LEAGUE OF MOTHERS.

Hutt News, Volume 7, Issue 20, 17 October 1934, Page 5

LEAGUE OF MOTHERS.

LOWES HTJTT BRANCH. "MOTHER® AND DAUGHTERS." Community singing made a cheerful prelude to the opening of the latest meeting of the Lower Hutt branch of the League of Mothers. The platform presented as usual, a picture of artistic beauty with branches o.f blossoms, lilies and brilliantly-hued anemones. Mrs. H. Lowo presided over a large assemblage of members and friends. Votes of sympathy were passed to Dr. Elizabeth Bryson, Mrs. Dawson and the relatives of the late Miss Riley. Mrs. Lopdell spoke very interestingly of her visit to the Maori branch at \Vaikaremoana ; commenting on the reverence, the natural dignity and poise of the Maori women with whom shi came in contact there. A vivid picture of a little child kneeling -at his evening players whilst his mind wanders quaintly through a little

world of his own, .was portrayed by tho choir's singing of A. A. Milne's "Christoper Robin." Bracketed with this number was Sterndale Bennett's "Sometimes in Summer," TRAINING OF CHILDREN. , After the serving of afternoon tea tho speaker, Miss Irene Wilson, principal of Queen Margaret College, was introduced and presented with a dainty basket of pink azaleas. She gave an outstanding address on "Mothers and Daughters," mainly based 011 experiences gleaned from school life. Certain aspects of parents, particularly mothers, were forcibly presented to the mind of the teacher. They were, the speaker said, often reluctant to face and accept the truth about any disabilities of their children. Rather than evade unpleasant facts in this respect, parents should try to take a dispassionate view, and by being perfectly honest and frank concerning the weakness of their children they were helping to clear the way to establish better things. Discussion of faults and failings in the presence of the children, and "rubbing it in" should not be tolerated except from a corrective and constructive standpoint, Miss Wilson continued. The pitting of one child against another should be strictly avoided. There were many valuable contributions to life and many different ways to excel other than by mere academic cleverness. HOME ATMOSPHERE. Tho mother jealous of her child's prestige, a prey to over-anxiety and over-partizanship, the clinging type of mother, the mother who becomes involved in the petty affairs of her family, the over-helpful mother, and the too unseilish mother were all dealt with in an illuminating manner. The speaker warned parents against exploiting the emotional bond. Children were more sensitive than many adults realised to tenseness and emotional complications in tho home atmosphere. A cheerful comnion-sense attitude, a serene and plain reasonableness, and a suppression of all evidence of overanxiety and vulnerability where the children are concerned, created an atmosphere most desirable for their comfort and well being. The speaker said that home most nearly approached the ideal where "the child matters so much ami knows it so little." Miss Wilson suggested that the evening meal time should be set apart as a

plwisant, jolly and courteous time together, when 'fault-finding, scolding, and criticism should be strictly banned and when a free interchange of the day's ideas and experiences should oe encouraged. At the conclusion of the address Mrs CLc.rlesworth proposed a hearty vote of ► hanks to the speaker, the enthusiastic acclamation with which it was carried testifying to the genuine appreciation of un arresting talk. The singing of the National Anthem brought the meeting to a close. MOERA BRANCH MEETING. "SANCTITY OF MARRIAGE." A well-attended meeting of the Moera branch of the League of Mothers was held in the Community Hall, Moera last week. ' The speaker for the afternoon, Rev. G. V. Gerard, in a very fine address on the "Sanctity of Marriage," discussed the position of woman in society in other periods of history and in other countries of the present, and ho attributed to Christianity the improvement in the status to-day in the Western World. The speaker referred to the suggestion to abolish the family as an institution, but declared such a step not only inadvisable but also impracticable. Hhe showed how man'had a much longer period of infancy than other creatures, and 1 emphasised the value and power of a mother's influence during that period. Mr. Gerard urged parents not to "spoil" their children—not to aim at giving them all they desire, but rather to strive to inculcate from their earliest years self control and self rcspect. These two attributes were essential in young men and young women before marriage and after. Songs by Mesdames Gregor and Macintosh, accompanied respectively by Mesdames Wedekind and Miltively by Mesdames Wedekind and Milsom added to the pleasure of the afternoon. The thought for the month appropriately chosen by Mrs Bennett, was "Happiness is a great love and mueli serving." Afternoon tea and a social quarter of an hour brought the meeting to a close. ■