One Husband’s Tips on How to Really Help Your Wife in the Kitchen
So it got me thinking. Wouldn’t it be helpful to put together some tips and tricks for the clueless husband who genuinely wants to help, but has no idea how?
The first, and arguably only, tip that matters is to pay attention to whether your wife even wants help at the particular moment that you’re offering it. Many people know what they want to do and methodically go through their entire list without stopping, and if you stick your nose in, even to help, it may get cut off. So exercise caution before you make your offer.
To clarify, whether your wife wants your help is best determined not while she’s in the middle of skinning the chicken and making the kugel, but early in the week, while she can still think coherently. My sense is that Jewish women have an internal clock that counts down to Shabbos, and the closer it gets to candle lighting, the louder it ticks in their ears. So if you talk to them, do it on Wednesday, when they can still pay attention to you. Once it’s Friday afternoon, they can’t even hear you speak.
Now, one area of help where you can’t go wrong is by doing dishes. Dishes are the silent killer — they sneak up on you in the kitchen without you realizing it. Imagine this: You’re calmly cooking and baking, and the next thing you know, every measuring spoon you’ve ever owned, rented, or borrowed is dirty. Buried under a giant pile of plates, mixing bowls, and assorted cooking paraphernalia that you never knew you had.
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