Never empty a dirty dishwasher (or load a clean one) again!

Do you ever empty the dishwasher when it is dirty or load clean dishes into a dirty dishwasher? I'm notorious for it! We have a very small dishwasher, and we rinse our dishes pretty thoroughly before we load them in.

I absolutely LOVE this tip found at parenthacks.com and have already passed it along to Mike. I'm hoping he can remember to apply it!! It is so simple, you'll wonder why you didn't think of it yourself:

When you empty the dishwasher, refill the detergent cup. If you open the dishwasher and see soap, you'll know the dishes are dirty. If there is no soap, they are clean.