Evening star., 1942-03-02
Stress Little
Girls Good
Grooming
Becoming Clothes
See Her Through
Awkward Age
Bv Leffice Lee Street,

Skinned back hair, pig tails, plain
rolled brims and severe little skirts
and sweaters are good taste and
beguiling when worn by a small
miss Of six or seven or even eight,
depending upon her size. But If
she is overly tall for her age. and If
in her ninth year, let us say, she
suddenly stretches out into a gang
ling child who is all elbows and
blundering feet, why then think
that she should wear a more fiat
tering hair do" and more becoming
frocks. Neither one of these need
be fussy to soften the gawky out
lines of q little girl painfully ap-
preaching awkward age"
The beginning of adolescence sim
ply means that the child's femininity
is awakening, and the fact that she
Is a girl and not boy, is obviously
manifested. So while the austere
hair dress was cute when she had
a definitely little girl look" 1t is very
often glaringly ugly year or SO
later. 1t Is attractive for any wo-
man to enhance her feminine
charms, and the same holds true of
the pre-teen age girl who will soon
emerge into lovely young woman
hood.
This awkward age" is harder for
some mothers daughters to bear
than it is for others, and the mother
herself can do q great deal to BAN
ish many OF her little girls worries
and uncertainties by refraining
from criticism, ridicule or remarks
like this: II just cannot find be-
coming dresses for you now that
your legs have grown so long"
Without q doubt the child Is all
too conscious Of her bony knees,
restless hands and too long neck,
and such remarks can cause a COM
plete collapse of self-confidence and
destroy any dreams she may have
woven wherein she pictured herself
gracefully floating through q waltz.
airy in pink tulle, with flowers in
her hair.
The young miss who Is stepping
so reluctantly and insecurely into
adolescence needs a build up,
praise and frank discussions as
to how she may improve her appear
ance and attain a graceful, easy
and poised carriage while walking,
sitting and standing.
Good posture, as we know. is an
important factor to health and
beauty. The mother who neglected
her little girls posture when she
was three years old has only herself
to blame when, with dismay, she
complains about her childs slumped
shoulders, protruding neck and
conspicuous abdomen at thirteen.
II your child does not stand well,
I think that you should do some
thing about it right now. My PAM
phlet on posture will give you sug-
gestions as to how to correct faults
in walking, standing and sitting,
and also describes several exercises
for the body and feet. 1t is free
to you if you will write me, care OF
this paper, and incloee self
addressed, stamped (3-cenO en-
velope with your request.
The periodic health examination
by good doctor should not be
neglected at this age, and whole
some, we'll balanced diet that does
not tolerate foods that are too rich
and fancy should be abided by
Plenty of sleep and outdoor exercise
are needed, too; an avoidance OF
fatigue. Sympathy and attention
should be paid to the doldrums and
miseries that are likely to tempo
rarily take the sunshine out Of the
! life of the pre-teen-ager.
BY the time a little girl is 9 or 10
she should begin to take care OF
her beauty routine, and by this
mean that she should not be per-
mitted to bathe hastily or to brush
her hair indifferently. She can be
trained to be thorough in the matter
of grooming, and If she forms this
good habit she will find that it is
second nature to keep herself neat
and immaculate when she Is grown
The attention to small duties, such
as keeping her fngernails clean and
filed, the use Of a good face soap
once or twice a day. weekly sham.
poo and daily hairbrushing, all con-
tribute in the end to making young
! girl dainty and appealingly fresh
and sweet.