Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-12-19
DOROTHY DIX'S LETTER BOX
There Would Be Less Lying Down on the
Matrimonial Job, Less Selfish Dumping
of Family Cares on Aged Parents, If
Children Would Only Realize That
Father and Mother Have Some Rights

thing that s c i%%aa a%%y %e W "a f think a Of their parents rents as 81 human M I be sssa
Children think Of their fathers and mothers as the source
WIN mst ei blessings 8t @ sd dl% n ot they think ri t5s OF hen en- tsn an n sysns.
are men and women, in addition to being parents; that they
their children should respect.
or course a small child unquesHonably takes for sra.ted that al
that la its parents parents , give and do for % it It'll It i. is merely mere y, the het order FER OF ntat r. that r
o mt" in th aO night; 1P 5bat NJ Mother 4B ps should %id clean lea ~ up ii the eG dirt it it brings amsa into Mt Ss ths
6 n9@sf that afg rat Gaa s h0uIi 3gf ' While Ie0n it p 99Ss' and "a ao dds t to n sse It It s ans
more As 81 ' 9sss sf ssEe @g: '9 4Sss si ssa'i Fsths ss ssgi %sts %S's ss sas
but but the they WIFI viii take Se' the %'G last dollar dollar they VS can wiring out Of "a the
59mig purse Purse, without WITH ut ever gr nee thinking in am that nne F4f me- o and
n t%sm seiaes and in to sr PtfS sg4 their R' WI de9 in '"Y earn
mans, A Saa fs'i sFeag 9 SaGGFti S OF Pe offs' s tniy hold 6sYf to F tSGs point sG tpoaf"vi h% about ~s
rights into consideration. They do not say, MY father and mother have
s sssa'pS oS m s9S o%a r 5f and and 6 6es as n "a a a' 6ari ia11 $ p 5ss e. to he : ! Z
in tho OF i ssqsso .5 shs s %s' a asss9.s n2 nSs 1ss their Of this ss is sa tssas
T yoa5r me- men T PPo pla a'e golf W While h II father aheT slaves H@@5' in l% an office fife
mother is performing on the gas range.
Apparently. it never crosses the mind of these despcable young po~
pie that after they re old enough to support Themselves nnms they have no
less @s do TO- they iSg'S err TP think eth that Mother and Father would like to take things
had t. d deny @S{ themselves so% S@v while they were raising and educating their chill
Another illustration of how little children regard the
With which Hi aye" yom @' mothers S1 turn n%9 owe their children to thaS
when sally wants IT'S to go to a q bridge oa@ss. luncheon 9hsn , NJ Maud
TWahmotna t eld 5qhS a 4 wants af to q eo to t Europe S%e' for @ t%s s summ mPm shs
leaves e@ves them heny with IN a as thousand no SAND instructions s"a as to diet and
i ia0n@e a6S %fa@Gi%s Nc %% Becomes @%S Nothing %Gi but but t@s sort It
OF universal nursemaid.
1t would shock these daughters to be told what a mean, selfish thing
they do in not standing by and doing their own baby tending as Mother
did hers They themselves, know what it is to walk the coHc-whats
broken nights mean how incessant must be the careg given little children
how nerve racking chfldrens noise is. Yet they fost this burden on
Mother without a pang of conjunction because they are 81 used to see-
It never occurs to them that she would like to fold her hands in :
little peace and rest; Furthermore, that she has earned it by bringing Wp
one family, and her daughters haven't any right to make her substitute.
on raising another one. H#
Then there are the children who lay their matrimonial He
burdens on their parents. FL
John gets married before he Is earning enough tic up
port a family Susie marrtes a neer-do-well in spite of all ft
efforts to prevent It, Fanny discovers that the man to whom
she is married is not her soul mate, and gets a divorce, and
comes back home with two II three children. av
None of these selfish young people, bent IN gratifying
their own desires. considers Fathers and Mothers rights in
the matter yet the parents in the end. re the real sacrifices.
They can't let John and his wife and children starve, and SO thu
| money that Father and Mother had saved up for their old age goes IN
putances to help him along. They can't shut the door in Fannys face
when she comes back with her divorce and her haf-orphaned children.
so Father works harder and Mother pnches and economies more to
them,
Surely there is no other thing that children need to real
lie 81 much as that their parents have some rights Perhaps 81
if they understood this, and that after a man and a woman
have raised a family of children they have a right to peace BY
and quiet and their own money, there would be fewer para
site SONS and daughters.
Perhaps. il they realized that parents had rights. more young people
would consider how their marriages would react o their parents, and
many a disgruntled wife would carry o. with a marriage that wasn't per
fecuy congen1al rather than burden her old parents with her own and her
chndren's support. DOROTHY DIX.
Copyright, 1928, by Public Ledger Company