A beginners guide to washing- up

Ways of washing-up

If you are lucky you will have a dishwasher – that is the easiest of ways, in my view, or you may have to put a bit of hard work in and wash them by hand, if you do not possess a dishwasher.

Washing up is a necessary job – it has to be done!  You may need the bench space to do something else, so there is no escaping it.  We all have our ways of going about it.  Some of us like to wash and dry others like to wash and leave to air dry on a rack.  This still does not get rid of the problem of space.

What does it mean to me?

Well I cannot say I really enjoy washing up but since Peter does all the cooking, I feel that I should help do the dishes.  I feel guilty sometimes when I really do not feel like doing them, but that is my problem, as he is quite happy to wash and dry them by himself.  When I get over myself, I realise that it is a nice time to talk to him about how our day went because we do not seem to converse much while we are watching television.

How an Occupational Therapist could use this task?

Washing up can give a person as sense of achievement , as it is part of activities of daily living.  Being able to get back to managing a household task like this can have huge therapeutic benefits for a client.  Crepeau (1991)  relates that  "occupations provide meaning and purpose to a persons life".

Practical Considerations

I can easily sustain this activity for at least two hours a week.  I am only around to wash up in the evenings generally but over a week this will be not be a problem.  The only thing stopping me doing this activity is laziness.  It is a good thing that I have a catalyst to get things going – Peter.
Reference
Crepeau, E.B. (1991). Achieving intersubjective understanding: Examples from an occuaptional therapy treatment session. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 44, 311-317.