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Modern Machines
Miracle or Menace?
By Julia Rosien
Imagine that the luxuries of the twentieth century vanish. Automatic washing machines, microwaves and central heating disappear in an instant. Could you live without amenities such as the telephone, that we so casually take for granted? Telephones in every room and every shape, even cell phones you carry on your hip or in your purse. And phone lines for private use, modems -- even a separate one for the teenager in the group.
A microwave, the first purchase my husband and I made as husband and wife, continues to ease my daily workload. I don't want to consider life without it. Same with my hot water heater, refrigerator and washing machine. However, some household appliances definitely take up more space than I can justify.
Dishwashers, for one, I can do without. Before we had children, I enjoyed washing the dishes after work. I found it cathartic doing something mind numbing, but essential. Now that I have children, I still can't justify forking over enough money to feed my family for two months to have a machine wash my dishes. After a long day at school, my children help me tidy the kitchen and wash the dishes. They tell me things in side by side conversations that they'd never share point blank. They interact with each other, while feeling a needed and necessary part of our home.
My sister-in-law can't grasp how I cope with four children and no dishwasher. She doesn't see how I involved my children when their noses barely reached the counters, praising their efforts to "help Mommy" -- even though the mess they made meant more work for me. Toddlers consider splashing in a sink of soapy water the height of entertainment, and they don't realize that most people consider washing dishes a chore.
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