Evening star., 1942-02-25

nocent little darlings at play In q
bitter quarrel in which they called
each other vile names and accused
each other of every sort of crime
and misdemeanor, and who, shocked
called out to them: My dears
you mustn't talk to each other like
that! You mustn't say such things
to each other. You mustn't fight
You must love each other and be
sweet and gentle with each other.
But, mother, we weren't fighting,
protested the children, I'VE were
only playing husband and wife. an6
we were just talking the way you
and papa talk to each other"
This story might have happened
in millions of homes. Countless
men and women serve an appren.
ticeship in house-wrecking in theil
cradles when they see their parents
make home a place where they
give free rein to their tempers ano
cantankerousness and general cuss-
edneSs, and where they feel that
they do not have to use any of the
decencieS of self-restraint in deal
ing with mere husband or wife
A multitude of husbands and wives
stab each other daily with cruel
words that are like dagger thrust
in the heart, with bitter criticisms
that make wounds that never heal
with ridicule that burns like acid
into vanity, because all their lives
they have heard their mothers and
fathers saying fighting words to each
other, and it never occurred to
them that 1t was necessary to be
tactful and suave, or considerate of
the feelings, or even polite to the
one to whom you were married
Husbands and wives had to take II
whether they liked it or not.
We often hear it said that divorces
run in families. And so they do, be-
cause the children of parents who
never tried to make real success of
their marriages and who regarded
the marriage VOW lightly are apt to
follow their example and throw up
their hands and quit when their own
marriages fail to come up to the ex-
pectation of the happiness they have
done nothing to earn.
But it is also true that happy mar
riages run in families. Peaceful
homes are practically hereditary,
and good husbands and wives rear
the children who have their own
qualities. A man who has always
seen his father treat his mother with
a tenderness and consideration
treats his wife as if she were a Lady
Love. A girl who has always seen
her mother show her father admira-
ton, affection and appreciation
makes the true husband-spoiler.
Considering that marriage is the
most important act in our lives, for
on it depends not only our happi-
ness but also our health and our
success in life, it Is strange that par
ents who desire their children's we'll
being above everything else, make
no effort to prepare them for it.
The boy who has been INDUCED all
his life; who has never been taught
to consider anybody but himself or
anything but his own pleasure, or to
control his temper; who has treated
his mother as if she were a servant
and his father as if he were nothing
but cash register; who has had no
sense of responsibility or duty de-
veloped in him, cannot possibly
make decent husband.
The girl who has been pampered
and spoiled until she is nothing but
a bunch of selflshness; who is lazy
and idle and shiftless and extrava-
CANT; who knows nothing of home
making and who thinks that the
man she marries should be the same
adoring slave her mother has always
been to her, makes a wife who is a
curse to her husband