Show lea Kathleen Norris Says I Here Is Something for or Youth To Think T About Syndicate Service I f g 1 rf r i a s t I 1 think hink il its iti lousy tomy the she girl firl said aid impatiently a OJ as though fh th she he had hal said aid i it before be If 1 1 cant can't tend send her th tl us other Ill I'll not no send her anything ng By KATHLEEN NORRIS is an appeal to boys and T TIllS THIS girls to be good That has an anold old fashioned old ring hasn't it And it sounds as though hough it were ad ads addressed dressed to moppets of 01 four and five In the nursery But as a matter of fact I hope to reach older boys and girls youngsters whose ages range from say say 13 to 19 These are terrible ages for mothers and fathers These are ages when the grownups who seem so powerful and so unaffected unaffected un un- un affected are often living in secret fear of their offspring If It Tom 17 and Margaret 15 15 knew the panic their lightest word could create In the family circle knew the dread with which their bad moods were witnessed by Mom and Dad they might be more merciful Later on on when the girl and boy are grown and married they begin to gain a little sense They begin then shyly awkwardly and incompletely incompletely to apologize to their elders Margaret struggled with a small house a small income a small baby laughs in embarrassment as BI she thanks her mother for some small favor Youre such a darling to come sit with him and let me go to the luncheon Mother she says I often think think think-I I wonder wonder perhaps perhaps this Is silly But were Tom and I awful pigs when we were growing up I think of my bills now and how awful awful aw aw- aw ful it'll be if the baby gets sick or needs something something- Her lIer mother laughs in answer and says reassuringly that Tom and Margaret were always little angels No use to hurt them today by recalling recalling re reo re- re calling their old stubbornness and selfishness The Sons Son's Appreciation Dad you were always an awful i good sport to us kids Tom Is ii saying say say- ing at about the same time Now that Ive I've got kids of my own a always al ways wanting something and raisIng raising rais rais- Ing the roof if they cant can't have it it I remember the way Peg and I used to carry carryon on when we wanted money or tennis rackets rackets- Well we always did the best we could for you son Dad says Cheer heer fully He hasn't forgotten and Mom will always wear the cars ars But Dut the children have grown up tine sine and good and bygones may well be bygones And In the same way he and Mom would remember it if Just once in those long long ago ago days the girl or boy had seen their problem had sensed the loving desire they felt to give their children every advantage and luxury had pitied the shame this thi loving father and mother expert expert- experienced when they had to say no The years when we have our parents par arc are not always long years And when they end and one says dazedly dazed ly Mother Mother mother is dead I it is wonderful to remember that instead of treating their burdens as something something something some some- thing entirely removed from ourselves our our- selves elves we shared them and helped carry them and made them lighter A Challenge to Youth And so I challenge every American Amen Ameri can boy and girl who reads this to stop and think this morning Ask yourself Do I know what my fathers fathers father's fathers father's fa fa- fa ther's worries what my mothers mother's worries are are and is there anything I can do about it It may be that their chief worry is you yourself and their fear that your girlhood or boyhood wont won't have enough fun tun in it Enough frocks and trips and parties and good times It may be that to have you suddenly turn gay and philosophical to have you quite unexpectedly express yourself as satisfied with life will make all the difference between shadows and sunshine to them Unconscious Tyrants Q t Youngsters in their teens icons sa says Kathleen Norris often unconsciously un un- consciously give their parents their moil most anxious nn moments 1 I t They know so little o of f lam fam family ily finances then and have so 10 many desires If 1 they only knew the panic their li lightest ti ord could create they might be more merciful Miss Norris thinks d. d Parents naturally want to 10 give their children every luxury lux ury they can Are Arc they wise wise to togo togo togo go beyond their means Q L t Wise parents take their children into their confidence show them where the he money goes oes and enlist them on the budgets budget's side sirle standing at a counter waiting forthe forthe for tor the clerks clerk's attention a mother and anda a daughter fell into conversation beside beside be be- side me Or rather they continued a conversation that had evidently commenced some time before The girl was about 14 extremely pretty correctly dressed and with the right hair The mother had wistful eyes that hung adoringly upon her daughters daughter's beauty I like the dollar one real well Doris she said timidly I bleeve Miss Foster would like it it itI I think its it's lousy the girl sale said Impatiently as though she had said that before If I cant can't send her herthe herthe herthe the other Ill I'll not send her anything hurt her feelings and you going to her wedding the mother offered gently Of course it would the girl said sale angrily tears in her eyes But Dut I dont don't have to go to the wedding I I II If I have to wear my old blue outfit I dont don't see that Ill I'll be much of a sight at the wedding I wish just Jus once we could do things like other people I A five-dollar five box and we cant can't afford it dearie deariel May Regret Her ter Attitude Altitude She said the last words with a sneer and a squeak that showed she was impersonating someone who vho called her dearie tier Her mother of course And someday if the gentle pleading voice is still and Doris remembers remembers well well no money no doing things like other people will com comfort tort her then When children are babies even the simplest home can make them happy hap hap- py If It someone loves them there And when they are grown and have learned the value of home love the utter generous devoted goodness of Dad and Mother then they come comeback comeback comeback back again appreciative and wiser But in between is this bad period when they cant can't and wont won't understand under stand that one mans man's modest salary alary cant can't be stretched beyond certain limits that food and rent and Ugh light and laundry and carfare and shoes shoe have to come before new radios and English sweaters and college collego parties and beauty parlor charges Unusually wise parents take them into the family council show chow them where the money goes enlist them themon on the budgets budget's side tide But lots lols of parents arent aren't wise they long with all their hearts to give their children all that other youngsters have and often they all but wreck married love and home peace in doing it Some youngsters have never thought about this angle of the home problem in this way Perhaps if It they act upon it they may have a s afew afew few less dollars to spend this win win- ter But they will be laying up something that In a few years they would not sell for tor many thousands of dollars |