The Wichita daily eagle., 1891-11-18
LACK OF INTEREST IN THE HOME.
Training of Children Is often Neglected
and Regretted Too Late.

|
and Regretted Too Late.
There is any amount of good counsel
| given to wives and mothers upon the max
ing of home. But did it ever strike you
how much depends upon the aid and en-
couragement received from other members
of the households The greatest difficulty
| the anxious mother experiences is to sa-
tisfy the individual tastes which tbs. mem
bers of her family cultivase, with little re-
/ gard to the means which exist for their
| qualification.
| The development of material things has
| gone far beyond the ability to acquire
them, on the part of the majority, and the
| parents who have made sacrifices for chill
dren, hoping to win affection and graft
/ tude, often find neither, but only spirit Of
unrest and OF moody dissatisfaction. which
| is cherished as virtue, as an evidence of
| finer taste, and dulls the sense Of filial duty
and unity of interests.
No home can exist permanently or pleas
antly unless each one contributes his or
her quota to its growth and happiness A
man who takes himself out Of his home,
who spends as little as possible upon 1t aud
all he can upon himself, puts double bur-
den upon his wife, and makes a path upon
which at least some of mis- children will
walk, to their own detriment and that Of
the family. There are now large numbers
of lonely women, and men too, who have
! brought up families, but have no honored
or recognized place in any home, because
their children have scattered or taken pos
session of the little means they have SC
quired, and taken no pains to provide the
place beside the hearthstone 50 necessary
to the comfort of old age.
This may or may not be the fault OF one
or both OF the parents themselves. Ths
great effort OF American parents, and
seemingly a very praiseworthy one, is to
give their children advantages greater than
they themselves possessed The result of
this is a life long struggle, aad too often
the release from all obligation on the part
OF the children, who are brought mp with
ideas beyond their means and realize the
failures far more than the efforts Of their
parents. Evidently the modern spirit
should have its limitations, and the sscri-
fees not be all on one side, il a Just
equilibrium is 10 BE- preserved.
a great element of interest in q home is
doing something for It. Where every one
exercises his or her ingenuity TO add 20 its
beauty or comforts. there Is a sense Of per
sonal ownership and possession and enjoy |
rlent that is never otherwise experienced. |
We have lost ssunething IN acquiring mod
ern speciaifies aad specialists IN hzndi- |
crafts, aud getting rid Of tue habit which !
men aud boys had formerly Of being |
HANDY" about the house Hard earnings |
are employed ii sending boys TO college,
who, when they come home, cannot drive !
a nal straight By which 20 hang up a pic |
ture, and would consider themselves low |
cred By beiEG asked 70 help put up = stove. I
IR the same wsy. girls teach school or try /
70 ind some other way Of earning money.
who 5ever CIT shirt or even an article of /
their own clothing. aud could not make 1
one correctly II Life hung upon i-.--Cor 1
HCuernsker