Household chores have always been one of my least favorite things. As I've become older I don't get to visit home as often as I'd like. With work and school, life gets faster and busier the older we get and it feels like we will never catch up. Finally the holidays come around and I get a little break from all the insanity. My parents make me wonderful meals and when everything is said and done they ask me to do the dishes. Now, when I was a kid I hated dishes because they were just so much work (or so I thought). I work in a dish-room now so I'm way more used to dishes by the hundreds. I still don't care much for dishes since they are part of my job, but when I come home they have a whole different purpose to them. My parents have done so much for me, especially during the holidays. During Thanksgiving they gave me an amazing meal, and the best way to show them I appreciated that was to do the dishes for them. I make jokes and complain, but in all honesty I am more than happy to do the dishes. As we grow older we begin to have our own lives, and don't spend as much time with our parents. I never truly know how to show them that they still mean the world to me, but I think the little gestures help.

Sometimes I think it is so easy to overlook what all our parents do for us and feel like they should know how we feel. I feel like when we come home and our parents ask us to do something that we should be more than happy to help. I feel like I am really giving my parents some nice relaxation that they deserve since they worked so hard to give me the life I have. The holiday season is a time to be thankful and to give back for all the wonderful things life has to offer. I have truly come to appreciate all of the little things over the years that my parents have done. After having bills and all the other adult responsibilities, I have come to notice what all my parents went through to help me be where I am today.

So the next time you are home or hanging out with the parents, don't be afraid to go out of your way to show them how much you care and tell them how much you love them. Go ahead and do the dishes and clean up around the house, and I know your parents will really appreciate it. Just be willing and happy to help. Honestly we can all try and spend a little more time with our parents and soak up all the time we have while we can. Take some stress off your parents and make memories that will last a lifetime by making the most out of the moments with them.