Being a househusband

My home

I. We have a nice flat rather far from the centre of the city. It is in a new five-storey building in Gagarin Avenue. As there are five storeys in the building it has a lift.

Our flat is on the fourth floor. It has all modern conveniences such as central heating, gas, electricity, cold and hot water, and a chute to carry rubbish down.

There are three rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom and a hall in our flat.

The dining-room is the largest and most comfortable room in the flat. In the middle of the dining-room we have a square dining-table with six chairs round it. There is a hanging lamp above the table. To the right of the dining-table there is a sideboard with two drawers in it. Near it the­re is a piano with a piano stool before it.

Between the two large windows there is a little table with a TV set on it. Our TV set is of the latest model. Near the TV set there are two cosy armchairs. Nothing is more pleasant in rainy weather than to sit in a comfortable armchair and watch TV programmes.

A small round table, a divan-bed and a standard lamp are in the left-hand corner. This table is for newspapers and magazines.

The walls of the dining-room are light-green and there are a few prints and water-colours on them.

II. The bedroom is a bit smaller than the dining-room and not so light as there is only one window in it. In this room there are two beds with a bedside-table between them. An alarm-clock and a small lamp with a pink lampshade are on the table. At the opposite wall there is a dressing-table.

In this room we have a built-in wardrobe with coat-hangers to hang clothes on. There is a thick carpet on the floor and plain light-brown curtains on the window.

III. The third room is the study. It is not so large as the dining-room but it is as cosy as all the other rooms.

There is not much furniture in it, only the most necessary pieces. It has a writing-desk with drawers to keep papers in. Pens, pencils, an ink-pot, a writing-pad and a few dictionaries are lying on the desk. There is a telephone on the left. Just behind it is a reading lamp. On the right there is a desk-clock and a calendar. A desk-armchair is standing before it. There are books on the shelves all round the walls of the study. In the right-hand corner there is a bookcase full of books. Among them there are many English books in the original and in translation as I am a student of English.

A small table with a radio is standing in the left-hand corner. Near it there is a sofa with some cushions. In my opinion the study is the best room in our flat.

Being a househusband

A few weeks after our first child was born I bought my wife a present - a subscription to the Women's Liberation magazine "Spare Rib". The first issue arrived when the baby was three months old.

My wife read the magazine from cover to cover. She was very quiet. When she'd finished she put it down and stared at me. "Right", she said. "I'm going back to work when the baby is twelve months old".

"What do you mean?” I asked.

"It says in this magazine that women have an equal right to be the breadwinner"

"I'm the breadwinner,» I reminded her. "We don't need two".

"Of course not", she replied. "You can stay at home and look after the baby".

Before I could protest, she picked up the telephone and began ringing all the new mothers that she knew. She was on the phone for three hours. By the time she'd finished, half of Europe knew of her intentions. That evening the phone rang incessantly. A series of angry husbands shouted at me for causing trouble. All their wives wanted to be breadwinners too. They were stronger than me, however, and said "No!"

My wife family went back to work when the baby was fifteen months old. My first day as a housewife (househusband?) was a disaster, but it began very quietly. I washed and dressed the baby, and we played for a while. Then she got sleepy, and T put her down into bed.

"This is very easy", I thought. "Now I have two hours to do as I please".

I went into the kitchen and made a cup of coffee. I put some bread under the grill to make some toast. Then the telephone rang. I ran to pick it up because I didn't want the noise to wake up the baby. Unfortunately I tripped over some milk bottles and the baby woke up. I picked up the telephone and shouted "Hold on!" Then I ran into the baby's room and rocked her back to sleep. I picked up the phone again, but I noticed a horrible smell. "The Toast!" I cried into the phone. I ran into the kitchen. The baby woke up again. The doorbell rang as I was rocking her back to sleep. I ran to the phone "Can I call you back?" I asked, and put the phone down without waiting for an answer. Then I remembered that I didn't know who was calling me. I ran upstairs to check that the baby was asleep, and the doorbell rang again.

It was a friend of ours. I almost began to cry.

He was marvellous. He came in, listened to my explanation and then went into the kitchen. He made me a cup of tea and cleaned up the mess on the floor. He swept up the broken glass from the milk bottles and gave» me a cigarette. I smoked the cigarette and then remembered that I am a non-smoker. I soon felt much better.

After a few days things became easier, but it's hard work being a housewife. When you think the housework is finished there's always something else to do. It's a pity that in schools they don't teach boys how to cook and look after the house, because I'm sure many men want to stay at home and let their wives go to work. Society expects women to be house wives, and men must learn the hard way - by experience.

The lifts have broken down again

The Browns have lived in their new flat in London for three months now. Bill Brown has just got home.

Bill: Hello, darling, did you have a good day?

Sheila: No, it was terrible.

Bill: Yes, I saw the lifts have broken down again.

Sheila: Yes, they broke down this morning. They're a terrible problem. I had to walk down. That wasn't so bad, but it was so difficult to get up again with the shopping.

Bill: Oh, you poor thing.

Sheila: Yes. Last week it was the lights in all the corridors which went out, today it was the lifts - for the fifth time.

Bill: Did anyone telephone the council?

Sheila: Oh, yes. Tom Johnson rang them up immediately.

Bill: What did they say?

Sheila: They can't come and mend until next week. Marvelous, isn't it?

Bill: It's terrible! It's unfair on the old people, like Mrs Turner.

Sheila: Yes, she couldn't go out today. She had to stay up in her flat alone again, and she wanted to go to the cinema with a friend of hers.

Bill: Perhaps she needs some help.

Sheila: I asked her this morning. I'm going shopping for her tomorrow. She needs something to eat for supper.

Bill: That's very good of you.

Sheila: Well, in this place we all have to help each other. But I wish we didn't live here. Sometimes I get so tired of it. Like today.

Bill: But don't you like the flat?

Sheila: No, I hate it. I noted it when we first came here, and I still hate it. It's lonely. I only know one or two neighbours. I can't walk anywhere except the car parks and the streets. There's no garden. And there's not enough room in the flat. Ever; thing's so crowded.

Bill: Oh, it's not as bad as that.

Sheila: It is. It's all right for you. You go out to work, I don't. I here all day and it's boring.

Bill: Well, perhaps we can go out more.

Sheila: We don't have the money, you know that. Really, Bill, I can't stand this flat much longer. It's driving me mad.

Working day (flat)

Nina: Hallo, Mary.

Mary: Hallo, come in. Don't mind the mess. I'm just doing the room.

Nina: Oh, what a pity you are busy! Look! I've got two tickets for the cinema. The show begins at five sharp.

Mary: Don't worry. We have time enough for everything. We still have an hour before the show. It never takes me much time to tidy up my room.

Nina: Let me help you. What am I to do?

Mary: If you don't mind, you water the flowers and dust the books while I sweep the floor and put everything in its place.

Nina: Where am I to put this flower-pot?

Mary: Somewhere on the window-sill.

Nina: Don't you want to air the room? Do you mind if I open the window?

Mary: Oh, no. I don't mind it a bit!

Nina: Now the room looks quite tidy. There is nothing else to do. Let's go.

Mary: Wait a moment. I have to wash up the dishes.

Nina: Somebody else can do it, I think.

Mary: Certainly, anybody can, but today it's my turn to do it. We all help Mother about the house as much as we can.

Nina: And who dues the shopping in your family?

Mary: As a rule, Mother goes shopping after work. Oh, that reminds me. I must buy something for supper, as Mother has a lecture tonight.

Nina: I see!

House / flat

Exercise I.Answer the questions making various substations:

1.

- What street do you live in? (she, your parents)

- In Vasnetzov street / in Rokossovsky Avenue.

2.

- What kina of flat have you got?

- It's actually a two-room(ed) flat with all modern conveniences (in a new block of flats, two storey (ed) cottage)

3.

- What floor is your flat on?

- On the ground floor (on the fifthfloor).

4.

- How does your house face?

- Weil, it faces south (to the south), so we’ve got a lot of sunshine (little sunshine).

5.

- What does your window face? (look down on) (the lake, the valley).

- It faces the park and we have a lovely (wonderful) view from the windows.

6.

- Have you got a room to yourself, Pate? (a room of your own).

- No, I share it with my younger brother.

7.

- Are you lucky enough to have a single room in the hall of residence Jim?

- No, I have to room together with my fellow-student.

8.

- Do you live in the hail of residence or take a room?

- As a matter of fact I take a room in a 3-roomflat (live in digs).

9.

- Do you have to pay much for your room? (a high rent)

- Yes, the rent is very high(the rent is awful, but it can’t be helped). It’s very expensive to live in digs. (No, the room is fairly cheap; the rent is reasonable, actually).

10.

- Is there much furniture in your sitting-room?

- No, only the most necessary pieces. We’ve got a sofa, 2 comfortable armchairs, a table and a book-case.

11.

- Is there anything on the window? (across the window).

- Yes, certainly. There are beautiful silk curtains (nylon, gaily coloured curtains). They make the room very cosy (lovely).

12.

- Have you got a telephone? (a balcony, a chute, a lift, built-in wardrobe (cupboard).

- Certainly, and it’s very convenient, you know.

13.

- What's there against (opposite the piano; to the right of the TV-set; on the left).

- Well, there’s a very comfortable settee (a divan-bed, a sofa).

14.

- Is there anything on the wall, over the sofa?

- There’s a beautiful tapestry (a lovely watercolour, an oil painting).

Date: 2015-12-17; view: 1334