The Good Wife's Guide....

[Headfry]

I wonder what the guys really really think of this?
Mr HF would be angry, and think it very demeaning.

[Nicos]

Why didn't it say 'wear your best pearls' and 'make sure his slippers are warming by the fire next to his pipe'???

Have I got things so very, very wrong over the years?

[SueA]

I think some of them might 'pretend' to be angry & say they think it's demeaning but secretly a lot of men would still like life to be like that. There's a fat chance of that around here though!

[samw04]

WHERE WOULD YOU BE:

IF - YOU HAD ALL THE MONEY YOUR HEART DESIRES?

IF - YOU HAD NO WORRIES?

IF - YOU CAME HOME AND THE FINEST MEAL IS AWAITING YOU

IF - YOUR BATHWATER HAD BEEN RUN?

IF - YOU HAD THE PERFECT KIDS?

IF - YOUR PARTNER WAS AWAITING YOU,
WITH OPEN ARMS AND KISSES?

SO, WHERE WOULD YOU BE?

HELLOOooo!!!!!!!!!

YOU'D BE IN THE WRONG F*#$%^G HOUSE

[Madasafish]

I kept a copy of that Good Housewife Guide pinned to our home noticeboard for years.

It made no difference...

"Isle altar hymn" is what she said when we married (if you don't understand say it out loud ).

[Matt.]

I think some of them might 'pretend' to be angry & say they think it's demeaning but secretly a lot of men would still like life to be like that.

Well you've got to know which side your bread is buttered...

[OverWyreGrower]

I think some of them might 'pretend' to be angry & say they think it's demeaning but secretly a lot of men would still like life to be like that. There's a fat chance of that around here though!

I'd like to be a blinkin' housewife in the 50's and actually have time to do all that and still put a ribbon in my hair and be "gay and interesting", rather than fall asleep on the sofa in my trackie pants with the dogs laying on my legs....

We managed to sit down together and eat tea last night.... at 10.30pm does that mean I'm a bad housewife!

[wellie]

Well I don't know what you're all getting your pretty knickers in a twist for.....
I've been doing all of that every evening in readiness for Trousers to come home, and he's never even noticed!

(see Wellie in "Liar Liar Pants on Fire" mode.....)

[nelliegemini]

The heady years of free love in the 60's brought us :

Hey, little girl, comb your hair, fix your makeup -
Soon he will open the door.
Don't think because you've a ring on your finger
You needn't try anymore,
For wives should always be lovers, too;
Run to his arms the moment he comes home to you,
I'm warning you...

Day after day, there are girls at the office,
And men will always be men;
Don't send him off with your hair still in curlers -
You may not see him again.
For wives should always be lovers, too,
Run to his arms the moment he comes home to you;
He's almost here.

Hey, little girl, better wear something pretty,
Something you'd wear to go to the city,
And dim all the lights, pour the wine, start the music,
Time to get ready for love,
Time to get ready, time to get ready,
Time to get ready for love.

Sorry, I have a headache (probably from all the snoring)

[Winged one]

I'd love to have time to be a good housewife (including the resting for 15 minutes before Darling comes home at night), but economic reality of the 21st century is that women are breadwinners too and the Darlings must take their share of the domestic chores on board instead.

But if that was the ideal for us I wouldn't mind, as long as the Gentlemen lived up to their part of it - looked after the money, did all the repairs, balanced all the books and paid all the bills, cared for the garden, drove everyone around as required....

Seeing as how that part won't, I'll happily live with: I'll aim to have hot food ready when you get in if I am the early one, as long as you reciprocate nights that you get in early! And both looking for calm when we get in would be fab as an add-on!! Not that the toddler would ever allow that.....

[Nicos]

Well I don't know what you're all getting your pretty knickers in a twist for.....
I've been doing all of that every evening in readiness for Trousers to come home, and he's never even noticed!

Time for the sexy underwear Wellie......

[Lady Jana Muck]

Sis dearest - I left the ...... for you to follow on in whatever manner was fitting

Do you really mean you would pour the beer over his head!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Shortie]

Whilst having a day off from my full time job, digging over my newly aquired second lottie (sorry Minty, no bra on the fire ) I suddenly realised.....

..... Geo - why were you reading such a girlie article in an old Readers Digest anyway???

[Geo]

Click smiley...Speakers on...

Geo..

[JanieB]

The Good Wife's Guide

From Housekeeping Monthly, 13 May, 1955.


* 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 be thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they get home and the prospect of a good meal 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. Run a dustcloth over the tables.
* During 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 to his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.

* Minimize all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer or vacuum. Encourage the children to be quiet.
* Be happy to see him.

* Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity 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 than yours.

* Don't greet him with complaints and problems.

* Don't complain if he's late for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through at work.

* Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or lie him 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 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.

* A good wife always knows her place.

Geo..

Sorry, I've left the whole quote in.

As a result of this I dug out my 1861(3 3/4 inches thick) copy of Mrs Beeton's Household Management. Lots of stuff about how to deal with servants, how to be a mother (you need to see your children at least once every day), absolutely nothing as to how to be a wife. I assume we had lost the knack by the 1950's. I became a wife in January 1966 (child bride ), so only 10 years later. I still cannot believe that journalists produced this cr@p not so long after WWII when women had held the fort in male occupations including my mother, grandmothers and aunts.

Both my grandmothers had been fiercely independent women, had their husbands even remotely suggested such subservience they would have had their b@lls removed.