Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-09-24
Undertaking Too Much

mere is an Arabian proverb which sayt
never attempt all you can do, for he tina
attempts everything that he can do often
attempts more than he can do The
greatest fault with most women's work lies
In the desire to undertake more than it is
possible for them to accomplish. Where
men gain results by calm, deliberate work
anu tnougts, women too often fail to &C
compllsh anything by burdening them-
selves with responsibilities that they are
utterly unable to bear. The girl student
who works side by side with her brother is
called on to do all her own sewing and
mendlng, and often to assist in domestic
duties which are sufficient in themselves to
tax her strength to the fullest. Her
stronger brother is bothered with no such
petty clres. His tailor does his mending,
or possibly the sister herself adds this to
her burden of work. He has those play
hours from study or work, which serve to
keep Jack from being dull boy''-hours
which his sister must too often spend in
the drudgery of the needle, the dustbrush
and broom, If our schoolgirls are to &C
compIish tn, same results which orr
schoolboys do, they should be equally I'M
encountered by domestic duties. There is
scarcely a college for girls in the land
where this truth is wholly recognized. In
most educational institutions, and In all
girls colleges the girls are expected to
make up their own beds and keep tidy
their own rooms, which is not required Of
boys and would be deemed an aosurdity if
1t were. There can be no objection to an
exactlOn of these domestic cares In insti-
tuti0ns where it is a part of the regime OF
the school that domestic dute s shall be
performed as in other schools, like agri-
cultural ones for boys, for instance, GER
tain amount of manual duties is required.
As 1t is with the girl IN school and col
lege, SO 1t Is with the woman in the fami-
~. There are thousand and one petty
cares placed on the mother which are not
taken into the account of her duties, but
which are eXacted strenuously and add
heavily to the regular burden of work
which is never done" Not the least of
these duties are so called charitable duties,
when the house mother is expected to
lay aside her cares, bake cake for the Sun
day school picnic, contribute her quota of
work to the sewing circle, or assist slack
sister VINO Is forever making appeals to
the charity of neighbors. OF all women,
the village ministers wife is one of the
most overburdened with these endless
duties which are always expected but
never recognized. In the great Cities the
appointment of missionaries has done
much to mitigate tire cares Of the minis
ter's wife, but In the country she visits
the sick and dying, administers to those
who are hopeless. is head and centre of
the church work, and generally makes
herself efficient in pushing forward the
needs of the women of the parish, yet she
has her own exacting household work to
do, and woe unto her, under the keen gaze
of her husband s Pensioners, if she fail in
any part, for thousand tongues will tell
of any failure. This is only one instance
Of the exacting duties which women I'M
dertake, and the only marvel is that more
do not fail. When women recognize the
fact that they must refuse validntly and
firmly to undertake too much and must
give themselves a good margin for relaxa-
ton, they will be healthier and wiser. If
they attempt the same intellectual work
which men do, they must allow themselves
the same exempt from petty duties which
their brothers haven Y. World