OCR Text |
Show Dorothy Dix Talks H THE MOTHER LOVE THAT CURSES f liy DOKQTRX DIX, t he World's Higheal Paid Woman Writer J r A man asks me my definition of an j ideal home. Physically. It Is a place of peace, and quiet, and comfort a place to which one goes for refreshment of body as well as of soul. Within It one finds cleanliness and order, and good food, warmth In winter and coolness In summer, a good bed to sleep on, a good chair to sit in. a good dinner at the end of the day's work, a good look to read. The place out of which a borne Is made may be grand or humble. It does not mutter. The floor may be of b.ne boards, or covered wtth I'ersl.m ruK; the bed may be of deal or carved und Inlaid wood, the dinner maj l .i K. liquet li-quet or a single savory dish- It Is home. If it expresses our Individual taste, and meets our Individual need of comfort. I have been In palaces built by great architects and furnished by famous interior decorators, that were no more homos than hotels or furniture stores ir And I hiv..- l.icn In two-room cottages where I sat In the kitchen 'and sniffed the delectable oiioin of the k'- w that Was cooking on the kh to n ittove for dinner, and where a woman I sang at her work, and that place was the very embodiment of home. I Th,. IdMrl l,rm m.it l,av I n II ithrec people, the man. the womun and I the child No one human being caul DjUlke a home alone and unaided. No man can nuke a real home by himself, thouih he rill It Wtth period furniture, and the artistic loot of trie World, and havo perfect servants to i WS,lt upon you. and give you the foe ts 'of laeullus to cat. ! Nor can any womnn make a home j by herself, though she hangs a tidy ion every chair, and has a chimney that smokes, a parrot that swears, and la oat that stays out late at night. Kooms ore baro and lifeless and dead that lack Ih'i human touch that iii house gels that Is really lived In, when; the drama of life, birth and 'death .and laughing und weeping, docs not go on continually. That Is what makes old houses and old furniture 1 so interesting. They have seen so i much. No bachelor's home-coming of an evening can nave the zest that comes to the man wiio. knows that there will be a child's fac prcoeod ugainst the window pane watching tor him. and a woman's tender arm to draw him across cue Liironiiuiu , woman iiiuji have the deflnit.- object of making her husband and child comfortable to Inspire her to the work of making a re.il home. Women who live Bion almost Invariably degenrate Into tea und toast dietary. Spiritually, the ideal home is an altar al-tar on Which a man .md woman offer up the very best that Is In them to ihctr Ldres and Penates They give it to love. The very atmosphere at-mosphere of the Ideal home Is charg- ed with tenderness. It Is a place w here I lH a man comes, secure In the knowledge I IH that though all the world turned r )H agalnal him. here he would find an Y unquestioning faith that would belieeo I in him until the -nd It Is a place C In which a woman knows that she will I find shelter In the arms of her litis- C hand, and that he will protect h-( hgainwi cver h irsh wind that Mows. r Th re is prat e In tlx- Ideal home- f There is no armiimc nor quarrel I 'H nor rancor nor reproaches. It i.- a I quiet harh.ir In which one drops alt B chbr alter thr storm and stress of the E business du . and gathers up freu I courage to go on with th,. journey of r The Ideal home is full of unselfish- ness. Evcrybod) In It is seeking tha iagefl happlncsa of the oilier rather than IH their own. There Is praise Instead of lifH blame. There are words of apprecla- Hljfl 'lion and gratitude. Instead of knock. ngefl There Is no bitterness in self-dental, Vgeim because the sucrlficn is made for one dearer than oneself. I The Ideal home Is a place of cheer. I The h unhand does not spend the evb H nlng sitting up In a gloomy grou n RagH that s,-ndM temperature BH down below Sere Neither does be 1 take out on his unoffending family all the temper and nerves, and general cussc-dne.xu that tie dared DOt IllOV f aglV customers or clients H Nor doea the wife make her home a dumping place for her tears tempers, and consider thnt home means ,n place where sho hus the H privilege of having hvsierlcal fits, and H talking 111:,. wife. H In the idea home the man rsOQJJV ntzes that th round of domestic dua ties that a woman dully performs art) as monotonous and dead!) as a tn ad- IJH mill, so he mukes a conscious effort to cheer and Interest his wife. Ills H I best etorlea, his snappy little reconl H of the day's happenings, his optimistic H 'interest in everythting she has been H doing set the sun In her hettven, And the wife realizes thut In hte H btrenuoUS fight With the wot hi every H day R man has Just about all the un-pleasantness un-pleasantness that he can endure, and so when her husband comes home ! hi i irenlhi dv. not lay upon hi H I already overburdened shoulders till the little worries and aggravations! happened to her, She does no, meet htm at the djDOV with the announcement that Johnnto H has broken his pel meerschaum pipe. H and Tommy must he punished, ami thi H landlord has mixd tin ieni. and uho glglB doesn't sec why he can't make enougi money to buy a car like the Smlthklnw H On the contrary, she turns u .smiling H face upon him, and makes merry o. ir H hardships, und feeds, and pets and ca- IH Jobs him Into believing thut he is the IH greatest man In the world, and has tho H best wife und the most delightful H The ideal hom Is a h( iven on earl H I3very married ouplc can have on" H if i hey will, because we build ourselves H the kind of a home we live In. H |