Just call me old fashioned. I iron for my husband. Shocking, isn't it? I remember when I was on maternity leave my old boss called and asked if he was interrupting me. I said no, "I'm feeling rather embarrassed to say, I'm ironing my husband's work shirts" In reality, I ironed all of our clothes, so it was wonderful when I returned to work, I wasn't heating up the iron at 7:00am while trying to feed my little ones before daycare... I felt like a fifties housewife, with a June Cleaver, Martha Stewart type of outlook, cleaning my house, ironing, laundry, cooking. For those of you that know me, you know I don't have a tidy and organized house at all, nor do I try to seem like I do. So anyway, why an article about ironing?
A good friend of mine that has been on leave from her job while they worked to get a life less crazy, has sadly stated that her husband is mentioning her need to return to her career. Of course, selfishly, I can't let this happen since I see her at least once a week. Our kids play together fairly well, and we trade off babysitting often, so we each have some time to ourselves. So I suggested making a life so easy for her husband that he can't live without her around the house.
My first suggestion was to start ironing his shirts. I couldn't help but notice he wore an extremely well ironed shirt to work the other day when I ran into him walking to work. It was so well ironed, that I knew he must have ironed it himself. How did I know my dear friend was not ironing his shirts, when she is the person that so long ago stated that my ironing trouble was all in the fact that I was ironing with a ten dollar iron? I just had a feeling I guess. Anyway, she thought it was a brilliant suggestion, so she is getting the iron hot as I write.
Starch his shirts. Yes, I said "starch". Maybe not a trendy thing to do, but it really helps if you aren't a professional. You will find your ironing looks better than it is if you add a little starch to the shirt. I need to use a lot.
There is a trick to starching. I think it might be on the can of starch, but I never bothered to read it until recently- or maybe I read it online somewhere, I'm not sure. It's called spray and wait. I'm impatient, so it's really hard. But if you wait a few seconds for the starch to soak in, you won't have all of the white flakes on the shirt from the starch.
Try ironing for your man. It may make him think he just can't live without you.
2 comments:
This is such an inspiring article! I'm sorry that its life as a headliner was over before I even saw it there. Hopefully, others will find it and look for the "hidden" ways to add satisfaction to their marriage. I think I should also update you on my situation. I did approach my hubby about ironing, and yes, the iron was already warming up in the basement. My proposal brought a smile to his face, but as it turned out, he then shook his head and said, "you don't need to iron my shirts" (probably thinking all the while the very same thing that you did -- if his shirts are going to look as good as the one he was wearing when you saw him heading off to work, then he had better do them himself). Then he said, "you know what you could do that helps me is to make my lunch." So, there you have it -- instead of being an iron lady extraordinaire, I'm going to be a lunchmaker extraordinaire. It's actually something that I did routinely when we were both working and slacked off on when I went on leave. Turns out he likes it! So, I'm going to do it. If anyone wants tips on making a man-satisfying lunch, I'm happy to share. And I swear we have the makings of a book here -- a slim book perhaps, but a book nonetheless. An eyeopener book about how small "domesticities" (that don't necessarily involve cleaning the house) can enhance your marriage -- from ironing and lunchmaking we could go on to hair-cutting, massage and keeping the pantry stocked to satisfy a man's appetite ;)
We really sound like women from the 50's now don't we? My mom always said, "a way to a man's heart is through his stomach". Of course this doesn't work with my hubby since he really doesn't appreciate good food. Good luck with the lunches Karen!
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