Show kathleen norris says girls do strange things these days bays bell syndicate service it r I 1 V 1 I A ft 18 is a 0 royal advantage for a girt to live in a 4 family A snippy older sister a troublesome noisy brother a busy hardworking hard working father a mother who cares enough to attend to little things these are pure gold by KATHLEEN NORRIS THE HE problem of the T gal son has quieted down in recent years mothers dont worry about their sons as once they did or perhaps its just that they are worrying more about daughters and the time they once had for bof anxiety about the boys for are do ing odd things these days hundreds of them when they get to the early twenties want to live away from home they are in no hurry to marry they are not in the least concerned as to their chances of marrying but they dont want tp to live at home one young girl I 1 knew left mother father younger sister and two younger brothers rented rented an apartment a few blocks away and for the three years that preceded her marriage maintained a separate establishment often running in to see ile her people making no apologies to society and eventually settling down into orthodox wifehood and motherhood but most girls go away to another city launching into interior decora decoration photography office jobs preferring hard work responsibility the care of an apartment to the much easier life at home mothers are bewildered it has been hard enough tor for mothers to lose their sons in this fashion but it Is utterly bewildering to them to lose their girls too it is one more of the many elements that today are destroying the american home and women feel it and would do something to stop it it if they could but the current Is too strong the girl knows she can be self support ing and the thought of the independence of her own establishment her right to come and go unchallenged to make what friends she pleases intoxicates intoxicated her A girl named freda sanderson puts the situation very well and I 1 will quote verbatim from her letter freda lives in pittsburgh she has two older sisters 27 and 25 and a younger brother 19 her father is teller in a bank her mother with the help 0 of f a colored girl keeps house tor for the family anne I 1 is s m my y oldest sister I 1 a school tea teacher cher who never has had a beau and looks down scornfully on oil anyone who has writes freda she is brilliant admired and successful cess ful but her whole interest Is education and poetry margaret comes next engaged tor for two years and to be married in two more she and dick murmur together in the sitting 9 room three nip nights abts a week rod is in college but lives at h home me tie he and a friend usually are atu btu studying dying in his room antia ten or so then they race downtown tor for sodas and m ovies movies elaborate preparations it if I 1 want my crowd in at home mama has to make preparations of course margaret and dick will go downtown papa will go over to aunt emmas rod hod can have a snack in the kitchen will I 1 and my friends be on time for supper because pop overs dont wait no she wont just have plain bread and frankfurters furthers fur sj the ideal things must be nice will I 1 buy some yellow candles candies and send home some flowers will we try to rem remember imber that papa is trying bojet to get to sleep and keep the radio low warria mama wishes I 1 wouldn t ask the miller girt b ech up her mother Is A REAL PROBLEM beset at home with the usual U difficulties of entertaining entertain in friends along her and cheif their preferences in competition with family ideas freda of pittsburgh writes miss aliss norris for her opinion the young woman complains that she and he her r friends are crowded into a small space only through sacrifice on the part of the family and smothered with intended kind acts by other mother brother and sisters unfortunately the little trio trib utes made by her folks differ frow what she and her crowd like then the family asks her to avoid certain guests and invite others she does not particularly care about freda wonders wanders in her letter if she should not noti take an apartment with another girl or two and lead her life as she pleases her answer from miss aliss norris strikes into the heart of one problem in america that is helping to destroy the american home divorced margaret says not to put coats all over her bed this time anne says she thinks its vulgar to ask a man whose wife I 1 dont know she lives in another city he is just a visitor here delly comes out of the kitchen to say she will make a cake I 1 explain that all my friends are di eting but she goes ahead just the same and the day of the party she caal can do anything else but slop around with frosting tor for the cake what mat the crowd wants is a place to arih bring g cheese and crackers and drink milk and pop theres nothing wild about us we are as decent as any group in town loving writing games and dancing and with neither money nor inclination for nightclubs but the way my family acts makes me want to join up with some other girl and take a little place of our own what do you think and should I 1 make it a different city to save the family face I 1 could be transferred to philadelphia but of course I 1 would miss my friends here and have to start from scratch do you think it is utterly unreasonable tor for me to long to get away the answer is that tor for every good thing we have in life we have to pay something young wives and husbands pay in that loss of independence that disciplining of character that changed attitude toward old friends which is ia marriage mothers pay every hour of their lives for the privilege of bringing sons and daughters into the world single women pay in odd moments of sharp heartache tor for their freedom from family ties A royal advantage it Is a royal advantage to live in a family A snippy older sister another older sister complacent in a happy engagement a troublesome noisy brother a busy hardworking hard working father a mother who cares enough to fuss with candles and popovers pop overs adese ar are epure pure gold when it comes to estimating human values hour tor for hour living at home far outweighs to in advantage any other sort of living tor for girls for the important secret is that there is no independence in this I 1 life tor for any of us until we learn to make the claims of those we love the doorway to unselfishness and service then all our values miraculously turn topsy and we discover that only whoso choso loseth his life shall gain it |