The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1921-08-17

filled with passionate gratitude
toward the daughter-fn-law wno
does not try to put an end 70 them.
but actively encourages them.
A daughfer-in-law being younger
and. after all. the victor. can wen
afford TO be generous and 70 make
the advances 70 her mother-in-iaw.
She should not let her pride keep
her from openly seeking her moth
er-in-law's favor. She should, WOO,
the older woman. and use every art
and while she is mistress Of to gain
her affections. To love and be
loved is the greatest longing of
every heart. and none OF us. not
even mother-in-lsws. are proof
against those who show they like
us and want us to like them. Fire
melts ice every time.
The daughter -in-law should show
some gratitude towards her moth
sr-in-law for the gift she made
her. It takes the pains Of hell, and
twenty-five or thirty years of
ceaseless toll, and sacrifices and
care to bring q boy into the world
and ut him to make some girl
good husband. and for her to take
him without one word OF thanks. or
appreciation to the mother who
has bestowed upon her the greatest
boon one woman can bestow on an
other Is pretty base thing TO do,
when you come TO think about IL.
So a few heart felt words OF graft
tude would be very sure OF max
ing a hit with mother-in-law, pro.
ided IT didn't strike her dead with
surprise.
Daughter-in-law can also acquire
merit in mothers eyes by going
to her for advice. The subtlest
fiattery in the world is that implied
by asking another's opinion Of
your purchases your ideas you
conduct. for IL implies you have
come to ST at the feet of incarnate
wisdom. Mother-in-lsws are pccu-
liarly subject to this line of at
tack and any daughter-in-law can
make herself persona gratia by
asking her husbands mother to
help her pick out her furniture. and
teach her how to cook.
Half of the trouble between
mother-in-laws and daughters-in
laws arises from the bride rushing
to her own mother with all of her
| problems. and asking her advice in
stead Of counselling with her hus-
bands mother. For mother-in-law
doesn't forget that il is her sons
money that is paying the bills, and
that II any outsider has a right to
say how 1t is spent, she is the
one.
The young woman who wants to
win her mother-in-law's favor does
well to put the soft pedal on the
love-making and refrain from haunt-
ing her conquest in the older wom-
ans face. OF course. mother wants
her son to be devoted to the woman
he has married, but human nature
is human nature. and It takes a
heroic woman TO enjoy seeing the
son that she worships bestowing a
tenderness upon his wife he never
to be ordered about in a way she
would not have dared to even at
tempt with him.
And above all, don't let your hus-
band sing your praises to his moth
err. and tell her what a wonderful
manager you are, and that he never
tasted such cooking. Many a man
makes that blunder in trying to
make his mother like his wife. No
mother ever lived who didn't cher
ish the fond illusion that her son
thinks her the paragon of her sex,
and that he goes through life hun
| gering for things like mother used
to make. Never dispel this illu-
sion. Rather push it along. so that
your mother-in-law shall pity her
son and cease to be jealous of you,
But love mother-in-law, and let
her see You do. Be interested in
her and cordial to her. In that
is al the law and the prophets OF
how TO win a mother-in-law. No
heart resists love long
Copyright, 1871. Wheeler Syndicate. Ine.)