Key to a happy marriage... happy wife!

Before all you husbands out there start yelling at me, I agree that it is important for the husband to be happy too... but we can make it sooooo much worse for you.  So really if the wife is happy nine times out of ten the husband will be happy too! So here's a really easy way to make us smile... when you are finished eating, put your plate in the sink! Simple little things like that only take a few seconds and can really make a big difference in the sanity of your wife. She will be so impressed by your effort she may even dress up for you the next time you have dinner, which she will happily prepare for you with the peace of mind that when you are done you will put your plate in the sink. (See how that works out for you???) I know most husbands do not mean to make extra work for their wives, they probably do not even realize they are doing it, but if you don't get a handle on it there will come a time when you have the "Pick up that plate" stand off. Ours was several years ago while my husband had a few days off work and he was home all day.  I picked up dishes next to his chair constantly, so I asked him in the sweetest voice I could muster, "Honey, if you are done could you please put your plate in the sink?" To which he responded, "Yes." About three hours later the plate was still there so I asked if he forgot... "I told you I would!" Ok, we just have a different time table, no biggie, he said he will put it up so, he will. The stand-off begins. The plate sat and sat and sat. I cleaned the room around the plate, watching as the food particles hardened into little pebbles that looked like a 4th grade science experiment. About day three of the stand-off he made a comment about how gross it was to have dirty dishes laying around. I was in shock, didn't know what to say... just reminded him it was his plate, he said he would pick it up, and that it would be a cold day in hell before I pick up that plate!  Without a word he picked up the plate, walked into the kitchen, and put it in the trash. So, we both learned something that day... he learned there is not a magic fairy that flies in and cleans up the dishes. I learned that you really don't need an eight piece matching set of dinner plates, seven is plenty!