Omaha daily bee., 1920-11-28
Profession of Being a Wife.

Few are heard now to say that anyone can
be farmer, and equally infrequent are the men
who bettle woman's work in running house
hold as menal task requiring little thought
or skill, Not alone has modern life grown
more complex, but the high cost Of living has
gwen a position of the Greatest Importance to
every wife and mother. Household manage
ment truly has become as much business
| enterprise as running store. Office or mill
The major part of the average family income
is spent for running the household, and almost
without exception it is the woman who acts as
| purchasing agent. 1t is we'll to remember that
marriage, is cooperative affair, and that the
wife and mother alone is not responsible for its
success or failure. If the husband or children
neglect their part, the systematic running of the
home is bound to be deranged just to that ex-
tent Putting books, clothing and utensils back
in their proper places is small thing to ask,
and yet failure on the part of the family to do
this adds one burden to the. task OF putting
house to rights. Poor arrangement of the
dwelling place and lack of labor-saving equip
'nent are other unnecessary burdens put upon
the home-maker.
In almost all families the husband assists
fashioned custom of assigning chores to the
children is falling into decay. Such condi-
ton. brought about in part by apartment house
living of course, is criticised thus in useful
little handbook by c. w. Taber, "The Business
of the Household"
The family should be run on cooperative
basis and each one, boy or girl, should be
taught that she has very definite part of
the work to perform. A strong boy of ten
IS not going to grow up with much respect
tor the dignity of womanhood when he is
allowed to spend all his leisure time in play
while mother, sister, even the hired maid
floors and doing work that he might well be
doing. These conditions were formerly un-
known, and they cannot continue to prevail
It we are to resume the normal family life
that hardly exists today in the cities The
hrst great step then in reducing expenses and
in doing without paid service is to enlist the
aid Of the children, if there are any, and OF
all adults in the family.
a This is one phase of household organization
but there are many others. Household account
ing. the establishment of a family budget or
plan of spending, the business of buying cloth
ing, food and furniture, developmen, OF enough
knowledge of physiology 50 that physician
need not be called every time member of tho |
AoHS 40 "iuiepoo0u, anu seltlIlg aSlQe some |
thing for saving these are part of the busi-
ness of household management |
Enough has been said to indicate that there
is only one real difference between the business |
of running home and running an office-that
is that the eight-hour day is impossible for the
woman: Fifty or sixty years ago household
tasks were largely of another kind, but where
spinning and weaving, buttermaking and candle
making have disappeared from the domestic list,
new problems have come in to take their place
so that it is problematical if the housekeeper's
work has been lessened as greatly as some
might think.