The Washington times., 1919-09-11

An neknoWbeaBea eE)eFt on eooLA8G
aRd Oh an Ratfers peFaainlnge e
the Household.
VERY household at some time
or other has had to deal with
an aged relative. or some
aged person who makes his or her
home with the family. And too
often the aged feel unhappy be-
cause OF their apparent useless
ness. Yet the mistress OF the
home can make the declining years
Of these folks quite livable IL she
. viii give 9 thought now and then
to some way Of occupying them.
Occupations, however. should be
created without making the aged
feel that they have been created.
One really thoughtful woman has
brought a lot Of happiness into the
life Of her husbands mother by Just
a little effort, The old lady had
made a heroic sacrifice to bring her
boy to manhood and give him the
finest education possible. And the
wife knew and appreciated this.
And so instead Of complaining OF
the childishness Of this once effic-
lent old soul, she created little
tasks for her.
my. my, mother" she would say
at times. Here IL is almost supper
time and the beans for Johns sup
per have not been strung. And un-
less mother gets right in and helps
me, we won't have a vegetable at
all tonight" And with a gentle
push she would wheel the old lady's
chair right into the kitchen and let
he help. Sometimes the poor
-
dozen, but even then she would be
sure to tell John the moment he
entered that she had helped or he'd.
have had no supper tonight.
Then again mother" would knit
for a whole week trying to put a
bit OF crochet around the edge OF
loosely woven wash cloth. But can
you imagine her. pride when some
little grandchild received that en-
thusiastically?
At cake-making time mother
would often beat the eggs during
the whole process OF mixing and
feel she had we'll spent her time
when the loving daughter-in-law
showed her the finished product
covered with rich and dripping
chocolate.
Old gentlemen may also be made
to feel useful in a household and
certainly should be. A hard-to-
get -along-with old man took quite
a different turn when the house
wife said to him kindly: "Grandad,
long ago when you were lighting,
show US how you did when you
were on K. p. and peeed potatoesl'
OF course, there was a hearty
laugh, but "grandad' turned right
in and cheerily occupied himself for
a pleasant half hour.
II ever you have had the mis-
fortune to have to stay several
weeks in a hospital, you know how
the hours drag even in a particu-
larly well managed place. Have
you ever thought how long IL must
seem to the service men who are
cOnvalescing in the various hospi-
tails? Here Is a way in which borh
aged men and women can while
away time and also AFFORD moments
OF Joy for groWn-up cOnvalescents
as well as children.
Save the sporting page OF your
newspapers. Let "grandad" or
grandma" sew a dozen of the lat
est OF these together so that they
open like a book. Or have the
photographs OF the favorite heroes
in the world Of sport cut out and
mounted on brown paper with a
-four and water paste. Newspaper
comics or short stories for children
may be clipped and mounted and
will prove a real JOY giver. to many
a patient little sufferer.
A1yone Is far better on occu-
pied. even at unimportant work,
than idle and brooding. And this
is specially true OF the folk who
have grown old. but are still q part
OF our households.