"Pulling His Own Weight"

For the past year and a half, as part of our program, Riley and his friend “Bob” had been doing volunteer/work experience twice a week. One morning was spent volunteering at a Senior’s Centre where one of the jobs was helping out in the kitchen (unloading the dishwasher and putting the dishes away). It took me a while before I finally had a *lightbulb moment”…THIS could be something Riley could do at home.

As you can imagine, he was thrilled when I mentioned it. 

One of the ways Riley copes is by “scripting”. A LOT! In the past, it hadn’t always been clear what he was talking about. This dialogue is from Cheaper by the Dozen. In the movie they are talking about chores/rules of the household so the "script" is quite appropriate.

For the first time, I only had him unload the bottom rack (plates and utensils). Watching him barely clear the countertop edge as he took the dishes out made me question my decision to have him do this. But then I decided this may be my chance for a new set of dishes. 

To our surprise, on the second attempt, Riley unloaded both racks by himself. We showered him with praise. From that moment, I knew he would start “pulling his own weight” around here.  He was most proud of himself. He was keen. SO keen that the following night he unloaded the dirty dishes while we were sleeping.

I had not anticipated he would take to this so whole-heartedly. So I quickly printed out a sign to put on the dishwasher. 

It worked. Well…at least until the other night. 

You see, it's been 8 months since he started "pulling his own weight" around here. Riley knows the routine. Pretty much every other night we run the dishwasher. He talks about pulling his own weight all…day…long. Sometimes, G forgets to switch the sign but Riley knows if he wants to live here…he has to pull his own weight and unloads the dishes regardless of what the sign shows. 

But then…there are times when G forgets (because I would never) to start the dishwasher.

The other morning I saw this and was most confused.

After some investigation, I discovered G (again) had indeed forgot to run the dishwasher. I figured out that Riley had emptied the dishwasher but had apparently noticed the dishes were NOT clean. He had attempted to wash the dishes BY HAND and dry them before putting them away. I was shocked and so impressed he would problem solve on his own.

So, if you are here soon and notice your glass/plate/utensils are ummmm…not exactly clean. It is G’s fault.