The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1898-04-23
OUR MOTHERS
OF 0LDEN TIME
Science Upsetting Maternal
Methods Of Departed Days.
LuliaGfes and Nursery Songs Rete
gated 10 the Rear i'm Difference
10 ALLEGED Demands of Health.

Children used to be brought up in the
nurture and admonition of the Lord /:
now they are brought up in the nurture
| OF Pasteur and the admonition of DR.
Louis Starr. over whose Hygiene of the
I Nursery the modern mother pores with
nervous anxiety. critically writes Ruth
Craft. Not that the modern mother is
nervous. Nerves are forbidden her by
! the multitude of books on training chill
/ dren. by the Mothers Corner of the
weekly papr and by the expectations of
society.
You bring up your children so beau
tifully, and take your cares so lightly, -
says all her friends and neighbors-ev-
erybody except her husband and her
servants. such family of little ones
would wear out most women, but / I'M
derstand that you do everything by rule;
! Of course. that is what makes it SO
easy" OF course. Science has investi-
gated the subject. discovered principles
and established rules; all the mother
has to do is TO follow orders The mater
nal instinct is all out Of fashion. Even
the mother love seems scarcely essential.
tends TO weaken tn child. 1t is the body,
not the soul. of the young that demands
attention. according to the advertise
ments OF all orthodox foods for infants.
Parents used TO kneel hand i'm hand be-
side the cradle OF their first-bOrn. Now
they reflect that a room ten feet by
twelve cannot furnish air for three pairs
of lungs. As for a cradle, il has no
place in the modern household. unless
it be an heirloom. in which case its rock
erS are promptly sawed off Formerly,
the youngest child always was sung 10
sleep. Now he is put 10 bed at regu-
lar hour and left alone If he cries. one
should reflect that the lungs must be de-
VelOped somehow, that no normal baby
really likes TO be rocked, and that he will
soon acquire the habit of going to sleep
without rebellion. Obviously, the brain
tissue that went TO the composition of
the large body Of musical productions
known as mliabieS and cradle songs
might better have been cOusecrated to
sonatas and symphonies.
The rules. however, do not provide for
the following emergency in the experience
of the modern mother: The baby. amen
able to discipline until the twentieth
month. now refuses TO take his afternoon
nap. and begs not TO be put to bed at
night. He clings 10 the top of his crib
cage by his hands and chin. nearly get
ting one foot over. In this position he
hOWls Diteously. constantly reiterating
"MEdder. pese get up" When everything
else fails the doctor prescribes a weak So
luton of bromide quieting and harmless
II is administered. and after a long period
Of anxiety and SleepleSsness comes a rest
ful night; the baby sleeps gently until
morning. The mother goes forth. cheered
and treasured. She alludes 10 the FORUM
ate solution of her difficulty. and learns
from neiehbor OF the head-shaking Of
course-its-nOne-Of-In business kind. that
she has known of several cases of promis-
ing children who were fairly ruined by
bromide. The neighbor does not offer to
sit up nights with the baby.
Next To the modern mother comes the
modern nurse. There must be at all times
i'm the nursery an atmosphere OF serenity;
the nurse must have no nerves. She must
not be too young, lest she fail to under
stand the printed laws of the nursery or
take an interest in them: nor too Old. lest
she scorn them in the light of experience.
She must not have so much mind as to
know more than the mother, nor SO little
as ever to fail of timely discretion. She
must harbor in her bosom a feeling that
makes her long to be with children. and
that incapacitates her for any form of
fatigue, no matter how trying il may be.
She must not be too fat, because she will
make the baby warm when she holds
him: but IL is not advisable that she be
so thin that her bones will stick into him.
She must have a pleasant face. judged
by the children's standard of beauty.
That may differ slightly from the adult if
you recall the countenance of your favor
tie doll-the features most erased by fond
lickngs. the few remaining locks snarled
and scraggy, and one ear entirely chewed
Oft