The Washington herald., 1912-08-05
CHILD
is NOT CONTENTED
Both Childhood and Maturity Are
Warped by Surfeit of
Entertainment.
BY FRANCES sHAFFER.

sometimes wnen We SCI NJ" Nchy
much 1t takes to satisfy part Of the
world. to make them believe they are
getting a share In the good things Of
life, and how supremely little 1t needs
to send others up into the very clouds
of happiness. It really seems that It
may be better to let little folk take
their Joys. their toys and their pleas
ures a few at q time. that they may
appreciate them the more, as they
come.
Not the simple, natural pastimes or
pleasures of childhood-one never would
withhold an iota OF those-but the tang
ible things that really are the sweeter
and the more highly priced when they DO
not drop. as IL from the clouds, upon q
wish, but come after a goodly bit Of long
ing. and maybe Of effort.
Always Wanting Something New.
For we know how 1t goes when
there is a surfeit of toys and Of enter
tainment. The last newcomer in the way
of diversion appeals briefly. then is
thrown aside-what next? And In the
grasping expectancy, the desire for some
new possession or event, II is always
what next?
Down in the districts where there is no
chance 10 pamper children in the mate
learn to create their own joys II they
have any. have you never seen a group
of little girls contendedly imagining
themselves "grown-ups," mothering a lot
Of dolls in the very last stage of delap-
idation, some Of them homemade and
quite foreign to the real doll world? 1t
loks a bit pathetic, yet their daughter
rings out merrily enough and the little
souls seem to understand that they can
not sit still and wait for dolls that walk
and talk. but must play with what they
have and '.make-believe' for the rest.
Another Picture.
And there's another picture. This time
it is of a little one. boy or girl as II
happens. nurse-guided, toy-laden. every
wish anticipated. It is not satisfied with
anything. that he feels that something
Just beyond his grasp is the one thing
needed to make things complete. for In
the multiplicity of diversions he does
not stop long enough to enjoy anything
and really learn to love it. 1t all came SO
easy, so much at a time, that he missed
the pleasure of anticipation when antici-
patton is backed by the genuine waiting.
And It is not a bit of foolish theoriz-
ing All we need to do is to look for the
really contented child. for he is rarely
found surrounded with a lot of costly
but out dabbling with things
of his own creation. made beautiful by
the art found alone in the wonderful
land Of "make-believe."
Bored in Maturity.
And when they really grow up
1 never. never can forget the remark
of young woman-she was quite
young and that was her only excuse
who had been to Europe for a summer
tr1a nf interest," observation and all the
pleasure she was capable Of absorbing.
But somehow it seemed lamentably little.
for she was bored to death" in the
wonderful art galleries, unawakened by
the natural and the material beauties,
Just bored wherever she went. And
yet the one thing she seemed to desire
more than anything else in the world
was to be entertained.
The truth is. 1t is not the great hap
penings, the big events. not even tHe
m ghty possessions, that can make and
keep grown folk happy and satisfied any
more than II is the multiplicity of toys
that will keep the little chap from the
plaintive cry for something different
Develop Abnormal Tastes.
And that truth is never better empha-
sized than when one thinks of the
ludicrous things that some pleasure
tired. variety-sated folk will do in the
name of Entertainment" Generally
happily, enough, too-one just reads
about the excessive reaching out for
newness, but as for me. I never get an
echo from the upper realms of life.
when 1t happens that things are being
overturned in the way of spectacular en-
without wondering what Is
wrong within. Because it seems that
something must be wrong when it takes
so much of novelty. SO much Of the
spectacular to- arouse the interest of
men and worPen long. long past the
days of childhood, and into the period
when they ought TO be-well, just a bit
self -sufficing.
Maybe 1t is a trick. maybe an art, but
II is a mighty fine something when one
has learned to pick up some Of the joys
one sees just along the roadside of life.
Because II most of. US must wait for
the great possessions or the big events.
hoping for something startling to hap
pen, we shall find ourselves sitting on
the weary edge of stagnation all the
while.
And II seems one Of the real signs Of
bigness and of growth to be satisfied
with the simplest pleasures. unmindful
Of the rush for fresh sensations. new