Evening star., 1935-08-22
BY BETSY CASWELL.
REMEMBER, years ago, when the
first controversy was raging about
the "new-fangled nonsense" in

REMEMBER, years hSU, Wilcu Iiio
first controversy was raging about
the ''new-fangled nonsense" in
L the matter of bringing up babies.
Like all the rest of my generation,
I had been rocked to sleep and sung to,
and enjoyed the undivided attention
and alteration of the entire family.
My uncle" walked" me when COM
planned of internal unrest. and every
night before going to bed I was parked
on my old nurses lap and creased
from head to foot with mutton tallow
"to keep me from ketchin' cold"
string of amber beads tightly en-
circled my neck. as charm to ward
off croup-which. as matter OF fact
I never did have! I got milk
poisoning" and was fed on barley
water and rice until I was nearly
year old-the idea of orange juice or
any Semi-solid food before that was
simply unheard of A rabbits foot
was tucked under my pillow, and
Nanny made sure that it was the
left-hind foot Of a graveyard rabbit
"ketched" at the full of the moon by
cross-eyed man, so it must have been
tops in its line.
In spite of all these happenings
or perhaps because of them-I grew
up to tower over my parents in height.
BY all modern tenets. should have
been a runty child, with full-fiedged
case of rickets. and subject to every
III to which the flesh is heir.
WHEN my first cousin came along.
w about 10 years later. the new
ideas on baby raising were well under
way. Grandmothers were being firmly
told to go way back and sit down"
and the babies we're left severely alone
when they cried. This naturally,
started all sorts of domestic riots. TIE
age-old statement well, We never do
that in my day was heard on all
occasions, and the door to the nursery
became a battle-ground, where ooting
grandmammas and stern, determined
mammas waged the fight Of sentiment
and affection against science. hygiene
and psychology.
My family was torn every which
way during this period and the proper
method of baby handling was the un-
ending topic of conversation. My
aunt stood pat in spite of all coaXing,
storming and tears on the part of my
grandmother. and the heir apparent
was left strictly to his antiseptic
career. He was never picked up when
he cried. he vas fed absolutely ac-
cording to schedule, his formula was
accurate to the last grain of milk
sugar, he was solemnly weighed every
morning, and a chart kept of every
deviation from the straight and mar
row path Of his routine. The toys
with which he was allowed to play
were sterilized before he handled them
and they were, even from the first, of
the educational" variety and pur-
chased with the view of developing
certain mental traits and charac-
teristics.
LIE WAS never allowed pets-I had
possessed countless stray cats
and NANCY dogs from the time was
able to pull tail-and singing to him
was completely taboo except at certain
hours of the day, when the songs were
carefully chosen to especially benefit
any musical tendencies he might have.
Where 7 had been swaddled in trailing
dresses over layers of starched petit
coats, under which my feet we're lost
In their knitted woolly bootees, he
spent most of his day attired in a loin
cloth and a smile, barefooted and
untrammeled.
He never had Group, either, although
mutton tallow was never brought
within shifting distance of his buttony
nose, and amber beads were relegated
to the attic. A rabbits foot under his
pillow was unthinkable, but he didn't
seem to suffer from the lack of one.
He grew to be a little taller than I
am-big and husky and healthy in
every way.
GRANDMOTHER was terribly con-
~ fused. She had pointed to me
with pride, as being the animated ex-
ample of the efficacy Of her method
in rearing babies-then, in direct refu-
tation of her contention that her way
was best, along. came the product of
the other system-just as big, brawny
and happy as I was. 1t was bad
time. Family relations were strained
for some years-until, in fact, the ad-
vent of new generation started the
whole thing of on another angle.
For we mothers of today, happily,
have managed to combine the best
ways Of both the old method and the
new, with the result that our children
will probably grow up to be super
sized and super intelligent. We feed
them according to the best medical
and dietary ideas, we check their
physical progress with care, we
understand the why's and where