The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-01-19
NpYOUR
 CHILDREN
By Olive Roberts Barton
07o5s 57 Nl1 sEaWel. Nc.
CHILDREN MUST GO TO BED
 EARLY.

EARLY.
 It Is best for very little children to go to bed early-before dinner unless you are so situated that noon dinner suits best, and tho lighter evening meal Is at 5 or 5:SO, as happens in many country districts.
 But right here arises big prob lem. When is daddy to see his children If not after he comes home from work? He goes away in the morning usually without time to do more than kiss them a hurried goodbye. If he lives near his work he may be home for a few minutes at noon, of course, but most fathers, especially In large cities, never see their chil- dren until evening.
 The older children he may see. and even have time for story or romp with them before bedtime. It is tfie child under 6 that he may be a stranger to if the proper routine of sleep is adhered to. And to put a child of this age to bed at o'clock is proper. After he is 5, a little boy or girl should be in bed by seven or not later than 7:30.
 Many Fathers Object. believe 1t is due to this prob- lem about fathers that so many mothers do not approve of the early bed time. And who can blame them? They want their lit- tie children to know and love their daddies.
 Besides If dad comes home night after night and finds the baby in bed he Is likely to raise q rumpus and declare that this idea of put ting kids to sleep at such an hour is all tomfoolery and nonsense. It is right and human that a man should know his children when they are little. He loves them as much as their mother does. But there Is one thing to remember. The things that are best for child (and close to IS hours sleep at night Is one of them) seem almost invariably to call for sacrifice on the part of one parent or the other. or both. Moreover. q child's memory when he is older usually does not cover this early period. When he is old enough to stay up little later, this Is the time when real memory begins His father has plenty of time to become his be- loved hero and friend. Besides. there are Sundays. too, and per haps Saturday afternoons if he Is working. These hard times, like all other ill-winds, have their good points. Men are seeing more of their families, even if the hours so spent are full of worry and hearaches.
 Table Temptations. If the family rises late, Of course, a young child being thus assured of his full quota of sleep. can be put to bed little later. But this brings complications
 He wants to be at the table with the family where he sees pork and beans or potatoes cooked with cheese, rich gravies. perhaps pic or cake. This Is only guessing but we all know that adult food is not baby food. And to deprive him causes trouble. If meals are sim | pie and the kind he can eat, then there is no argument. But fathers do not enjoy such meals as a rule
 The evening meal should be q light
 meal for very little people, and in
 deed for all children.
 Each mother must adjust he
 work and her schedule to suit he
 particular case. But 1t Is becom
 ing more and more the custom t
 tuck the little people into bet
 early, after their own light littl,
 supper at 5, and gradually men o
 family are becoming adjusted tt
 the new rule and are making tho
 best of it.