Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1879-04-24
How Man Takes Care of His Baby.

In spite of all the statements to
the contrsry, there are men who
help take care Of their children.
They are the kindest and best hus.
bands in the world. They do not
wish to see their wives overbur-
dened with care and worry, and
they intend to help them great
deal, and actually do. Yet it can
not be denied, that their opinion
concerning the value OF their ser
vices and their wives opinion on
the same subject do not exactly
coincide. One of these good hus-
bands will help dress the children
for breakfast, and speak of it with
grandIy virtuous Dir. while the
fact is that be only washed the face
of one while bis wife washed and
dressed the other three. He helps
get the children ready for church /;
that is. he buttons up Dicks boots,
and helps Jenny put on her gloves
after be has leisurely and comforta
bly, dressed himself, while his wife
ties sashes, and hunts up odd gloves,
and puts on collars, and curls one
child's hair and washes another's
hands, and in the intervals sdoes
up" her own hair, and saves the
baby from the razor. and Jenny's
best bonnet from the baby. He
stands p,t emily ~ 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 hands sre tremb-
ling go with nervousness and haste
that she can hardly put a single pin
in it's right place. Just as the last
strokes of the bell are sounding.
they hurry off to church, losing en-
tirely the calming influence which
comes from leisnrely walk on
fine Sunday morning. He takes
the opportunity to remark, with
just shade of reproof in his gentle
tones, 81 can't understand why it
take you so long to get ready 1t
really does seem as if with as much
as | do to help you, we need not
be obliged to hurry so at the last
minute. | don't like to SEQ you go
up the aisle with your face as red
as a obster,"-which, of course, is
very soothing to Maria's irritated
| nerves.
The father cares for the baby at
night in very much the same FASH
ion. The mother has lifted the
child into her own bed. and back
into it's 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 it's uneasy
occupant softly and sleepily for an
hour, till finally she thinks that If
she is to be in this semi-amphibious
state, half out of bed and half in,
the air from the open window is
too cool 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
than ever, and all the hours sing>
ing and rocking will be labor lost.
So, with much regret, she softly
asks John to get up and close the
window. He has lain remarkably
still and breathed rather heavily,
and is somewhat difficult to arouse
for a man who afterward declares
he was wide awake all the time.
But like the good husband he is. he
cheerfully closes the window. and
gets an extra blanket for the baby,
and pleasantly asks, as he settles
down into the pillows again, "What
makes the baby so uneasy to-
night?" He manifests a strange
indifference to bis wife's reply. and
in fact nothing more ia heard from
him till morning, while his wife
sleepily and painfully works away
for an hour longer But at break
fast. with what calm complacency
does he speak of the trouble the
baby made us last night, with an
Gus" fairly editorial in its compre.
hensivenesa. The next night he
goes into room by himself to
sleep. He "can't stand it to have
his rest broken So" but adds gen.
erously, "I'll take care of him the
next night" And so he does till
about twelve o'clock. when the
baby wakes and cries. For ten
minutes he tries faithfully to get
him to sleep again, and then igno.
miniously retreats and calls for
"mamma."-Ecribner.