Dirty Dishes!

​Grandma was getting ready to put the dirty dishes into the dishwasher.  Uri ran to grandma and said, “Grandma, can I wash the dishes?”  Uri loved to help grandma, and he loved to wash dishes.  Grandma could not resist her little Uri.  “Of course, you can wash the dishes!”  She gave him a big kiss on the cheek.
 
Grandma helped Uri pull up a chair to the sink, fill the sink with dish soap and water, and handed him the dishcloth.  A couple of Uri’s cousins and Eva (Uri’s sister) became interested in what Uri was doing.  They asked Uri, “Can we help you do the dishes?”  Uri nodded his head and smiled.
 
As the grandkids were working away, Grandma said, “Ohhhhh, I hear something.  Listen, I think those dishes are screaming!”  Uri’s eyes grew wide with wonder.  “Do you hear the screaming?” Grandma asked.  The kids all listened intently.  And this is what they heard:
 
“Uri!  The soap is in my eyes!  It’s stinging.  I can’t see!  There’s too many bubbles and the soap is in my eyes.”  The dish was screaming and crying.  Stop Uri!”  Uri looked at that dish and explained in a gentle tone, “This is ‘no more tear’ soap.  It won’t hurt your eyes.  If we don’t use soap, you will still be dirty.”  Uri proceeded to wash the dish until it sparkled.  Then Uri gave the dish to Eva so she could rinse the soap off.
 
“Eva!  AAAAAHHHHHH!  It’s too hot!  Stop!  The water is too hot!”  Eva told the dish, “It’s warm.  See I have hot and cold on.  That makes warm.  But I will turn the cold on a little more so you stop screaming.”  Eva turned the cold faucet on a little more and rinsed all the soap off from the dish.  Then Eva turned the water off and passed the dish to her cousin to dry.
 
“Matthew!  Ouch!!  That hurts!  You are scrubbing me too hard with that towel!  Stop!  I’m all dry.”  Matthew looked at the dish and at the floor.  He saw wet spots on the dish and water dripping onto the floor.  “Look,” he said to the dish, “See these spots of water?  I need to dry those off.  And look water is dripping all over the floor.  I have to get you dried off and quick before you start to shiver!”  So, Matthew dried the dish until there were no more wet spots.  He even wiped up the wet floor.  Then Matthew passed the dish to his brother Lucas.  Lucas put the dish into the cupboard.
 
“Lucas!  Not so hard!  You bumped me on the other dishes, now I have an ouchie!  Stop being so rough.  That hurt!”  Lucas took the dish out of the cupboard to inspect it.  This is what he told the dish, “I don’t see any cracks.  I don’t see any broken pieces.  I only see a cute little dish.”  Then Lucas gave the dish a kiss to make the dish feel better.  And he placed the dish back into the cupboard very carefully. 
 
The dishes were done!  Grandma thanked each of the grandkids for their help.  She gave each one a hug and a kiss on the cheek.  “Now the dishes can rest and sleep.  They must feel so comfy now that they are clean.  I don’t hear a peep coming from any of the dishes.”
 
Later, as Eli, Judah, Lilly and Willow walked by the kitchen, they all heard a squeaky, clean voice calling from the cupboard, “Hey!  Kids!  Tell your grandma -Next time use paper plates!”
 
Written for my grandkids during the virus – April 19,2020
BEcky