"You would make a very valuable slave,” I told my mom when I was little. I was trying to express admiration for how much she did. The humor of the compliment comes from its grain of truth: Mothers and slaves do many of the same things. This tempts us full-time homemakers to throw a pity party.
It’s somewhat comforting to remember that all vocations involve some level of drudgery. But the housewife’s primary commitment is to the mundane. A nun prays seven times a day, and she also cleans the abbey’s restrooms. The housewife’s first calling is to clean the toilet and do a thousand other housekeeping tasks. Then she gratefully receives an hour of peace and quiet in which to pray, if it ever comes.
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