Perfect Husband Tells How To Become Perfect

Northern Advocate, 25 October 1947, Page 6

Perfect Husband Tells How To Become Perfect

“RENDER me worthy of this noble wife!” (Brutus to Portia). " Portia may be the perfect wife in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, but Mr J. F. McConnell is the perfect husband in Whangarei, New Zealand.

At least he claimed this in a recent interview. Mr McConnell, of 7 King Street, considers himself to be the “perfect husband.” He is not joking.

Quite frankly and sincerely he told why, if there were a Master of Arts degree in husbandry, he would score top marks. It fill starts a long time ago when Mr McConnell was a soldier in.the Middle East.

While sitting in his tent one day he got to thinking of life after the war.. Musing there alone he turned the marriage question over and over in his, mind .and finally decided that when he did marry he would make an experiment. Beginning the experiment, lie got himself a girl. Then, thanks to the Rehabilitation Department, he was able to buy his mother's fully furnished house. '

paying a girl arid a house he did the next thing and got married. This was the first stage of his perfect-husband plan. Not many young men today can carry their wives over the threshold of their own homes —fully furnished at that.

The next stage in the plan was quite a natural and common occurrence —a baby boy arrived. Here was a new problem to be grappled with. As Mr McConnell held the opinion that a women’s life was much harder than a man’s he must therefore learn the secrets of successful baby handling. This was a tough one indeed, but by trial and error—many errors—he reached the stage where he could fold and fix nappies, prepare the correct baby food, and do all the other things wKich have, to be done when there is a baby around. Mr McConnell now maintains that he can send his wife on holidays with complete confidence in himself as a “mother.”

Often at night the baby, now 18 fnonths old, demands attention in the

usual baby manner of bailing the house down. No number of entreaties, threats, or soothing sounds can stop the noise when a baby really gets into its stride, so Mr McConnell gets up. This is when the greatest strain is placed on his promise to be the perfect spouse. Nov/ that the baby is cutting his double teeth, these night vigils are many. , So out he gets, while his wife sleeps on, secure in the knowledge that her husband will do everything —nappies and all. HE DOES THE WASHING Mr McConneli went on to tell of the other little things (in his eyes) which must be done to qualify a husband for the title of “perfect.” “If my wife is tired after a day with the baby I send her off to bed v/hen I come home from work,” he said. With Mrs McConnell safely. away in bed he cooks and serves the tea and feeds the baby. “Sometimes I have to take the haby in bed with me to quieten it,” Mr McConnell said. “If it kicks and moves in its sleep it keeps me awake, but my wife is not disturbed as I keep the baby away from her side,” he added. Mr McConnell does the washing also. He admitted that his first effort as a washerman was not very successful. Anyone who puts everything into the tub—socks, shirts, woollens, sheets and so on—and, expects them all to come out with the original colours, is an optimist indeed. He found this out smartly. He also found that women’s clothes were much weatcer than men’s. He said that the first time he washed his wife’s clothes he just about ripped them to pieces. WOMEN’S JOB HARDER Mr McConnel: went on to say that a man who lived near him reckoned that he was henpecked. The man went further and said that Mr McConnell was making it hard on other husbands. However Mr McConnell was certain that the women had the hardest job every time and this justified his actions. Other men had said, with knowing looks in their eyes: “Just wait till you’ve been married as long as we have.” To this Mr McConnell replied that he had no fear of the future, because his actions were not of the moment, but the result of several long years of serious thought. The experiment had met with such success that he was quite content to carry on. "My motto is 50-50,” he explained. It was often under protest that his wife retired and let him do the work, but she reciprocated by cooking the meals he liked. “Many men, after marriage, don’t bother to bring home flowers, remember anniversaries, or hide boxes of chocolates under the pillow,” he considered. “These things all help to brifig about harmony and contentment.” NEAR TO PERFECT HARMONY

Of course Mr McConnell has had to persevere in his training to become the perfect husband. It just cari’t be done in a day.

He admitted that there were times when he felt like throwing in the napkin—but he never did.

There had also been mild disagreements between his wife and himself, but he had yet to see the couple who could live together without having fhese disagreements. He agreed that the path of true love never did run smooth.

Although he has often been the butt of caustic comments from his fellowhusbands they have not worried him at all. He thinks he has come as close to perfect harmony as is possible. “I often wonder how many men count up the number of hours their wives work, or how many send their wives away while they take over the .control of the kids and house duties,” he said.

“If they did it would be a revelation, as ‘a man may work and have his fun, but . a woman’s work is never done'.”

Accusations that he is being henpacked, becoming a sissy, or making things tough for other husbands, fall on deaf ears if they are directed at him. He refutes them with scorn and continues to derive satisfaction and enjoyment from his occupation.