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Show I Dorothy Dix Talks ! DONT OVERPLAY YOUR CHILDREN tiy DOKOTn DIX, ilie '"'rlJ.1J'st Wi 'iian Wnie .Mother?, don't make your children youri one eterna! subject of conversation. Of course you realize thnt every other woman who talks ' incessantly about lier Johnnie and Mamie Is the chief among ten thou .nd bores, and pr.p- flee at her ap-proach ap-proach if there Is any avenue of escape! open But don' I refrain from monolog I ing nbout your children for the sake of sparing other peop!e Do It to spare your children. Very likely you cin't understand bow i nnvbody could" have been interested In I the presidential election when your Tom m) i van trying to make the football team, and some-tiling really important was hap-i pening MOr cat 00 comprehend hbfl anybody would want to discuss the league of nations when you have bought n perfect per-fect love of a chiffon dress for Maud. The only topic of real, vital, he.irt Interest to you are your children. Naturally ou Just bubble ccr with thrilling informn lion about them, and if it makes other people so tired they w:tt to die. so much thu wore for them Now we nil hove an nliennble. constl-tutionni constl-tutionni iicht to life liberty, shd ih- pur cull of our fn-.-orlt" subjects, so WC do not :.:ill have lo consider h.- f. . lings ol oiii Hudn nces. Let tnem defend them- lelVl I H" b.-st they can But every mother Should consider the welf.-ire of her children, chil-dren, and it she only realised the harm she dors them by tolklng about them continually, she would c dumb as an .I- .-. concerning her offspring". But think of whst a ridiculous attitude a mother puts her 'children In when she goes about ceaselessly pn-ss-agentlng ih. in' Hcavjch, In Its mere), ortlained that -' ry n'other should see ull Of her black crOWa wl-.i'.e. nnd believe all of her j.-fz..- m I,- walta Hence the mother discourses by th.- hour upon what mu leal prodigy Mary Is. and what a mar- VclOU tslenl John Ins fOl i'.eting and what a belle Susie ic, nnd what brilliant chances of marrlngi Sadie has had. And when we see these small pnenom' enOns, we feel aji did the small 1kv who wept to be taken out of the circus so that he could look one- more upon ihe thrilling billboard pictures. For Star; iiu.de is niefel) tinpan thumping, fohn'i r- lt.it ion makes us feel like sending out an S. O. S. call for chloroform, nnd ever) body bul ih-.r mother knows tlml Sumo ;.nd' Bafllfi are wall (Towers who never have an" nttention from men except such as they get by feeding the hungry So while mother discourses about her bunch of geniuses, everybody Is laughing at Cheffl in their sleever., and they become ,-t mocking and a by-word. Mother's leng-ging nbout hi r chllrir.-n not only mnk tin m ridlcOlOUB, bul il does the young people a great Injustice l-or they, themselves, nrr simple enough mid hiiv.- no desire Id bosc as an) ihing i-emnrknhle. Left to themselves, nnd' without mother's exploitation, they Would even b regarded as unusually bright and attractive voung people, but w hen mothci tells you thai -i glrr with --i small sweel voice is a second ilelba. and a boy who clevei nt .iirist. in theatricals Is about to, put Otla Skinner and John Drew t r ih-stage, ih-stage, why. you Immediately becomo critical crit-ical and disposed to den) them the merit they really have. I As for a m..th. r thinking thnt she enn ! win her daughters into being belles by r -pr i. ntlnc them ns br ine besieged b-. young men. rjnd spending most of lh.ir lime turning away rejected suitors from their door, nothing could be a gre;it.-r mistake. Many a nice girl rets shelved because young men don't want In r mother moth-er to go boasting that their scalps are hanging to hy daughter's belt. Furthermore, tbe woman who talks about tier children continually . creates a prejudice against II:. in in the popular mind Wi get bond with them We re so surfeited with them thai we don't want them at any price, and that's a fatal thing to the prospects of anybody. Curiously enough, a mother never succeeds suc-ceeds in getting across to us the picture she want" US to have of her children When she spend" hours upon hours ramming ram-ming down our throats the superlative virtues of John, we don't get picture of a fine, nnd nohle. and admirable youth. Wo think of John as a llssy, and n 'milksop, and the jolt of u boy who does itntUng. and whom we would never se-I. se-I. . ' i..r any man sized J.h And when mother spends wenry and !nffllctlng hours discnntlnr on S.ilh.- fascinations, pthd clutrths, she luui not . piqued our interest In her She has killed: lit Wc don't want to invite her for' week ends, and 10 pay us a visit - We feel wt bnve had all of her that wc can I-or-dMe endure. j j The real reason thnt so many hoys have to leave home id go into bu-iiness. Is I . I i a nr." their mothers have talked their chances to dcith at home People Ivn e I .i bOred wilh them so long thnt thev have i N" resentful, and want to be done with them. Th. Ir --lock is lielow par because their linoih- i ' have .-rpioitcl it too much. Aft . -. .-i toy's mothci has assured you every tim --he has seen you for twenty years I liint her -on la the most marvelous Phe-nomcnon Phe-nomcnon the world has ever Been, it it: disappointing to find he h only an ordinary' ordi-nary' vniilh With ui. dlo. abilities. Therefore. eothei . put the soft pedal on good ind hard when you go to tik about your children Don't overplay them.. I'on't raise . x'octntlons of their talents 1 nnd looks thnt they cannot make good and for pity's sake, don t feed people "P on them BO that they will be associsted ' In everybody's mind with thai tired fet I . ing. i |