Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 67, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 March 1915 — THE HOUSEWORK? [ARTICLE]

THE HOUSEWORK?

X have heard of reasons manifold Why love must needs be blind; But this is the best of all, I hold— His eyes are in his mind. "If the wife works at any occupation which brings in moqey and the husband is out of employment, shouldn’t he fill in' the idle moments by doing the housework and looking after the children?" This is the blunt question which a wife who works asks me to decide. She dwells on her grievances still further by adding that she is obliged to to rise very early, get breakfast for the family; she is obliged to stack up the dishes for want of time to wash them. Her neighbor next door looks after thff children for a small amount until her return at night. After her supper dishes are cleared away at night, she has the children to put to bed, the washing, Ironing, housecleaning and mending to do. "My husband sits around the house all day,” she adds, "varying the monotony by going out to search for work, but secretly hoping he won’t find IL Now, while he is at home these long days, couldn’t he take care of the children, prepare an easily cooked meal for them, wash the dishes and sweep the floor at least? He says It isn’t a man’s work, and he refuses to do it I say if he cannot find work outside he should be glad to do it inside. Please decide for "OVERBURDENED WIFE." This case does not stand alone. There are many hundreds just like it the world over. Few men are brought up to perform household duties. The excellent bookkeeper, accurate at figures, who seldom makes a mistake, would find himself at his wits* end as to how to escape breaking some of the dishes he would be required to wash. Cooking would be an equal hardship. He wouldn’t know whether the making of coffee called for a spoonful of baking powder, sugar or an egg; how long it took to cook porridge to make.it thin as gruel or thick as dough;' whether to give the children bread and butter thickly coated with sugar every time they asked for it or not to give them half enough to satisfy their young appetites. There are husbands who fit nicely into the emergency. There are others whom it would knock all askew as being distasteful. Rather than to be pressed into the household service, which goes against the grain, a man should be up and doing, out looking for work early and late, refusing to accept defeat When he must spend a few hours in 'the home, love for hie wife should prompt him to do many little acts to lighten the load which is upon her overburdened shoulders. Assisting her does not detract from his manliness. He earns her gratitude, which is far more satisfying than outside pay even. > A happy, contented family means that each does all in his or her power to help, regardless of what the work to be done may be.