FOR THE WIFE:
1. Honor thine own womanhood, that thy days may be long in the house which thy husband provideth for thee.
2. Expect not thy husband to give thee as many luxuries as thy father hath given thee after many years of hard labor and economies.
3. Forget not the virtue of good humor for verily all that a man hath will he give for a woman’s smile.
4. Thou shalt not nag.
5. Thou shalt coddle thy husband for verily every man loveth to be fussed over.
6. Remember that the frank approval of thy husband is worth more to thee than the sidelong glances of many strangers.
7. Forget not the grace of cleanliness and good dressing.
8. Permit no one to assure thee that thou art having a hard time of it: neither thy mother, nor thy sister, nor thy maiden aunt, for the judge will not hold her guiltless who letteth another disparage her husband.
9. Keep thy home with all diligence for out of it cometh the joys of thine old age.
10. Commit thy ways unto the Lord, thy God, and thy children shall rise up and call thee blessed.
FOR THE HUSBAND:
1. Rember thy wife is thy partner, not thy property.
2. Do not expect thy wife to be thy wife and wage-earner at the same time.
3. Think not thy business is none of thy wife’s business.
4. Thou shalt hold thy wife’s love by the same way you won it.
5. Thou shalt make thy home thy first business.
6. Thou shalt co-operate with thy wife in establishing family discipline.
7. Thou shalt enter into thy house with cheerfulness.
8. Thou shalt not let anyone criticize thy wife to thy face and get away with it: neither thy father, nor thy mother, nor thy brothers, nor thy sister, nor any relatives.
9. Thou shalt not take thy wife for granted.
10. Remember thy home and keep it holy.
~ REV. H. C. PARKINS.
Reprinted from Above Rubies, 1983