The other woman.........she is perfection!
Beautiful at all times
Great Cook
Awesome housekeeper
Organized
Always Happy
Never stressed
Wonder mom
Yes, there is another women and this is her.....
She lives in my head and never escapes my thoughts.......I think she is evil!
I don't know why this image sticks in my mind when I think about a stay-home mom and I really don't understand how she's got it all together!
I mean, just take a close look....
styled hair....I'm lucky if my hair has been washed in the last couple of days
fancy attire......I only have time to throw on shorts and a tee
high heels......I would break a bone chasing after Colby...Oh wait I did that this week in sneakers!
3 big dishes prepared for dinner........I'm thrilled about 1 major dish and I always throw in bread and salad to make it filling.
and a huge smile saying
Yes, Honey I'm perfect!!!
My expression is usually,
Woohoo....I survived preparing dinner and the kiddos are still alive!
I love my life, and I especially love being able to stay home with my children but it can be difficult some days, as you know from my last post. I just wonder why it seems to be more stressful for women in our generation than for women in previous times.
Take a look at this Good Wife Guide published in Housekeeping Monthly 5/13/1955
1. Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready, 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives.
5. Gather up schoolbooks, toys, paper etc. and then run a dust cloth over the tables.
6. Over the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by. Your husband will feel 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.
7. Prepare the children. Take a few minutes to wash the children’s hands and faces (if they are small), comb their hair and, if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part. Minimize all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet.
8. Be happy to see him.
9. Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him.
10. 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 than yours.
11. 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.
12. Your goal: Try to make sure your home is a place of peace, order and tranquility where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit.
13. Don’t greet him with complaints and problems.
14. Don’t complain if he’s late home for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through that day.
15. Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or have him lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.
16. Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice.
17. Don’t ask him questions about his actions or question his judgment 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.
18. A good wife always knows her place.
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I would love to hear comments on those 18 rules!!
Don't complain if they stay out all night...not on your life
and this is not what I'm thinking when I'm dishing Chris up
I'm thinking.......this was difficult to prepare because
I had a two-year old that insisted on helping me cook the entire time
stopping for potty time
getting the baby back to sleep because Colby is too loud
shouting NO TOUCH, HOT
and of course tripping over the child under my feet
What am I really thinking???
You better say,
Yummmmy......looks great and then top it off with I enjoyed it!!!
I do take pleasure in keeping the house clean and having a hot, healthy dinner prepared every night because I know it makes Chris happy, but
I don't touch up my make-up before he arrives.....I don't even wear it during the week
I don't think Chris would consider me FRESH
I don't change Colby's clothes......He usually is booty-naked
and most of all,
how in the world would I find time to arrange his pillow, prop his feet up, get him a beverage and remember to speak in a soothing voice
I'm sorry but a 2 year old doesn't respond to a soothing voice, and I don't think I can transition that quickly!
Thank goodness I have a wonderful marriage and a content husband regardless of my failure to live up to a 50s housewife!
I'm just wondering what was her secret???
Was she really happy or did she just hold it all in and cry on the inside so she wouldn't break
rule #13 Don't greet him with complaints and problems!
I don't know what her secret was but I know what mine is!! After my broke-toe bad day I realized several things:
Life has gotten so busy that in the last two weeks I have let the most important things fall to the bottom of my to-do list.
My mom devotion book is next to my bed but has dust on it.
I haven't read the word of God all week.
I haven't started my day off on my knees in prayer since Colby has been waking me up at 6:30.........if he is awake then the rat race begins!
and I have forgotten to turn off the TV and crank the house out with K-Love!!!
These things make all the difference in the world!!!
I think Satan knows exactly how to creep into our lives...slowly but surly!!
Well.....I got back on track and no matter what, I will make time for all of the above because
as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Josh. 24:2, 15).
This is my favorite song and I think I might just put it on replay all day long!!
I don't think it's possible to have a bad day while listening to these words and it's so reassuring.......it's the real secret!!!
5 comments:
wait...you mean you don't do any of those things? haha.
my husband is lucky to come home to a toddler that is still alive and a wife that has lost it. and i only have one. not to mention the dishes, dog fur and other hoop-la he comes home to.
Oh...my...GOODNESS!! There are no words. (Love that song-thanks for sharing)!
first of all, i really think those rules were written by a man!
i totally get the whole, "make the home as warm and welcoming and peaceful as possible" goal, but i don't see it as a certain checklist of "things to do" that will apply to all families. i know that justin would rather me be in a genuine good mood than a fake good mood, and i wouldn't be in a real good mood if i had been wearing heels all day (or even just while cooking an extensive dinner). and i certainly wouldn't put up with him being absent with no explanation. i'm sure he would wonder where i was if he came home and i was just GONE for hours and come home with no explanation. that part is bull crap.
some of those things, like the special dinner, the fire, the "being freshened up", etc, are good goals for good days, but not necessarily all on the SAME day EVERY day!!
my grandfather talks about how my grandmother had the same routine every morning when she put on her pantyhose: she would put on the first leg, start to put on the second leg, look out the window, let out a big sigh, then pull them the rest of the way on! i think that is very telling.... she might have enjoyed her life better without the pantyhose (and all the other expectations). i am sending her over here to comment herself.
also, i don't think it was any easier. for example, my grandmother had as many kids as we do or more (she had 3), and kids are kids, no matter what the generation. and they had less "conveniences" than we do (appliances, etc). i DO think it was a little easier in the fact that there were more wives that stayed at home; now it is a very huge oddity to be "only" a SAHM (stay at home mom), therefore, we have less support from peers (but, as a result, less competition between women and consequently, less expectations...)
Ha, I so agree...a man wrote those rules...no doubt!!
My grandmother couldn't get access to reply on here, so she sent this message:
"That article is typical of things women's magazines published during the 50s. It was then--and is now--utter hogwash!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In the 50s, no young woman thought of herself as a slave to a man (*at least no healthy woman) The only item I agree with and tried to do was to make our home a peaceful place for both of us. I wanted it to be a place we wanted to be--not just us, but the children too. Some of those goals are good--have good meals, keep the house fairly straight, don't whine, appreciate your spouse, teach children manners and respect, but even in the 50s this was not entirely the responsibility of the wife.
I know some young women today do not want to be what is called a "stay at home mother" but any who can do that should be very thankful, and so should their children.
As for those "wife should be perfect" ads and articles, look on them as works of fiction. That woman did not exist. I always thought they were written by men."
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