THE "IN THE HOUSE" HOUR
It is a pitiful fact that many mothers apparently are wholly unconcerned as to the whereabouts of their little folks, even after dusk; this is unwise to say the least, for a boy or girl under twelve years of age should be found under the parental roof at dusk. The city mother should impress upon her child that when the street lamps are lighted his first duty is at once to come into the house. During the winter months this lighting of the street lamps occurs anywhere from four to six. During the summer months another rule should be laid down, depending upon the neighborhood, the character of the friends on the street, the surroundings, etc. By all means let us see that our young people are in the house by dusk.
PARTIES
Every mother who reads these lines has had to meet this question: "Shall I let my little one begin to go to parties?" and every mother will have to answer that question for herself. We personally feel that the social life extended by the school, together with the meeting of the companions at Sunday school, in the park, or on the playground, is quite enough; and we deplore the fact that many children grow into the idea that much time must be spent at "parties" in the drawing-room under unnatural surroundings, in dressed-up clothes, eating ice cream and cake, etc. Outdoor gatherings of children are wholesome and hygienic, but most of these indoor gatherings of groups of children we consider decidedly unhygienic. One child coming down with scarlet fever, measles, or whooping cough can infect twenty others at an afternoon party. The eating of so much ice cream, candy, and cake is deplorable in that it upsets the digestion, and all this is irritating to the developing nervous system of the child; and not infrequently brings on a lot of other symptoms, resulting in discomfort and disease. We believe in outdoor picnics but not in too frequent indoor parties.
PICNICS
Groups of children gathering in the park, on the beach, in the woods, when well chaperoned, are among the pleasant and profitable pleasures of childhood. It is just such gatherings that mothers and children should indulge in—and once a week is not too often during the long vacation. The mothers, too, should enter enthusiastically into the joys of a day's outing, where the enormous intake of oxygen, the hearty laughter, the races, the games, etc., all create a wonderful appetite, which can be so delightfully satiated from the well-filled lunch baskets; and while the children are thus playing together what a wonderful opportunity for the mothers to engage in an exchange of helpful ideas. Each mother has her own way, which is "the best way" to make this cake or that salad; or has met this particular difficulty in child training in a carefully thought out way; a neighborhood women's club can thus be held out in the open, while the children are having the time of their lives in the frolic of the picnic.
"MOVIES"
The movie is an institution that has come to stay, and today mothers everywhere are perhaps discussing this particular institution more than any other. The movie affords a wonderful opportunity to see the sights and scenes of other lands, of feeding the imagination of the child on travel pictures and nature pictures. It is a most deplorable fact, however, that this wonderful institution which is fraught with so many opportunities to educate and enlighten the mind of the growing child has carefully to be censored. Women's clubs have done much to purify the movies for the school-age child; many theaters are now showing on certain days a special afternoon movie for the children; and while many of these movies have great possibilities for good, we most earnestly urge that the school child see the movie that he is to see before dinner, and not have his mind excited and his nervous system "thrilled" just before going to bed. Someone asked me several years ago, "Are you going to let your little fellow go to movies?" I instantly answered, "No, but I shall take him." If the mother or the father sits by the side of a growing child and carefully, thoughtfully, and, yes, prayerfully, points out the good and explains the evil, then even the questionable movies will prove the means of bringing father and son and mother and daughter, into closer companionship.
Under no circumstances should children under twelve years of age be taken to long lectures, entertainments, or concerts, which will keep them out until eleven.