The Norfolk post. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1865-1866, 1865-10-17

4 =
rocking chair with shudder. The ele.
giant sister takes herself and her novel
TO the retirement of her own room, and
every member of the family waits, in
uncomfortable apprehension, for the adj
vent of the boys. F
In they come! Great, tearing fellows,
| between the ages OF ten and fourteen
! bringing in with them such Wifi of
the bright, buoyant world out of doors
such wholesome hustle of noise and
! activity, that the whole circle of woman
Kind within would be better for their
entrance, il they only knew it. Tom
Kings down his books with shout and
asks, with true masculine energy, for dim
her,and with truemasculine impatience.
cannot abide to wait till it is placed on
the table. Frank PUSHES upstairs, like a
tornado, and presently batters at his
sisters door,. with IN inquiry for his lost
Jack-kniie; apd Fred is tormenting his
cousin by stroking the cat the wrong
way.
| Frederick3' says the mother, "stop
this minute, or I'll tell your father"
by the way, the woman who can't
manage her own children, isn't worth u
| iig, ana should be condemned to wearing
an empire bonnet the rest of her natural
life. OF all miserable shams in house.
mold management most shiftless and
miserable is that constant appeal from
mother TO father, which one is; ALWAYS
nearing in some homes. Frank and
fom, do learn to 60 through a house
quietly" ''Don't drum on the window
panes, Fred!' Tom,y you can'tgo into
the front parlor your boots are muddy
Here, eat your dinner and go out of the
house till lark" 4,.... .....# ....
l. Where are they to go? The yard is
too small, and human nature is grega-
rious. The parlor is too fine, and the
house too nice, to endure theirpresence,
and as they are never treated like any
thing but cubs, they have adopted the
manners that have been forced upon
them. Out to the streets, of course, to
herd with the neglected, the impure,
the proiane, to smoke bad cigars, and
learn to loaf genteelly, to be initiated
into the mysteries of evil, and plant
thons that shall pierce through some
body's pillow, in the future #...#f..
| Why don't you court your boys lit
| tie, mother? Why don't you give Fred
little of the petting that you lavished
on hlm when he was a great fat baby
making insane lunches at the world with
his dimpled fists, and turning his won
dering blue eyes on every one who peep
ed into his cradle? All that rosewood
cradle, with the dainty blankets and the
ruftied pillow-slips, and the miracle of
embroidery that was calleda quilt. Poor
Fred he may look back on babyhood,
as Napoleon at ST.. Helena looked
back upon the Tuileries He sleeps np
in the attic with his brothers on the |
worst bed in the house; every chair in
the room is broken, and the toilet set is
a compound of fractures and mismates.
Anything will do for the boys!" SO the
faded coverlid is put on the bed, and the
walls are ungarnished with pictures,
and the carpet, if there is one, is of an
tiquity bordering on the days of the
Plantagenets. ..... ... ##H .-|
The boys don't get fairly treated.
They are persistently snubbed and count
ed out, and mismanaged till they reach
the era OF moustaches and long tailed
coats; and then, presto! what a change.
Sister wonders that brother Tom will
never go anywhere with her! Some
| brothers are SO much better than Others
Mother sheds secret tears as she lies
awake listening for the stealthy turn of
her boys latch-key, praying inwardly
that the gray haired man at her side
may sleep soundly the while, for she
has learned too late to pity and forbear,
when her boys tread with iron heel on
her poor heart. Or, if through kindly
Providence, her sons have been trans
formed into heightened, gentlemanly
men, how proud she is of them, and |
how she dilates on the goodness they |
have always shown! - d. -
Be patient with the boys! Be patient !
when they litter the house with chips |
and introduce unheard of pets into the
household room. Let them have a
"den" of their own somewhere, and re-
spect their rights generally. You will
have your reward. 81 M. T.. NJ. aI