Home Life Without Children

Welford Country Cottage

by Carl Valente

A home without children  includes women whose children now have homes of their own, those who have never been able to have children, widows and others who for some reason are home without children. I will also include in this group women who have not married and are home with their parents. The special role of these women at home are described in the following categories:

The First Year at Home: The first year at home is a time to enjoy being a keeper of your own home. With only two people in the home, it may not seem like there will be much work, but there is. Just cleaning up after yourself can be time-consuming, and cleaning up after two can be more. Therefore, there is plenty to do at home to justify devoting your time to it.

 Some young women want a detailed description of what they are supposed to do all day at home, but each family will be different, with different needs and different demands on their time. If you live in the country, it will take up quite a bit of time to do the marketing and to look after your property. There may be livestock to care for or a garden.  If you live near town, it will still take some time to do your essential shopping, putting away groceries, making meals, cleaning up after, and keeping the dwelling place clean and neat.

 If you have special interests, you will find that there is not enough time in the day to keep house and sew and knit and paint and write letters. Devoting your life to  homemaking can consume a great deal of time.  Besides all this, there may be home maintenance, which is the care of the structure of the home in painting, replacing things, and repairs.

Experienced homemakers will tell you that there is necessary work to be done, but that they try to get it out of the way so that they can pick up their knitting, or some other thing they have begun. When there is a lull in things to do, read and increase your knowledge in something that might improve the quality of life at home.  If you are learning to sew,  take some time to read over your pattern instruction and get an idea of what you will have to do.  If you want your home to be more visually attractive, then change around the furnishings and pictures and make new curtains with matching chair cushions and table cloths. If you feel it still does not fill up the time, concentrate on setting an attractive table or entertaining guests. Without children, there is still a lot to do to fill the day.

This first year is a time to figure out what needs to be done from day to day. The way to discover these needs is to observe what takes place from early morning to late at night and establish a dependable yet flexible routine. For example, you will noticed when you need to do the grocery shopping, when clothes need washing or ironing, when the kitchen needs to be cleaned, when bills need to be paid. You will be living with a man who will have schedules and needs that may determine what all needs to be done.


People are always talking about "furthering your education," and I agree. If you want to increase your knowledge in things that will really help you at home, consider taking a cooking class, a sewing course, or enroll in some kind of training that will aid you in creating an efficient but lovely home.  Even in the smallest of towns, you can find offerings of education in floral arranging, cake decorating, home interiors, garden and landscaping, quilting, furniture refinishing or upholstery. Small towns sometimes have events centers with yearly home shows where you can see home and garden displays that will inspire you to translate some of it into your own home. Consider taking a maid's class and learn the art of cleaning house. The possibilities for education in home life seems endless. Online, there is an enormous offerring of tutorials from art to sewing, that will keep you busy. Try putting everything you have learned, that works for your home, into a large notebook, to create a master list of homemaking skills that you can refer to often.

Daughters at Home
 Daughters at home have an opportunity to take over a lot of the duties for their mothers, thus freeing them to do things they never seem to get around to doing. Acquiring homemaking skills while growing up will mean a girl never has to wonder what she is supposed to do all day at home, for she will understand that one thing that is completed means another thing can be done, and so forth. The daughters who have learned daily homemaking along-side their mothers will be blessed with a natural inclination for homemaking, and will never have to ask the question, "Now that I am older and not married, what am I supposed to do next?"  If they really have a spiritual understanding of homemaking, they will always have a long list of things to accomplish at home. When they are finished with one thing, they will naturally find something else to do.  A beautiful persepective from a daughter at home can be read here.http://www.abowlofmossandpebbles.com/?p=4751

Women Whose Husbands are Away: Life at home can be very bleak for the women whose husbands must be away for weeks at a time, so it is really important that they find some things of interest besides cleaning and keeping house, that are agreeable to home life. Being a keeper at home is more than cleaning. There are numerous other things that go into making a house a home.

When he is home, you will want to enjoy yourselves together, so while he is away is a perfect time to clean the floors, rearrange things to your convenience, or sew something special.  If family is nearby, they fill the gap perfectly when the husband is away, and the wife should certainly take advantage of their company. Some families help put in a garden, aid in home repairs or painting, and in general make the quality of life better for the woman whose husband is away. This is a good time to do necessary shopping and develop your talents and creative side. Add something to the home while he is away, so that when he returns, the home is even more appealing. This can be in the form of a completed sewing project, home improvement, or learning some skill well.

Women Who Have Not Been Able to Have Children:
Today there are many resources available to the homemaker through the library, bookstores, internet, garden centers and local markets. Woman can learn to sew, communicate with her family if they live a distance from her, and find any information she needs online about creating a homey atmosphere. 

 Without children, there is a great opportunity to extend hospitality to others, and that in itself can become a special interest on the part of the homemaker. With regular company, comes the need to keep house better and provide the kitchen with the things that makes serving and caring for others more enjoyable.

On line, there are weekly events that stimulate homemakers to "love and good works," as the Bible teaches. A worker at home can participate in a table-setting day, a show-and-tell homemaking day, or an arts and crafts day, and still add to the enjoyment of her own home. Some ladies online participate in things like sharing a schedule, a menu, or a hand-made item. There really is no reason to think you are isolated in the home, if you have no children. There is so much to do, there will not be enough days to do it.

Without children, wives can use the time to be attentive companions to their husbands and even spoil them a bit.


Women With Grown Children Gone From Home:
Even after children are grown, the responsibilities of the home seem to increase. By that time, there may need to be some changes in the dwelling itself: refurbishing and refurnishing. Home libraries need to be sorted through, and books need to be categorized, and new ones added, depending on the interest of the homemaker.  After a life time of use, kitchen items may need to be replaced. It is a good time for changes in the house, when children are gone.

This may also be a great time to include more people in your life that you previously had no time for.If the homemaker is a more of a private person and does not desire to have too much company, she will still find that the care of the home, the care of herself and her husband, and possibly the care of their parents, will take up all their time.


Widows:
The Bible teaches that younger widows ought to marry, raise children, and keep the house, but older widows in the church can put themselves in the category described in Titus 2 as older women. These women are responsible to teach younger women to be good wives, mothers and homemakers. Without children in the home, an older widow can find ways of using her house to teach something of value to other women, that will help them have happy homes.  How often a widow wishes to provide this kind of training will depend upon her health and her stamina and the other obligations in her life.

Widows can re-marry, but the Bible teaches that it must be "only in the Lord," which means that they must marry a Christian.  This is an overlooked command in the New Testament, and many widows have not been careful to choose only a Christian mate. Sometimes the feeling of rootlessness and loneliness can be so strong, that widows will marry into troubled situations. Being a homemaker and a teacher of good things to the younger women, will provide some protection for them, as God will bless their obedience to his Will. If they will show a good example of an older woman following the scriptures, they may see clearly to choose a mate wisely and not get into problems by marrying outside of the church.

Widows will find that there is still more than enough that needs to be done at home, but may lack motivation. That is one good reason to reach out to others and share a knowledge of life at home. If a widow has had a good marriage, she can pass on her advice to the younger women.

There is always a problem of finding those who wish to learn, but these days, blogging is a great way to pass on your beliefs to others who are looking for something. If she is not well enough to do anything this ambitious, or to teach at home, it is possible that she can enjoy life by being the best example she can be. That in itself is sometimes a great motivation.

A widow may never have had children, or may have grown children who do not live near her. Without children, she has to be especially careful about the choices she makes, so that she is not taken advantage of. It is best to follow the Bible's guidance for widows and not go headlong into some course of action or commitment that she cannot back out of.  Widows should be careful of the way things appear to others, because there are those who are ready to spread a rumour about just anything they see. Be careful who you are seen with, and who you sit on your front porch chatting with, that it is all above reproach and has only the appearance of good. Be always aware of what others may perceive and be careful to keep your reputation spotless. You will need it should you ever decide to teach younger women.

Women without children can and should have a very full and busy life. Without children, they have the opportunity to get plenty of rest and to have a more leisurely life if they choose to, and be able to do special things for other people. Think of all people you have known who had no children. That favorite Aunt would probably not have been able to spoil you so much if she had a brood of her own. The friend without children may not have been able to take you to tea or shower you with special gifts.  The women without children who were also full time homemakers made a great contribution in the lives of their relatives and friends, for they were always ready to go somewhere or do something, and many of them had wonderful domestic skills and made products that they shared with others.

See also http://makingajoyfulhome.blogspot.com/2011/05/keepers-at-home-are-necessary.html

Homemaking Curriclum Ideas

Cards from Victorian Trading Company

Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold.
For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.
I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions. -Proverbs 8:10-12

Please see the previous post for curriculum ideas you can make up, yourself.

There may be things in these books that are not needed for everyone, but if you concentrate on the things that you can use, they will be most useful. If you have daughters at home and you really want to motivate them to be enterprising and productive in the home, these books will be of value:

Future Christian Homemakers Handbook by Laurie Latour: Illustrates with photographs of her own home keeping classes at home; contains food studies and home keeping skills, and instructions for the temperament (kindness, goodness, etc) Most excellent with assignments.

Treasury of Vintage Homekeeping Skills by Martha Greene: lovely home keeping book with everything in it from laundry to Home repairs; includes knitting and other needlework skills, how to make a sewing box, cooking, the home office, and much, much more. Has work pages to fill in. This is a very worthwhile book for study or for keeping. Has historical notes and quotes in it.

Keepers of the Faith: This is written for little girls, but what fun it would be for an older girl at home to take it chapter by chapter and do the assignments in it and fill up a notebook with samples of the skills contained in it. I would like to do it too!

The Joy of Womanhood: This is mainly a Bible study containing Bible examples and verses that pertain to womanhood. In the back of the book are exercise pages that teach you how to manage family finances, and give assignments such as reading a book on bread making, reading a book on home organization, keep your own room neat and organized for 6 months, keeping a journal, reading ("read 20 books ob the following: biography-4 books, history-2 books, how-to--4 books, poetry-1 book, nature, 1 book, etc;) writing assignments: write a letter to your congressmen on a particular subject, write to a local newspaper; physical fitness, and serving the needs of others. A small book but full of ideas in the back.

The Christian Girl : Book One, Book Two, Book Three and Book Four; these were last authored in 1964 but are still being published as new, today. I have reviewed the lessons in these books and the scrapbook assignments at the end of each lesson. If young girls were taught these lessons, they would be happy to do what is right and good and be pleasing instead of peevish, happy instead of harping, and serving instead of sullen. Check out recent posts I've had about these books.You can order these booklets by calling The Christian Herald Bookstore at 1-800-939-6767.

American Girls Handy Book: This is not a Christian book but it has some very interesting activities that were popular in Victorian times. It is divided into four parts: spring, summer, autumn and winter, with activities for each season. Some you will want to ignore, but others are quite good. For example, the summer section contains instruction for summer cottage decoration, and what to take to a picnic. There are paper crafts and other kinds of crafts done in the 1800's as well as how to play games of the times. I have always treasured this book. It is called a nonpareil book.

A young lady's education should draw her closer to her home and family, and draw her family closer to her, and make her desire, more than anything else, a home and family of her own. Education that detaches young women from such values, has gone beyond education and is tampering with the emotions and the mind, outside of the word of God. In my opinion, women who are educated at home can take on any issue with intelligence and clarity. Such women are well-read and knowledgeable on many different issues.

Very Useful Websites http://members.truevine.net/theingrams/index.html

Here is one written in 1910 http://www.scribd.com/doc/898476/Practical-Suggestions-for-Mother-and-Housewife-by-Marion-Mills-Miller and here is a place to order a hard copy: http://www.allbookstores.com/book/9780762436101/Marion_Mills_Miller/Practical_Suggestions_For_Mother_And_Housewife.html

I have read it and would suggest you read it carefully to understand the meaning and word usage and expressions of the time and get an understanding of the whole subject. There is a lot of instruction directed to daughters before marriage, who are at home with their families. It could be quite a classic and it gives a glimpse into what people used to think that young girls should be busy doing.

More book titles will be inserted into this post soon.

The previous post contains ideas of being a librarian for a day or week, a hostess for a day, a reader, and other things that give hands-on experience for young ladies at home.

Learning to Be a Home Keeper

There are many things available to further the education and work experience of daughters at home, and it is never too soon to begin a unit study on these things. I have compiled a list of things that might be helpful when increasing the knowledge and understanding of daughters who desire to be home keepers. These are books that do not just require head knowledge, but will be things that they can put their hands to and practice in every day life.

A few years ago, someone emailed me with a link to a site that provided a curriculum for older daughters who wanted to make the most of life at home and prepare to be future home makers. It contained many things that a young woman would have had to know a hundred years ago, in the areas of homemaking, such as sewing and cooking, caring for the sick, being a hostess, teaching children, writing proper letters, or growing food. From what I remember, she got a lot of her ideas from reading the books of the past centuries, which gave her an insight into the lives of young women at home. In my search for a curriculum for daughters at home, I have not been able to re-locate this woman's site, so I have put together some similar ideas.

Besides the description of books that are listed here, I would like to introduce you to some ideas that many families have practiced over the years. I call it "Unit Career Studies" but you can label it anything you want. When a daughter gets interested in something, she may practice doing it for a day, a week, or whatever time limitations she wishes.

Before practical application of each "unit", the student should do some research and start a little hand made notebook on the subject. Afterwards, she can begin the career for a day or week or month, and add more things to her notebook. I have posted previously on how to make your own little books, but you could also just purchase blank books with pretty covers. When I was a girl, a home economics teacher taught us right out of a book she had made with a three-ring binder, of everything she had learned in home maker's college. She had little snips of fabrics glued into pages, with descriptions and laundry care, recipes, living room arrangements, cleaning procedures, and so forth, which she had recorded from her classes.

Family Librarian: In her youth, she may have read her parent's personal library of books and already be familiar with a great deal of art, literature, music, history, and other subjects. For a day or two, she may become the household librarian, by cleaning out book shelves and dusting the books. When she returns them to the shelves, she puts them in categories of subject matter or interest, (decorating, history, poetry, special interests such as aviation or ships, science, magazines, Bible reference books, fiction, art, etc) and then attaches a label on the edge of the book shelf with paper and tape.

Our family did things like this, thinking we were the only ones who did such things, but years later, learned that other young ladies enjoyed this activity. Some girls even attached envelopes containing index cards, to the inside covers of books, with a place to sign your name if you took the book. This was quite useful when actually lending a book to a friend. Books that went missing were easily recovered by looking at the card that was left and contacting the person who borrowed it.

Florist: Another time, she may become the home florist. It begins in the planting of a garden, including a cutting garden, and transforms into pots of plants around the house and vases of cut flowers with different color combinations. She can supply flowers for the home, checking to see if water needs added or changed, or if bouquets need to be replaced. The fun of this is the absolute joy of getting up in the morning knowing that her family is going to be the recipient of beautiful plants and flowers that help give life to a home.

When there is nothing in bloom, she can learn to use her imagination with boughs and branches and clippings from hedges, grasses, and even weeds, to make friendly little bouquets. This does not have to be kept up forever, but it provides the daughter at home with an idea of what effect flora and fauna have on home making. When we were children, we enjoyed taking an old bowl or basket or jar, filling it with colored rocks, adding ferns and flowers and things from outdoors, and using it as a centerpiece. This was something that was common in homes in the past.

Personal Secretary:Another unit of study can take place in the realm of the secretary of the home. Every home should have an office, and a system of managing phone messages, paying bills, sending out cards, putting things in files, and so forth. If her father has an office in the home, she can become a secretary for a week or so and get some experience in office work.

All these jobs should be treated with utmost respect, in the way the young woman dresses for the part, (for example, the florist can wear a flowered, full length apron or sew a special outfit for that particular job, and make other suitable garments for other jobs) and in the way she handles her time, not slacking, but not hurrying, just to get it done. She should think about the job at hand and ponder what she is doing, and think ahead about what she will do next.

Sick Comforter:The nurse's aid can learn to make a tray to take to someone in the family who is in bed-rest, and learn to make a bed with a person still in it. She should dress the part, not so much in a hospital uniform, but in especially clean and fresh clothing, and have a cheerful attitude, which always helps a sick person feel better. She should also spend a day learning how to clean and sanitize a bathroom or bedroom after there has been illness in the house. Web searches can unearth books and articles about all the subjects I have mentioned so far. She should learn about activities for sick children and know how to tell stories and invent simple games to help them pass the time. She might have a special basket or box of supplies for this sort of thing, consisting of things she has made, and a hand made book containing ideas for this sort of thing. She can find resources to study about how how to make people more comfortable in bed or how to make a place for someone who is sick (or just needing more rest) in the living room, with something to drink, a pile of interesting books or magazines. She should do a study on the subject first, and be prepared to fill this role when necessary.

Hospitality: Becoming the family hostess will provide knowledge and practice in caring for others and extending her hands to those who would need a little lift. It takes months to get ready for some events like this, and she should begin by making a list of all the house cleaning and shopping and cooking and clothing care that needs to be done before company arrives. She should know how to plan a menu and send an invitation. I have often suggested that an Afternoon Tea is the best form of entertainment, because it does not have to come right out of the oven to the table; it can be cold sandwiches and day-old scones with berries and cream and hot tea, yet it is served in such a bright and lovely setting, that people think they have been to a high-end hotel when they have partaken of it. It is less expensive than a meal and more casual, yet more delightful. The girl who wants to practice being a hostess, will enjoy it immensely and learn a lot from it. She should keep a hostess diary to record menus and guests and table settings, themes, etc. and make notes of sucesses and failures, for the future. It may be necessary to find magazines and books on the subject and circle some things she would like to try, or start a scrapbook to use as her textbook for hospitality.

Reader: Being able to read aloud, fluently and with expression and good elocution, is a very valuable thing. It is much appreciated when someone needs to keep alert while doing a task. Reading aloud is appreciated by those who have no time to read. A daughter could do a study on the different aspects and skills needed to read aloud. I would suggest the McGuffey readers, which have a section of elocution, at the beginning of each, with vocal exercises to correct slurring of words, run-on sentences, or poor pronunciation. The practice pages include things like voice inflection, and soft/hard sounds.

Laundress: This unit could be quite creative and fun. The laundry room should not be a dark hole that everyone dreads. This is where daughters at home can really make a difference. Mothers are often too busy or too tired to change things or organize things, and these girls can make themselves useful by designing on paper a system for the laundry room. Then, they can search through pictures in magazines, cutting out features they like, and putting them in the little scrapbook on the subject.

Learn about different fabrics and how to wash them. Learn to make soap, if only just to know how and experience it at least once. Clean up the laundry room and do the family laundry for a week. Notice things that need to be changed and notice how to make the job easier. Learn about pressing clothing and note the difference, even with our modern fabrics, between an ironed shirt and an un ironed one. Learn to iron a shirt and men's pants, and learn what fabrics need cool iron or hot iron, and why.

Collect information about doing laundry from different sites on the web, and study old books as well. Becoming the family laundress for a week will provide experience that will carry on into her own household later on.

Family Newspaper: This can be a great way to record things that will later be forgotten. Daughters (or sons) can have a great time researching the way their grandparents used to live and putting it in the historical column of their personal paper. They can include recipes and photographs. Great family events can make the headlines. Doing a family paper each month for a year, or quarterly (spring, summer, autumn, winter) is a valuable experience. While big, commercial newspapers record what they think is important, few people record the daily existence of the humble souls that make a big contribution in the lives of their loved ones. A family newspaper shows the importance of the family members. Once a daughter publishes her own family newspaper, she will see the value in building up others.

One thing that is prevalent in all these unit studies, is the propensity for enterprise, if necessary. Women who were widows who needed income, would often taken in laundry and ironing, from people who could not do their own. Do a study on the Chinese Laundry in America and you will see how these energetic people made a bustling business out of washing, starching, ironing and mending, bringing the labor to a professional status. Include some of this history in the notebook.

There are many other subjects that can be treated as unit career studies, including seamstress, maid, cook, music or singing teacher, children's teacher, or ladies aid, which could be addressed in another post.

Be watching for book list in the next post. In the meantime, if you have daughters and are looking for curriculum, the above information will possibly give you the ideas you need to form your own curriculum.

(I do not have a source for the above photograph, so my apologies for not giving proper credit)

Between the School Room and the Altar, by Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919)

Alresco Afternoon by Charles Zhan

I am normally not a very outwardly emotionally expressive person, nor am I "verbally religious." However, when my daughter began reading this essay from an 1890 edition of "The Ladies Home Journal," I was quite enthusiastic. Many daughters who are at home will agree with this piece, and many mothers will say "I could have written that, myself." Ella Wheeler Wilcox was the author of many inspirational poems, and this article is the most inspirational of all. Feminist may claim her as a champion of their cause, but here, she urges young women to aim for a pure character and success in the home. Try reading it aloud and seeing the effect it has on the hearers. This will be added to the "Theme Article" section on the side of this blog.

Springtime by Charles Zhan

"Ofte the most memorable time in the life of a woman is that period which lies between the schoolroom and the altar. It is the time toward which every school girl looks with eagerness, and to which many a matuere woman casts a backward glance of regret. It is the hope-land of youth, the memory-land of age...

"When the girl enters the world after her education is "finished," she does not always find it what she expected. The school room is one thing, the world another.

"She may hve been popular with her teachers because she was a diligent scholar, and carried off the honors of the school. But she finds that book-knowledge does not make her popular or successful socially.

"Some of the most intellectual people I have known have been among the most disagreeable. A woman whose intellect is aggressive, who parades her knowledge before those of inferior intellect or education, is an object to be dreaded.

"Mere learning in a woman is never attractive. It is, on the contrary, offensive, unless coupled with feminine graces. School learning should sink into the character and deportment, and only exhibit itself as the perfume of a flower is exhibited--in a subtle, nameless and unobtrusive manner.

"A woman's knowledge of grammar should not maker her talk like an orator in daily life--it should simply make her conversation gracious and agreeable.

"Mathematics should render her mind clear, and her judgements true; her geographical studies should teach her that the world is too small for falseness to find a hiding place; and history should impress upon her that life is too short for unworthy ambitions.

Rose Bay Cottage by Charles Zhan

"The time between the schoolroom and the altar should be not a mere harvest time of pleasure, but a sowing time for all the seeds of kindness and benevolence which alone can make her a successful wife and mother.

"The young lady who comes out of school realizing what an expense her education has been to her parents, and resolves to repay them in sacrificing some pleasures for their ske, and strives by self-denial and cheerfulness to lighten their burdens; that young lady is seldom found later in life in the divorce courts, a maryr to marital incapability. The good and thoughtful daughter makes the good and thoughtful wife, as a rule; she does not expect the man she marries to be a god and her slave in one; she has the patience and tact to cultivate in him the qualities she desires, and to keep his love and respect.

"I never see a petted, pampered girl who is yielded to in every whim by servants and parents, that I do not sigh with pity for the man who will one day be her husband.

"It is the worshipped daughter who has been taught that her whims and wishes are supreme in a household, who makes marriage a failure all her life. She has had her way in things great and small, and when she desired dresses, pleasures or journeys which were beyond the family purse, she carried the day with tears or sulks, or posing as a martyr. The parents sacrificed, and suffered for her sake, hoping to finally see her well married. They carefully hide her faults from her suitors who seek her hand, and she is ever ready with smiles and allurements to win the hearts of men, and the average man is as blind tothe faults of a pretty girl as a newly-hatched bird is blind to the worms upon the trees about him. He thinks her litte pettish ways are mere girlish moods; but when she beocmes his wife, and reveals her selfish and cruel nature, he is grieved and hurt to think fate has been so unkind to him.

"I once heard a man complain of the stubborn selfishness of his wife in small, daily matters, which completely ruined his home life. I asked him if he had not caused this trait to develop through some carelessness on his won part. "Oh, no," he said, "I knew her from her early girlhood, and she was always terribly selfish with her parents; her will ruled fatehr and mother in all things, and she always had her way in everything."

"then you were the blindest of men tomarry her," I said, "for while I have known one or two selfish sons to be trained into fairly good husbands by excellent wives, I never knew a selfish and thoughtless daughter to make a good wife."

"Every girl dreams of the time when she will become a loved wife; but how can she expect to be loved if she is not loveable? Every hour of the time between the school room and the altar ought to be used by her in cultivating a spirit of usefulnes, kindness and devotion to relatives and friends, which will enable her to display that constant self-sacrifice, and thoughtfulness which marriage demands daily of both husband and wife.

"Fannie Edgar Thomas, a gifted writer and a bright, earnest young lady, made a remark to me the other day which I thought was full of truth. I feel that I ought to give her name and credit for the words, because the open up a world of meaning to every thoughtful young woman. She said: "While I meet many charming and delightful women, I am constantly surprised that women are not grander. It seems to me the consciousness that they are to be the mothers of coming generations would fill them with such awe and reverence that all frivolity and selfishness would be frightened out of them."

Yes, indeed! If our girls would but realize that their daily thoughts, impulses and habits are forming their characters as certainly as the strokes of the scuptor's chisel for a statue, and that those very characteristics are to be repeated and amplified in their children and grandchildren, how noble they would become