Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Dirty is as Dirty does

It's funny the things you hang onto from childhood.


It's been coming up a lot in the kitchen with my Do NOT Dirty Another Dish fanaticism.

This morning I grimaced as I was stirring the tea in my travel mug because I had inappropriately chosen a small tea spoon that was causing me to burn the tips of my fingers. The babe gave me an inquisitive look. The spoon's too short, I replied. She suggested that I use another spoon. Before I even responded, I could tell by the look on her face that she had recognized the look on my face and knew what I was going to say. But I already dirtied this one.

I think it was the last straw.

She grabbed a bigger spoon out of the drawer and shoved it into the travel mug. It's a spoon! It's not that hard to clean!

And of course, the babe is right. It seems silly to burn your fingers for the sake of one clean spoon, but it is so hard to let go of those lessons ingrained in us from childhood. I go through all sorts of machinations to keep from dirtying one more dish, particularly when I'm baking. I just loath those recipes that use the words and now, in a separate bowl....

I'm not even sure what the original purpose was - to be more water efficient? energy efficient? labor efficient? a really tenuous argument against consumerism?

Who knows? But I feel sad for my unborn children.

3 comments:

T said...

bwhahahaha! i do this too! hell, i'll leave a spoon on the counter JUST IN CASE i want another cup of tea later. i will use the same water cup for a week. i'm pretty sure my source is laziness though. i don't want to clean more dishes than necessary.

LP Sutton said...

Dude, I'm with you. I'll do anything to avoid washing an extra dish.

Lawfrog said...

LOL! I hear you. It's incredible what lessons we retain from childhood. Personally, I do not mind dirtying another dish, but I hate it when people just leave the kitchen a mess as they go along when making something. I clean up as I go most of the time.

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