Real Housewives

The reality show series, Real Housewives, depicts women from different parts of the U.S. who spend their day in leisure activities, pampering themselves, and feuding among themselves. They are rarely shown doing any housework or child care.

I’ve been a housewife now for over 18 years. I’ve lived in several different cities during these years. I’ve had the opportunity to be around a lot of housewives and observe their lifestyles. I have heard of women who spend their days getting manicures and cosmetic surgeries, while hiring maids, nannies, and gardeners to do housework. Yet, most of the housewives I have met are nothing like the women portrayed on these reality shows.

I have been fortunate enough to be around some amazing housewives. Some are homeschoolers, some run businesses from their homes, and some are farmers. Over the years, I have watched some of these women grow their own food, mow their own lawns, lay their own bathroom tiles, steam clean their carpets, paint their homes, replace faucets, caulk sinks, take apart and fix appliances, plant trees and shrubs, mulch, weed, power wash their houses, shovel snow, change the oil in their cars, and refinish furniture. They are also skilled in the traditional arts of sewing, canning, knitting, cooking, baking, house cleaning, landscaping, and interior decorating. They help their kids with homework, give their husbands haircuts and foot rubs, take care of their elderly parents, volunteer in their community, and pick up groceries and prescriptions for their sick neighbors. They are advocates for children with disabilities, for the marginalized, and for the underprivileged. They groom their dogs, feed their horses, and raise chickens, cows, and hogs. They provide safe places for other people’s kids who are going through difficult times. They feed the hungry, clothe the poor, tend to the sick, and visit the lonely. 

I look up to these amazing housewives who are modern embodiments of the woman described in Proverbs 31.  

“She looks discretely to the affairs of her household, and she is never lazy. Her children stand up and encourage her, as does her husband, who praises her: ‘Many women have done wonderful things,’ he says, ‘but you surpass all of them!’ Charm is deceitful and beauty fades; but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised. Reward her for her work—let her actions result in public praise.” (Proverbs 31:27-31 ISV)