WOMAN'S WORLD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15548, 4 March 1914, Page 12

WOMAN'S WORLD.

8 THE PART FATHER ' PLAYS..; ■■'''-,•'■ ■"*;'■■''"; : \''\ "\ .■■.•"'■•?.;'. : RESPECT FAMILIES OWE.' " Father is, of course, the head of r the; nominally. In Teal life, however, there are many cases where he never comes into his own until it is too late to bo of much comfort to him. Fathers in general support their homes more or less. successfully; supply their families with plenty to eat, sufficient to wear, and a littlerarely as touch as the family considers its due—to make merry. That, of course, is as it should be; from time immemorial men have thus discharged their duties to the home and to the State. But sometimes the question comes to those who look on from afar, " What does father get out of it?" In the ideal family, he gets unfailing deference, courtesy, and consideration, wields the sceptre of paternal authority as by divine right. That is in the ideal family. Unfortunately, however, the number of ideal families extant in these free-and-easy days would not figure imposingly in a statistical table. Father is a fine man, a worthy example of the merits of thrift and sobriety, and a pattern to all believers, but sometimes, to be quite candid, he is a little trying, viewed from our modem standpoint. He has certain kinks of temperament, perhaps; slow, methodical habits that put a curb on youthful impatience. He occasionally does queer things when ?ov. have company, draws your pet guest into a corner and discourses gravely upon topics you are quite sure your.pet guest cares no more for than for Hansard or Cuneiform tablets. Viewpoint of Age. Very frequently his opinions oh important questions, such as eugenics or the cost of high living, are muddled and out of date, yet he will persist in airing them, although, sad to say, they never seem to gain fresh vigour or vim from the airing. All this is true about many fathers— this and plenty more that your individual family' life will suggest.. Now,' how; about your own attitude to father? Do you realise that half a century or so'inevitably alters viewpoints, that when you attain father's age you yourself,wiH have gathered together quite a little pile of convictions and notions as yon call themthat will form part of the very fabric of your mind, habits of thought and custom that you won't thank a rising generation to come and knock over ? Of coarse in your heart you love father and you would willingly launch your , heaviest thunderbolt in his defence if the outside world dared make remarks dis'paragingly. The point is :Is that loyalty always -evident in your attitude towards him in home life? } Appreciation Certain. Is there occasionally a little sting that .may rankle in an impatient rejoinder'; is there sometimes a neglect of courtesy, a careless disregard of how your words may sound? When you come to think' of it,' father has done a" good deal for you, one way and another. On the whole, he' has done his best for you, , and is probably doing it still, despite his. peccadilloes. The world outside doesn't mean so very much; Ito him now; it is you,' who are going to reap whare he has sown, that make' up" his ' life, audit is your privilege,, whether you look at it that Way or. not, to show him he has not sown in vain;- T 2 f- ■= ■ I A little tolerance for father then!" It J won't hurt your dignity tg show it. One" {thing is sure, and than this few things ] are surer—he will not fail to appreciate!

MOTTOES " FOR ' THE HOUSE.

REIGN OF GOODWILL.

• Nowadays we name our houses as a matter of course, just as we name our domestic pets. * Auckland is full of residences, from four-roomed cottages up, that "rejoice in unpronounceable , Maori names, "which are pretty, though we don't know what they mean." /Now, since a name for the house is such a" ", popular .y idea, why not ; a motto for the homeT Speak of mottoes ; for -the ': home, and unconsciously one calls to mind* the framed platitudes in crude . illuminated text that we formerly hung up over our mantelpieces—things that "went * out" about the : 'same time as coloured ' wax flowers and fluffy, wool mats. " :: " ■'■■ " •':

• Things that hang on a. wall, however, are never of much" practical value unless': we get at the spirit of them,: and carry .that round with us when the walls themselves are out of sight. There are many, mottoes that suggest practical help "arid enqouragement to those; who walk-the devious paths of family life. We need not necessarily go to the Bible for. our mottoes, although those' it contains will never be bettered. There is one -motto that would grace any home on earth—a very simple one- This Home is Dedicated to Goodwill." 'Do you realise how -much a motto like that might help in smoothing over the rough places It won't do away with them, of course, - but it will surely build a bridge across, a bridge that will last because its foundations are set in the firm soil of love, not in the shifting sands of caprice and selfishness. ' > ■S*i.iis-i.

Goodwill in the heart is the only thing that will: keep bitter words from the tongue. Nobody can acquire the temperament of angels in a day—nobody wishes you to attempt the impossible, but every member of every family can at least bear in mind one thought that will make for love and goodwill, one that will,' of its very nature, make for smoother paths in family life. The home that is - dedicated to goodwill will come in time to be a home; dedicated to happinerj arid cheer, a home where the discords and worries of the outside world Will find rib place, for kindliness and goodwill 'tire, and ever have been, among the great things that make life worth while. WEEK-ENDS FOB WIVES. HOW TO KEEP FIT. , These daTs of summer sunshine breathe of holidays and a general loosening of the shackles that bind us down to the business of making a living. Every businessman, every businesswoman in Auckland, as in every other city, feels that he of she owes it to business as well as to herself to get away for a couple of weeks to country or seaside. Even if they don't go away they take, a spell at home, lie round collarleas. with a book, take sea trips to Milford or thereabouts, or else play tennis. Anyway, no matter just exactly what they do, they generally give nature some kind of chance to build up the tissues worn down in the stress of business life. Yet, passing strange, there, are two classes of workers whose only holiday comes by accident or ill-luck—the businessgirl and the wife 61 the businessman. '< They have always been taught that the business world is so much bigger and more important than their own 5 Surely one should never seek rest from caring for one's horn 9 and dear ones! ' '■" r -•■» Yet this business of home-making entails tremendous demands on. her energies, physical and mental. She may not. realise it may refuse, arid very- frequently does refuse, to take a holiday, yet in toe end she has to pay for her refusal, and pay heavily. No piece of mechanism can ran on indefinitely without fuel to feed its energy, and the human body is the most delicately constructed bit of mechanism under heaven The woman who won't take a rest 'when she may frequently has to take a much longer one than she wants to. Sooner or later nature "preseajg an. account . «h& «

Along vacation, however desirable, 15 '■ usually of the, question for the woman, who runs, her home without help, but why ' not an occasional week-end to liven thirds 1 ! up? Why not a day or two in some quiet 1 spot where tired eyes-can look out on. ■-? blue waters instead of backyards, where active hands maygather blackberries in- k stead of clothes pegs? "There are places? 5 ?! without 'number within an boor of Auck- '~ land City where the great God of Out-of. doors holds open court the summer through.'; *| The cost of such week-end trips would °be -.? the merest trifle compared with the number of "half-crowns that go out in the f-/''. course of, the year for tonics and pick-me-ups 1 . ,'..'.' -t.:.' ' '" The children? Well, no one wants to -, sea them neglected. But surely there i s x an aunt, a sister— good-natured fairy god-mother who wouldn't find it too great ' a strain on the tie that binds to come and fsee that the "happy homo didn't go to •- rack and ruin between Friday and M u n '■'■ day! - " * '" It may seem an effort to get away too much trouble for the short space of time :"' but, in the long run, wives and mothers' % you 11 find it,pays, and that the best way ' ■- to attend to the welfare of your dear * ones is to attend diligently to your own. :v NEW BOLES FOE WOMEN.

THE " DIPLOMATIC SERVICE ''"M • it Every day we-hear of the barriers oflll some profession or other going down before the onslaught of woman. Eight hers- I in Auckland we have our own lady pi,>4§s neers in various , learned professions, audtfl no one knows what a day may bring** forth as the young idea continues to I shoot! Now comes news that a young woman SSI specially mentioned as a pretty voung woman, has received an appointment in :l| the Diplomatic Service as secretary to a -■-■% foreign legation in Mexico. Considering :fe| the eminently risky state of politics m ft that hot-headed land, where officials sit 1 on a dais one day and stand up against, "J a wall facing a dozen rifles the next, men- i I tion might have been made of this young If woman's nerve in addition to her come- ' ■ '■'- liness. * :j:| Women to-day are represented in nearly.*-! all well-known professions, and in a few ''■■ others besides. Thus, in lands afar, there /! are women barbers, 'busdrivers, bill-. - posters, mouse-catchers, and waterdiviners, all of which professions, excepting, possibly, the first, sound both easy and healthful, promising plenty of fresh ; g$ air and nothing too strenuous. : >-•. And yet we keep on crowding our girh| A's into offices. .-• : ° 4*% HOUSEWORK AS AN EXERCISE. >^J / ITS HEALTH VALUE. ,J^ The editress of a London Women? :k- : 1 Weekly gives the following "sensible ad-* i| vice to her readers "upon the ever-recur- l? : ring subject of'whether housework is a- ;.- drudgery: or no. -She says: "The"chief thing is to start right. You will 'never .§>J find health and beauty in housework if you v persist in looking upon it as drudgery. ;|J So before you /begin to think about the . best way to bend and the most graceful.: ■and safest reaching posture, you must get the right? attitude of mind.. Other atti-: - tudes and exercises go for nothing ify-vu.'W' haven't a cbeeffull mind and a 1 kindly dis- v. position, which things, I am thankfull -to -" say, are not. so much heaven-sent gifts as-"--' acquired graces-that is to say, we may- '"■ encourage in ourselves these lovable atiri-- "' Tbutes, and for the women who works f&rSff husband .and children. what task could belli 'easier? For the; joy of hometmaking is afH joy that can make life' gloriously worthy m living, whatever * the , odds against which/ jwp niay;have ; to straggle." Therefore I ddm not ask .a 'difficult thing when I say a£|| the outset'.that: the housewife must gaSm f aDout.her .work'with 'a. song in her hearC'." ii.she. means to make her daily rounds .a/5I beauty course which results in health "infiftl happiness. ■■'■" ■■ '■■ "V' ~\ ■''"■" "'' ->sm ■v-.v •., i , -... .-;.■■'.. r,." ■ v"; 'i .. ■-.';■ " " 1; *IS Moderation, -but not Laziness. -'IMA ,; Another general reminder must be givenll before we go any further. • Moderation should be observed in, housework as mfi other pursuits; and, alas! so few womenX seem to realise this need." '- Unfortunately : housewives appear to be roughly divided'; into two classes—those who neglect their duties and take too little exercise to pre-SSI ; vent them from'growing fat, or nervous/ M -or bilious, or sufferers from all three ills,® .. - ' *: - -'•-? ■■_■ -v^^r, "-.- =========