Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1906-05-31
HER AFTERNOON OUT.

ligion and should conscfen iously In.
sist for that time On being away from
the loved ones who are so precious
and yet SO burdensome. Were the
mother snatched from her darlings
and laid to rest under the spring VIC
lets, the children would be obliged to
live on without her ~incessant care and
brooding.
Homes rise before me in thought in
which a few brief months ago the
mother was at once chief ruler and
servant-in-chief. She is Lone. The
catastr ophe of a sudden sickness and
a swift death has wrecked the joy of
the place where the mothers smile
was the constant benediction. In
more than one instance mothers who
are thus lost to their families might
have been saved had their vitality not
been sapped by too strenuous and too
unremitting toll and oversight, part
of which might have been shifted to
other shoulders.
Several years ago in a large eastern
city a woman whose life was i'm
mensely valuable to her husband and
children seemed about to break down
in nervous collapse. Her physician
said: "You must take one day in
seven and drop the loads you are car
rying, stay out of doors, go to see pic
lures, or to hear music, or spend the
time in visiting a friend, OF in doing
something agreeable away from the
atmosphere of your home" The pre-
scription was followed to the rein
forcement of the failing health and to
the permanent advantage of the en-.
tire household.
To secure this afternoon out may
mean a little effort in the beginning.
Here the mother will require the aid
of some one who loves her and who
is willing to take the initiative in
friendly urgency. AS going out with
out a definite object appears to the
domestic woman almost unheard OF
and impossible, an objective point
should be selected. The maid, OF
course, has hers in the cousins and
other kin whom she visits on hel
Thursday, in the shops, or the bank
to which her steps tend, either to de
post her wages or to purchase some
thing she longs for. Let the mother
plan a little so that her afternoon Out
may not lack an object. If she reside
in a suburb there may be an eXcur
sion to town or, # in town, she may
resort to the home of a suburban &C
quaintance. The prime necessity is thai
she shall go somewhere and not bt
ashamed or afraid to go for her persona
gain and not for the good of her family
Whatever she does for her personal up
building will react favorably upon hel
home.
There occur exigencies when a mother
ly afternoon. Not long ago l was talk
ing with a mother who was ARRANGING
for a leave of absence from her hom'
that should extend over half a year. Sh'
was going with her husband on a pro
longed trip in which many weeks woult
be spent on the ocean and many place
visited in two hemispheres. In order t
do this she would be obliged to leave
family Of little children at home, blu
they would be under the care of a grand
mother and an aunt and every item TO
their comfort and safety was thought q
in minuteness.
"The rest will have to be left" sal
the mother, "to the guardianship of
watchful Providence. / shall mothe
them far better when l come back II
them, rejuvenated, than | am mother
ing them now"
This talk is a plea Tor the mothers oc
casional leave of absence. 1t is less
plea for the mother than with her. Sh
herself is usually the main obstacle i
the way Of her own vacations. Sh
plans holidays for others and takes non
herself. Mothers in general are muc
too unselfish. 1t is their beautiful weak
} ness to be strong for others and saint
| to the end of their days. Yet a weakness
it is, and those who honor and prize Their
should do their best to cure them OF
and make them thoughtful for their ow
: well-being.