There are many chores dreaded by most members of any household. In fact, probably every household chore is held in dread by someone in every family. It does seem, however, that some chores, for whatever reason, always rank near the bottom of the preference list. These highly dreaded chores are the ones that people will do almost anything to trade with someone else or get out of all together. Silly deals are made so that one person will clean another's room for a month in order to get out of cleaning the toilet one time. For some reason, doing the dishes seems to be one of the things most families hate to do.

Perhaps people hate doing dishes because it comes at the end of a relaxing meal or a stressful day, or maybe people would rather choose another chore because of the way dishes make your hands shrivel like dried fruits. In any case, I have never quite understood why people dispise doing dishes so much.

If you think about it, doing dishes is much easier than many other household chores. It is not nearly as hard as pushing a vacuum or scrubbing a toilet and it requires absolutely none of the mental focus that dusting around tiny, breakable figurines takes. So why not choose doing the dishes and let your other family members fight over the really hard chores?

Doing dishes is also a great way to relax and unwind after a hard day. Put on some good jazz music, light a few candles and enjoy the peace and quiet of doing the dishes in a space all to yourself. Take time to think back on the events of the day and reflect upon areas that your life that are going well.

Especially if you are married, offering to do the dishes after dinner can be a great way to spend a little time with your spouse and connect after a busy day that took you in separate directions. Take that time away from the kids each day and be intentional with asking questions and caring about the details of each other's lives that can so easily be left unshared. You'll be amazed at what doing dishes will add to your marriage if you make it a special time each day.

So the next time your family gets into a debate about what chores each person will do, surprise everyone by volunteering to do the dishes. They will be glad you did and you will too when you discover how easy and relaxing time spent doing dishes really is.