The Washington herald., 1913-03-14
TOPICS OF INTEREST TO EVERY WOMAN
a# EDITED JULIA CHANDLER
GREAT ADVANTAGE OF
WHOLESOME PARENTAGE
There Are Mothers and Fathers Who
Are Sadly Mixed in Their
Standards.
NV FRANCES sHAFFER.

1t is not until We have lived while.
thought a while, and watched the great
life drama as II moves along, that we be-
gin to appreciate some of the things worth
having.
There is the one matter of home stand
ards
Most of us wish for wealth. dream of it
sometimes, and always there Is the lurk-
ing hope that some of ''the ships now out
at sea- may come on sailing back with
gold and glory in their store and that
all. the good things of life may drop in
our waiting lap.
But do we quite appreciate what it is to
have the inestimable advantage of whole
some parentage and the memory of stand
ards pure and inspiring?
II is not a legacy that everybody can
leave because there are mothers and faith
ers who somehow are sadly mixed in their.
| standards. some who have none at all.
others who thing nothing counts but the
making and spending of money, and. when
| II is all over, leaving an Inheritance in
dollars and cents.
But there is infinitely more-how much
! more We do not realize until we get
long look at homes where there is a
| sorry record of Indifferent living. where
parents care more for money making and
jolly living than the best life. patterns
ever evolved.
And then we know.
Things Money Cannot Buy.
We know there are some things that
money cannot buy.
No amount of gold can buy the heritage
of long family record of pure living,
| and no amount of wealth can compensate
| a man or "A woman for a childhood spent
where there was nothing worth while
| 10 copy.
We do not think so much about fathers
! who are steadfast, honorable, and whole
some and who respect themselves and
| their homes until we know some who
allow themselves all sorts of license and
whose patterns are sadly twisted and
untrue. And then we understand why
\ il is so easy for the little ones to learn
| to go wrong-it was the way OF their
pattern. And whatever may come to a
| boy later in life, he is nightly helped
along by pattern that is true. The av-
erage hoy thinks my father knows all
| and sets the pace for all-it is pity TO
have him ever awake to realization
| that il is poor sort of pace to follow.
And more of pity To follow IT biindlS'
never knowing the difference.
And mothers
They tell us there are ncw-fashioned
and old-fashioned mothers: that IN the
new sChoul-very new ana rare, We hope
| familiar standards are falling by the
| wayside. In that school, we are told.
there are easy roads to drinking. smok-
| ing, and high living generally; and the
very things that once were thought most
worth while of all are set aside in the
name of greater freedom.
And If We had grown to womanhood
in such an atmosphere. what DO you
| fancy would have been our standards!
start in Home Soil.
Indeed. We need think but briefly to
grow rather tolerant of standards other
than our own. tor they are very prone
to start night In home soil, sweet and
pure If the soil. warrants It. warped and
ugly if that is the way II goes
To one not seasoned in the morning
cocktail, there is bit or horror in the
very thought, and 10 one uninitiated in
the habit of cigarette smoking it seems
unfemnine. unlike her ideaIs-quite a
drop. to say the least.
And il in the home there is profanity.
it easily passes from top to bottom; If
there is a taint OF vulgarity, the boys
and girls naturally fall IN line. II an
atmosphere of pickering and Of fault
finding. the little ones are very initiative
and soon learn the way. Even careless
talking had manners. and habits are re-
fiected.
But the home where there are simple
patterns of sturdy living is the home that
counts. And 1t is not So mucn in talking
and in formulating standards as 1t Is IN
just living there. With uniform courtesy
in the home, there is no great need for a
training school outside.
And the legacy of good pattern is
possession that cannot be bought or
sold