sound business advice such as George M. Bowman's Here's How to Succeed with Your Money (Moody Press) will form the basis for budget talk that will make sense. Although the financial adjust ment may be a bit ticklish, it is an obvious one—and most husbands can be made aware that the new ly dependent wife has the need of a household operating allowance, or access to a joint checking ac count. However, she may have other needs which are more diffi cult to communicate to her hus band. As long as she was working away from home every day, she had a group of adult peers who provided her with social and in tellectual stimulation. Now she de pends upon her husband for such an ordinary thing as conversation. However endearing the baby's babble may be, it does not satisfy the need of a woman for discus sion and the interplay of ideas. The wife may have to take the initiative in expressing her need of friendship and companionship to her husband. Until the baby ar rives, a carefully prepared supper can be lingered over for conversa tion. But candlelight and silver are much easier to idealize than to realize when baby has a 6:00 p.m. feeding—and is there a baby who doesn't? So a practical arrange- is to allow for suppertime and baby's feeding, and then give hus band and offspring time to romp while you do the clean-up chores in the kitchen. Hopefully, you might even get your hair combed and your face freshened up. When baby is tucked away, be ready to sit down in the quiet liv ing room with a starter question Page 9
dency, she gradually learns, is not only financial; it is also social and emotional. Thus it is that the time of changing from career girl to homemaker puts strains on a young wife — and on a marriage. Yet the difficulties can perhaps be lessened if they are understood, anticipated and prepared for. The wife's financial dependency is obviously a necessary adjust ment on the part of both husband and wife. However they may have handled finances while both were working, a couple must work out a way in which one income can be handled to the satisfaction of two people. Some couples see this problem ahead and soften the ad justment by using the wife's earn ings strictly for savings or securi ties and living on the husband's earnings from the beginning. When the amount of money coming in is suddenly less and the demands on it are suddenly great er, there are bound to be misun derstandings if great care is not taken to keep communications open. Because a young man may be a bit touchy about the inade quacy of his income, nervous and unsure of himself in his new role as a supporter, a wife may need to summon more than the usual amount of tact and grace to set the scene for free and clear-headed discussion. Probably the best time for this is prior to the wife's quitting work. A careful accounting of household costs for a period of a few months before she quits work will allow her to estimate how much she will need to meet grocery and clothing and personal expenses. The read ing and discussing of some good
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