I should be getting paid for all of this
- Laura Moore: Housebroken
- December 31, 2024
- 136
Being a housewife is very likely one of the oldest professions known to humans. Though honorable, housewifing is not without drawbacks.
The requirements for those interested in such a career need physical strength, creativity, perseverance, endurance, crisis management skills and, most importantly, a sense of humor — especially about any financial remuneration. Most folks feel the satisfaction of having a clean, well-run, happy house should be more than adequate compensation. It’s not.
Somewhere in time, homemaker and housewife became synonymous. (A homemaker takes care of the family living in the house; a housewife takes care of the house.)
Because it is physically exhausting, mentally fatiguing, and financially impoverishing, housewifing is becoming increasingly unpopular as a career choice. Women and very few men, who in the past have chosen the housewifing field, have decided on other less demanding careers in medicine, law, space exploration, et cetera.
This state of affairs leads to anxiety because any career outside the home can lead to a build-up in all the house-related chores: dusting, vacuuming, laundry, mopping, et cetera.
My house is exhibiting all the classic symptoms of housewife withdrawal. Dust is settling on exposed surfaces, junk is collecting in normally empty spaces and the windows are becoming opaque. This is not a healthy situation. Due to the current cost of professional house cleaners, our only option is to compromise. Someone is going to have to quit his job
and stay home with our house.
Taller Half hasn’t volunteered to take up the housewifing duties, and none of our children seem interested in stepping up. I am very afraid our house will be without any housewifing attention until someone feels guilty and gets to work. Guess who that will be? Sadly, it’s me.