Handy Hints for Husbands

Hello, honey, I'm home!

WHERE would women be without their husbands? Probably living it up with a toy boy in the Bahamas, that's where. You can but dream...

In actual fact, there's not much about The Man I would change but I wish I'd had this handy little booklet called Don'ts For Husbands (written by Blance Ebbutt in 1913) before we started living together. There's also one for women called Don'ts For Wives.

It included very handy hints like this one: "Don't stoop, even if your work is desk-work. Your wife wants to see you straight and broad-chested." Wise words if ever I heard them. 

As are these: "Don’t sharpen pencils all over the house. It does not improve either the carpets or the servants’ tempers to find pencil sharpenings all over the floors." 

The times I've told the dearly beloved: "For goodness sake, consider the servants!"  Good servants are so hard to find these days. I really don't want to be faffed with finding a new parlour maid and training her up to my exacting standards, not at my time of life.

Then there was:  "Don’t sneer at your wife’s cookery or bridge-playing or singing." Unless you want the cookery all over your head, sneering is definitely out.

Here are a few more handy hints for the dearly beloved to consider:
  • Don't increase the necessary work of the house by leaving all your things lying about in different places. If you are not tidy by nature, at least be thoughtful for others.
  • Don't take it out on your poor wife every time you have a headache or a cold. It isn't her fault, and she has enough to do in nursing you, without having to put with ill-humour into the bargain.
  • Don’t try to regulate every detail of your wife’s life. Even a wife is an individual, and must be allowed some scope. [Take a minute to think about that line: EVEN a wife is an individual (!). You think...?]
  • Don’t try to “drive” your wife. You will find it much easier to “lead” her.
  • Don’t increase the work of the house by leaving all your things lying about in different places. If you are not tidy by nature, at least be thoughtful for others.


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16 comments:

  1. Well, since I do not have a husband these sound like perfectly reasonable guidelines. Also for guests and live-ins! Thanks.

    Meet My Imaginary Friends
    #AtoZchallenge http://www.kathleenvalentineblog.com/

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    1. Perfectly reasonable. There's no excuse for stooping!

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  2. This is cool! My mother-in-law used to say that you could always tell when her youngest had been in the room. So true. He's definitely not neat. At least he's not picky about my housekeeping either. :)
    Awakening Dreams and Conquering Nightmares with a Pen
    Best wishes!

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    1. I must admit I'm not the tidiest person in the world!

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  3. thanks for visiting my blog - could you email me, would be nice to meet for coffee maybe?
    Really interesting post, I enjoyed browsing - thanks for sharing with us & enjoy the A-Zeding!

    from @HelenHollick
    A-Z Let Us Talk Of Many Things (I interview some very interesting fictional characters!)
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  4. Thanks for the good laugh, particularly about the servants.
    I enjoyed reading this post and can't wait to see what you come up for women. :)
    Happy A to Z'ing!!

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    1. Thanks for the comment. I really liked your blog but couldn't leave a comment as it was trying to make me sign up to Diqus. Good luck in the rest of the A to Z!

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  5. Great! Loved it
    http://cazgreenham.blogspot.com
    @CazsBooks
    #A2Z neighbour

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    1. Thank you! I've just left a comment on your great blog.

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  6. LOL! Yes, consider the servants please!!!
    Great post.

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    1. I don't know where I'd be without the upstairs, downstairs and in my lady's chamber maids!

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  7. I love your blog and I'm thinking I gotta follow!

    Well done - enjoy the A-to-Z!

    Cherdo
    Cherdo on the Flipside
    "Favorite Characters, Favorite Lines" on the A-to-Z Challenge 2016

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  8. LOL with the advice for husbands; I'll have to remember to come back and check W for the advice for wives :) And much has changed since 1913 I think :)

    betty
    http://viewsfrombenches.blogspot.com/

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    1. Yes, 1913 advice for wives is quite an eye-opener!

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