A PICTURESQUE CEREMONY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18947, 18 December 1929, Page 12

A PICTURESQUE CEREMONY.

several thicknesses of old newspaper. (By the way, a bundle of newspapers will come in very handy in more ways than one.) A light rug and cushion are necessities when travelling with small children, and with these and a spare seat the matter of a daytime sleep is simplified. Sleep. It is all-important to assure some sleep for the little ones if over-fatigue and fretfulness are to be avoided. This may be very difficult if the train is crowded, but sometimes a bed may l e improvised by placing a wide board between a seat and the one immediately in front of it. Pushed up against the outer wall of the carriage, and with a cushion and rug upon it, this makes quite a comfortable enough bed for the toddler—one which is- perfectly safe if the board is well wedged and a suitcase is propped up on the outer side to prevent a tumble. The Useful Dress-basket. A dress-basket is perfectly invaluable when travelling with a young baby, making as it does a comfortable bed and a receptacle for all the baby’s clothes. We have travelled with babies by train and boat—healthy, normal babies and tiny weaklings—and have found that they need not be nursed at all, except at feeding times, but will sleep and lie awake quite contented, rather enjoying the constant movement. The result is the minimum of fatigue for mother and baby—very different to the utter exhaustion of both when the baby has been nursed all day, restless and irritable because of the complete reversal of his ordinary routine. Tiny babies may be “packed" in the dress-basket before starting. The improvised cradle can easily be carried short distances by one person, and the baby is kept uniformly warm and protected from wind and draughts. Next to the dress-basket, probably the most useful piece of luggage is the canvas carry-all, which conveniently accommodates all the knobby and awkward last articles. Toys and Playthings. A few simple toys and picture books, a puzzle perhaps, and a block and pencil form part of the necessary paraphernalia, but most children will be interested for hours in watching tha novel sights out of the carriage window. OonvoniencesOn the through expresses the ladies* compartnlents help to lighten the difficulties of travelling for the mother with children, providing as they do more

privacy and larger, better-kept lavatory and wash-basin arrangements. However, it is never safe to allow children to use any lavatory in the ordinary way when travelling. An excellent plan is to make a circular pad of several thicknesses of paper wide enough to completely cover the ordinary seat; mark the top side of the pad. This will make things safe, and folded in half and itself wrapped in paper, it will pack quite easily. Otherwise an ordinary little enamel chamber may be taken. Some pieces of old linen, damp and dry, will come in most handy, and save hankies and towels. Sea Trips. A sea trip (unless the mother is a bad sailor) does not present nearly bO many difficulties as a long train journey, especially if it is a night passage, as so many of our inter-island passages are. Children are comparatively rarely seasick, and there is room for them to spread out and lie down comfortably. Trainsickness. Very occasionally children are habitually train and car sick, when the only thing to do is to give very light food before starting and to manage some means of allowing the child to lie down. In conclusion, one might remark that the mother who has trained her children in obedience, regularity and good habits generally, will reap her just reward 'when holiday travelling time comes round. The long day will pass without unbearable exhaustion on anybody’s part—parents, children, or fel-low-travellers. But alas! for the all-too-common experience of the “fellow-traveller” who observes little families on the move—scrambling over everything, consuming an apparently endless supply of cakes and sweets, grubby and tired, ignoring all parental attempts at control, and presently fretful and crying from sheer exhaustion and discomfort!