The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-11-16
M ke Yourself FriendOfHis
 Mother
By BETTY VINCENT

TTIOLET-AGNES says that she hates V to feel like horse thief or pro-
 fessional shop-lifter and yet that is exactly the way her mother-ln-1aw-to-De makes her feel every time they meet. On the other hand Florabelle complains that her mother-in-law-to-be IS so pat ronizing that she feels like a child of six or an idiot just escaped from an asylum.
 "And neither one of these girls is exaggerating" chimes in their young married cousin. i've talked with a number of girls about the mothers of men to whom they are engaged and they all say the same thing, either his moth- era streats you as if you had robbed her of her most precious jewel or else she acts as if you were poor little dear who didn't know anything about house. keeping, linens, food values or mems natures, and it's up to her to initiate you into life"
 And yet
 There is a lot to say for his mother, no matter whether she considers you the thief who stole her sons heart or whether she tries to give you all the knowledge she has gained in her mar ried life every half hour you spend together.
 The girl with a sense of humor and slight knowledge of human nature will appreciate this and in short time gain the heart of her mother-in-law-to- be as completely as she gained the son who stands between them. And it oIv to m EQ friends with "his' mother, as many of the happiest married women will tell you. Mothers-in-law have been excel lent material for humorous writers and cartoonists, but in real life" they have proved very helpful and frequently as important a tie and bond as children.
 After all "his mother" holds the key to his heart. She has known him from the cradle up, and the girl who is to marry him might find this key to his heart very successful one when com bined with the one she already holds. His mother doesn't hand this key over at once, but after they have become friends and established that "daugh-, terly" feeling it is surprising how help full she may be.
 If Violet-Agnes is clever she will dis pense with that uppermost thought that her er-in-law-to-be considers her a horse thief or a feminine sheik who has stolen her sons heart. In fact, she will admit it and meet his mother on these grounds! In way she has won his heart and having won she ought to show her appreciation of her future husband. That is the nearest way to his mothers heart. One sentence of ap- preciatiOn-one murmur of Jack has the most adorable disposition" or Jack has such big heart" and this mother in-law-to-be will smile with "So you've discovered that; well, he was just that way as a childi" Then she'll get out the old family album and you'll see Jack before he cut his teeth, in his first baseball suit, as choir boy, at grad uation and from then on you and his mother will be friends.
 And the same might be said in Flora belle's case. Even if her mother-in- law to-be does make her feel about "six" GOT like an idiot escaped from an asylum" she'll just have to put all this to one side and remember that "his" mother really does know a lot more than she does. And if she will just let her tell her a few things like how to test linen, how to make tea biscuits light, and how to hold husbands love-especially Bob's--some day she will have taught her all the lessons of domestic felic- ity and then how happy they can be in the knowledge that really they are the two most clever women on earth