FROM "THE CHILDREN'S HOUR"
Between the dark and the daylight.
When the night is beginning to lower,
Comes a pause in the day's occupations,
That is known as the Children's Hour.
I hear in the chamber above me,
The patter of little feet,
The sound of a door that is opened,
And voices soft and sweet.
—Longfellow.
Scrubbing Tender Faces.—Children have tender skins as a rule, and yet mothers are very apt to scrub the little faces with soap and water and send them out to play. Think of such treatment in connection with your own skin. If the children are going out at once after the washing, use warm water with plain unscented soap, then rub a little good cold cream into the skin.
[806 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]
FROM LONGFELLOW'S "VILLAGE BLACKSMITH"
Toiling.—rejoicing,—sorrowing,
Onward through life he goes;
Each morning sees some task begun,
Each evening sees it close;
Something attempted, something done,
He has earned a night's repose.
Saving the Coverlet.—It is discouraging to the mother to find the eiderdown coverlets becoming soiled where the children rub their hands over them. This can be avoided by making a tiny sham of swiss or other similar material and basting it across the top of the coverlet. It can be pinned into place at the corners with tiny baby pins or caught with a few stitches. These shams edged with narrow lace add a really attractive touch to the coverlet, and they can be quickly removed and easily laundered.
The Greatness of Love.—There are no little events with the heart; it magnifies everything. It places in the same scale the falling of an empire and the dropping of a woman's glove; and the glove generally weighs more than the empire. —Honore De Balzac.
Oranges as Medicine.—One of the most valuable adjuncts in acquiring a generally good complexion in youth is that of eating oranges in quantities. Let the mother give her children two or three oranges every day, as they possess many virtues, especially upon the action of the liver. The mother who buys plenty of oranges for the children will note the reduction in her medicine bill.