Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-06-05
CONVERSATION AT MEALS.
Make the Dining Room Bright and Attrac.
tive-The Art of Conversing.

Of all the rooms in a home the din
ing-room should be the most cheerful,
not only as to furnishing and lighting,
but for the conversation which should
be carried on there Here the family
meet for the first time in the morning
at the breakfast table, and, as this is
| the family rendezvous, each member
of the household should consider it
his or her duty to contribute share
to the conversation, and not seem to
be wholly absorbed in individual
thoughts.
This is the opportunity to make plans
for the day. before the members of the
family separate for their various duties
and pleasures, and one should be I'M
selfish enough to enter into the spirit of
each others plans, even if it does not
exactly suit ones mood and when they
meet at dinner they can recount their
various experiences.
| know of some women who come to
the breakfast table in shabby wrappers
looking so gloomy and disconnected
that it would seem as if they were de-
termined to represent the woman spok-
en- of by Sydney Smith, who had
made up her mind in the morning to
be disconnected all day, and nothing
could dissuade her from being so.
When there is large family, each
with different characteristics, it would
seem as if each might choose for
motto, if only during meals, Look
Cheerful" SO that, even if one did not
feel SO he OF she would not dampen the
spirits of the others.
| think the worst epithet that can be
applied to a person is that he or she
is wet blanket" And certainly
we all know of some persons who,
when they appear among us, seem only
to lessen our pleasures instead of in
creasing them.
So, above all things, let us be cheer
full at breakfast, in our prettiest toilets,
and make ourselves as attractive as
possible. The morning is new, the day
fresh, and we should try to be in accord
with our surroundings.
There are some persons who make
speciality of preparing their converse
ton for the dinner table by reserving
bits of news and stories which they
have heard during the day. This is an
excellent plan, as dinner should
U0 lOOh0u 1OI W DIS l6dSU O1
reason and flow of SOUL" as well as
an occasion for satisfying ones appe-
tite.
There is difference between feeding
and dining.
True, one often gets tired of the
same old topics, and when one leads
quiet life and nothing new ever hap
pens, or no outsider appears with bit
of gossip to be discussed over the dim
ner table, one is apt to become a little
soured and serious; but one must think
of some new method of entertaining the
family, and thereby be entertained
themselves.
Reading few paragraphs from the
papers, or the last novel, or from
some book Of travels. and then taking
the lead in the conversation and in.
Producing these familiar topics, is
good way to vary the monotony of
family meal.
A fad this season at ladies' lunch.
cons has been the proposition of toast
by the hostess, and the surprising of
one of her friends by requesting her to
respond to it.
This is certainly novel plan to in.
terest a roomful of women, and GER
tainly would make an agreeable di-
version and give an opportunity to
practice the art of ready speaking and
cultivating extemporaneous wit.
AS women so often nowadays have
to take up the cudgels of war and sup
port themselves, it seems quite proper
that they should be schooled little in
the art of speech-making.
Among fashionable people it is Gus
tomary to appear at dinner in full
evening dress, which gives the occasion
very festive appearance. Of course
there are a great many families who
| are not fashionable and who cannot
afford such elaborate dinner gowns,
and would not care for them even if
they could; but it is well to make some
change in ones dress, as it freshens
the mind as well as the body. Men
like to lay aside their business cares
with their business suit and enter into
different world. as it were, by putting
on evening clothes.
Of course men adapt their convsrsa-
| ton to their surroundings, and 1t GER
tainly must be fact that they bring
some cheerfulness into the family, as
| their advent is eagerly looked for.
But where there are no men there
might be few smiles, and women
should try to be as agreeable to each
other as they are supposed to be to the
| opposite sex.
Conversation is also an aid to di-
gestion, and few hours over the din
| ner table are not hours thrown away.
There are some families who disa-
| gree so at the table that they never sit
down zen famille," but always invite
some outsider to come in and share the
meal. whether it is breakfast, or lunch
| con. or dinner This seems a great
misfortune, as home could never be
pleasant one under these circumstances;
and, even with such dispositions as
these women must have, they certainly
would be unhappy anywhere. There is
Scotch proverb it would be well to
| remember:
A merrie heart goes all the day;
| A sad, tires in a mile a.
|