Status Updates From Don'ts for Wives

Don’t encourage your husband to save money by pottering around at home during his holidays. It will do you both far more good to get a complete change of errand scene.

The boiled potato is the rock on which mini a happy home barque has foundered.

Don’t let your husband off the carving of the joint because he doesn’t like doing it or does it badly.

Don’t be too serious and heavy at home. Make things brighter for your husband.

Don’t object to your husband cycling into the country just because you don’t cycle. If you can’t, or mustn’t, or don’t want to, that’s no reason for cutting off one of his chief pleasures. Don’t be jealous of your husband camping trips. He will come back all the fresher, and full of appreciation of his home and you

Listen for his latch-key and meet him on the threshold 🥹

Don’t choose the very time your husband is at home to “see about “all sorts of things in other parts of the house. Sit with him, sing, play cards with him, or chat about anything that interests you guys.

Don’t pile up money for your children. Give them the best education possible, and let them make their own way.

Don’t confuse stinginess with economy. You can be careful without being mean.

Don’t entrench on your little every time you think you would like something which you haven’t got. You won’t find it so easy to replace these sums as your necessary expenses grow.


Don’t spend all the best years of your life, pinching and saving unnecessarily, until you are too old to get any pleasure out of your money.

Written in 1913, though the advice still holds in present-day. I imagine this book is sold as more of a conversation piece, but I think every couple (and even the unmarried) should read it, along with the complementary version for husbands. As Mother Teresa famously said, “if you want to bring happiness to the whole world, go home and love your family,” starting with your own marriage would change the world.