A Domestic Problem | Page 2

of our women are able to live and move and have
their being literally regardless of expense. These can buy of skilled
assistants and competent supervisors, whole lifetimes of leisure; with
these, therefore, our problem has no concern. The larger class, the
immense majority, either do their work themselves, or attend
personally to its being done by others; "others" signifying that
inefficient, untrustworthy, unstable horde who come fresh from their
training in peat-bog and meadow, to cook our dinners, take care of our
china dishes, and adjust the nice little internal arrangements of our
dwellings.
Observing closely the lives of the immense majority, I think we shall
see, that, in conducting their household affairs, the object they have in
view is one and the same. I think we shall see that they all strive, some
by their own labors wholly, the rest by covering over and piecing out
the shortcomings of "help," to present a smooth, agreeable surface to
husbands and company. This smooth, agreeable surface may be
compared to a piece of mosaic work composed of many parts. Of the
almost infinite number of those parts, and of the time, skill, and labor
required to adjust them, it hath not entered, it cannot enter, into the
heart of man to conceive.
I wonder how long it would take to name, just merely to name, all the
duties which fall upon the woman who, to use a common phrase, and a
true one, carries on the family. Suppose we try to count them, one by

one. Doing this will help to give us that clear view of the present state
of things which it is our present object to obtain; though the idea
reminds me of what the children used to say when I was a child, "If you
count the stars you'll drop down dead,"--a saying founded, probably, on
the vastness of the undertaking compared with human endurance. It
certainly cannot be called trivial to enumerate the duties to which
woman consecrates so large a portion of her life, especially when we
remember that into each and all of these duties she has to carry her
mind. Where woman's mind must go, woman's mind or man's mind,
should not scorn to follow. So let us make the attempt; and we need not
stand upon the order of our counting, but begin anywhere.
Setting tables; clearing them off; keeping lamps or gas-fixtures in order;
polishing stoves, knives, silverware, tinware, faucets, knobs, &c.;
washing and wiping dishes; taking care of food left at meals; sweeping,
including the grand Friday sweep, the limited daily sweep, and the
oft-recurring dustpan sweep; cleaning paint; washing looking-glasses,
windows, window-curtains; canning and preserving fruit; making
sauces and jellies, and "catchups" and pickles; making and baking
bread, cake, pies, puddings; cooking meats and vegetables; keeping in
nice order beds, bedding, and bedchambers; arranging furniture,
dusting, and "picking up;" setting forth, at their due times and in due
order, the three meals; washing the clothes; ironing, including doing up
shirts and other "starched things;" taking care of the baby, night and
day; washing and dressing children, and regulating their behavior, and
making or getting made, their clothing, and seeing that the same is in
good repair, in good taste, spotless from dirt, and suited both to the
weather and the occasion; doing for herself what her own personal
needs require; arranging flowers; entertaining company; nursing the
sick; "letting down" and "letting out" to suit the growing ones; patching,
darning, knitting, crocheting, braiding, quilting,--but let us remember
the warning of the old saying, and forbear in time.
This, however, is only a general enumeration. This is counting the stars
by constellations. Examining closely these items: we shall find them
made up each of a number of smaller items, and each of these again of
items still smaller. What seem homogeneous are heterogeneous; what

seem simple are complex. Make a loaf of bread. That has a simple
sound, yet the process is complex. First, hops, potatoes, flour, sugar,
water, salt, in right proportions for the yeast. The yeast for raising the
yeast must be in just the right condition, and added when the mixture is
of just the right temperature. In "mixing up" bread, the temperature of
the atmosphere must be considered, the temperature of the water, the
situation of the dough. The dough must rise quickly, must rise just
enough and no more, must be baked in an oven just hot enough and no
hotter, and must be "tended" while baking.
Try clearing off tables. Remove food from platters, care for the
remnants, see that nothing is wasted, scrape well every plate, arrange in
piles, carry out, wash in soap and water, rinse in clear water, polish
with dry cloth, set away in their places,--three times a day.
Taking care of