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Show jileen Norris Says: .Stepmother's Duly Is to Wait lj (Bell Syndicate WNU Service.) , thing seem to have an uncanny instinct for making trouble, Unrtt to talk to me, the must go around the table ami climb HLEEN NORRIS Y marriage is a irate problem and separate lifework. :s might as well get through their ex-aved ex-aved young heads and now. ;ng vows were for s or one year noth-ew noth-ew life would seem ;. Jean would re-iear re-iear old friends in a aside that "after ;" she would be free : and lunches and :gs of gossip again! A be more lover-ven lover-ven in engagement use so soon he must iear little aflection-aion. aflection-aion. sow that marriage is a utract Unless things ong Jean and John will vheo Jean is a wrinkled !', and John's teeth and some good reason for not going to school. "My own hope has always been for a houseful of children. But yesterday yes-terday Rod said that it hurt him to think of anyone ever making Doris feel second. If ours could be a boy, he said, it might be different But if it was a little sister it might upset her psychologically. At least, he said, that's what one of his sisters told him. "I honestly think Rod would be happier if we left the child with his mother. But he hates to admit it And so the screaming and crying go on. If I dress her, 'Jean hurt me!' If I fix her lunch 'it tastes horrid!' ;i have all been artifl-;cei artifl-;cei Fifty years! At ii teems a long, long 27 and 22 it sounds like i jail door. Start Important. J it is so important to rith a good heroic mix-tlishness, mix-tlishness, silence, self-x self-x That's why it pays i good many things, to ij into second place, to -iuiate chattering old I girlhood's habits of a until the dinner is Miced, or nibbling can- doesn't want dinner, a late of an afternoon, it breakfast, or forget-'Sl forget-'Sl it burns, or making -John's expense. These !ound important, but 'tor business, marriage ! built upon a sound & mutual respect and m well as upon young : every other trifle in :l. these trifles have a ishioo of growing strong :l if they are let grow. . married last Christ-m' Christ-m' of her special prob-?atters prob-?atters the beautifully :pressed letter with tear-Old Problem. W Rod's 37," says the I' stunning, and I'm not '"ch. and I was his of- His people all have kke. in summer; my u ency for a patent When the aunts come she flies to them and clings panting, and of course Rod and casual visitors draw their own conclusions. I want to do my duty by her, and see that she's decently dressed for school, does her homework, eats at least a part of what she should, gets to bed at some reasonable hour. Can you help me see the right way?" Jean, perhaps I can. For you're not the first stepmother who contradicts contra-dicts all the old fairy-stories by being be-ing a gentle and well-disposed human hu-man being who wants to give a beloved be-loved husband's children a break. Go Indifferent. And first of all, I think you must abatidon any idea of controlling or influencing Doris at present. Just suddenly go good-natured and completely com-pletely indifferent. If she asks you for help dressing, make no comment com-ment If she refuses her normal food and demands specialties, leave it to her father and the cook. If her nurse supposing her to have one, you don't say, appeals to you. pass the appeal straight on to father, grandmother, aunts. If she's rude, smile. If she demands her father's attention, concede it amiably. If he questions you about her, say leniently leni-ently that she's only a small girl after all, and she'll grow wiser. This course cannot fail. It removes re-moves you entirely from the scene of combat and places responsibility where it belongs. Once you adopt it, the more outrageously Doris acts the better for you. Her best clothes j will be speedily destroyed, her j , am pretty well ttvryone said, when I jM. in everything that ' d myself. We are J "tally happy. Or we CePt for Doris. Doris is 'IT6 years old. Her joi she was born, and J grandmother have II Rd wants her with !10rt"s sake I am glad j liked children, al-,lon? al-,lon? with them. But 1 fild like this one. determined little girl. J Everything tn erythinS "uses a .ar a blue dress; ;"r white shoes; she r whcn she's in Jlget out. Ba'tlc. J seems to have an lath r , making trou" T starts to talk to "round the table aSe can stir him fcrences to "my Ewat his heart melts h ver? week-end she r grandmother and Monday she comes 3 dmoraliZed, with grandmother and aunis wm si tired of a more-spoiled-than-ever I child who visits them at odd hours . with all sorts of demands. And of : the whole distracted circle you will j be the only one still smiling and remote. re-mote. Order Out of Chaos. By all means have children. Go straight ahead and fill your nursery with girls and boys. With every one of them you strengthen your own position and rationalize hers. At 10 Doris will be an orderly little creature, perhaps silent and jealous and embittered in her smau soul, but grown out of her baby nonsense. non-sense. If you can wait for that hour, and befriend her in the mean-while mean-while in steady, gentle, patient ways, you will reap a rich reward. It seems too bad for grown-ups to have to scheme against a small gin in this fashion. But the mischief is not of your choosing, and Doris must learn common sense sooner or later. As a matter of fact, she w.J. Spoiled children may grow into discontented dis-contented and twisted childhood but they sooner or later stop the teasing, teas-ing, tantrum, spoiling of clothes and scorning of food. They must d they are to l';ve at all. I ve known a great ma.jr tyrants of Ave ho like Doris h.ve been spoiled by series of circumstances. |