The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1909-08-06
WOmQn'S....
Exchange
Etiquette For the Proud Mother

, It does very little good for mother
to urge her children to keep their
small possessions in order. if she her
self is an untidy housewife; to scold
them for their slovenly appearance,
when she is far from neat; to criticise
their table manners, when ner own
are careless, and to ge shocked at
their unkind and thoughtless remarks
about other children, when she repeats
gossip about friends and foes alike
in their presence.
On the other hand, the mother who
is herself we'll bred, whose manners
are refined, and who shuns gossip as a
waste of time and mental energy, does
not have much difficulty in keeping her
children in the way they should go
so far, at least. as manners are con-
cerned.
Now, few words to the older moth
ers The foregoing suggestions have
been addressed to mothers of children
still in the formative period of life
But just as important, and often more
puzzling, is the question of etiquette
for the proud mother of the half-grown
child In fact, there is not much
more difficult position imaginable than
~ ,ny pf
a pretty and attractive young daughter.
To this mother naturally falls the
duty of chaperon; and from Spain with
it's strict duennas, to India with its
old gossips there is a strict and long
But the certain difficulties of this duty
which the proud mother must ever
guard against are not very hard to
point out.
Suppose she is asked to chaperOn a
theater party. First of all, she must
see to it that all the young people of
the, party have as good time as do
her own children. No we'll bred moth
er will try to arrange matters SO that
her own daughter is seated between
the two most attractive young men,
and her own son can mOnopolize the
attention of the prettiest girl in the
party At a dance, too. the mother
who chaperons must observe the same
rules: she must seek out other peO-
pies daughters to see to it that they
have partners galore, even though this
means letting her own daughter take
And above everything else, this proud
mother must never, never boast about
the ATTENTION her daughter attracts or
receives, especially from eligible young
men. After summer in Europe a few
years ago a mother Of this kind used to
say to all her own and her daughters
friends: Yes, Edith received four
proposals in three months this sum-
mer. One was an Italian count we
met at Parma. one was an American
in Berlin. another was a German pro-
fesso,, and the other was a Dane, who
crossed with us and who's now in the
diplomatic service at Washington
Poor Edith suffered the consequences
People who didn't think she was an in
corrigible f1irt thought she was a fib-
Der.
There comes a time, however, when
the proud mother may have her say
and not be criticised After a life OF
repression concerning her own opin-
ions about her extraordinary children;
after years of praising other peoples
sons for their cleverness and ability,
and other peoples daughters for their
good looks and lovely manners, she GER
| tainlv deserves this little respite.
Every one likes to hear a proud grand
! mother boast of her grandchildren
and because every one takes the white
haired lady's Boosting good naturally,
why. she doesn't fracture the rules of
etiquette an iota by boasting. In fact
| it's good form for her to boast, wisely
and well-which, of course, means
moderately from every standpoint