El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-08-05
Face Situation Squarely
Taking Inventory Mothers should
Not Close Their Eyes to the
Defects of Their Offsprina5
But ShOuId Correct Them
Bv Dorothy Din --

~ VERY now and then every business
man goes carefully over his
IL possessions, listing, appraising,
classifying, advancing and depreciat-
ing their worth and valuing them by the
market standards of the day. I have
often thought that there would be less
failure in the world and fewer of US
would come to spiritual bankruptcy
II we could follow the same plan and
occasionally sit down and take stock
physically.
Why shouldn't an ugly woman, for
instance, face the music and calmly
take an inventory Of the beauty that
she lacks2
Nobody will deny that the woman
who is born beautiful draws the prize
package in the lottery of life, but she
doesn't get everything. There is tact
and charm OF manner and grace, and
the woman who has these has a magic
veil that hides a hOmely face and
makes IL seem beautiful TO those who
come IN contact with her Moreover
while beauty must come by nature,
these qualities may be cultivated.
Be Considerable of Others.
It lies with every woman to learn
a delicate consideration for the feel
lngs of others, TO aQuire the art of
listening with interest and to so I'M
prove her mind that she will always
be the most delightful and intelligent
Of companions And when she can do
these things, she needn't worry much
about the size of her nose or whether
her mouth is cut bias or straight
1t seems a pity, too. doesn't it, that
people don't Oftener take stock of
their children and see just what they
are and what might be made out of
them?
We should think a merchant crazv
If he had a store full of calico, and
homeSpun, and pots, and kettles and
pans, and in taking stock he listed
them as point lace and diamonds and
81 OF hat Te- met ?
we are doing with our children. We
are calling commonplace and ordinary
qualities by fine names. We won't
see them as they are and make the
best of them on that basis. We are
so determined on raising up geniuSes,
instead of good business men and citi-
ems. that now and then we convert
them into hOOdlums and idiots.
Why shouldn't a mother look her
own children over just as she does her
nelghbOrs and size up their strength
and weakness2 She should, at least,
then be able to work out the problem
of raising them with some sort of
knowledge as a foundation and guide.
work.
She shuts her ewes to the fact that
Johnnie is bOWlegged and Tommy is
knock kneed, and she dOoms them to
so through life a butt for the ridicuIe
OF their acqualntances. when the de-
rect could be so easily remedied while
they are children. She takes no pains
TO heIp the ugly girl correct her aWk-
wardness and learn the things that
would make Up for her lack of beauty.
Even ner EFFORTS to help her children
are half the time atrOCiOus mistakes,
because she has never taken stock and
doesn't know what she has on hand
to work with.
Every now and then some unhappy
and fearful wife comes to me with
the tale of their troubles. She is
dissatisfied, disappointed, disgruntled.
sometimes she is not appreciated,
sometimes her heart is hurt by cold
treatment, some times she feels that
she made q mistake in marrying and
yearns for career out in the world.
Few Get All That They Desired.
Perhaps life hasn't given her all she
wanted. Most of the rest of US are
in the same fix Very likely she hasn't
got all the happiness she expected out
come true. What she needs to do is
to count up the things she has got and
see how she can do a better business
and get more happiness and good ont
of the things she has.
If we took stock of ourselves oftener.
wouldn't we blame ourselves more for
many of the failures of life and other
people less2 Our husbands no Longer
show US the attentions that thew did
when they were our sweethearts and
we cry out that marriage is a failure.
DO we take as much pains to please
the husband as we did the lover?
Mothers Are to Blame.
Our children are rude and iIlman-
nered, and when they grow mn thev
turn out badly. Whose fault but the
mothers who raised them? We have
no friends Do we ever go out of our
way 10 make friends or TO show love
and kindness to anv human beiDo-S
We, who are working women. COM
plain we are i'll paid Are We doing
good work chat is worth good money?
Let's take stock Of what we are r-ivf1e-
others before we condemn them too
severely. 'O