Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1860-12-18
QQ(ottester Daily Spp,
From the Cleveland House and Garden
The Family SittInE-Room,


This is the pleasantest room in the house
1t is that to which, the heart of the absent or
home'slck cIuld, always turns it is the Caaba
OF every domestic Mecca. 1t is the room
that makes home there the family lives. and
there the family life flows in its purest. sweet.
est streams and hence, we call it the family
sittingroOm. There is the fountain of the
household life; hence to many of us it is
known as the living room.
though these words are not found in anv
dictionary, they are found in every heart.
4leIe Tie family sit together-here, those do
nestle accomplishments, writing, sewing,
and reading, are carried on Here the chill
dren play here, even the cat purrs. and tile
family dog has his place. This is the only
room that is found in every house--large or
small There may be no parlor, no dining
room, no BEDROOM, no kitchen, but family
room there always is. 1t may be used for a
drawing-roOm, or a dining room, or a sleep.
ingr0om, or even a kitchen, but it always
remains the family room. All other uses are
temporary and eXgent this is permanent and
perpetual.
AS this is the peasantest room in the
heart, it should be made til pleasantest in the
house. 1t should be large and airy its loca-
ton should invite the sunshine and air. The
furniture should be plain enough not to be
formal, and not too plain to be comfortable
1t there is room a few flower pots should
grace one Of the windows. A bookcase is
indispensable, and children's books to fill one
or more of its shelves. "Robinson Crusoe. -
Arabian Nights" and Pilgrims Progress, -
should not be wanting in any family that can
afford them
Engravings, now so cheap and good, and
particularly stereoscopic views, ought to be
the aim Of every household. And here let
10 o,o OF rl Go, Ill,
he really wants. What we can't afford to
get, is what our envy or vanity Graves The
best things for us are those which our heart
deslres-which we can ppreciate-which ex-
press our character, and are an extension OF
ourselves. Whether such things are books
pictures, or flowers, we can get them and
these as belonging to the heart, belong to the
family room.
The window of this room sh Juld have a
good outlook; for from it come in many
thoughts and suggestions to stimulate and
adorn the inner life. From the window of
this room the children first study Nature.
Here, eagerly crowding to the panes, they
listen to the mOnotonous rain, or watch the
falling leaf. Here they follow the snow as it
comes down in exciting whirs; or dreamily
and with dlstendGd eyes, gaze at the large
flakes sinking to the ground 80 pure and
nolselessly, as il shaken from the wings of an
angel.
Here it is, that each day starts afresh the
stream of household life. Here, after break
fast when the larger children have gone to
school, and the father to his business, the
mother, with the smaller children playing
about her. sits doing her more quiet work !;
peacefully and evenly the current flows on
past noon till tea time, when the larger chill.
dren, with stronger voices and louder tread,
have come from school, and the father from
his business then the stream deepens and
widens, and the family life is again at full
tide
From this point it begins to ebb, One after
another of the tributaries dries up. Little
hands grow still, little voices are hushed lit.
tie eyes close the roar of the CRATE is hushed,
its eyes Of flame grow dim, and one by one
the red Goals are quietly sinking to sleep,
under the gray ashes; the candle is near the
socket, and the mother thoughuully laying
aside her work, gamers up the loose things,
putting aside the children's toys, and little
shoes and stockings quietly takes the candle,
and like a guardian angel passes out Of the
family-room, and the day is done.
Who can forget theafamiy room 1t is
the family schoolroom, and should be made
the household shrine. Let the parlOr, with
its inery and Formally, be forgotten the
thought of the bedroom may never wake in
the mind of the absent child, the tamily-room
die out in the heart of your children for from
that sacred cell is the future house of your
child to grow.