Based on this piece, I think that Beecher would want the reader to form a completely different definition for the word 'housekeeper'. My new opinion of the term after reading the essay would be someone who not only takes care of the house, but someone who nurtures the children, cares for the father, and puts everyone before herself while remaining to pertain a strong and dependable, yet still cheerful facade/ Beecher is very stern about the housekeeper having a 'equable and cheerful temper'. This is important according to Beecher because the housekeeper, mother, wife, etc. is the one ultimately steering the house. If she can't have a 'good' disposition, it affects everyone else. She is the glue that holds the house together, whether she receives that recognition or not.
The 'considerations that may aid in preparing a woman to meet her daily crosses with a cheerful temper' include regarding her duties in a household as dignified, important, and difficult, to be in such a state of preparation that the evil will not come unawares, to form all plans and arrangements in consistency with the means at command and the character of those around, that system, economy, and neatness are valuable only so far as they tend to promote the comfort and well-being of those affected, and that a woman can resolve that whatever happens she will not speak, till she can do it in a calm and gentle manner. Basically, she should complete her duties with a sunny disposition no matter what, and do so in a dignified manner that can please everyone in the household.
Beecher assumes that a wife and housekeeper and mistress are all the same, and all have the same duties to achieve. These assumptions complicate Beecher's implied definitions of 'woman' and 'housekeeper' because in this day and age, they are not the same at all. You see these assumptions playing out in the chapter when she says things like 'A housekeeper should feel that she really has great difficulties to meet and overcome.' This doesn't have to be true: women have things to overcome, but so do men. Being in the house is hardly a challenge compared to what happens outside in the real world. Overall I think Beecher's piece was interesting, but I am in no agreement of her oppressive definitions of 'housekeeper.'
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