MY IDEA OF A GOOD HUSBAND.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16907, 5 December 1922, Page 10

MY IDEA OF A GOOD HUSBAND.

A certain judge has laid down tho ioliowing rules as to what constitutes a good husband, in the legal sense. lie must;—'Jake care of the children an hour each day. Help Ins wife prepare- tlic breakfast. Support liis family, may at home five nignts a week. Take l.is family out at night, and on Sundays, ami to such places of amusement as he can afford. VCi.it on lij niseif instead of making his wife wait on him. Repeat to his ’.site at least once a week jiis marriage vows. \\ ash the dishes every night. Allovr his wife to handle tho family finances. Be sober. Have a savings bank account. Alost women would like to change this list of virtues, if they were engaged in the pastime of trying to construct an imaginary perfect husband. For instance, only a woman who Js feeble, or lazy, and selfish considers it u man’s duty to got the breakfast before be starts off to bis day’s work, or to wash tlic dishes at night after his own toil is over. The right sort of wife does not impose her work on hex husband, nor does any woman who is n fair housekeeper want to have a man messing around in her kitchen. A woman lias also to be pretty henpecky if she grabs all tho money a | man makes. All that a fair-minded woman wants is a definite allowance for the house and for herself, paid without argument or question. It is only when a man makes so little that every cent i ; important, or when he is a spendthrift, that a woman feels she should handle all the money. "What, then, are the qualities the ideal husband should possess^ He must be able to support his family in decent comfort. He must be a man who commands his wife’s respect, for • no woman long loves a man who is a weakling. He must neither tyrannise ) over his wife nor permit her to bully him. He must be generous to her, but refuse to permit her to be extravagant. He must be a nitnoy maker, yet not sj absorbed in business as to forget ; iliat his home needs him as much as his j work does. He must remember that I 11*7. is failing in his duty if lie does not j give at least two hours of his day to companionship with his children. He must rein member that it is just j a- much his duty tc help mak-» a, happy [ home as it is his wife’s, and to tio tills !:e mii.se bring good humour and cheer- I fulness with him when he returns. j DAILY COMPLIMENTS. He must take an interest in his j wife’s affairs. He must remember that a woman’s work is monotonous, i and brighten it by giving his wife all i tlic diversion he possibly can. He must take his wife to places of amusement, and make little treats and surprises for her. He should make it a rule never to take tilings for granted with his wife, but to compliment her on her thrift | whenever she effects a saving, to pay a j tribute to a good meal, and to notice j when she has on a new dress, or mis done her hair becomingly. He should l>© as pleasant in his own j house as he is to the outside world. | and as entertaining at his own table as he is at other people’s. He should he as polite to his own wife as he is to other women. Above all. he should show his wife a tenderness that never fails, and a love that does not grow cold with the years. That’s my idea of a good husband. What is yours?