p. 10 | WHERE'S MOTHER?

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jun 18, 1894

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 32.

"WHERE'S MOTHER?"

WHEN the tired father returns home at night from the office or shop, when the children come home from school, the first question is always—unless she stands in the very hall before their eyes—"Where's mother?" It is often said that the mother is the home. This question is one of the many proofs of the truth of this proverb. Unless the mother is in the house, the vital principle of the home seems to be lacking. She comes, and comfort, love, and joy seem to enter with her. She goes, and there is a sort of breathless and uneasy waiting time until she comes back again.

To the true mother the knowledge that she is thus indispensable to the loved ones should be one of the choicest possessions. It is only by cherishing the spirit which prompts the question, "Where's mother?" that she can properly instill into the hearts of her children that "passion for home" which one of our great writers has called the "first characteristic of manly natures." And yet, not infrequently, a tired mother will exclaim impatiently, "I wish I could stir without having an outcry, 'Where's mother?'" To one who sets true value upon life and its duties and pleasures, such words come with an awful shock. Pearls seem to have been cast wastefully before the feet of such a woman.

But even if a mother hold most dear this precious tribute of love, how many are there who take pains to be at home when the children come, or, if she must be absent, to leave word for them, or to tell them before they go in the morning or at noon that she expects to be gone when they return, with the reasons and regrets? It is only by mutual thoughtfulness in these so-called trifles that the harmony of the home life can be preserved; and woe to her who does not appreciate them at their true value. It is impossible that the busy mother of a family, with shopping to do, calls to make, and meetings of various kinds to attend, should always be in when the children come home from school. It would show an undue regard for sentiment if she were to shut herself away from the outside life which every woman needs so much, and which she needs especially for the benefit of her family. But by following this rule, to tell the children in the morning, whenever she can, just where she is to be, and how soon she will be at home, she may keep alive, and still foster, though she is absent, the sacred flame which she so prizes.

—Selected.