The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1915-04-18

MAY your arms never lack a child
were the words translated to her in her
early married days in India as those Ut
tered by an old priest who was wishing
her we'll. And the years that followed
had brought her five precious babies
four boys and a girl. Then came a period
during which the children grew up, and
only now and then came TO her arms In
literal sense And then the grand
children arrived. SO the old mans wish
was fulfilled.
But the babies of the new generation
the grandmother was expected to treat
1t was discovered, in quite a new man
ner and very much according 10 rule. One
of her law. more strict than
the rest never allowed her children TO
be kissed and what was more astonishing
never kissed them herself. The grand.
mother SO ached 10 caress the tirst lit
tie boy, who was so like his father her
own son. that sometimes her memory
bridged into the years and forgot them,
that II was often more a pain than a
pleasure to her to see him. But his
mothers will was adamant The boy
was to be brought up on hvsienic and
sensible principles. and kiss can be
called neither hygienic nor sensible anu
SO must be forbidden.
1
missed being kissed. lie was not a kiss
ing child, although in every way adorable
and very affectionate. His second broth
err a lovable person also, of very differ
ent clay. was always brushing his tiny
| mouth against peoples faces and muir
muring. Il love you" and his nurse would
surreptitiousy hug him and cover nm
with the kisses for which he evidently
yearned
Not so his grandmother. She, loyal SOUL
obeyed implicitly her daughter-in-law 5
| edict admitting that though her meth
| DDS of bringing up her children We're not
those to which she herself had adhered,
| they were worth the respect demanded
| by their obvious sincerity.
But she found that sincerity rather try
ing and grievously lacking in humor. Even
her own daughters methods Win her
| ol ldren reused her sense of the absurdlN
serious attitude by the modern mother,
of type in her relations toward her
! little ones.
Marjorie the granny's own daughter.
who had been called Baby for years
| by her adoring parents and her -four
brothers, never called her children Baby
at all, They were Peter and Ann from
the very first hour, or rather Peter was
Cyril until he was nearly u month old,
when. in Difference to his fathers de-
sire, the child was ohristened Peter.
There were no pet names. Marjorie
registered her sympathy with the TWEEN
tieth century crusade against sentiment
in the nursery in this way. 1t was less
| severe method than Monicas. the
mother who never kissed her little
ones, but to the grandmother and the
nurses rather girding.
For with pet name as n basis
argued the grandmother so much can
be made of an appeal to the children
when he is fretful and naughty and
needs to be coaxed out of an ugly mood
But Marjorie replied that the words
appeal and coax had no place in her
vocabulary. The children were never APP
pealed to and most certainly never
coaxed. They were taught to obey inn
plictly. and II they did not go straight
away We're made to do SO. They were
punished also afterwards for their re-
calcitrancy not corporally. but in some
way that appealed individually to each
child Peter. for example. fairly con-
stantly inhabited the corner, and Ann.
a greedy little girl. was deprived of
/ jam or cake at tea
The grandmother had quaint tale to
tell of Peter, over which she laughed
contentedly.
1t became the child's habit to pun
ish himself by making a race to the
corner when he thought he was in dis
grace and on one occasion. forestalling
Nemesis. in his funny little way. he
pushed in front of him a small chair ana
even snatched up a book en- PEASANT SO
that he might install himself quite com
| fortably in his old retreat
Marys child was the gradmother's
best and most intimate treasure. a III
tie girl named Celia. but always known
as Cissy. Mary was the daughter-in-laN
who was seven years older than her