If I must be summed up in a word, housewife is the best one.
I've had extra pleasure in using it ever since a feminist type saw me writing it into the "Occupation" box on a form and commanded me not to-- "For the sake of your self-respect!"
Since my self-respect is based more on the right to define myself than on my pride in how well I can follow others' instructions, here we are. A housewife.
I recently looked up the word husband to be sure I could use it as a synonym for steward in the sense that I wanted, and found out something interesting. Y'know how we joke about a house husband-- well, they're ALL that because "hus" means house!
hus·band late Old English (in the senses ‘male head of a household’ and ‘manager, steward’)
from Old Norse húsbóndi, from hús ‘house’ + bóndi ‘occupier and tiller of the soil.’
The word wife just means a woman who is doing an occupation. Like the old fishwife, a woman who sells fish, or still-used midwife, a woman who assists (another).
So a housewife is a woman whose primary occupation is the upkeep of a house, and husband is her male counterpart.
Why should a man's wrong choices deprive me of my calling?
Since I live in an apartment, I'll have do some more creative defining. I'll go with "house" as a private establishment which shelters a family and supports the daily activities of all of its members, the good keeping of which makes it possible to live economically.
Haha, oh, I really came over here just to rejoice! I've been so happy lately! Quietly keeping my little place, peeling my little vegies, sweeping my floors, sewing and selling stuff. These are my favorite, most contented days.
