How to be the Perfect Wife

How to be the Perfect Wife.
This was taken from Helen B. Andelin's Fascinating Womanhood, published by
Pacific Press in 1965. The course was designed to teach women how to be
happy in marriage.


GET YOUR WORK DONE

Plan your tasks with an eye on the clock. Finish or interrupt them an hour
before he is expected. Your anguished cry, "Are you home already?" is not
exactly a warm welcome.

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.

PREPARE YOURSELF

Take 15 minutes to rest so you will be refreshed when he arrives. This
will also make you happy to see him instead of too tired to care. Turn off
the worry and be glad to be alive and grateful for the man who is going to
walk in. While you are resting you can be thinking about your Fascinating
Womanhood assignment and all you can do to make him happy and give his
spirits a lift. When you arise, take care of your appearance. Touch up
your makeup, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking. He has just
been with a lot of work-weary people. Be a little gay and a little more
interesting. His boring day may need a lift.

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. in a bucket
or wastebasket and put them in the back bedroom for sorting later. Then
run a dustcloth over the tables. Your husband will feel he has reached a
haven of rest and order and it will give you a lift too. Having the house
in order is another way of letting him know that you care and have planned
for this homecoming.

PREPARE THE CHILDREN

Take just 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 look the part.

MINIMIZE ALL NOISE

Especially give heed to this if your husband has to join rush hour
traffic. At the time of his arrival eliminate noise of washer, dryer,
dishwasher or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet at the
time of their father's arrival. Let them be a little noisy beforehand to
get it out of their system.

BE HAPPY TO SEE HIM

Greet him with a warm smile and act glad to see him. Tell him that it is
good to have him home. This may make his day worthwhile. If there is any
romance left in you, he needs it now.
SOME DON'TS
Don't greet him with problems and complaints. Solve the problems you can
before he gets home and save those you must discuss with him until later
in the evening.
Also, don't complain if he is late for dinner. Count this as a minor
problem when compared with what he might have gone through that day.
Don't allow the children to rush at him with problems or requests. Allow
them to briefly greet their father but save demands for later.

MAKE HIM COMFORTABLE

Have him lean back into 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 massage his neck and shoulders and take off his shoes. Don't
insist on this however. Turn on music if it is one of his pleasures. Speak
in a soft, soothing, pleasant voice. Allow him to relax - to 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, then he will be a more responsive
listener later.

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 to relax. If he is cross or irritable,
never fight back. Again, try to understand his world of strain.

THE GOAL

Try to make your home a place of peace and order where your husband can
renew himself in body and spirit. Then add to this the application of all
the principles of Fascinating Womanhood and your husband will want to come
home. He will rather be with you than with anyone else in the world and
will spend whatever time he can possibly spare with you. Try living all of
these rules for his homecoming and see what happens. This is the way to
bring a man home to your side, not by pressure, persuasion or moral
obligation.