The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1940-05-16
SIMPLE THRILLS
FRANCES DUNLAP HERON

The three Arnold children burst in
at the front door shouting excitedly.
Mother, may we ride over to town
with Mrs. Rogers to bring Mr. Rogers
home from work ?" asks Jean.
"Why, of course. But" and Mrs.
Arnold held up her hand for mo-
ment's silence, remember not to lean
against the doors of the carr
eyes, Mother" they answered in
chorus. Then Jean, Jack and little
Peggy dashed out of doors again.
"My! how excited they seem over a
car ride!" remarked Mrs. Arnold's
friend, Thelma Johnson, who had
dropped in for a chat. "Car rides
don't interest my offspring any more!
In fact, it seems to me they don't get
excited over anything, the way l did
when l was young. Their sophisti-
cation worries me. How have you
managed to keep yours so that they
are thrilled over little things?"
"Well, George and l have tried to
follow the rules that applied to you and
me and him when we were children
There weren't radios and automobiles
and regular trips to the city for us,
so we became excited over an ice
cream cone, while a trip to town to see
the circus parade left us speechless."
"Those were the good old days! But
how can you in 1910 keep Jean and
Jack and Peggy satisfied with simple
things? I've noticed they are always
the happiest children in the neighbor-
hood"
perhaps if we had more money it
wouldn't be so easy. When Jean reach
ed the age Of four or five she began
to notice that we didn't have an auto
mobile or as nice furniture as some of
the neighbors, and she expressed her
dissatisfaction. l explained that the
things that really made us happy were
the little things, like kind words and
stories at bedtime and Daddy coming
home from work. And we would GER
tainly rather have sweet little broth
er and sister than an automobile. Jean
agreed.
$50 because we haven't an automo-
bile, ride into town with Mrs. Rogers
is big event. Once each summer we
rent car and drive out to the Forest
Preserves for picnic supper. That
: AsSAways a memorable event, talked
of and planned for weeks ahead. Also,
once each summer we go to the zoo
and buy our lunch on the grounds.
"We take the youngsters to very
foy,, h,1f f,,O throo ~
year we take them to those that are
especially suitable for children.
"We try to plan most of our pleas
ures around our own family, for we
want our children to associate enjoy
ment, stability and affection with
their home life, both now and after
they are grown. We believe they are
going to need that feeling of security
to uphold them in this changing
world.
zone of our simplest forms of en-
tertainment, but one they love, is for
the whole family to go for walk
after supper. We study the new
houses being built, examine flowers
and trees and stop to chat with peo-
pie in their front yards The young
sters have learned a lot on those
walks. In winter time we often pop
corn and read stories aloud after sup
per-"
Mrs. Johnson sighed. "And it's all as
simple as that! Pm afraid my child
ren have done so many exciting things
that the edge is worn off of their en-
thusiasm"
at isn't too late to sharpen it," Mrs.
Arnold suggested. "Give the family
walks and the popcorn parties trial,
and see if your Harriet and Billy don't
find them a delight. Children really
like simple things if we give them a
chance"