But Can She Cook & Clean

I’m old school. Raised to be a housewife and nothing more. My folks NEVER mentioned the word college.

My mom taught us to cook, clean, wash, iron, bake, hang laundry, sew, remove stains, etc. That was my entire childhood.

Since that’s all my sister and I know, that’s who we’ve become. We did have jobs outside of the house…me an Office Manager for almost thirty years and my sister a waitress for over forty years.

Outside of those jobs, our life was our homes, husbands, and children.

We cooked and baked from scratch, always looked for new products to clean with, new ways to remove stains…you get the idea.

When we were kids we hated living like this because in our small neighborhood all the other kids were playing outside while we were held hostage as indentured servants by our mom.

Today, both of us almost seventy years old, are glad we have the skills we do because we don’t know many others who can do what we do.

Who do friends and family call when they need a seam repaired, a button sewn on, a recipe, or a helpful household hint? Yours truly.

Many years ago I was driving somewhere with one of my sons, who by the way possess the same skill set as me, and he saw a pretty girl walking down the street. He made a comment about how beautiful she was and I replied with my usual reply, “But can she cook and clean?”

His reply was that it didn’t matter as long as she continued to look that good for the rest of her life. He said that if he married her and she continued to look that good, he would work full time, do all the shopping, cooking, cleaning, washing, ironing, etc.

In reality, how long do you think that would last I asked. He was young (late teens) with no concept of what it would be like to actually live like that.

My sister and I raised our sons to be self-sufficient. We both have friends with adult children, married and single, who don’t know how to boil water. They do, however, know how to call for carry-out, drop clothes at the dry cleaners, and to ‘call the guy’ for any repairs that need to be done around the house.

I’m blessed that both of my sons are successful. The oldest, although completely capable of doing anything, prefers to hire out for everything. He’s got a gardener, pool boy, housekeeper, nanny, etc. His children do not and will never possess the skill set he was raised with. His choice.

My youngest son, prefers to do everything himself. He will clip coupons, cut his own lawn, shop for bargains at the grocery store…but has not passed any of those traits and skills onto his sixteen year old daughter.

The one thing I know with one hundred percent certainty is that if both of my sons lost everything, they would know how to survive.

Those beauties they see walking down the street will not survive.