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Taking It Easier

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 30, 1915

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 92, No. 48.

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Taking It Easier

By MARTHA E. WARNER

Front Porch Visits — No. 4

Taking It Easier

MARTHA E. WARNER
“This has been such a hard day,” remarked Mrs. Bowen one evening, “and, like Laurence, I’ve prayed and prayed, but it doesn’t seem to do a bit of good. The children have acted like wild Indians all day—and I’m so tired. At dinner time my husband said, ‘My dear, you look tired. I wish you would take it easier.’ That’s just like a man—‘Take it easier!’ I wish he had to take my place for a week. He would be ready for the insane asylum. Just as if I got tired purposely!”
“Now, my friend,” said I, “you lie down in the hammock and rest while we talk this matter over. You must excuse me if I say I think your husband is right—you ought to ‘take it easier.’”
“‘Take it easier!’” exclaimed Mrs. Bowen; “I never want to hear those words again. I do the best I can.”
“Dear Mrs. Bowen,” I replied, “I am going to talk very plainly to you. Do you think you are doing yourself and your children justice in allowing them to play all day, while you work? Why not let them help you?”
“Help me! It is ten times easier to do the work myself than to be bothered by them.”
“That is just the trouble,” I answered; “you do not want to be bothered, but what kind of housekeeper will Helen make when she grows up? Is it not your duty to teach her now? She is old enough to take full charge of the dishes, the dining room, and her own room. Harold ought to keep you supplied with wood, coal, and kindlings, sweep the porches, and be your man-of-all-work. Assign to each child a part of the work for each day. Write out a program for each, so there will be no occasion for forgetting. Even little Fern could help with the dusting.”
“Plan your work so as to work with the children. When their playtime comes, join with them as much as possible. You will have time to get outdoors more if you will gradually change the children’s wardrobe so that white dresses, skirts, shoes, and stockings are used only for Sabbath and very special occasions. Dress the girls in something they can play in and be comfortable. Fold up your sheets, and put them away without touching an iron to them; the underclothing likewise. Cut out the rich pies, cakes, and puddings, and serve plenty of milk and fresh fruit, instead, with some special treat for Sabbath. Don’t let your mending get ahead of you. Stop waiting upon the children, and let them wait upon you. Have a place for their toys and clothes, and insist upon their keeping these things in their places. Plan to have your evenings free for your husband. Then—well, I think I have said enough for one evening.”
“I think you have,” remarked Mrs. Bowen, rising to go. “I came over expecting to receive sympathy, and instead you have given me a lecture. I do not know whether I can digest it all, but I do see some things in which I have failed.”
Clintonville, Conn.