Evening star., 1946-05-27
ADVICE TO MOTHER.

(From Mrs. F. H. K, Siluer Spring. J
First, I'll tell you how much I en-
Joy the RICH. I don't always have
time to read about world affairs,
but l never miss the RICH.
To Mrs. A. r. R., Washington, I'm
not too sure can help you, but
at least it's a consolation to know
you are not alone in your trouble I
have three preschool children, 4, 2
and 6 months and I know what it
is to feel that you are walking on
a tight rope" and will surely give
way" before too long. My husband
is also professional man and does
lot of work at home that requires
deep concentration. To make mat
tiers worse, when he was released
from the Army, we could only find
bungalow with two bedrooms, but
nice, full basement, which I put
to many uses.
I, too, have crying jag once in
a while and feel much better after
ward. ! read recently where every
one reaches that nerve cracking"
point about every 33 to 35 days, and
I've noticed it in my husband also.
My day starts at 6;45 when 1 get
up to get my husbands breakfast
and give baby his bottle. I then
fix the orange juice for all of them
and bathe and dress the older two.
Give them their breakfast and put
them out to play on nice days or
shoe them downstairs to play, where
we have rug on the floor (on half
of the basemenD, with two locker
trunks filled with toys. I then bathe
and dress the baby, give him his
orange juice, cereal and milk. II
know it isn't recommended by quite
a few people, but I always prop"
the bottle up, so I can be doing a
few things, such as washing out the
tub, picking up newspapers, making
beds. I then put the baby on his
tummy on pad on the floor. where
he can see what's going on around
him. One time saver, if your baby
takes a bottle, is to make about 10
bottles at time. If your milk is
delivered, it only comes every other
udy, dlly1lOW!
wash Tuesdays and Fridays or
Saturdays. Try to divide your wash
up so that you have some sheets
one day, some the other. Have a |
girl come in to do all your ironing
as it will save your back, disposition
and strength more than anything
else. I'm usually tired after the
week ends, as we usually visit our
folks on Sunday, and taking three
kids out for the day is very tiring
ordeal BY washing on Tuesday, I |
can rest quite a bit on Monday and
Just do little mending or letter
writing. !
Keep the children in jersey shirts
and overalls as much as possible to
save washing and ironing. Keep
Them outside as much as possible if
you can fence them i'm and then
they will be tired when bedtime
comes and not give you so much
trouble. All three of mine take
tWo-hour nap in the afternoon at
the same time, after lunch. That
gives me time to get caught up on
a few things.
sAlso get Mr.. R. to help a little
a. the dinner table so you will be
aDle to eat good substantial meal.
Assign two of the children to him
to help with their food. It's to
i his advantage as we'll as yours to
\get them to bed as early as possible
so let him help with the dishes
once in a while. I'm sure he'd be
glad to help if he knew how he
could help you and that your dis
position would be a little better,
Also, let him tell the children a
bedtime story. Children don't usual
ly see their fathers enough any,
how and this helps them a lot and
gives them f1rmer family tie.
The main thing is, don't worry.
Worry makes us old and with old
age, we lose our patience and un-
derstanding of small children. Chill
dren don't understand us and we're
much more peculiar than they are.
It's aWfully hard to get ahead in
your work, but if you want to do
something extra, such as making
chlldren'S clothes (Which is a great
money saver, let some of your
housework go. Don't worry about
your home if it isn't spic and span
all the time. People who are real
friends won't criticize and you
shouldn't worry about the others.
Just think of how we'll they would
do If they had your job.
Try to find as many work savers
as possible. Use a self-polish floor
wax, wax your furniture or use
a scratch-removing polish as these
don't show the dust as much. Have
things in their place so you'll know