HAVING A GOOD TIME

Timaru Herald, Volume CXL, Issue 20261, 9 November 1935, Page 11

HAVING A GOOD TIME

WHAT DOES IT CONSIST OF? The world over, it seems, everybody wants to "have a good time,” but no one has yet defined it, says an exchange. “Having a good time” seems to consist in spending every spare moment and every spare shilling in a whirl of amusement. ' Through our false standards of living we have deprived our children of simplicity, and hardly a child is allowed to grow naturally and develop the resources within himself, says an Australian writer. It is common knowledge that the over-fed child is as likely to be a starved child as the one that is under-fed; but how many of us realise that when "giving our children a good time” we are often feeding them according to our own appetite? The craving for excitement noticeable in the present day is a sign of over-stimulation. It is a rare child who can fill his day happily with satisfactory occupation of his own. In general, our children are lacking in initiative. This has been said before, but it should be repeated until we parents realise how much the fault is in ourselves. We are afraid of living dull lives—so we set out to give the very best of everything to our children, we give so much that they lose all sense of proportion, and clamour for more. We give them sweets when they are only babies, and they soon develop the taste for them. We keep them up late and then they do not want to go to bed at reasonable hours. Bright children become dull in their teens from lack of proper rest and through nerve strain. “At an age when the world should still be a perpetual revelation of new and thrilling adventures, of new wonders and new delights and enthusiasms, too many of our adolescents are already blase.” Cigarette-smoking has become a habit with girls and boys alike; a “spot” is nothing to worry about. Because life has so little to offer they must get a thrill out of showing off to one another and defying the conventions. They get excitement and adventure the wrong way because in the first place we have destroyed in them their capacity to get adventure and delight in the business of living and secondly because we, as a people, refuse to overthrow standards that are outworn and thereby we make living difficult. If he is left alone the normal child will find interest and amusement in simple things, will find new wonders in the world around him and find adventure enough in his own simple experiments from day to day. In saying this I am speaking of the normal child; not of the child who, in his environment, is robbed and cheated of the necessities of life. Over-indulgence and over-stimula-tion can make rebels just as much as criticism and severity. Both are injustices. This “having a good time” is not all it is cracked up to be. It is a striving for enjoyment rather than the enjoyment itself. He to whom simple pleasures are enjoyable has the real claim to happiness. AT NO. 10 DOWNING STREET Mr Asquith’s tenure of No. 10 was notable, from the strictly domestic point of view, for one thing. His wife gave the place three bathrooms. Incredible as it may seem, until 1908 the house did not boast a single bathroom in the modern sense. Possibly Lady Oxford has a lively memory of something else notable she did during her husband’s tenure of No. 10. She held a mannequin show there. Impulsively, while she was in Paris seeing some fashions exhibited by M. Poiret, the famous courturier, she suggested that he should bring his mannequins and show his dresses at Downing Street. The parade was a triumph. But M. Poiret did not fail to notice that, though Mr Asquith looked in, he quickly went out again, looking very grave. Doubtless he foresaw the headlines in next morning’s newspapers; “Exhibition at Gowning Street.” SCIENCE IN THE HOME The International Congress for Scientific Management, which was held recently in Westminster, attracted much interest by its discussion of how the modern housewife will use her leisure time now that labour-saving devices in the home are being put into general practice. Summing up the papers on the subject, which were submitted from Italy, Germany, Holland and England, it was decided that quite a new phase of civilisation will be reached shortly when the majority of women will be freed from having to consider household matters principally, and can throw their energies into pursuing education, public work, business, or enjoying recreation. The valuable aid that women can lend to the running of their country has been diverted for too long into domestic channels, but there is every sign that before long the scientific improvements w'ill make home management into a much less exacting job and woman will have a chance to widen their sphere and enjoy a fuller life than ever before. Particularly it is hoped that women will take a responsible place as citizens and help to solve the difficulties facing the country to-day. which need the special experience of women as well as the experience of men for their solution.