Salute Housewives!

The past year, I've been in a role that I never thought I would find myself playing........ that of a housewife.

I had been working for the greater part of my life as an educationist and housechores were not my domain. Neither was cooking and serving up meals for the family. However, life took a different turn when my daughter decided that we were better off without a maid that was more trouble than a help.

I eased into the role of keeping house and rustling up meals for the family. Mind you it is not easy juggling the chores plus having my own time for the things that I like to do. Getting up early to start the washing machine and then off to the golf course for my morning round of 9 holes. It is a pleasant surprise to find that the clothes are already hanging on the lines when I get home, either the work of my super efficient daughter before she sends her children to school or my spouse after his morning walk.

A bit of tidying up the house followed by a leisurely breakfast while skimming the newspapers...... then preparing the stuff to boil soup for the evening meal. After that, it's going online to check for email and forwarding interesting reads to other friends.

What next?Donning my hat and sunglasses, it's out into the back garden to bring in the clothes that have been baking in the very hot equatorial sun, folding them and bringing them upstairs where later each family member will pick up and keep their own clothing. Know something? Shh..h.....I'm very lucky to have a spouse that does the ironing for me!! He he he! Bet some women will be envious! So that's one chore less.

Then it's time for lunch. We usually lunch out as it is too much of a hassle to cook just for two people. Besides, I do not have a great reportoire of menus and will definitely run out of ideas on what to cook if I have to cook twice a day. After lunch it's getting the Star newspaper. I don't know why we get the Star only at lunch time while the New Straits Times is readily available in the morning. Sometimes we get it only at around 3 pm. Not many places sell it either. Hubby insists on the Star.

By mid afternoon it's time to prepare for dinner after which we go out to fetch the grandchildren home from school. They attend Chinese medium school and three times a week school ends at 4pm. They also have school on Saturdays. So need you wonder why the children from Chinese medium schools fare better than their counterparts in the national type schools?

These are the mundane tasks that repeat daily and I must say that they are certainly less than what most housewives are doing. They would not be playing golf in the mornings but would be busy cleaning the house and preparing lunch. Besides the ironing would also be part of their daily workload. Knowing how tired I am by the end of the day tells me that other housewives would be totally exhausted as they have so much more to do than I. My daughter does all the washing up after dinner and cleans the kitchen daily. She is a very helpful and loving daughter and she gets someone to come in for a few hours each week to do the heavy chores of mopping the floors and cleaning the windows and toilets. So thankfully I'm spared these backbreaking chores.

A housewife's work is never done. The umpteen things that need her attention, the cleanliness of the house inside and outside.....all these she does without complaint day by day, without remuneration which any other worker would receive monthly. Child rearing is another of her responsibilities. I've seen mothers waiting with their children for the school bus in the early morning and then waiting by the roadside in the afternoons to receive them when the bus drops the children off after school. Rain or shine, they wait patiently for their little ones.

So we should salute all housewives. These wonderful women and mothers who multi-task work very hard so that family members have hot meals to come home to and unwind after a day's work. Their love for family is the oil that keeps the wheels of family life going smoothly. Sunday March 8th is International Women's Day. It would be good to recognise these unsung heroines who are often taken for granted.