Then & Now – When he comes home

I found these tips from a 1050s Home Economics class about how to prepare your home for when your husband comes back from work each day.

Some of the tips are right on the money! Some are a sadly out-dated as the role of women has changed drastically. Gave me a good little laugh and the pleasure of  I’m no longer responsible for looking refreshed when my husband arrives home. I can’t touch up my make-up if I’m not wearing any.

 

Compiled by Ms. Leslie Blankship
Columbus, Ohio
Have dinner ready: Plan ahead even the night before to have a delicious meal on time. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospects of a good meal are part of the warm welcome needed.

Yes – do plan ahead! Not just for your family but also for yourself! It saves you time, money, and last minute stress.

Prepare yourself: Take 15 minutes to rest so you will be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your makeup, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking. He has just been with a lot of work-wary people. Be a little gay and a little more interesting. His boring day may need a lift.

Really? So glad we’re past this era.

Clear away the clutter: Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives, gathering up school books, toys, paper, etc. Then run a dust cloth over the tables. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift, too.

Yes – do this for yourself at the end of the day and you’ll prevent the mountain of clutter that piles up from a week of overlooking it.
The rest of these are just for your enterainment:

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 washer, dryer, dishwasher, or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quite. Be happy to see him. Greet him with a warm smile and be glad to see him. Some don’ts: Don’t greet him with problems or complaints. Don’t complain if he’s late for dinner. Count this as minor compared with what he might have gone through that day.
Make him comfortable: Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or suggest he 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, soft soothing and pleasant voice. Allow him to relax-unwind.

Listen to him: You may have a dozen things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first.

Make the evening his: Never complain if he does not take you out to dinner or to other places of entertainment. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure, his need to be home and relax.

The goal: Try to make your home a place of peace and order where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit.

Then & Now

I found some wonderful antique magazines with home organizing tips from readers. I was surprised how some of the advice was still spot-on correct. Some of the tips were far outdated (using electricity was still considered dangerous due to shocking).

From Good Housekeeping 1920:

HOW I USE MY ALARM CLOCK—I find that an alarm clock can be used during the day as well as to help one rise early in the morning. Often, when baking, I set it as a reminder to look into my oven, when doing bits of work in another part of the house. This saves many a cake from scorching. Frequently I have just a few minutes to lie down and relax. I set the alarm clock at the time I must go to work again, and find that the rest is more beneficial when I do not have to worry about resting too long. I also use my alarm clock in taking doses of medicine which come several hours apart. The alarm clock has become a most valuable household article.

 

This tip is an oldie but goodie! It still holds after 90 years! And now we have many more devices to use to help us remember to remember to do just about anything. You can use your phone, oven/stove alarm, and other little kitchen timers to help you stop and remember to turn something on, turn something off, take something, move something, do just about anything.

I also like to use timers to remind me to return to what I was supposed to be doing.
Let’s say you are organizing your bedroom, for example, and you go to put away a cup that was left in the room.
When you get to the kitchen you see you cannot put the cup in the dishwasher because it needs to be emptied so you begin emptying the dishwasher. You put your cup in the dishwasher and see the counters need wiping.
Suddenly your timer goes off – beep, beep, beep – and you are reminded that you were supposed to be organizing your bedroom.

Do you use a timer in any unusual ways? I’d love to hear.