Daily meal preparation improved me
Women are primarily responsible for meal preparation in the Swiss alps, and lunch being the main meal of the day, this means one has to take time each morning to shop, prepare, and cook.
Children usually come home around 12:15 as well as husbands, if they are working nearby. At first, I complained at what I believed to be an incredibly sexist and inconvenient tradition. What? There was no school lunch program?
Eventually, I had no choice but to accept it, and over the years and after trying out new recipes and cooking every single day, my skills improved.
I arrived in the Swiss Alps a spoiled, academically-minded young mother who knew nothing about cooking (I could barely cook an egg), but I left a resourceful cook and mother who can now prepare healthy meals without too much of a struggle. My experience as a Swiss "Hausfrau" or housewife could have turned out differently. Instead, I could have fed my kids ready-made meals, filled with saturated fat, salt, and chemicals, and outsourced a valuable time of my day to strangers. I don't regret those "Hausfrau" days,
Did I suffer from sexism? Or did I choose to make my experience a positive one? I think I improved.