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Show From all sides mothers are bombarded bom-barded with advice about what, where, when and how to feed children child-ren But aside from admonitions to serve a balanced diet, there has been little concern over father's mealtime. Is it the refreshing health and energy interlude it should be? Never has the business world nor its professional or industrial indust-rial counterpart been more competitive than it is today. For most men, making a living liv-ing is a pretty hectic matter. Still, Mr. America is a pretty uncomplaining fellow, and so we tend to forget that his health and happiness depend upon his getting enough rest and relaxation after work hours. Cheerfully he surges out with the rush hour crowd, elbows his way into a crowded crowd-ed bus or train, mentally hur ries himself along in eagerness eager-ness to be home. But all too often when he gets there bedlam bed-lam begins. His wife greets him with an admonition to hurry to the table, the young- $ est is hungry. He'd like to shower but Suzie is in the tub. So Dad hurriedly slaps a little water on his hot brow and sits down to a far from peaceful meal. Feeding the children first is a partial answer. But it is not a. complete com-plete solution. For if the youngsters young-sters are thrqugh eating first they are also free to interrupt the grownups unless something is done to preserve the atmosphere of an adult meal. One family successfully success-fully achieves an hour of peace by putting their toddler gate across the opening between the living and dining rooms. Each evening they make a pleasant ritual of closing the gate and saying "Now it's quiet time." Usually they promise some gay activity later "Daddy will play catch with you outside after supper." Or "We'll all have a game of croquet" But in the meantime no questions are answered and there are no shouted conversation for the brief space of an hour. When there's an only child, Mother provides some quiet diversion diver-sion a magazine to cut paper dolls from, some beads to string. This is a good time to turn on the I he has showered, changed into comfortable clothes, or just slumped in an easy chair a few minutes,; he'll be down to play with Junior while Mother sets the table. Another way to help a man Te-j Te-j lax at dinner is to avoid discussing unpleasant domestic problems at the table. After dinner, Dad will probably enjoy giving the baby his bottle, or reading to the older children. He may even suggest a rough-and-tumble game. The happy laughter of children and father will prove the value of the dinner "quiet time." television set, too, for many children's child-ren's programs are scheduled from 5 to 7. In summer the children can play outside until Daddy joins them Of course, arranging a peaceful interlude for Dad is no easy matter for Mother since the hours between 5 and 7 are her busiest ones. Her tasks usually include children's child-ren's bath, children's dinner, baby's bottle, adult dinner, table setting, dish washing. No wonder she wearily turns the youngsters over to Dad the minute he steps into the house. And she's right to expect ex-pect masculine help. But she will find Dad a much more adequate aid if he's had a 15 minute breather. Let him say "Hello" and then march straight to his room. When |