So today’s the day the large plates are out…

Most of my adulting life has been spent living alone or with other singles. Large family dinners haven’t been a regular part of it. Like many mothers of my Mom’s generation, a ‘hope chest’ was created for me. I think green stamps were involved to collect the treasured China for me and my future husband when we got married and started our own family. Turns out, I use most of that China today for my everyday use. That seems to me to be the ultimate compliment. Definitely not what was envisioned when the collection started. So much in my life is like that… I’ll try to stay focused though…

Not only do my dishes have a loving history and tradition attached, turns out they are smaller than our former everyday plates. My fine China plates are 10 x 10. Whereas the other 8 plates (4 from Mary’s former life and 4 from mine) are 11 x 11. We knew they were small because it matters when stacking them. Otherwise, the size difference was lost on us. It was brought back to our attention with our move. Our dishwasher propeller (what is that twirling thing called?) won’t spin if we load our bigger plates. They must be hand washed. Up until recently, we just adapted without a lot of thought. Then when I learned that using the dishwasher isn’t as inefficient as I had thought compared to water and handwashing, etc., I became aware again. (I believe it was a TV ad so I need to validate that one.)

It is not lost on me that we are practicing Noom and learning about portion control. One inch doesn't seem like much, but it adds up over time. Since the beginning of May we been learning more about our habits around eating and mindfulness. That’s my short story for deciding today is the day to get rid of the larger plates. Mary is onboard. We’ve been discussing new dishes over the past few months. Thankfully too Mary is not the type of person to get worried when I get up before 5 am and am rearranging. It is something I do during transitions.

Exploring options for new dishes will be fun. We are practical people and since our hodgepodge of dishes worked, we didn’t prioritize replacing them. Heck, they all have blue, so we saw that as a sign. My ultimate gauge is the degree of discomfort I feel when using something. Our current dishes have not gotten in the way of our entertaining and breaking bread with others (they don’t cause me anxiety). Living in a retirement community we are on the same page often with our neighbors. For the most part we are all done collecting. The treasures we’ve held so dear at different points in our lives now require most physical space than we have available. Most lean toward minimalism. At least we are slowing the consumption. I like that aspect a lot. Now we can be really thoughtful in what we have and what we need.