Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury [Connecticut]) 1900-1903, 1902-11-07
FAMILY TABLE
A Silent Educator That Exerts Strong
Influence.


A Silent Educator That Exerts Strong
Influence.
There is no silent educator in the
household that eKerts stronger lnnu~
ence than the family table, and IN no
way is the family's breeding more
plainly shown than in the table man
ners of the children who grow up ana
go out of it. The impressions OF the
table and the dining room unconscious
~ sink deep and their influences Tor
good or i'll form no little factor in the
shaping of our destinies.
Good digestion and good temper are
so dependent upon externals that the
environments of the daily family gath
erings should be as happy as neatness
and beauty can make them. The din
ing room should be one of the airiest,
brightest rooms in the house, writes
Mabel Smith in the American Queen.
Let the morning sun shine in and let
plants, flowers and pictures have their
place and their effect. One does not
realize all that beauty means in the
surroundings until one gets into some
place where there is none or little, and
then we miss it sadly and our lives
grow narrow and dull and unhappy.
Let the table around which the FAM
lily gathers be at all times a model of
neatness and simplicity, and when
possible, of beauty or elegance. It can
not, Of course, always have on it cut
flowers and cut glass and expensive
linen, but such linen as one has
should certainly be changed so soon as
it begins to be soiled, and dainty china
is nowadays so cheap that there is no
excuse for cracked, nicked or ugly
iS1l OH 5gop
to be had for the picking, a bright
bouquet should always decorate the
table as well as the sideboard and
mantel. The silver and cutlery should
be clean and bright and the glassware
carefully polished. Any woman feels
| the improving influence of good clothes
and how much easier it is to be polite
and agreeable in manners when well
/ dressed than when in shabby attire
| In the same way table that is neatly
enthusiastically arranged exerts its re
| lining influences over those who sit
around it, while a soiled and careless
| 1y laid table demoraliZes the manners.
The conversation around the family
4 board should always be bright. cheer
full, entertaining, such as will make the
children understand from their earliest
years that the object of eating is not
merely to satisfy hunger, but is meant
to supply strngth for work and study
that they may be well fitted for useful
ness in the world. lot only viii intel
ligent, lively conversation help in MAX
ing appetite secondary. but it will aid
digestion and give the young people
! valuable practice in stimulating
thought and conversational power so
that they may be fitted to bear a cred
I nor n
! be thrown in with later.
A child's appetite may be taught to
enjoy all wholesome and proper foods
| if no mistake is made in the begin
ming. It is never judicious to ask
youngsters what they will have Pre-
l. pare good wholesome food in as much
| variety as possible and serve them,
i taging it for granted that they will eat
and be satisfied. If their tastes have
never been pampered or perverted they
! will accept simple dishes as a matter
Of course. provided the same thing is
net put before them too often Never
let the food upon the table furnish the
theme of conversation, thus emphasiz-
ing the pleasures of the appetite and
Installing the impression that eating is
the main business in life instead of
merely means toa higher end
Let US never relax our duty, though
| it sometimes grows Wearisome, of
teaching the children both by example
and word to defer to seniors or guests,
to restrain haste and greed, to observe
the propreties of position and use OF
utensils to prefer others before self,
ladies before gentlemen and that in
all ways the feeding and care of the
body is subservient to the cultivation
of the intellectual and spiritual life
within each one Of us.