The Good Wife's Guide
~ 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 been thinking about him and are concerned with his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospect of a good meal (especially his favourite dish) 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 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.
~Gather up schoolbooks, toys, paper, etc and then run a dustcloth over the tables.
~Over 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 for his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.
~ 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.
~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.
~ Make the evening his. Never complain if he comes home late or goes out to dinner, or other places of entertainment without you. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure and his very real need to be at home and relax.
~ Your goal: Try to make sure your home is a place of peace, order and tranquility where your husband can renew himself in body & spirit.
~Don’t greet him with complaints and problems.
~Don’t complain if he’s late home for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as a minor compared to what he might have gone through that day.
~Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or have him 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, soothing and pleasant voice.
~Don’t ask him questions about his actions or question his judgement 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.
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No wonder my husband gets upset with me! He's retired and I'm still working (I'm 11 years younger than him) and I try to clean the house and he messes it up so I yell at him.
You are a good wife Nicole! I need to learn from you.
As a Goodwife, I have to say I agree with a lot of those things, but not all. If The Paintiff didn't come home one night, or stayed out all night, or went out without me……….IT'D BE ON LIKE DONKEY KONG BABY!
Such a cute post!
Still wondering where I find the 15 min to rest ,and freshen my makeup after coming home from work and doing chores before tidying upp and making supper!LOL Some of these are actually pretty good reminders for both te think of. But I am with Goodwife,Stay out all night? well you might as well stay out another night ,cause home ain't gonna be a castle when you get there!
I am going to be a bad wife…….ha ha!
Nicole, this blog has provided some pretty funny entertainment here at our office today! One of the guys is even threatening to read it out at our company Christmas party tonight, as tips to the wives of the guys who work here! LOL
Uh yea in JT's dreams ;-).
When my kids were little and I stayed home all the time I used to think he had it so wonderful out in the work world talking to real adult people, accomplishing things that people noticed and admired you for. And I had 3 preschoolers and all the mess to deal with.
He was a smart guy and every once in a while he would take me with him to work. It was horrible, not anything like I thought. People were mostly mean to him and he had really hard things to do. So when he came home I did those kind of things for him, cause he needed someone to love him. The world out there wasn't going to.
But I'm not sure how that all works when the wife is out in the work world and having a rough day too. If work is 50/50 then it seems to make more sense if everything is 50/50.
This was cute! I don't agree with ALL of it… But most of it I do! It just depends on the situations. I defiantly think wives need to respect their husbands more, I get so tired of wives bad mouthing and treating their husbands like kids. When I worked, that's all I ever heard. So I got pretty tired of it fast! 🙂
Oh my! All I can say is I am SOOOOO glad I wasn't a wife in 1955!!!!
Stef at TooMuchToDoSoLittleTime.com
P.S. Cute post. 😉
Haha! Ugh, I remember we had to do a dissertation about this when I was in college.
Also – my brother printed it out, folded it & put it into our wedding card as a joke. Needless to say, it went in the garbage. LMAO 🙂