by Eboni Manning

Created on: September 05, 2007   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

I sometimes wonder why some working women assume that the life of a housewife is easy. I also wonder why some housewives believe that career women are not family oriented. Both working women and housewives, whether they have children or not, have their own unique challenges and triumphs.
I have been a housewife for the greater three and a half years (I worked a total of four months during this time.) As I contemplate returning to the workforce, I look back on the days I have spent cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, and reading to my young son.

Just as an employee at any job would have her good and bad days, "housewifery" is an equally variable undertaking. There are days when I have cleaned the entire house before 3 p.m., taught my son a new word, and had dinner on the table by 6. Then, there are days when I arrive late for an appointment because my son had a last-minute diaper blowout, and I feel as though steam is coming out of my ears when I hear the receptionist say, "You're supposed to arrive fifteen minutes early."
Like any important task, you have to approach each day as a housewife with a sense of humor and a truckload of patience. Instead of wondering why the baby always throws his bottle across the room as soon as it's empty, I marvel at his pitching arm. When my husband leaves every cabinet door in the kitchen open, I simply close them, and have a giggle at his utter forgetfulness.
Even on my worst days, however, I am secure in the knowledge that I am the lifeblood of this family. Without my non stop cleaning, folding, bottle-retrieving and cabinet door-closing presence, I'm sure this house would implode upon its foundation.
Now, I just wonder, what will happen when I go back to work?

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