Wash the Plate
“Wash the plate not because it is dirty nor because you are told to wash it, but because you love the person who will use it next.” -St. Teresa of Calcutta
My wife shared this quote with me a while back. Maybe she was trying to tell me something...
But honestly, it’s been coming to mind a lot lately. We have four young kids, and as you can imagine, the list of things to do never ends. Sure, there are the obvious tasks—laundry, fixing the light switch, building shelves in the basement.
But then there’s the unwritten list: sweeping the floor after our 18-month-old eats, picking up trash in the yard, or changing the toilet paper roll. These are the things that are easy to ignore, thinking, "Eh, someone else will do it."
St. Teresa of Calcutta’s words often come to mind—but with a twist. As a husband and father, I know the kids aren’t going to take care of these things. They’re too young to think about who’s picking up after them. It’s up to me and my wife to handle it. And honestly, if I don’t do it, it just means my wife has to.
So, to riff on St. Teresa’s words: wash the plate, pick up the trash, sweep the floor—because if you don’t, the woman you love will have to.
For me, that’s motivation enough to change the dang toilet paper.