Can Husbands be Trained ?

Otago Witness, Issue 2804, 11 December 1907, Page 74

Can Husbands be Trained ?

Women generally lack the sense of proportion, and do not make consistent martyrs. They deliberately teach a man a bad habit, and then nag him for exercising it. A good husband is simply a matter of training, but it is not the wife who does the training. It is too late, and she can only finish off the good work begun by mothers, sisters, or friends of early manhood. The greatest evil in the world is wrought by thoughtlessness, and there is something in the nature of things which makes men naturally more thoughtless than women. That is an undeniable fact, one not to be groaned about, but to be coped with. Mothers should realise this,. and 'direct meir attention to the training of sons in the way that they should go as future husbands.

Too often all the little courtesies which women appreciate from men are neglected in the home. Sisters are treated witTi scant courtesy from brothers, but do not take it seriously. This is where the watchful mother should assert herself. Without the knowledge of the son, he should be made to feel the necessity of opening the door when his sisters desire to pass out of the room, and to stoop for the dropped handkerchief. Punctiliousness in appointments made with the family should be insisted on, and this is by no means more difficult for the sons than for the mothers. A mother or sister is entirely inclined to say : " Oh, it doesn't matter ; any time will suit me." Sho says this 99 times, and then on the hundredth occasion she becomes annoyed at being thus neglected. Hence the filial philosophy that girls are unreasonable. — " Jilna," in Madame.