MOTHER'S AFTER-DINNER NAP.
By Floy L. Wright
THERE is one duty which every mother owes to herself and family, especially during the summer months—a nap after dinner. A busy woman once told me that she owed her health, her patience, and her happiness to this habit. She did her own housework, living in a dirty city, where it required a constant struggle to be clean; but daily, after her dinner work was finished, she locked her doors, bathed her two little children, put them first into their nightgowns and then in their bed between sheets. Then she took her own bath, donned her nightgown, and crept into her bed, which was close beside the children's. They would all sleep soundly for an hour or more, undisturbed if the door bell chanced to ring, but by four o'clock they were usually dressed, rested and refreshed. The children were no more trouble for the rest of the day, and when the husband came home at night, he found cheerful, bright faces to welcome him. There is, in truth, no time so well spent as in an after-dinner nap. We are all human, and it is not in the power of womankind to be able to present the much-lauded "cheerful countenance" unless she give some thought to her own individual comfort. We need not expect to keep the love of our husbands and children if we allow ourselves to grow fretful, and present a sorrowful and untidy appearance. We must keep our tempers sweet, and there's no ounce of prevention better than an afternoon nap. Try it.—Floy L. Wright, in Babyhood.