The Child at Home

Ladies' Mirror, Volume 4, Issue 8, 1 February 1926, Page 71

The Child at Home

zJAfodern dftCotherhood

SHE doesn’t do anything in particular. She just runs the house. And she has three children you know; they must take up a certain amount of time.” This represents the dull, unenlightened view of the work of “the woman at home,” unfortunately the most common view of motherhood to-day. It is difficult to understand how any work could be regarded as more creative than that of giving to the world human beings strong in body and sound in mind and character, how the bringing-up of a child to face life successfully could possibly be only a matter of routine. The trouble is that motherhood is not regarded as a profession. Taken as a whole it is, of course, much more than that, but from the economic and social view alone, it is a profession. The mother who does her work well is doing work of definite value and importance to the whole community in exchange for the material necessities of life. c Motherhood as a Profession UT if the world is to regard -*-* motherhood as a profession mothers themselves must realise the dignity and scope of their work. They must bring devotion to it. The candidate for any profession must adjust his life to meet its claims, and count any sacrifice of time and comfort worth while to achieve the work he has set himself to do. Mothers who plan their lives definitely and consciously so that motherhood comes first will find that they do not resent the infringement on their time and liberty that motherhood, like any other profession, is bound often to demand. Skill and knowledge also are required. Because the work of motherhood is not to-day regarded as skilled work, no real provision is made for an} study of the subject in the education of most women — and this in spite of the fact that

ninety per cent, of women are, at one time or another, called upon to do mother’s work, even if they have no children of their own! The mothers themselves must rectify this ; they must train themselves ! Peeping <Abreast of the Cfivies "'HERE are at least three libraries in London, besides the public libraries, where books on all aspects of training of young children can be obtained at a very low subscription rate. There are periodicals on the subject of child-train-ing, too. The candidate for any profession must watch all that is going on in the world of his work; so must the modern mother. In nearly every town now there are baby welfare centres where mothers can watch and take part in the wonderful work that is being done for small children. There are new schools and new kindergartens to read about and to visit. Vision is required of the modern mother. Any clerk can add up a column of figures, and almost any woman can wash and dress a child and keep him reasonably tidy. But it takes a man of 'genius and imagination to sec the real meaning behind the figures, and it takes a mother of like calibre to sec the possibilities that lie in performing well even the most menial tasks for her child. Nor is the work of motherhood by any means all menial. There is hackwork, in this as in any other profession, but by far the larger part of the work requires intellect. It is not easy to work out the best possible diet for a child, to plan his day correctly, to watch the stages of child-development intelligently. Mothers may say “We have no time.” But have we the right to say that we have no time to perform faithfully the duties of the profession we have chosen?