Who knew that wearing red nail polish was a demerit against me as a wife? Or that Rod’s leaving his shoes in the living room counts against him as a husband? Bad news is: we didn’t do very well on the marriage scale I checked out today. Good news is: this scale was written in 1939 and neither one of us is too concerned about having less than stellar results!
The author of this scale was George Crane, PhD., M.D., a marriage counselor who wrote a syndicated national newspaper column back in the day called “The Worry Clinic.” There is both a Wife’s Chart and a Husband’s Chart. Each subtracts their demerits from their merits and in a matter of minutes a husband or wife may determine whether they rate “Very Poor(failure)” to “Very Superior” at being a spouse. I must say, after reading the items, I began to feel a bit worried about what it would have been like to be married to Dr. Crane.
For one thing, he would not put up with my late-night reading, so one demerit for me is in being “Slow in coming to bed—delays till husband is almost asleep.” Another problem in Dr. Crane’s eyes would be my failure to darn socks regularly and my tendency to sometimes put my cold feet on my husband at night to warm them. On the merit side, though, I can play the piano reasonably well, and I do dress for breakfast (if by that he means I have on clothes when I eat in the morning.) I also think I rate well in being “jolly and gay.”
Some items were harder to answer: Are the seams in my hose often crooked? Do I wear soiled or ragged dresses and aprons around the house? And does the question about liking children relate to our own or children in general? (And at what ages?) Regarding having meals ready on time…that’s usually up to Rod, since he cooks about 75% of the time.
Rod scored well regarding refraining from publicly praising bachelor days and saying he regrets having married. He also is “Polite and mannerly even when alone with his wife.” I forgive him for not complimenting my housekeeping often, as I don’t do that task by myself. Also, he is courteous to my friends. He even consults my opinion regarding business and social affairs.
True, he could use work on giving me a better allowance and reading books and magazines aloud to me and sometimes he forgets to take me on a date every week. But he scored much higher than I did.
When I think about the qualities of a mate that are truly timeless, I think about being kind, not envying, not boasting. I think about honoring others above self and not being easily angered. I think about rejoicing with truth, protecting, trusting, hoping and persevering. Some qualities of a spouse are classic. (See I Corinthians 13.)
But just for fun, why not go over this checklist from 1939 with your spouse tonight?
Click Here: http://www.thepoke.co.uk/2016/12/14/test-marriage-1939-marriage-scale/
Unleashing purpose…together!
Charlene and Rod
