Wednesday, May 30, 2007

The Plug

I thought it was important to teach the kids how to do their own laundry, clean the house and cook. Morgan had a natural knack for cooking. His omelets, burritos and casseroles were wonderful. And he was pretty good at cleaning and doing his laundry.




One Sunday after a meal of spaghetti it was Morgan’s turn to clean up the kitchen after lunch. The girls put up the food and loaded the dishwasher. Morgan’s job was to wash and dry the pots and pans, wipe off the table and counter tops and make sure everything was clean.


I could hear the girls putting up food, scraping the dishes and loading them in the dishwasher. There were sounds of splashing water, clanking dishes and an occasional sound that put fear in a mother’s heart. I had learned not to look in the kitchen, regardless of what noises I heard, until everyone was though with their job and gone. Then I would go in and check out their work.





As I surveyed the kitchen everything looked exceptionally good. I was so impressed with Morgan and the job he had done. He had wiped down everything, including the stove top. I couldn’t have done a better job myself.



And then I noticed he hadn’t drained the sink. It was still full of hot soapy dishwater. Well, I wouldn’t say anything this time; he had down such a wonderful job. I would just drain the sink myself. As I reached in to pull the plug I was shocked to find there was not a plug holding the hot soapy water in the sink at all, but a whole lot of spaghetti. Morgan had used spaghetti as a plug and washed all the pots and pans. Well I would have to give him one for being creative.


I cleaned the spaghetti out of the sink, let the water drain and rinsed out the sink. I never did say anything to Morgan; I just chalked it up to another good memory.


I Corinthians 3:23 "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men."

8 comments:

The Preacher's Household: said...

I think any attempt at doing something right is commendable!
Great story.
Kathy

Anonymous said...

That's sweet. So how long do I have to wait til I will be able to get my kids to do the after-dinner cleaning? :)

Monalea said...

Kathy, Hope James is better today! It took me a long time to learn that is was commendable for a child to try and not get it just right.

Lisa, Start little, start young and then hang on for dear life. Ha ha!

Monalea

The Preacher's Household: said...

Lisa, all of my kids 'service' their plates - they take them to the sink or kitchen cabinet after scraping what is on them off into the trash. Josh rinses and loads the dishwasher. Kobi and Kyli wipe down the table. None of them do a good job with any of it, but the important part is that they try.

Monalea, my friend and I were talking today about how hard it is for me to just let Josh try anything and not have to get it right or be the best. I am not like that with my girls so I don't understand why I am like that with him. He must feel tremendous pressure and I try to not do it but it just comes natural. Poor kid.
Kathy

The Preacher's Household: said...

I talked about this Sunday night. One example was when Josh "helped" wash the cars the other day. He really did a pretty good job after I took the time to teach him on the second one. Of course he was more interested in listening after he has settled down a little.

Maybe I don't do a very good job of clearing the plates but I think Josh does fine. The girls on the other hand can't set the table most the time. It is amusing when they set it though because invariably they give Kathy and I the little forks. I think they do it on purpose to get a laugh now. They used to do it because they wanted to be big and use the big forks.

James

The Preacher's Household: said...

BTW, thank you for your concern. I am better and will be even better after Kathy comes home and I stop poisoning myself. You know I was a great bachelor

Mike Minzes said...

I promise I didn't tell Morgan to do that, even though it's one of my trademarks in my kitchen. -0-0-

Monalea said...

Kathy, I know it is so hard to look the other way and let you kids be age appropriate. Hang in there.

James, I'm glad you have Kathy to take care of you now. I kids always wanted the biggest too.

Mike, Can I be sure you didn't teach Morgan??? I'm afraid to know what your other trademarks in the kitchen are???

Monalea