June Brady's "I Want A Wife"

In response to questions 6 of June Brady's "I Want a Wife."

June Brady has some very good ideas about how much a wife does for a household. There are so many things that a wife does that is just expected of them and they don’t get recognition for doing it. When I stop and think about my own mother, I can’t believe how much she actually does, and most of the time without complaining.

It is generally expected that the wife does the cooking and the cleaning, the organizing and taking care of getting the kids to where they need to be. The wife usually des the planning for activities for the children to do to keep them entertained, or if they want to go someplace with their friends. However sometimes she might also volunteer her husband to be able to actually do the activity with them. If a person is in charge of the planning, than she has the right to volunteer others not involved. Generally speaking, after a divorce, the mother does end up with the children. This may or may not be because the husband wants to put his whole past behind him, and start off with a clean life like Brady suggests in the third to last paragraph.

I stated that the wife generally acted in these various ways. This is because I do not believe and I know that the wife does not always do these activities by herself. The husband does in fact step in to help some of the time. He can help with the cooking and the cleaning, he may also have more of the outdoor jobs like mowing and other types of yard care. I also know that not all husbands take their wives for granted and pick up some of her jobs occasionally to make her day a little easier and better. The wife may also recruit her children to help with her many “chores.” While this may limit the physical work she has to do, the planning and coordinating what her children will do may take more “thinking” time. It may also take more time to make sure her children are doing what they are asked to do.

In the end of the day I’m just glad I’m not June Brady’s wife because I don’t know if I could handle all the demands or qualities she is looking for in a wife. Even though most of them a wife already does, there is a line where a person can not do everything. But Brady’s essay does bring to light many things that a wife does do and put a humorous spin on it placing all these “duties” together and adding a couple facts that may not be true to every day life.