A CURLED DARLINGThe Effect of Maternal Coddling on the Boy of the Period.

Te Aroha News, 26 November 1887, Page 2

A CURLED DARLINGThe Effect of Maternal Coddling on the Boy of the Period.

Ax assertive pcison writes in the Chicago " Mail" entertaingly, though perhaps mistakenly, thus. It is food for thought, to be taken cum yrano salit ; The mother of to-day is paying marked attention to her son. The girl has been left) to take care of herself. You don't believe this ? Look about you and see for yourself. In the vernacular of the street the mother of to-day is "mashed" on her boy. He supplants his father's place in many respects. He goes off to the watei ing-places with his mother, while his sister is often sent to some friend or relation. The father stays at home—that goes without saying. The boy is not so expensive afc the seaside, or wherever the place may be where his mother has gone to cover up the crow'sfeet. He can take care of himself, and doesn't have to be mixed up in the train of mamma's teagowu or evening dress. There is i growing impression that a daughter means more years for the mother. A mother talks about her son with apparent pride. When the daughter begins to crawl through the teens the mother is not apt to advertise the fact. The misfortune of all this is that it is tending to make boys effeminate. From this the dude. A boy who grows up as the darling of his mamma wont " get there," as a rule. But if this be a misfortune there remains the consolation that tho neglected girls, see that they musb take care of themselves, become better women. The average boy of the present is puny, nervous a'nd dyspeptic His mamma indulges him in caramels, cigarettes and late hours. She dotes on him. Our girls are growing healthier and are being developed. The boy goes out with his mother ; the girl is sent to her music or her books or the gymnasium. The next generation of women will be creditable to the sex. Take a stroll on the street, go to the theatre, or go into society and look upon the effeminate specimens of masculinity : then shut your eyes and see if you can imagine the result fifty years ahead.