Housekeeping Matters

For many men, the keeping of the home is the exclusive responsibility of the wife or woman, to which they may lend a helping hand from time to time. But what elements should be considered as indispensable to best practice in the 21st century? We note that household management today goes beyond the traditional washing of dishes and clothes, cleaning the house, caring for the children and cooking of food. It now includes managing and maintaining “technologically-driven” equipment (stove, fridge, washing machine, dishwasher, microwave, HD television and air-conditioner); recurring utility bills (water, electricity, telephone, cable and internet); online banking and other transactions; insurance payments for motor vehicles, house and travel; not forgetting property and other taxes! The above is part of the wider concern, technically called “plant maintenance and improvement”. This also involves repairs, painting and expansion of rooms, furnishings and roofs; fence walls and gates; and outer-grounds, trees and plants. Though the latter has been the exclusive undertaking of the husband or male, today this is becoming part of the extended purview of the wife’s supervisory activities; especially if she has acquired the relevant skills and know-how from her secular profession (eg engineer, contractor, senior manager).

There are the financial dimensions of housekeeping in the modern era. For many, long gone are the days when the housewife is working with a limited allowance handed to her. Coming into the marriage with her own income, housemanagement must start with a pooling and honing of individual revenues into an overall household budget. From here, specific responsibilities are accepted to implement different aspects of the house-upkeep sub-budget with timely reviews. Strategic purchasing for the acquisition or replacement of longer-term durables, wellplanned shopping expeditions (locally or aboard), with enough available cash or credit to take full advantage of “on-the-spot” bargains, must be part of the new house-enhancing agenda. Beyond the physical location, household management can extend to vehicle check-ups and repairs, laundering of house items and clothes, and the shuttling of the children to and from school and extra-curricular commitments.

In order to achieve all of the above, especially while progressing professional careers, third-party assistance may become vital. Here, the well-oiled, extended family often proves very useful. The alternative to this is the hiring and supervision of paid individuals. Who these workers are and how many will be determined by the accessible funds. These may encompass one or more of paid transportation for educational pursuits, house cleaner, cook, ironer and grounds-man (Proverbs 31:10-31).

On the other side of the real-life spectrum, where regular income is very limited, unpredictable or even non-existent, housekeeping is more a matter of family survival, stretching-toaccommodate, constantly making hard decisions, preventing the house from crumbling with its weaken roof and worn-out amenities and limiting the times and days of hunger- especially for the dependents. Here, housekeeping is grounded more in daily prayer than in efficient accounting! But even in these circumstances, as in the more favorable, putting aside something in the event of full disaster cannot be ignored as an essential of wise management practice. The “sou-sou” and credit union can be both life savers and sustainers.

In the end, you may need a “university degree” to adequately and successfully undertake housekeeping in the advancing 21st Century, but common-sense, diligence and focus will always be indispensable ingredients. The marriage must agree and decide early on its single approach to its house-management obligations, given its unique circumstances.