FRENCH MOTHERS-IN-LAW.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16350, 12 February 1921, Page 6

FRENCH MOTHERS-IN-LAW.

Why is the mother-in-law a failure in England and a success irwFrance? The English attitude her is aptly expressed in tho hideous appellation “ Mother in law!” Who could love a mother with the legal reminder tanked on? How -much more gracious is the courtly French designation 4 ‘ Belie Mere ” ! Of coarse they have the mother-in-law joke in France, but it is without malice and in most cases without meaning, for Belle Mere is, far more often than not, an unmitigated success and a most welcome addition to the household. In France it is rare for the wife’s mother to keep a separate establishment. Think of the expense—and how much better to share income and motor-car! Thus the young menage can afford a larger house and indulge in luxuries that might otherwise he beyond their grasp. But Belle Mere's benevolences do not stop here. The housekeeping passes into her experienced hands and she sees to it that during the first critical months of married life the young wife shall be free to go out with her husband and join in his pleasures and amusements. Lateri too, when babies arrive. Belie Mere establishes herself aa nurse-in-chief. It is she who accompanies the children to the park or plays with them untiringlv throughout a rainy day. 44 What would you?” she sava. 44 My daughter must occupy herself with her husband. Otherwise. . . .” Yet* there is nothing in all this that English mothers-in-law would not gladly do. Whv, then, must English mothers and married daughters live rigidly apart? . Even a visit trom mother-in-law to a young menage is too apt to result in tears. The reason is not. far to seek. It lies in tact and tactics. From the moment her child is married the French mother disciplines herself to what she considers a sacred duty. .Tt is to idolise her son or daughter-in-law. The wife’s mother and husband speedily become fast friends. He consults her in all his difficulties. She even advises him in his business affairs. vSimilai Iv ii it is the husband’s mother who shares the house, she sets a halo upon the wife. True, Bello Mere does the* housekeeping, sees to tho cooking, helps with tho sewing. But the glory of it all she ascribes to tho young wife. How different is the method of the British mother-in-law. “My darling,” she whispers, as soon as she enters her son-in-law’s house, “tell me, are you happy? Is ho a ll you thought him? Is he kind to yon?" And Belle Mere? •‘Mr little,” she exclaims, “than young "man is adorable and ho worships you. But what have you got for his G 1 lii the quarrels of everyday life Belle Mere invariably supports her son-in-law. But, strange to say, both mother and husband are frequently -won over to the daughter’s view-point. Oh, how wise and how truly kind cf Belle Mere I —By Elizabeth Marc, in “ The I>a.ily Mail.”