Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1884-12-04
gaiIu kenneber JournaI.
A Talk to Mothers.

the time for games Is close at hand. here
is game for the twilight hour IS well.
Now follow me in statement and question.
IL am thinking of word that rhymes
with chair One OF the party replies by
a question, thus lis it TO be bold ?" The
author of the thought answers, ut is not
dare and repeats the statement. Anoth-
er asks, "Is it pronoun?" again the
answer comes, at is not their" Another
is it a placer" 1T is not there" sis it a
/ lions den 2'' ut is lair" This is the
true answer, the secret word, and rhymes
with chair The guesser thinks of word
and the play goes on as before. The true
answer must be the very word thought OF.
II the word is fair, and the answer given,
! fare, payment for travelling, or food for
horses, il is wrong. 1t is apleasant game
for any number of persons, and teaches
10 give clear, concise definitions, which is
not quite so easily done on the moment as
one may imagine.
And mothers, while the children are
thus busted. let me have your listening
ears for awhile. ! want to speak OF the
girls. Some one has said, There are
no girls, first babes, then young ladies"
IT'S too true. The beruffled, sash-tied
little girl must neither romp nor
run, lest the delicate fabric be torn !;
but II is. Go out, dear, and play in the
Yard followed by such long list of
dont's that were fhey remembered by the
little one, there would scarcely be spot
she dare sit upon, or stone Jumped over
or. hight of bliss to young child-a
mud pie, or dirt spooned up by her own
chubby fingers. Let your girls be girls
in happy childhood as long as you can. In
after years it will be 10 them a bright.
sunny picture in memory's halls. Clean
dirt is healthy. A mother OF pale, deli
cate child, with no seeming maladY, APP
piled to her physician for the cause of
ieebleness and lack of animation, SO I'M
natural. He. knowing her well, replied,
"She Is dying of neatness," and urged the
mother, as she valued the child's life, to
dress her suitably and have her play out
of doors in the dirt every pleasant morn
ing. At first the parent was Mortified, But
was prevailed upon to try the remedy and
the best possible results followed.
Let the little ones romp. jump, and
shout the lungs. feet and arms need the
strengthening process.
Childhood is the only period of life free
from care, and mothers, let the children
under restraint. enjoy it to the full re-
Ter now to those from two to six years old.
In my own childhood home, many chill
dren came to it from no homes, and it was
the custom of my mother to allow them
every pleasant morning to play in the
yard with sticks, stones, dirt, or what not:
then at noon, or earlier if the sun was hot
to come in "a few minutes rest to cool off
followed by a refreshing bath, clean cloth
ing throughout. an hours sleep or more,
and then pleasant. happy child was
ready for dinner. The afternoon was
spent in the house with clean playthings
or picture books, while mother sewed;
but ever ready to answer childish ques-
tons, or comfort tumble-downs. Then
came the early supper of plain food, the
nightly romp or bo-peep, and the white
robed Youngsters. having said the little
verses and Now lay me down to sleep"
were ready for bed They never asked to
sit up longer, it did not occur to them that
such a thing was possible, for they had
learned that when mother said "now"
about anything, it meant the present mo-
ment.
How much trouble some mothers make
for themselves by saving one thing and
meaning another. A few evenings since,
at friends home. Mrs. b. said to her
seven-years- old daughter, Come, Nellie,
it is time for bed now, unbutton your
boots" IL don't want to go to bed yet"
Mother is reading the paper and time goes
on. Then again it is, Come Nellie, it is
time for you to 90 to bed, unbutton your
boots" No answer this time, for the
curly lead lies on the rug fast asleep, and
there she remains half hour. and finally,
half walking and halt carried. goes scream
ing to bed. That same little one calls me
Auntie, and one dav overheard her tell
ing her mother "when Aunty says no, she
means no, aud when she says yes, she
means yes" What a comment from a
child.
And parents, one thought more; when
your girls are indeed young ladies far in
their teens, do not encourage them to
leave the home nest, unless necessity
compels to seek living. If Providence
has blest you with the means, keep the
daughters at home. | would not dispar-
age the efforts of those who must earn
their own living. The writer. since the
age of seventeen, has done the same but
in every well regulated family there is
enough of woman's work to be done, and
! | believe that a pure, sweet, womanly
character is best developed within the
precincts Of home Cor. Rural NeB
| Yorker.