Housework

December 7th, 2017

What is housework? Basically, it's anything that entails the general upkeep of a home: laundry, dishes, cooking, cleaning, etc. Some people call such tasks 'women's-work', because women are the ones who usually perform such tasks. I don't think 'women's-work' is quite the best use of vocabulary though, for it seems to imply that men don't need to bother themselves about such things. That would be a mistaken assumption though, for men are most definitely not excluded from this sort of work. So how should housework go? Well, I'll tell you my thoughts on the subject, and then you can decide for yourself whether you like them or not. Here goes!

In general, though there are definitely exceptions, the woman of the house will end up performing certain tasks more often than her husband. (washing dishes, cleaning, laundry, etc.) This is not because it is the only work suitable for her, but because her man will be spending a significant portion of his time outside the home working to provide money for the household, as he ought, and someone needs to do the work back home. The moment of contention arrives when the husband comes home from work. If he just kicks back and lets the house run itself, (ie. his wife and/or children are doing everything for him) we have a problem. Husbands and wives are meant to work together, and while the husband has been gone all day working, the wife has (in this scenario) been working at home keeping up with all the housework while looking after/educating the kids. (I have yet to fully think through how a double-income family would/should look like, but we can have that conversation later. As for the wife being the sole money-maker outside the home, I’d say that situation is less than ideal [though on rare occasion necessary] because men are meant to be the providers, and don’t have near the same abilities as women to nurture children in all the ways they need. This is also something that calls for further discussion, but by now I’ve gotten far afield from what I was talking about at first, so let's get back to it.) A husband’s job is not done at the end of his ‘workday’. When he gets home he ought to help his wife with whatever is at hand or start some other task that needs doing. Only when all the work is done for the day or the-time-being should either husband or wife rest. Basically, if one is working the other should be too. Obviously, there are times when that’s not possible or isn’t going to be the case, but as a general rule of thumb it works pretty well.

As long as there are dishes to be washed, I cannot see how ANYBODY can go through life without washing them at least somewhat regularly while keeping their heart in proper submission to God. If you've gone a month without washing any dishes, I can say somewhat confidently that you done messed up A-a-ron. On a more positive note, think of doing the dishes as a great opportunity to bless your wife. Nothing says 'I love you' like cleaning the post-dinner kitchen unasked after she's just finished another crazy hectic day keeping track of everything and everybody and keeping everything in order. (Lord knows that's no easy task!) Let me tell you right now: she will greatly appreciate your efforts.

Now, this is also a two-way street. The wife can also bless her husband greatly by having the house set to right before he gets back from a long exhausting day at work. Sometimes it's nice to be all the way done with work at the end of your shift, and the days when they are will, again, be muchly appreciated. All around there's always plenty of room for sanctification and blessing others when it comes to the topic of housework. Some, at this point, may wonder how it is that I can have opinions on how housework should go between husband and wife, seeing as I am in fact unmarried. This though shouldn't be surprising because I have lived much of my life around husbands and wives and have observed their actions. Granted, I still have far to go in determining how these things should go due to my lack of direct experience, but for now I can at least draw a preliminary conclusion. Somewhere along the way I'm sure I'll come to a fuller understanding and may change my initial thoughts on the subject, but hey, you gotta start somewhere. Take it, as with most everything, with a grain of salt. Peace out!