The New York herald., 1922-06-18


One popularity of his, of which he
is totally unaware, but which in the
youngest boy is rapidly developing,
is an obstinacy which takes the form
of greeting any new suggestion with
the words: II won't" For instance
I told him that he needed a new
spring mattress for his bed; also. a
few days later. 1 suggested that his
country suit was in rags and must
be replaced. Both suggestions,
though obviously sensible. were
greeted without any hesitation by:
II won't"
We argued the matter at some
length, and I was told that IL new
mattress appeared he would throw
it out of the window. After an ex-
hausting half hour 1 gave way. Then
1 encouraged him to stay up late.
I engaged him in argument just be-
fore he went to bed. 1 regularly in
quired how he had slept and con-
uOiC0 VIII VII illo Otu lll, ulS.
He sleeps perfectly. but he began to
fancy that he suffered from insom-
MIA. Suddenly, ten days later, he
suggested to me that something
needed repairing in his bed. In the
last few days it had suddenly grown
uncomfortable. This mattress be-
ing 50 old, didn't I think it would
be good plan to scrap it and buy
a new one?
To which 1 meelly replied that I
was SO sorry he should have been
suffering such discomfort, and con-
veyed the impression that his sug-
gestion was entirely original. The
same thing happened in regard to
the country suit. My suggestion
must have gone round and round in
his mind until he persuaded himself
that here was another original idea
Of his own. Without any further
reference to our previous argument.
he asked me If 1 would mind call
ing at his tailor's to look at some
patterns. When 1 arrived I dis
covered to my surprise that they
were patterns for country suits.
This form of obstinacy brings him
into constant conflict with the
equally obstinate small son. Neither
will give way. and sometimes 1 find
1 need all my tact to keep COMPARE
tive peace. as it is rather difficult to
correct the father before the son.
One day l left them quite happily
preparing to build a castle of bricks
on the nursery floor, but after a few
moments violent screams were heard
and l rushed to them. expecting to
find the baby had hurt himself. In
stead l found both purple with pas
sion, clutching bricks tightly in both
hands, refusing to part with them.
as neither would build the tower the
way the other wanted. 1 have never
yet been able to make my husband
see that as the tower was being
built for the baby's amusement he
was justified in having it built the
way he wanted. and that my hus-
band was the one who was showing |
the worst form of obstinacy by in |
sisting that the child should be |
amused only in the way he chose. To |
me it is most astonishing fact that |
all men seem to demand the same |
resoning power from a small child |
as they do from a grown person.
Another thing which used to cause |
me constant worry and convince me
of sense of my own shortcomings |
was his criticism of the meals and |
the cooking of the food that 1 pro-
vided. In view of the warning given |
me before marriage / began to feel |
that my reign in this household |
would be one of short duration. The |
the house six years. and 1 had al
ways heard her spoken of so highly |
that / felt convinced the fault must |
lie with me and my choice of food |
rather than with her manner of |
cooking. / was also constantly being |
told what an easy matter it was to
keep house, and how magnificently |
everything had been managed when |
my husband had run the house him
self, giving the entire orders for |
tho dav to Cool- boucapoaid opd