The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-11-27
Dorothy Dix 7alks
The Stepmother-1

A woman who signs herself IA Per-
secuted Stepmother," asks me If I will
say a word of comfort to the women
who have undertaken the difficult task
OF bringing up some other woman's
children
I wish I could. but there is precious
little of comfort to say, beyond re-
minding those who are toiling at the
hardest and most thankless job on
earth, that heaven is their home, and
the jewels in their angel crown viii
be Kohinoors, if they faint not in we'll
doing. And that's nothing to cheer
about, for while we all hope to eventu-
ally receive our eternal reward, we are
none of US in a hurry to cash in on It,
No other woman's lot has SO many
thorns and SO few roses in it as the
stepmother's. No matter what she
does, she is invariably criticized, mis-
understood, eliminated. Her sacr1-
fees are rarely appreciated by those
for whom she makes them No mat
ter how good and kind she is, people
attribute to her motives those that be-
long to fiend, and the fact that IN
the face of this common knowledge
regarding the fate of stepmothers,
there are still women who marry
widoWers with children proves that the
race of fools, or saints. or martyrs. is
still extant Or else it shows that
widowers really have, what is often
attributed to them, a hypnotic power
with women which makes the fair sex
ready to get up and follow them when
they whistle, no matter what the
obstacle
It is the custom to pity the chill
dfen when widower gets married, for
we all have gloomy visions OF what
cruel stepmother can do to the
poor helpless little ones who have
fallen into her power, but while we
have our handkerchiefs out, and are
weeping over the woes of the children,
we might as well drop a few sympa-
thetic tears also for the stepmother,
and the things that a bunch of strenu-
Gus children are likely to do to her.
Heaven knows that raising ones
own children is no cinch. The reason
that God sends along with every baby,
as its birthday gift to its mother, that
unreasoning. uncritical, fDexhaust1ble
thing that we call the maternal pas
sion, and that enables every woman
to believe that each individual child
of hers is q transcendent genius and
a perfect beauty, is to give a woman
the patience to endure with all the
faults and aggravationS OF childhood,
and to make her believe that the child
is worth the trouble of rearing.
But the 'stepmother takes this bur-
den of yicarious motherhood volun-
tariIy upon her shoulders, and God
works no miracle in her behalf. He
leaves her to shift for herself. She
HAS 1lOilG VI liidl oAilAO anu A1iAeAeAoS~A
love for a child that makes her see
only high spirits in its wanton mis-
chievousness. and a sensitive temper
ament in it's howls of temper. When
little Johnnie takes q pin and draws
pictures OF animals on the mahogany
dining room table, his own mother
sees in it only the indication that Ma
ture has destined him to be q great
animal painter. But a stepmother
would see in the same act only the
wanton destruction of a cherished
piece of furniture, and fell that little
Johnnie ought to be spanked. That's
the difference of the point of view
between mine and thine.