| Show kathleen kathlee n norris says nays hs the children who suffer in ill divorces dell bell syndicate rea feature tures den denise ise had hysterics left the table and refused to return even at bettys coaxing by KATHLEEN NORRIS THERE HERE was always a T deep devotion between JL my first husband and our daughter writes marian lent from chicago when armand and I 1 were divorced denise felt it bitterly although she was only 8 I 1 im immediately married again and she disliked her stepfather although he was always kind bruce had two daughters at that time 13 and 17 the elder has since married b but U t the younger betsy and my own daughter are continually quarreling the family has increased since by the arrival 0 of another girl and I 1 now a baby boy and we could be ideally happy but for D denise en whose wretched disposition jealousy and resentment spoil everything betsy now 18 is a charming girl pretty musical and full of fun denise is too tall too heavy and at the clumsy shy difficult I 1 stage of adolescence betsy is like another mother to the younger children denise resents being asked to do the slightest thing for them armand my first husband has married again and has tw two 0 boys denise wants very much to live with her father lut but for several reasons that would not be practicable his second wife Is a flighty and hysterical woman who had had two pre unsuccessful marriage experiences before she married armand and if denise denis e cannot be happy here with me the chances of her being happy there are certainly slim lawe if we could afford it we e would send her to a boarding school but beside the expense there is the consideration that we need her here to help out with the housework and baby care denise moody difficult my husband has been all patience and kindness up to now but now he fie is beginning to suffer from demises Deni ses moods as we ve all do last night he spoke to her sharply at the dinner table it had been a cold long dragging winter day for everyone the house for some reason was chilly dinner quite a success and all these things contributed to shorten tempers and cloud the atmosphere mo sphere anyway denise had hysterics left the table and refused to return even at beisys coaxing 1 I myself am a writer the letter concludes and I 1 realize you know some of my books but my imagination refuses to cope with a situation in which a mother and daughter are completely out of 0 sympathy this child Is only 13 she cannot leave home and apparently she cannot be happy in her home I 1 reason with ith her I 1 ask her to make it a watter matter ot of prayer and she looks at me with a long bored yawn and says patiently oh please mother will you pretend that this Is one of your stories and bring it to your visual usual happy ending my dear marian I 1 dont think this Is a matter for r imagination to solve olve s it is a question of supreme diplomacy on your part and character on that of 0 denise denise is suffering from jealousy first of the man who took her loved fathers place second of the charming step sisters and third of the babies who replaced her in your affections all these feelings infinitely ramified are making life intolerable to her and being 13 she cant see any way wai out for what seem to her ages and ages quite naturally you admire the pretty musical betsy quite naturally you and their sin she it ii shy clumsy dt cult UNHAPPY DAUGHTER when parents are divorced the children are divided in loyalty bewildered embarrassed A sensitive girl like denise in story suffers I 1 a great i leal deal particularly during the trying years jears of adolescence denise is 13 and lives with her mother who has remarried rie d the girl quarrels with her stepsister betty betsy who is 18 the younger children a brother and sister complicate things further denise does not want to help with the work or the baby tending and is moody resentful sent ful jealous and unhappy because her father is married again this time to a flighty hysterical woman there is little likelihood that denise would be any better oy off with him and her stepmother denise is getting to be a ser serious problem her stepfather is beginning to lose patience with her miss norris not rs suggests a way out however that should be satisfactory to ever body miss norris advises that denise he be allowed to board at the home of some schoolmate here she would have companionship panion ship and would be free fron from the constant frictions that are now besetting her she would have a chance to develop her own personality unfettered tere father rave over the baby daughter and son meanwhile poor denise forgets things breaks things falls over things blots things burns things and of course feeds hate and resentment all the time let her visit father possibly a visit to her fathers home might help her see this situation in a saner light but that is unlikely she and her stepi stepmother nother would not be friends and domestic slavery for the two half brothers there would repeat the miserable situation of your own nursery it if she became desperately unhappy under her fathers root roof and felt that she could not return to yours it is not improbable that she would take her own life causing you a lifelong re morse no matter you DU feel now in the course you ou have followed so I 1 suggest that you look over the list of her school associates and find one whose mother could take her in as a boarder for a while this means that you would pick a humble home with housework to do but denise would be on her own and if I 1 know anything of these shy awkward ill adjusted youngsters she would blossom forth in colors that would amaze you with a constant companion of her own age with no painful contrasts between her and an older girl with no burning jealousies to poison everything she says and does denise will develop far more normally and happily than she can in your care h he e charge tor for this sort of young boarder is light perhaps as low as 7 or 8 a week it will be worth it to you to make this experiment she and her will do their homework together ch chatter a ater 0 ot f school affairs bake cookies go to saturday movies and live their own satis satisfied fled lives I 1 have hae known several cases where this plan worked a real miracle and I 1 heartily recommend it to you |
