Infinities of being a housewife

• 3rd November is celebrated as Housewife's Day. The exact origin of the day is not known, but this day is set aside to recognise and celebrate the sacrifices of women who stay at home to manage all the chores of running a household successfully. A housewife is someone who does not get weekly offs to relax and enjoy life. She also often does not get appreciated for being good at what she does. It is important to note that housewives undertake the task of running a household because they care, not because it is their duty.
• That’s not a profession. The job of a housewife is hardly a job.
• Majority of Indian women still do not go out to work. Instead, they work at their houses, as housewives.
• At the core of every family, nuclear or joint, is the housewife. The importance of her physical presence is underscored by the stasis the household comes to when she is not around. She single-handedly runs it, juggling chores such as cooking, washing, cleaning and caretaking with great skill.
• Emotionally, she holds the family together. She is a pillar of support for her husband, a guiding light for her child, and a harbour for the family’s elderly. It’s as though her existence is entirely selfless, always putting the interests of others over and above her own.
• The housewife is just as able an administrator. She, in fact, works round-the-clock. She also deals with physical, financial and human resources. Her decisions affect the lives of people and the well-being of the home. However, the work she does is not quite considered a ‘job’. Her work just goes unacknowledged. She rarely even receives gratitude. Remuneration, then, seems like a ridiculous idea.
• There is hardly any difference between the ‘job’ description of a housewife and that of the chief executive officer of a company. While the CEO steers a company forward, the housewife is at the helm of the household.
• The patriarchal understanding of the role of a housewife is that her job is a duty. She has to perform these tasks on a daily basis, irrespective of whether she likes it or wants to do it at all. Her job is thankless. But then again, her job is not a job. Her skills are not marketable; she is not the breadwinner of the house. 
• In its blunt interpretation, our male chauvinistic society has failed to realise that while the man may bring home the bread, it is the woman, or the housewife, who actually makes the food that he eats out of that bread.
• A housewife wants nothing more than to be treated with love, respect, gratefulness and dignity.
• Her ‘job’ is perhaps the most magnanimous one in the world. It’s time society woke up to her domestic significance, instead of taking her for granted. She deserves her due and it’s up to us to change regressive mindsets, celebrate her place in the familial ecosystem and recognise her noble, yet silent toil.

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A thrifty housewife is better than a great income.  A good wife and 

health are the man's best wealth ... Charles Haddon Spurgeon

There is no occupation in the world which has an influence on the efficiency

and happiness of the members of nearly all other occupations so continuous and so 

permeating as that of the working housewife and mother ... Eleanor F. Rathbone