I have been cleaning house since I was very young. My mother was a good housekeeper and I guess it’s true that, “Apples don’t fall very far from the tree”. When I was first married, I actually thought that the cleaning I did was for my husband’s benefit. It wasn’t until he went on a business trip years later that I learned who I actually cleaned for.
I had everything thing all planned out. I was going to sleep in everyday, let the dishes go, let the laundry and cleaning pile up until the day my husband was coming home. So, I dropped him off at the airport and thought about what I wasn’t going to do when I got home.
My plan was to come home and go back to bed and I couldn’t wait! I came into the house but instead of going back to sleep I saw that the laundry basket was filled, so I started the wash. There were dishes in the sink so I did them. I needed some groceries for dinner so I went to the store.
When I came home, I unpacked everything and noticed the house needed vacuuming and dusting, so I did that too. Then, I thought I’d wash the windows while the clothes were drying. The kids would be coming home from school soon, so I started making dinner.
Each day I got up early like I always had, got the kids breakfast, got them to school, came home and made the beds, got them to practice and began the process all over again.
By the fourth day when I’d thought about things, I realized that what I thought I’d do while my husband was away, turned out to be exactly what I didn’t do! It was then that I realized that I clean for myself, not my husband. I enjoy my house because it had that “lived-in look” that my friends and family loved and was the reason they came over to visit and spend time together.
I remember in the early 1960’s the Labor Board printed a list of occupations and their equivalent compensations. A housewife was listed just after a Dog Catcher and very close to the bottom! Today the job of housewife with its various responsibilities would pay about $160,000.00 a year.
What I want women/home-makers to know is that you can’t get fired for doing the house work — you don’t get paid in the first place! However, if you’re fortunate, you will have the support and the affection of your husband. The reality is, unless there are piles and piles of stuff in the middle of your living room, a man doesn’t notice what you’ve done. Hopefully, he just loves coming home to you and the kids … and isn’t that the biggest pay off of all?
