Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1903-12-05
Our Neighter's Children.

] 49, @NS-SdLEA > S1AUIe1.
Atany weary mother knows The
; Neaiyias cry: What shall I do. man.
llI zen HE what to do and in re-
Spouse has been guilty of various made.
! !a3clcs and folliCs. And no wonder: for
| lt Is doubtful if the wisdom of Solomon
hlhseif could long stand the strain. Ii
I Ut TINS empted moment. she chances Ia
catch sight of the two little Smith Girls
piaElng happily in their shaded ward,
what more natural than that she Should
say, with animation scarcely forced no
| yond the real relief she feels. ..,rhcre,
look. Mary and Helen are PLAYING so
nicely. Run and see what they are do
ing. or course she never dreams that
her o@n precious bOy-h0w sweet he
looks ont there, with the little girls. and
now pleasantly quiet the house is.-couI,l
ever be IN uawelc0me visitor. She bri.
! dies ut the EiCre suggestion that Mrs
Smith, behind the blinds, may sigh in
dlSmay as she sees the round. bhyish fig
ure gaiiopng puppyWise into the midst
OF her children's maiden peace.
or u IS net true, as we are beginning
TO discover. that children can entertain
each other at no expense of nervous
iofce' some children there arc whose
hours of play must be as carefully guard
ed as their diet; and there are few who
cam with safety. play with all the chill
ureI who happen in upon Them Hours
OF qmet. hours of entire solitude as well
as hours of what might be called family
solitude, are essential to the right growth
OF the individual. aud of lasting family
aliections. When our own boy breaks
IN upon tho Smith children. how do we
know what careful adjustment we may
be disturbing?
The matter is delicate one, and well
adjusted only when friendly sympathy
for Mrs. Smith comes to the aid of good
breeding. Uf course we notice whether
the little girls come to return our sons
VISIT aaG If they do not. We do not send
MN again until they do. This is hard
but VIC know it to be at the very founda-
ton OF social decency. But even better
than this-not taking its place az ALL but
adding certainty to its right feelings
frank speech, for thereby we discover
lust what Mrs. Smith means. and she
discovers that we mean to deal Justly by
before.
We are ourselves, every row and then.
III Mrs. Smiths position. other children
come 10 play with our Bobbie. and come
just at his nap-time--that difficult hour
ut which he rebels increasingly. arguing
that the little Smiths don't nap, nor the
little Joneses. but which the doctor
thinks ought to be insisted upon. with
SO active a child. The ADVENT of per-
fcctly unobjeetionable piaymates at such
time is real perpleXity: for if the
hardly maintained habit is broken in
upon once, it is almost impossible to es-
tablish it again. But If we send the
Youngsters home again. what will the
mother think of us? BOhbie. too. weeps
aioud at the idea--they will be mad mt
him, he maintains.
To have the nap at the regular hour is
help, and to spread the news of that
hour among ones friends, as well as
word of the reading hour. or the hour
when our own children play by them
selves in the home enclosure The friends
that we care to keep will respect these
rules of ours, If we respect them our
selves, and as for the others-comel is
it really worth while upsetting one $
carefully thought-out scheme of life for
these others?
Let us send the inopportune child
pat on the head, friendly word. and
an apple-but send him right along. 1t
is well if we are able to talk it over
with his mother, and agree to send each
Others children home at announcement
seasons; but if we can't do this best
thing, it must he the next best After
all, there is less fear of lasting unpleas-
antness if one meets the situation firmly
in the beginning than if one weakly al
lows it to become intolerable For then
one is only too likely to lose patience and
temper together. and to burst forth with
violence quite dispropOrtioned to the
immediate exciting cause, and therefore
ineXplicable to the conveniently fOrgetful
offender-Harpcrs' Bazaar