Sunday, April 15, 2007 Lim: The homemaker 2 By Melanie T. Lim Wide Awake
THE homemaker should not only be lauded for raising the children. She should also be extolled for managing the household and allowing it to run smoothly while the spouse is busy making corporate history.
Many people do not realize the value of housekeeping. For most people, housework is a menial job—one suitable only for the intellectually challenged.
Yet, one does not realize that without the housekeeper, one would not have a home.
You arrive to a home-cooked meal each night. You have your freshly-laundered and impeccably-pressed clothes delivered to your bedroom everyday. You leave your house in disarray and when you come back, everything is back in its place. What would you do without the person who picks up after you?
I once read that housework is something you don’t see until it isn’t done.
Many people do not notice what housekeepers do on a daily basis. But when your housekeeper leaves you for a week, a month, worse, forever, you start to sit up and notice.
Oh yes. When you see your clothes on the floor, your things carelessly strewn around your bedroom, the stack of dishes piled up on the sink and the cake of dust on your furniture, you begin to realize that maybe, just maybe, the housekeeper was actually working hard everyday while you were away at the office thinking you were the master of the universe with your mergers and acquisitions.
You are not the only one working and working hard everyday—although you may be the only one receiving applause and appreciation.
The only reason why you are master of the universe is because there is a homemaker in your life who has the magnanimity to step back and have you hog the limelight. A homemaker who knows that although she collects no paycheck at the end of the month, she performs an invaluable service upon which your entire universe rests—even if you don’t know it yourself.
And yet, she passes up every opportunity to throw that at your face.
Despite their immense contribution to their families, homemakers are not often looked upon as invaluable forces behind many success stories. Most times, they are simply forgotten. Homemakers should not have to die for the world to sit up and notice.
Take the time to appreciate everything that is done for you everyday without which your life would not be what it is today. If you pursue a high-powered corporate career, remember, you are not the only one who labors under great stress on a daily basis.
Someone at home does backbreaking work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and for no pay, a lot of derision and little appreciation.
