Doing The Dishes

Paper plates for a holiday meal are not acceptable, except when they are. When you have too many other things going on and you know that cleaning the dishes will ruin everyone’s experience, including your own, pull out some paper plates. No one knows better than the Deans how exhausting the experience of hosting relatives can be, especially when you throw in several toddlers. Trying to be mother, daughter, and best friend at once guarantees that you will be stretched and contorted close to the breaking point. And since there’s no scrimping on the holiday meal—no hamburger, mac and cheese, or cereal—for this gang, if serving the meal on paper plates is going to get you through the day with sanity, then the Deans heartily endorse it. It’s your holiday, so do what you must, and we promise to bring the good attitude. But may we ask you, sotto vocce, that you at least get ones with a pretty pattern and not the white paper ones that disintegrate at the sight of the turkey? 

 

 

And don’t do anything rash with the china. The Deans are all about staying lean and getting rid of clutter, but hesitate before off-loading your good dishes just because you haven’t used them for a while. Circumstances change and dinnerware is expensive, so if you cast off your china, there is a good chance you won’t replace it. Hold on—you won’t have toddlers forever, your elderly relatives will move to greener pastures, and one night you may find yourself longing for your good plates to remind you and your husband that you are attuned to the finer things in life.