The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1911-12-01

know, and while I sympathize with
the wife who coined the clever be
fore breakfast phrase. l have won
dered if the poor old barbarian couldn't
have told a side of the story which
would have furnished an excuse for
his crossness.
It is a strange fact that in many
households the morning meal is a fur
ried, hurried, trying ordeal. The man
of the house, buried in his newspaper
grunts when he is spoken to, and
/ speaks only when he wishes to say
that the coffee is cold or the bacon
burned.
The children come struggling down
and turn up their noses at toast and
cereal. They demand various changes
an additions to the menu. The nerve
worn wife and mother speaks sharp
| ly-there is no semblance of serenity
and the day begins badly for all con-
cerned.
! Some housewives try to solve the
! problem of the serene breakfast table
by eliminating the children. / know
/ OF one father who, in winter, never
sees his children except on Sundays.
! They have their breakfast after he
/ leaves in the morning and their dinner
| before he comes home at night. He
claims that he must have quiet and
| his wife comedies the point rather than
! have constant controversy at the table.
| Yet one questions whether a fathers
rights extend to such a wholesale
Punishment of children who surely
need to know that they have a father,
and not merely a provider, who is hap
/! pier when they are out of his sight.
| / remember when l was a child that
| I went to visit a great-uncle, the faith
| big hotel all my life. Our private table
in the big dining room had been joy,
but l had visited in one or two homes
where there were many children, and
I expected to see at my great-uncle' 5
the same hurly-burly methods that
had been evident elsewhere. But
passed the morning hours there In a
way that was to linger long and
pleasantly in my memory.
The children were called early and
the rule of prompt rising was en-
forced, so that we were all dressed
and ready when the second bell rung
When we gathered in the dining
room We had fifteen minutes for morn
ing prayers. 1t was unique experience
to me to kneel among the others and
hear the head of the house ask simply
for strength and guidance for that
household throughout the day.
1t was a preparation for the meal
which followed which did away witt
nervous irritation. l wonder what
those of you who laugh at such ideas
as Anticipated" have found as a sue.
cessful substitute for morning pray.
ers?
My great-aunt would never have
contented herself with coming
phrase to describe her husband!
moods. She would not have permitted
in herself such lack OF Difference a:
! to call him a before breakfast saw.
age" but neither would she hav,
weakly permitted the state of affair
which exists in many modern house
, holds. She exacted of her children
/ and Of her husband the manners du.
} to their position and breeding. Ant
she didn't nag" She systematizet
and simrlifed her affairs and b,
) watchfulness attained such results a.
are beyond those who let a careles
maid serve an unappetizing meal be
cause she is not properly supervised
> and who cannot compete with tn
morning paper in interest because the,
= have lost by their inefectiveness tn
ability to charm and please.