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"HOW
TO BE A GOOD WIFE"
The following is an excerpt from a
Home Economics
Textbook used in Ontario during the 50's.
Get
your work done. Plan tasks with an eye on the clock. Finish or interrupt
them an hour before your husband is expected home.
Your anguished cry "are you home already?" is not exactly a warm
welcome. Have dinner
ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal on time.
This is a way of letting him know you have been thinking of him and are
concerned for his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the
prospects of a good meal are part of the warm welcome needed.
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Prepare
yourself. Take 15 min. to rest so that you will 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. His boring day may need a lift.
Clear
away the children. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just
before your husband arrives, then run a dust cloth over the tables. Your
husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order and it will give
you a lift too.
Prepare
the children. Take just 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 noise of washer dryer,
dlshwasher, vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet.
Be
happy to see him. Greet him with a smile and act glad to see him. Some
don'ts, don't greet him with a problem or complaint. Don't complain if he's
late for dinner. Count this minor compared with what he might have gone
through during the day.
Make
him feel comfortable. Have him lean back into a comfortable chair or suggest
he lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him. Arrange
his pillows and offer to massage his neck and shoulders and take off his
shoes. Speak in a soft, soothing, pleasant voice. Allow him to relax to
unwind.
Listen
to him. You may have a dozen things to tell him, but the moment of his
arrival is not the time. Let him talk first.
Make
the evening his. Never complain if he does not take you out to dinner or to
other places of entertainment. Instead try to understand his world of strain
and pressure, his need to be home and relax.
The
goal, try to make your home a place of peace and order where your husband can
renew himself in body and spirit.
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