Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 January 1917 — TRAINING TODAY'S BOYS AND GIRLS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

TRAINING TODAY'S BOYS AND GIRLS

Their Holidays Oft Demoralize the Household. PREPARATION IS NECESSARY Mental as Well as Material -Readjustments Must BeMade In Order toSuccess.

By SIDONIE M. GRUENBERG.

WITH a sigh of relief a certain mother sank into a rocker and exclgiwjfl: “Thank goodness this vacation is over and the children will be back in schooLtemorrow I” Ana her expression of relief was echoed —unconsciously, of course—4n thousands of homes all over the land. Every year, several times a year, whatever routine may have been fortunate enough to establish in our various households is rudely broken up by the advent of holidays and vacations. No matter how experienced we are, no matter how carefully we plan our calendar and figure our budget, the. holidays always seem to catch us unawares. Of course we know they are coming. We make preparations, sometimes weeks in "advance, for a hundred Uttle details. But we never seem to anticipate the fact that the vacations and holidays do break up the routine for sleeping and eating and playing. Indeed, our weekly Saturdays and Sundays ought to teach us a lesson, but some of us simply will not learn. Have you never noticed that children will sleep inter on Saturdays and on holidays than they do on ordinary weekdays? And by the same token they will sleep later during holiday week than during ordinary weeks. And then we are annoyed anew that breakfast is late and that the “whole house is upset”—annoyed and somewhat perplexed, too, for we do not seem able to make out just what the trouble is until it is all over. But that is not the worst of it There Is always something extra to do during these trying days—all the more reason why we should be undisturbed —but then the disturbance is at its worst It is all very exasperating as well as perplexing, and it only shows how patient we are that there isn’t more friction than there is. But when we come io think of it, the children are not so much to blame. If there are boys or girls home from college or hoarding school, don't they

want to spend much time with their friends? You wouldn’t have it otherwise; yet that means visiting and entertaining—and you have to take your share. And it means getting ready and keeping appointments —or missing them —and coming home late, aqd then perhaps a little more conversation with the door half open; and air of these things do so break up the even tenor of older people’s ways. Then there is the excitement that goes through the air; you simply cannot escape it. And the noise itself is distracting enough. Nor are the younger children any more restful. Everybody seems to feel Inspired by the anarchy of interrupted routine of work and play. And it always takes us by surprise. But why can we Well, we can if we know just what it is that we are to prepare for. We are prepared with the additional apples’or cookies, and we usually have our decorations and housecleaning off our hands in time. But the irregularities of the children’s free time find us mentally unprepared. The fact is that, although we have again and again experienced the distraction that comes at these times, we persist in keeping our thoughts in their familiar ruts, with the result that the demands upon our attention made by the children come as disturbances, and we resent them. The kind of preparedness needed by the parent for meeting the trying ordeals of the children’s days at home is entirely a mental one. - It is, in fact, nothing but assuming the appropriate state of mind. And the problem is one that every woman can understand from -her own experience. Just imagine, for example, that you made an afternoon call on a friend, or attended a reception, with your mind fixed on the details of your domestic establishment. You know just exactly what would happen/ Mrs. Gushley will make a remark about the lovely fur trimmings on your cobweb-netting dress, and you will answer, absent-mindedly, that you Intend to>£et the trimmings for the fir tree after putting the last batch of preserves away. Or someone wl.ll ask you ■to pass the sandwiches, and'you will catch yourself thinking aloud, “Don’t you know when yob have enough?” Of course, if you did anything like that In company you would soon cut off the supply of invitations. But that

is exactly the sort of thing we doceostantly with our own children. We, give them only half or less of the attention that is required for plain, docent conversation on, the ordinary remarks and comments of everyday intercourse. And when they ply us with tnore than the usual number of questions, or relate t& us more than the - usual exciting adventures Cexcltlng to them, not tons), we either repulse tffem as intruders upon our ' mental seclusion or we meet their advances with, half-hearted listlessness and languid smiles. This may look polite and friendly enough externally, but does not altogether conceal the lack

of interest. And when it is all over we still feel that we have experienced a real hardship. When the holiday season next approaches—and, so far as the children are concerned, there Isa respite from routine every week —let us be prepared by clearing the decks, as far as possible, of all thoughts and concerns that are not immediately related to the chil- • dren’s own ihterests. Let us then give the children, while we are with them, our undivided aitentlbff, confident that our neglected cares will receive their due share when the children 'are about their business. (

They Will Sleep Later During the Holidays.

And the Noise itself Is Distracting Enough.