How to be a good wife

The Good Wife's Guide (plucked from a home-economics textbook in 1955) :

• Have dinner ready
• Prepare yourself before he returns home
• Be gay and interesting (hah, gay!)
• Clear away the clutter
• Light a fire for him on cooler days (ok, this doesn't apply to us in the Equator)
• Prepare the children
• Minimise all noise (this makes sense, even I hate the sound of the vacuum cleaner)
• Be happy to see him
• Listen to him and let him talk first, his topics are more important than yours (remember, this guide is from the 50's)
• Never complain if he comes home late and never takes you out to dinner or some other pleasant entertainment - this is minor compared to what he has had to go thru all day at work (I guess women in the 50s only worked as housewives and not high-flying executives or company directors like these days)
• Try to make sure your home is a place of peace, order and tranquility where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit (wah, who came up with this completely medieval sentence?)
• Make him comfortable, arrange his pillow, take off his shoes, make a drink for him
• Don't ask him questions about his actions or question his judgement or integrity - remember, he is master of the house, you have no right to question him (gosh!)
• A good wife always knows her place

I think the list is more suitably titled : "How to be a good HOUSEKEEPER"

But, I found one 90's version of the above. Here goes:

• Have dinner ready once a week - plan ahead, even 5 minutes before to stop at some takeaway restaurant. The rest of the week, point him to the fridge.
• Clear away the clutter - push everything off the coffee table and hand your husband the remote, he'll be very happy
• Minimize all noise - turn down the tv, ensure the children are silent. Be happy to see him. If he doesn't seem equally glad to see you, start an argument. Since things are nice and quiet, he'll be sure to hear you
• Don't greet him with problems / complaints, he won't understand. Speak in a low, soothing, pleasing voice. This will alarm him and he will wonder if he's forgotten some birthday or anniversary. You could get a present out of it. Allow him to relax and unwind before mentioning it's his turn to clean the bathrooms.
• Try to make your bedroom / bathroom a place of peace and order where you can renew yourself in body and spirit. That's easier than making the whole house so.