If you were to ask a six year old about the career path they would choose, you would hear answers such as ‘doctor, soldier, chef, teacher etc. What about a housewife? Do you think she would confidently raise her hand and gladly say she wants to be a housewife? A housewife goes out of her way to ensure that the house is filled with love and joy, but in some cases the family members fail to appreciate the housewife’s efforts because society has made them believe that the house chores are the housewife’s responsibilities. If the housewives were to receive a monthly salary for all the occupations they have under their wings, they would be millionaires and generations to come after them would not lack anything .

THE HOME IS THE FIRST SCHOOL

The child is the student and the mother is the teacher and the headmistress. Our mothers have taught us how to eat certain foods and the correct way to use cutlery when we are having different foods which include porridge, rice and sadza. Our mothers made us believe that it was a taboo to eat our food with our mouths wide open and it would attract an instant beating or a warning eye. These women also taught us how to colour, write our names and pronounce certain words.

The reason why we never gave up is simply because the women in our lives happened to use words of affirmations and they were patient with us. Our mothers walked us through the process of greeting visitors, apologizing and not interrupting our elders when they were having a conversation. We managed to learn a lot of good manners from our first school and we managed to attend our first school free of charge.

Our mothers believed in us and they will always be our cheerleaders. Our mother’s words always echoed in our eyes and we believed that we could conquer the world.

Our mothers managed to multitask and although they were cooking , washing or ironing the laundry they would do it in such a way that one never felt left out of a conversation.

Our mothers prepare heartedly meals which we can never outscore even if we try to refer to the recipe book. This is because our mothers prepare their meals effortlessly and they always add the secret ingredient which is called ‘LOVE‘ and this is why everyone will always ask for a second serving.

Whenever a close relative falls sick the family concludes that the housewife will take care of the ill family member. Besides the housewife being the nurse aide, the family members still expect to come home to a clean and orderly house and be served a nutritious meal. Is it the mother’s responsibility to wash, iron the clothes and sew the torn garments? Have you ever thought of the amount of money that the dry cleaning services would charge your family for your family’s laundry each and every week?

The housewife is a superhero and I have grown to appreciate her work and a simple ‘thank you, I appreciate you’ will go a long way.