Dishes Duty

We are trying something new around here. I'm not a big fan of chore charts, but I am also not a big fan of doing it by myself. Until now Alyna has had to do the dishes two nights a week and when Caleb turned six he was supposed to start having a dish night as well. Well Caleb has done the dishes a time or two with a lot of coaching from me. Alyna still does the dishes without too much complaining but she is quick to point out the fact that everyone else isn't helping.
So the solution I came up with was that we would all do the dishes together every night. Whoever was home would help and if you are gone eating somewhere else you are expected to pitch in wherever you are. This is how it works. There are no charts or schedules, when the meal is done I assign jobs. For example someone clears and wipes the table & counter tops, another rinses the dishes, someone loads the dishes into the dish washer, and finally the fought over position is to be last or to get to sweep/vacuum. Josie patrol is also a job and usually goes to dad. I supervise, coach, referee & correct. It is a little more chaotic than just assigning a dish night , but so far I like it. I feel like it accomplishes several goals. First of all the dishes get done before bedtime so that after the kids go to bed I am not stuck in the kitchen cleaning up. Second we are spending time together. I am learning that our evening time is super important as the two big kids are gone away from us a good portion of the day. Third, skills are being taught, learned and improved upon.
My hope is that when they are away from home they are helpful and that when they move away they will at least know how to do the dishes. It seems to be working out alright for right now. Like everything it is a work in progress.