  My washing machine's spin cycle decided to stop working.  Great.  Just great.  The murky soapy water sat in limbo in the machine with all of my wet, half-dirty/half-clean clothes.  Turn off the washer and restart.  Nope.  Hit the reset switch.  Nope.  Unplug and plug back in.  Nope.  Call husband to do his magic.  Nope.  Nothing worked.  At the very least I wanted the stupid machine to drain the water so I would have less mess to work with.  I wasn't so lucky.  I delved my arm into the dark abyss and pulled sopping wet clothes out one at a time, wringing them out as good as possible and throwing them into a laundry basket.  Well misery loves company so I called Halle and Arden over to help with the daunting task.  They had much more fun with it than I did.  Now what was I suppose to do with all those wet and soapy clothes?  I couldn't dry them with laundry detergent and dirty water still all over them.  That's when an episode from "I Love Lucy" popped into my head.  You know, the one where she and Ethel are smashing grapes with their feet.  So Halle and I carried the basket (yes it took both of us because the wet clothes were so heavy) to the bathtub.  I dumped the clothes into the tub and filled it with water.  Then we began the "rinse cycle."  Halle, Arden, and I got in the bathtub barefoot and began stomping on the clothes.  I even added fabric softener for added effect.  I know, I know.  I'm smart.  The girls and I ended up having a lot of fun stomping around and sloshing water to rinse the clothes.   Although I would never want to hand-wash dishes or clothes on a regular basis, my kids and I had a few quality moments together that wouldn't have been made without my machine mishaps. 

So what's the moral of the story??... When life hands you a bowl or linens, make the kids be rinse-aide!  ;)

My rinse-aides