Would you let your husband iron his own shirt? Even as I write those words I can hear some woman, particularly of the older generations, reel in shock at the mere suggestion of such a thing.
I have a friend around my age, who has the theory if it needs to be ironed it doesn’t get bought. She only buys clothes which can be washed and hung up and then put on or put away in the closet.
Okay, I admit I don’t go quite that far. But I am a big fan of skirts that only need washing, twisting into shape while wet, and need no ironing. Perfect! Or shirts which can be washed and drip dried. Again perfect! Sadly I also have a husband who likes shirts that are all cotton as he finds polyester mixes too hot. The awful thing about them is these shirts mostly need ironing and he has a wife who loathes ironing.
Now I know rare people who don’t mind ironing and others who couldn’t even contemplate having ironing sitting in the basket waiting to be ironed. It’s easy. Don’t cast your eyes in that direction!
On the occasions I absolutely have to iron, I put a movie DVD on, or put a CD on and sing along. But I admit the instances of me ironing are becoming rarer. So would I let my husband iron his own shirt?
Why not! He’s as capable as I am at wielding an iron. Maybe more so. There’s nothing in the marriage ceremony that says love, honor and promise to iron shirts. Or if there was I must have missed it. Where is it written woman must do the ironing?
Mick learned to iron his own shirts when he was living away from home before we were married. It’s one reason that it’s good for sons to move out of home and learn to wash, iron, cook and generally fend for themselves before they get married.
When our son moved out of home I gave him a cook book with favorite recipes of mine I’d typed out. He became a good cook and later taught the other young men he flatted with to cook. It also meant he learned to do his own washing and ironing etc. There was none of this bringing the laundry home for Mom to do.
It was exactly the same when our daughter moved out of home. As parents we need to teach our children to be responsible and prepare them for life. This is one way of doing it.
I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts.
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