At the weekend the dishwasher finally died the death, the children had gone to my parents for the night and dh and decided that we'd see how we got on without it. Today, all three children have wanted to do the washing up. DS (4) thought it was fantastic as he loves playing with water and me showing him how to wash up, was just a part of the 'game'. DD2 (5) Also enjoyed feeling grown up, but more importantly had a great chat with me about her day at school, while she washed and I dried. DD1 (7) gets a turn tomorrow, but was very sad she missed out. It has not taken a lot more time, but that part of the day to do with clearing up, has been lovely quality time together.
At the same time, it's teaching them about helping out, it's better environmentally, it's cheaper and we use less crockery. But that's not the point.
I know the novelty will wear off with the children, but to have a regular time in the day where we can have 10 mins one to one time has been soo lovely. We will keep it up and I wholeheartedly recommend washing and drying together.