If you want it done right, do it yourself

Probably my worst trait as a mother is that I tend to do more of the work around the house FOR our kids instead of trusting them to do it for themselves. Things like folding their clothes, cleaning up their dishes after meals, picking up their messes ... and really it boils down to the fact that I just feel like I do it better.

Grayson recently decided that We Are Going To Be Better Parents.

As part of this new initiative, he asked the boys to load the dishwasher a couple of weeks ago. Unsupervised.

See, it wouldn't occur to me to do that because I would assume that they would do it nine kinds of wrong. But Grayson not only assumed they would do it correctly ENOUGH, but that they would do it correctly enough WITHOUT OVERSIGHT.

So when Nathaniel came running in the den about an hour later yelling to me, "The dishwasher is leaking!" I wasn't surprised.

I opened the door up and I could see suds on the inside of the door and welled up in the bottom. And I could HEAR them popping.

It sounded like a bowl of Rice Crispies was sitting in there. It was LOUD.

The Good Parent was at a Scout meeting, so I closed it back up tightly and waited for him to get home. Then we had to drain it all out and start over.

As it turns out, the boys had used dishwashING liquid instead of dishwashER liquid to fill the little cup in the dishwasher. Which wouldn't have happened if I'd just done it myself, but bygones.

I am I the only parent who suffers from DIY-itis? Please tell me I'm not.