But HAVE we come a long way?

Much thanks to Greta for having a Bachlorette party yesterday and to I think Sara for bringing this to give us all a chuckle. The following is from a May 13, 1955 article of Housekeeping Monthly. Title? "The Good Wife's Guide" There are 18 bullet points and to avoid giving everyone heart attacks, I'm not printing them all here, just the most egregious.

1. 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.

Egad!! Prepare yourself, indeed, to be a doormat.

2. 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.

Your DUTIES?!? I think nuff said.

3. 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.

YIKES! This is getting worse as it goes on. Prepare the children. Like you prepare a meal? The little perfect robots should "play the part". H'mmm, no sarcasim there on MY part.

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

They are? "Hello, darling, welcome home. After a full day of washing your nasty socks and underwear, not to mention all the extra laundry created by changing the children's clothes so that they're looking fresh for you, and caring for the little monsters that you helped create, I'm feeling rather suicidal and I thought you ought to know."

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

That's so horrible that I don't have a smartass remark to counter.

It does make me wonder, however, about how far we really have come since 1955. In "The Time Bind; when work becomes home and home becomes work", Arlie Russel Hochschild writes about how we're all putting more time in at work to support our families, but working more hours puts more strain and stress on the family. I highly recommend anything she's written, this

LINK

will take you to her page on Amazon. Check out too The Second Shift.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go to NOW's website at NOW and give your senators a piece of your mind.