When I was a baby, my mother’s mother showered me with dozens of toys—so many toys I didn’t know what to do with them. In fact, my second Christmas I absolutely refused to open another present, even with a pile left for me under the tree. While her heart was in the right place, my grandmother was so excited to buy me things that she didn’t take the time to think about what kinds of toys I would really enjoy. Read the rest of this entry
How to Buy Great Baby Toys
The Perfect Weekend Brunch
“Brunch puts you in a good temper. It makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings. It sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.” —Guy Beringer, proposing an alternative to Sunday dinner (1895)Brunches are special. It’s a weekend treat to sit down to a meal you don’t have every day with a menu of foods all its own. Share this Eggs Benedict recipe with your family and friends one weekend and enjoy the feeling of camaraderie and relaxation. Don’t worry—Eggs Benedict is easier to make than you think! Read the rest of this entry
The Best Kind of Friend: Aristotle on Friendship
Being a woman can be a lonely business. Young women have to strike out on their own and make lives for themselves—often far from home. Most moms must make the painful choice between missing their children from work or missing adult companionship while home with their kids. Older women cope with many different kinds of loss when their children move away from home or a spouse or beloved friend dies.
Friendship is what carries most women through these difficult transitions in their lives. In fact, the great philosopher Aristotle describes friendship as “most necessary with a view to living.” Read the rest of this entry
How to Plan Menus with Seasonal Food
Local, in-season produce can change the way you think about food.
In-season food just tastes better. Chances are, there is some vegetable you grew up loathing. But eat that same asparagus or tomato fresh and in season to taste a world of difference. That difference means your family is more likely to eat the healthful produce you serve up. And their enthusiastic response means you can take more pleasure in cooking a well-loved meal. Read the rest of this entry
How to Clean Like a Man
Experimental Wifery is normally about how to do things like a woman. So why should you learn to clean like a man?
The way most women clean is a daunting task. We’re thorough and we want the house to be spotless. So for us, cleaning can involve a big time commitment and often has a slow pay-off.
Contrast that with the way men clean. When men clean, it is all about speed, convenience, and instant gratification. It might take me an hour to carefully scrub a room, but my husband can whip a room into passable shape in five minutes flat. Read the rest of this entry
How to Really Read a Poem
A great poem takes someone’s personal experience or perceptions and makes them real for the rest of the world. When we read one of these great poems, we begin to understand the world outside of ourselves. That’s why poetry is so important to those of us striving to be better women and wives—through poetry, we enter into the world’s cultural heritage and make ourselves a part of it.
5 Simple Ways to Save on Date Night
My husband and I dated for six years before we got married. We thought we had this relationship thing figured out. But, after only nine months of marriage, things had started to get a little rocky.
My gentle, understanding husband had suddenly become grouchy and irritable. Instead of helping him, all I could think to do was nag him to tell me what was wrong. Because we were saving up for a down payment on a house, we didn’t go out together often.
We worked. We ate. We went to bed.
No wonder our marriage was running into trouble. We barely ever talked to each other!
5 Classic Summer Cocktails
Summer is a great time to spend time with your family and friends, enjoy the great outdoors, and relax together. By serving cocktails at summer get-togethers, you make guests feel at ease in your home and bring a little extra fun and elegance to any occasion. These 5 classic cocktails are easy to whip up, taste great, and even use ingredients like mint or cucumber that you can grow in your own backyard garden. Read the rest of this entry
3 Secrets to Making Long-Distance Relationships Work
My husband and I met the first day of college. Even though it took me a few months to admit it, we knew we were perfect from each other for almost the first moment we met. We spent three blissful years seeing each other every day—sometimes several times a day.
And then we graduated.
Adam moved to Taiwan for a year for graduate language study. I spent a year teaching in Washington, DC while I tried to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. We were an ocean and two continents apart for an entire year, quite a rude awakening for two people used to seeing as much of each other as they wanted. Read the rest of this entry
The Case for the Petticoat
Petticoats—the undergarments that add shape to a woman’s skirt or dress—have been around for at least five hundred years. They’re currently out of mainstream fashion, but a petticoat is a wonderful addition to an woman’s wardrobe that adds a touch of elegance and fun. Read the rest of this entry
