Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-01-27
How a Man Takes Care Of His Baby.

In spite OF all the statements to the con-
trary, there are men who help take care
Of their children. They are the kindest
and best husbands in the world They
do not wish to see their wives overbur-
dened with care and worry, and they in
tend to help them great deal, and actu-
ally do. Yet it cannot be denied, that
their opinion concerning the value Of their
services and thor wives oppinion on the
same subject do not exactly coincide.
One Of these coed husbands will help dress
the children for breakfast, and speak of
it with grandly virtuous air, while the
fact is that he only washed the face of
one while his wife washed and dressed
the other three.
He helps get the children ready for
church; that is, lie buttons up Dicks
boots, and helps Jenny put on her gloves
after he has leisurely and comfortably
dressed himself, while his wife ties sash
es, and hunts up odd glevef, and puts on
collars, and curls one child's hair and
washes another's hands, and in the inter-
walls "does up" her own hair, and saves
the baby from the razor, and Jennys best
bonnet from the baby. He stands pa
tiently (D in the hall as the bells begin to
toll, and mildly calls, SIT is getting late,
Maria" Which fact Maria knows as
well as he does, for her hauds are tremb-
ling so with nervousness and hasts that she
can hardly put a single pin in its right
pace. Just as the last strokes of the
bell are sounding, they hurry off to
church, loosing entirely the calming in
fuence which comes from lcisurely
walk on fine Sunday morning He
takes the opportunity to remark, with
just shade Of reproof in his gentle tones,
II can't understand why it takes you SO
long to get ready. It really does seem
as it with as much as do to help you,
we need not be obliged to hurry so at
the last minute. 1 don't like to see you
go up the aisle with your face as red as a
lobster, which of courie, is very sooth-
ing to A[aria's irritated nerves.
The father cares for the baby at night
in very much the same fashion. The
mother has lifted the child into her own
bed, and back into its cradle again, in the
vain hope that in one place or the other
he will go to sleep; has brought drinks Of
water for him: rocked the cradle and sung
to its uneasy occupant softly and sleepily
for an hour, till finally she thinks that il
she is to be in this semi-ampAl1ious state
half out of bed, and halt in, the air from
tbs open window is too cold for her. She
knows if she tries to shut it herself, the
little tyrant will instantly miss her pres
ence and be ten times wider awake thar
ever, and all the hours singing and rock
ing will be labor lost. So, with much
regret, she softly asks John to get up anc
close the window. He has lain remarka
bly, still and breathed rather heavily, anC
is somewhat difficult to arouse for mar
who afterward declares that he was wide
awake all the time.
But like a good husband she il, hi
cheerfullY closes the window, and get!
an extra blanket for the baby, and pleas
antly asks, as he settles down into thu
pillows again, What makes the baby Sc
uneasy to-nigiht?" He manifests ,
strange indifference to his wife's reply
and in fact nothing more j.
heard from him till morning, while hi!
wife sleepily and painfully works away
for an hour longer. But at breakfast
with what calm complacency does he speal
of the trouble the baby made us las
night, with an Gus" fairly cditional il
its comprehensiveness. The next nigh
he goes into room by himself to sleep
He s can't stand it to have his rest broker
So" but adds generously, I'll take car,
of him the next night And so he does
till about twelve o'clock, when the BABY
wakes and cries. For ten minutes HI
tries faithfully to get him to sleep again
and then ignomainiously retreats and CALI
for "mamma. From article By Mar,
Blake, in "Hcme and Society," Scrtbnei
| for Feb.