An Article to Consider

Here is an interesting article in an age when feminism was becoming more and more the standard for a woman, yet this article has some very true and insightful guidelines to follow.

In case this is hard to read in spots I have transcribed it:
Housekeeping Monthly, May 13 1955
The Good Wife's Guide


- Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready, on time for his return. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospect of a good meal (especially his favorite dish) is part of the warm welcome needed.


- Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you'll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people.


- Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.


- Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives.


- Gather up school books, toys, paper, etc. and run a dust cloth over the tables.


- Over the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by. Your husband will think he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering for his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.


- Prepare the children. Take a few minuets to wash their hands and faces (if they are small), comb their hair, and if necessary, change their cloths. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part. Minimize all noise. At the time of his arrival, minimize all noise of the washer, dryer, or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet.


- Be happy to see him.


- Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your in your desire to please him.


- Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first- remember, his topics of conversation are more important then yours.


- Make the evening his. Never complain if he comes home late or goes out to dinner, or other places of entertainment without you. Instead try to understand his world of strain and pressure and his very real need to be at home and relax.


- Your goal: Try to make your home a place of peace, order and tranquility where your husband can renew himself in both body and spirit.


- Don't greet him with complains and problems.


- Don't complain if he's late for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this a minor compared to what he might have gone through that day.


- Make him comfortable. Make him lean back in a comfortable chair or have him lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.


- Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice.


- Don't ask him questions about his actions or question his judgement or integrity. Remember, he is the master  of the house and as such will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him.


- A good wife always knows her place.


     Now there is obviously some things that wouldn't be right for a husband to do. 
If my husband went somewhere to eat or a place of entertainment for work then that would be understandable. But if not then I could see a problem with that. Yet, it's best to save that discussion for after he's had a good meal and rest.  
    The other one that didn't seem quite right was the second to last one. "Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness." 
    Now they are correct that he is the master of the house, but that he is always going to do or say what is right isn't biblical. We men and women are all sinners, so we don't do what is fair or truthful save through Christ and even then we stumble. But if there was a problem in that realm, that too could wait until dinner is over and a bit of quiet time is observed before bringing up that subject.
   This article all in all is a good guide line for what a man likes to see or not see when he comes home from a hard days' work. We as the women of the house need to make sure we make our home a place of relaxation and enjoyment for the men when they come home. Send them off to take a nice hot shower, get them something special to eat, or whatever they like to do to relax and unwind. 
     Picture coming home after running tons of errands all day with the children home working on chores. But when after being gone all day you find that the dishes are still sitting where everyone put them after breakfast with more added to the pile, the house yet to be vacuumed or even picked up, trash is in need of removal and even the beds haven't been made. 
    Now change it around, picturing how you would feel in that moment, but instead with your husband coming home to see disaster all around him. His wife is frustrated, a child has just been spanked, another coming close to the same disciplinary action and dinner has yet to be thought of. It's the same feeling. 
    I know our family has the same problem. We've had this scenario and similar ones happen more then once and it never helps dad relax or made any of the situations better. Though I'm not the wife nor mother in the house, I am the eldest and the only daughter, so it is up to me to make sure we have an idea of what is for dinner and dessert. I need to make sure things look organized, counters are clean, laundry is going, my room is cleaned up and maybe have something ready for him to snack on. (My dad is always hungry when he gets home, so a snack is a must for him. Unless of course dinner is on the table and ready to be eaten.) It's a hard habit to start and keep going. But when everything is ready and organized the way it should be, you do feel ready to relax with everyone else and enjoy a good family-time together. 


The world would say, "why bother I've had just as hard of a day as he has. Probably worse!" But as a Christian we are meant to serve others, even when we'd rather not.

"Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen."

1 Peter 4:9-11

   I'd love to hear what you think about this article! It has much food for thought don't you think?
I hope to be posting more with this next week so stay tuned!