Reader Notes: The Note on the Fridge

To the notebook: we have a whiteboard on the fridge and for years it was covered in instructions. Feed the cat. Dentist Tuesday. Don't use the blue towel. Nobody read it, including me.

Last spring I wiped it clean and made a rule: one note at a time, three words, and the note comes down when it's done. 'Cat fed? Check.' 'Dentist Tuesday, 4.' The board went from a wall of text to a single line, and now everyone reads it, because there is only one thing to read.

My teenager has started leaving notes back. Last week it said 'Out of cereal.' The week before, 'Thanks for dinner.' That one stayed up longer than the rule allows.

Signed, a reader in Oregon. The board is still clean, mostly.