| Show A t Kathleen Norris Says r. r Husbands Take a e Notice J I Bell Syndicate Syndicate Features Y ft t f 1 l lr J r y JI It lt i 11 I I oo i io it t o e o th- th J P Marty is quarantined for the measles and the thermometer at 82 and Dirk irk sa saying ng Bathroom windows crying cring Jor for or five minutes of soap and water By KATHLEEN NORRIS 7 been harping YOUVE y for months on the wartime wartime war- war JL time duty of wives to keep the home front happy writes Daisy Chalmers a spirited young matron of Springfield Mass why dont don't you sometimes blow up the themen themen themen men for the ridiculous demands demands demands de de- de- de mands they are making on us their stiff-necked stiff insistence that everything shall be exactly exactly exactly ex ex- ex- ex as it always was war or orno orno no war and their calm expectation expectation expectation tation that a house without servants will run just as I smoothly as a house with a good cook and a nurse in hi it I have three adorable noisy destructive destructive destructive de- de little boys the letter goes x on Dick wanted boys and boys only and arid fortunately I 1 was able to oblige They are healthy I am healthy I am a good cook with I 1 think a fairly even and amiable dis dis- position Until just before Paul the youngest was born I had a domestic domes- domes tic helper of sorts She was old slow stubborn but she was absolutely absolutely faithful ul scrupulously clean and she loved the babies for their I very naughtiness We paid Josie 15 a week Dirks Dirk's income is a year year year-doesn't doesn't it sound big But it l isn't as big as it once was And whatever its it's worth now it wo wont won't t pay for a maid Cramped In Apartment t We tine live in a six room apartment i r up two flights of stairs Of course the children cant can't go out without me and when they do all four of us including including including in in- Paul now a year old have to be dressed for for the street the coach has to b be bumped out from the locker under the stairs pillow and covers dumped into it and Paul established in state Crossing a ar r street with a baby buggy and boys of two and four is no fun getting i 1 the groceries home is no fun either We have no dumbwaiter but the delivery boy pants up our stairs twice a week everything els else I carry myself sometimes including Jack or even my eldest MartyNow Marty t I Now I love all this Im I'm equal 1 J. J 1 to it Ill I'll get through But what upsets upsets up- up sets me is my husbands husband's mild tk to r. r sweet s incessant hinting and criticizing h s of of everything I do Our part of town is and dirty dusty grit f comes in and Dirk runs his fingers over polished surfaces and shows me methe methe the grit All this distresses Dirk terri terri- rl bly Would you mind touching up up your hair before we sit down dear he says May I have a spoon that isn't quite so sticky He asks if it the boys have been out in the glorious fresh air scowls when I 1 say only for tor an hours hour's marketing They ought to have more of an airing than that But Ive I've been washing today Dirk I say Ive got almost a hundred pieces out on the line Lets ets et's have no excuses Daisy he says gently Im Tm not criticizing Im I'm only pointed Wl When en I had influenza he took care of t us all for three days then he got a nurse in at eight dollars a day the letter goes on He was furious the house was never clean s la w. w J I IBe lie Be Considerate QUIT NAGGING I With laundry and delivery and practically every other sort o of f service curtailed with domestic help almost impossible impossible impossible sible to get a mother o of f three little boys is bound to be very busy She is willing to do everything she can but necessarily necessarily necessarily she must neglect her housekeeping a bit Everything would go along all right except that her husband husband husband hus hus- band is one one of those neat efficient efficient efficient ef ef- ef- ef souls who want cleanliness cleanliness cleanliness clean clean- liness and order no matter what the situation is He will rub his finger over the piano and hold it up to ta show the dust or he will hint that the drapes need washing While I he is polite and even sweet he heis heis heis is constantly nagging These people are well off They have I Ian an income of a year ear I and live in a six room six room apartment apartment apartment apart apart- ment and are accustomed to a rather high standard o of f living or orderly or quiet and he spooned cold cereal Into the boys and went out for his own meals Once afterward I asked him what he thought of my job He merely observed observed observed ob ob- ob- ob served that 11 it he had it to do he would so organize it that there wouldn't be all that confusion War Conditions Im a college graduate Intelligent Intelli intelli- gent enthusiastic but I wont won't stand too much of this Please write an article saying that unless men understand the infinite difficulties of housekeeping these days the endless job that is that of a wife and mother the complications of laundry no-laundry n no no- tailor no-household no no deliver help ies fes marriages will continue to go on the rocks What started all this Daisy concludes was something that happened happened happened hap hap- this morning Marty is quarantined with measles the thermometer thermometer ther ther- at 82 the baby refusing his breakfast and Dirk Rutting his head bend in the door after he had left to say sweetly Bathroom windows crying for five minutes of soap and water Please write something that will make these exacting husbands ashamed of themselves Dear Daisy I 1 say in answer your letter seems to me to be as ns good an argument as any I could think up Dirk isn't the only husband who has grown exacting and critical in these tense days Its It's partly a nervous reaction reaction reaction re re- re- re I action to the fearful events that are shaking the world and as such ought to be treated with patience and kindness But at the same time timea a lot of husbands ought to wake up and take stock of themselves If she's sweet if it she's distractedly distracted distracted- ly and gaily doing her best if she can cook if it she loves her children home and husband then husband then for the duration try to regard her as she regards you a spirited high finely finely- trained courageous individual who I is managing to get through the most convulsed and agonizing period oi of all history with a minimum of nerve center damage |
