Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1911-09-14
VACATIONS
FOR STAY-AT-AOMES
Occasional Trip to the Country
Is Beneficial to Everybody,
Young or Old.
Maude RaGrord Warren in the Woman's
World


Each of us should have II yearly va
cation Many of us need more than
one. md Il few fortunate people may
have Il quarterly vacation il they care
for it. How many Il woman picks up
Il paper and reads that Mrs. So-and-So
has just como homc from Palm Beach
and has opened her city house for a
month. after which she and her family
will go abroad. 1t is natural enough
that the reader Mould sigh, and wish
she could take her family even IS far
as the Atlantic ocean. Other women
not only never get Il vacation, but never
wish for 1t. They may wish they had
rugs or tablecloths or chairs, but a va
cation will strike them as an undesii-
able luxury.
Yet every woman or girl should want
to have a vacation away from home.
and. failing that, she should take Il va
cation at home.
The woman or girl who has found
that for various reasons she really cam
not leave home. should plan to acquire
the play-time attitude for the whole
ummer. A good many omc nave
tried it. Really 1T Is surprising to find
especially, live two lives-the supcrflc-
ial life that has to take accounts OF
meals and bills, dish washing, and
cooking and noise and accidents; and
the deeper life underneath which has
for it's plane gentle meadows and soft
hills. beautiful faces and pictures,
musical voices and serene thoughts.
Yet even this method is not enough
to got the full benefit of the home va
cation. Little daily changes throughout
the s.lmmer should be had. The girl
or woman who lives in the city should
contrive to spend q dag. or part of a
DAY every week in y Iarlt O. a suburb.
Fortunately there Is ONE real coun-
try near all our cities of any size. coun-
try that is so refrcsl,ingly different that
it might really be a 600 miles away.
To talk 81 picnic basket With ma
%tcrials for making some not drink, u
good bGo.. am, ii ossihle, co%ngcnial
Notwithstanding could make a
pleasantcl brca,. in the daily routine OF
existence.
Seek New ecenes.
1t is not wise always To go to the
sam. place: a lake one day if possible,
Il park another. IL bit of tangled suburb
~ third. For a fourth day the city
dwellcr might treat herself to q morn
ing down town. not to visit the shops,
but to visit places she usually has not
time tor. such rs picture galleries or
private studios. on public libraries or
social settlements. There are many
such sights TO give one a change OF
mind. and u change OF mine is what we
Clltti lCt'tl WllcIl we say we want a
change OF scene.
If some ~ mo be paid to AXE
care of the children. there is usually a
kindly friend or relative who would be
willing to take charge of them. II there
is an invalid in the house. someone
can be found to sit with him. The
very fact that there are children
means that their mother must occas-
iolally get a rest from them.
TWO neighbOrs in a small city. each
with II large family of children used to
go on little picnics together. taking all
the youngsters with them. 1t did them
some good. but ono of them, Mrs. Mar
tin. felt that there was a better plan.
and she made the suggestion that she
should take care of all the children
While Mrs. Blake rested at home, or
spent the day with a friend. 1t seemed
as II this was throwing a heavy burden
on Mrs. Martin. but she thought eight
children We're as easy to look after as
u She got through the day very
we'll. while Mrs. Blake had a happy visit
with her mother in a ~neighboring town.
1t was so nice to be taken care of
and coddled all day just as 1 coddle the
children" h commented. No hungry
demands for dinner, no querulOus cues
lions about where cap or shoes or bat
had gone: just tender questions as to
whether l was I'm a comfortable chair
and what kind OF pie 1 would like.
forgot l had any children. l felt ready
for two weeks of noise and torn stock
ings and bruises when 1 got home"
Mrs. Martin spent her holiday with
W maiden ladies. Her verdict was
that the peace and order were delight
full: 1t was such a relief to see fur
iliture with no scratches. without the
prints of little moist, dirty hands. 1t
isas a relief to sit down with no thought
OF q meal to get, and to be refused
when she Offoro6 Tn woSh tL0 <l3ebo.
It was equally q relief to hear no child
ish shouts or cries. She went home
sure that she loved her children more
than ever because she had spent a
serene day with people who had H..
more to do with children than they had
with Chimpanzees.
Mrs. Blake and Mrs. Martin practiced
this plan from May until November.
Neither OF the women ever neglet ted
to take the fOrtnightly holiday. and
they always cOntrived to take 1t away
from their own houses. They had dis
covered h important fact that change
is an essential element Of rest. In the
autumn they looked fresher and felt
better than they had for ears. They
had no shrtnkings from the autumn
~dressmaking and tailoring; they had no
nervous headaches; no mornings when
1t seemed impossible to face the wear
n tear Of the day. Their carefully
planned occasional vacations had
brought fresh mental n spiritual
health.
Inc girl or woman who lives in a
small town or In the country and who
cannot get away for q long holiday.
sometimes finds It more difficult to tax
the occasional daily change than q city
has the parks and suburbs. but the
dweller in the little town or country has
Oteen nOWhere to 10 excent to another