Today I'd like to give tribute to all the housewives, househusbands and care givers out there. Their work is no picnic. To be exact, it's a combination of monotony, stress, profession. Only people with patience, love, and good stress-management skills can be capable of a position like that.
As we know, a housewife/househusband spends a lot of time on household chores, running errands, picking up/dropping off their children at school or cram schools here in Taiwan. Family matters always come first. Sometimes they have to rack their brain and think about what to cook to whet up their better half's appetite. More often, they have to mull over how to manage their time and create a "home sweet home" atmosphere. Please pay attention to "manage their time" here. It's NOT "kill their time". A lot of people think being a housewife/househusband is as easy as pie. All they have to do is to stay home and do some housework. Part of that is right. However, still it's far from the truth. Just picture this with me. A housewife/househusband has to get up early and drive his/her children to school no later than 07:00 a.m. After that, she might have to go to a traditional market or a supermarket to purchase some supplies or necessities. As he/she shops from the vegetables section to the deli section, he/she has to think about what to buy at a very decent price, how to save each penny for the family and how to cook something healthy and nutritious. After that, she probably has to pay some bills, starts to sweep, mop or vacuum the floor, do the laundry, and prepare lunch for her/his parents or little babies. Cooking can be very time-consuming and energy-consuming. After lunch, he/she can finally keep some time to herself. Maybe she/he can take a nap, surf the Internet, listen to music or the radio, watch TV and keep updated with the current events. After a couple of hours, she/he has to rush to school to pick up her/his children for dinner and then drive their children to cram schools. If his/her spouse comes home for dinner, she/he has to stop at nothing to beat the traffic and get the dinner ready before his/her spouse gets home. How exciting! The day is not over yet. Don't forget the children are still in the cram school working hard on their studies. So, after dinner, she/he has to keep track of the time and pick up the children on time. To show her/his love and care to the children, she/he has to spend some time with the children, catching up on their school life and guiding them while they are doing homework. After tucking the children in, he/she finally can drag the worn-out body to the room and share what happened today with her/his spouse. This might be a typical day for most housewives and househusbands. I'm sure when her/his spouse is cranky or the children are sick, a day can be more "fulfilling" and prolonged before she/he can finally go to bed.
If a housewife/househusband doubles as a care taker for his/her family members, life could be even more stressful and harder. He/she has to stay vigilant and aware of what's going on with the patient in the family. He/she not only has to make sure the patient eats the right food, takes medicine at the right time, but also might change the patient's diaper and do the clean-ups. Besides that, she/he has to spend more time with the patient, keep the patient company, and listen to the patient. Sometimes, the patient might be moody, grumpy or act like a child, and he/she might lose his/her cool, shout at the patient, and then feel guilty for the out-of-control misconduct. Things like this can happen more than once within a day. It's like a vicious cycle, eroding his/her strong mind and soul. Part of them feel stressed out and want to get away for a while. Another part of them know they can't be so irresponsible and they know they have to comfort their own mind, find a vent to blow off their steam before they go back to care for the patient again.
I believe love can conquer all no matter how hard it is to be a housewife, househusband, a care-giver. The hardship for them is the psychological part, not the physical part. All they need is more care, support and appreciation from their families or loved ones, not finger-pointing and unappreciation after a hard and tiring day. So, if you have a caregiver at home (no matter the caregiver is employed or is your better half), relate to his/her feelings, give him/her some emotional support. If you are lucky to have a househusband/housewife to be your stronghold, taking care of your lovely children and loved parents, dont' hesitate to show your appreciation , thankfulness and love to her/him. Every job has its hardship. We should put aside our prejudice, instead of jumping to conclusions before we really put ourselves in their shoes.
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