I can't believe an adult just can't wrap their head around this, bless your heart.
Maybe this will help: You tell your kid to put the dishes away, claiming so you can wash the dishes. But it's not true in that you could wash the dishes without them having been put away. It just wouldn't be as convenient. You could pile the dishes somewhere else, hell outside on the ground (lol) to make room in the sink and whatever while you clean other dishes. But it'd be inconvenient and stupid. You could wash the dishes on the kitchen table, but that'd also be inconvenient and stupid. You could do a lot of things but they wouldn't be as convenient (and could be really stupid). So it's not really that the dishes need to be put away so you can wash your dishes, it's just it is much more convenient to do so. So what you are saying to the kid isn't true in that sense.