How to Be a Good Wife

I was reading a book today (Created to Be His Help Meet by Debi Pearl) and I came across this.  She says it is taken "word-for-word from a 1950s public high school home economics book."  I doubt they would let it sit in the trash can at a public school today!  

How to Be a Good Wife Today

• Have dinner ready.  Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal on time.  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 is part of the warm welcome needed.  
• Prepare yourself.  Take 15 minutes to rest so that you'll be refreshed when he arrives.  Touch up your makeup, 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 clutter.  Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives, gathering up schoolbooks, toys, and papers.  Then, run a dust cloth over 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 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 the noise.  At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer, dishwasher, or vacuum.  Try to encourage the children to be quiet. Be happy to see him.  Greet him with a warm smile and a kiss (I added that).

Some Don'ts:  

• Don't greet him with problems or complaints.
• Don't complain if he's late for dinner.  Count this as minor compared with what he might have gone through that day.  Make him comfortable.  Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or suggest he 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, soft, soothing and pleasant voice.  Allow him to relax and unwind.  
• Listen to him.  You may have a dozen things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival home is not the time.  Let him talk first.  **HARD ONE** :o)
• 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.  

Isn't it amazing how much has changed in the past fifty years?!?!  Like Debi Pearl says, each girl in public school was taught a conservative worldview that was more Biblical than most churches teach today!  I'm glad there are some things on this list that my husband doesn't mind (i.e., like the noise of the dishwasher or washing machine & not wanting to eat dinner right when he arrives home from work), but if we treated our husbands more like this, I'm sure they would be even more happy than they are right now.  I'm glad I found this today.  

MY PERSONAL GOAL:  I really want to work to make sure our home is a haven for my husband.  I want it to be "free of clutter" when he gets home, and have it be the place that he really wants to be.