by Carol Taylor
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Terri Hates Dishes
Above all things on earth, Terri hated washing dishes. When it was her turn, she’d dawdle and play and do anything except dishes! One summer day Terri was supposed to wash the lunch dishes but late in the afternoon they still weren’t done. “Why haven’t you done the dishes?” Mother demanded.
“I hate doing dishes!” Terri retorted.
“But I want to fix dinner and the sink is full of dishes!” she told Terri hotly. “I want you to stop playing and get busy. Do the dishes while I finish the ironing. Now!” Mother said. And Terri did start the dishes but then she wanted to play with the bubbles and when she went to the bathroom she found a story book and started to read it and so when Mother came to fix dinner, the dishes still weren’t done
Mother sent Terri to her room and did up the remaining dishes. While she did, she thought about what to do about Terri. So while dinner was cooking, she came up with a plan. When dinner was done, Mom told Terri. “Since you didn’t finish the lunch dishes like I asked, it’s still your turn to do dishes, Terri. Please hurry because I have a new game I’ve been wanting to play.”
“But…” started Terri.
“Just do the dishes, Terri,” Mother interrupted. Terri stomped over to the sink and started banging the dishes around. She hated dishes!
True to her word, in a short time mom and the rest of the family were back at the kitchen table with a brand new game to play. And just as Mother had suspected, Terri had not yet finished the dishes. “We’ll just have to start without Terri,” Mother said. “Maybe she’ll hurry so she can join in the second game,” she added pointedly.
Now Terri was really mad. She washed the dishes slower than ever. She hadn’t even finished them when it was time for bed!
The next morning after breakfast, Daddy asked the girls if they wanted to go to the park. All three jumped up and down in delight then Daddy turned to Terri. “I’m sorry,” he said, “But we can’t all go to the park when there are dishes to do. You still have some of last night’s dishes to do and now there are breakfast dishes. If you haven’t done those by lunchtime, you’ll have lunch dishes too.” And leaving Terri to her tears he helped Shari and Leanne get ready to go.
Terri lay on her bed sobbing for a long time. Then she started thinking. She still hated doing dishes but now she knew that if she didn’t do them she would just keep having more to do. She looked at the clock. It was ten thirty already. Lunch would be about twelve. If she didn’t hurry, she’d have lunch dishes to do too. She ran out of her room and started hot water in the kitchen sink. She started washing furiously. Fifteen minutes later there was a gentle kiss on her cheek and Mother said gently, “Good girl, let me help you get them done before Daddy gets here.” They were in such a hurry Terri almost forgot how much she hated dishes. When Daddy came home he inspected the clean kitchen and gave Terri a big hug. “I’m so glad the dishes are done, ‘cause I’m starving. And if we eat, that means dirty dishes and you know whose turn it is to do dishes, don’t you Terri?” he asked. Terri’s heart sank and she hung her head. “Leanne’s!” Dad cried laughing. And Terri was so glad she laughed right along with him.
