The Washington times., 1918-07-23
The Child Who's Neat
HAS MUCH TO BE THANKFUL FOR
Are You, Father and Mother, Teach
ing Your Boys and Girls the
Value of TidineSs

mother compromised by letting them
wear one another's clothing.
Tn e comb and brush7 Han N
hours search through every room IN
the house was actually made before =
could be located.
Towels! The youngsters an dried
on the same one when Il could -
found, and when an eczema brokeO8
on ones face. by the win Of PrONeP
dence.- they an got IT.
The older girls helped about -
house. They used to wash a..
dishes and set the table. But a.
mother was big. and fat. and gooa-
natured, and-what Differences 61
II make whether the tablecfOeA
was dirty or elean-What differenco
did IT make how the dishes wsFo
thrown on the table-Sit's Just for
ourselves" she would excuse.
Cleanliness, neatness, a tidy pOa
sonaI appearance the children wero
taught to reserve for Sundays,
when people could see-them" But,
alasi there had not been enough
Sundays in the life Of this young
woman to make tidy appearanes .
fixed habit
Married life offered any numbar
OF possibilities to indulge her siEt-
ternly habits Never having been
taught to think ahead or arise
early. the last moment found this
young bride slipping into an III
fitting kimono and impossible slip
pers and cooking At" = makeshift
breakfast
OF course, there was never .
towel in the bathroom, and the poor
husband had to rake through q
quantity OF soiled linen TO ind one
that he had used some moons be-
fore.
She had the good enough for
us" idea even when the husband
had asked her on several occasions
why he always ate from q dirty
table cloth
Sometimes it's the other way. A
boy brought up in a home where
instruction in neatnesS and tidfness
IS considered cruelty TO children
picks as LIES partner a very tidy
girl, and the lack OF tidiness On
the part OF the husband is a very
sore spot in the domestic fabric.
A reader. recognizing her lack %
early training in this respect. writes
and asks me what she is going to
do about ii now. She said Test I
PERISH IN my own uAlus IN my pretty
home, tell me what to do"
A newspaper article recently
came to my notice in which a tenn
peramental novelist dscries the
present day fad OF efficiency in the
home And yet I can see no other
way to help the woman who con-
fesses her lack OF early training in
tidiness and good housekeeping
than TO advise her to simplify her
housekeeping and then write out .
plan by which she will perform
thoroughly a particular task at q
set time each day for a long. long
time.
II you have not been taught tidi-
ness at home do not be discouraged
IL is not easy to form new habits In
maturity, but certainly IL is not
impossible. Go slowly at first. Chas-
tise yourself regularly for every
shortcoming in this direction. II you
ind in the morning that you have
just stepped out OF your clothes
and into bed, pick up and press
those ill-treated clothes and then
make yourself purchase a Thrift
Stamp, shall say for punishment?
And to the mothers OF today who
are training the grown-ups Of to-
morrow, let me say that while Il
may cause you considerable extra
trouble to inculcate neatness and
tidiness in your little charges. not
only they. but the community as
well. will thank you in the years to
come.