Dishwasher safe

We all cheat sometimes, right? Working Mums specially. We take shop-made cakes to the school cake sale, feed the kids their toast on the way to the childminders and have specially designated cupboards in which to hide the mess when guests are coming round. One of the most accepted cheats in this day and age is using a dishwasher instead of doing the dishes by hand. Well, if you've ever wanted to see a prime cheat come to grief then you should have seen me this week WITHOUT A DISHWASHER. "Omigod" I hear you gasp. Yes, the dishwasher finally gave up the ghost and I have lasted a whole week washing the dishes with my own fair hands. OK, sometimes I got Paul to do it. But really, I can't tell you how unbelievably TEDIOUS I find this process, how much I HATE it when the dirty dish water gets inside the rubber gloves (ewww!) and how I really hadn't realised QUITE how many bottles, beakers, teats and plastic spoons we get through on a daily basis. Somebody bring me back my dishwasher, pleeeeeeease! I know I sound like a spoiled modern yummy mummy, but I don't care. The engineer is booked to come and fix it Tuesday. Meanwhile, I'll be cheating some more I expect: takeaways are sounding good this weekend!