SPEECHES & WRITINGS FILE "What Mothers Owe Their Daughters" What Mothers Owe Their Daughters. Love and tell them so. Not love in a perfunctory way, simply because it is expected of a mother to love her daughter,but sich overflowing abounding love that the daughter will know and feel it. Some mothers go to one extreme and others go the other. One mother will sacrifice herself too much for her children, and thus make them selfish and feel that mother must do everything for their pleasure, while the children do nothing or next to nothing for hers. Another mother seeing the mistake her sister makes who sacrifices herself too much for her children resolves that she will not commit the same error and is too cold to her children to get near enough to them to do them the good she might otherwise accomplish. Some mothers are soo busy with their household affairs that they have no time to reveal their hearts to their daughters or to look close enough to see that of their children. While it is impossible to love one's daughters too much we must be sure it is a wise kind od l love we bear them. Some mothers will tell you ," I know this or that is the best thing for my daughter, but I love her so that I cannot bear to see her do it". This is not the best or wisest kind of love. The best love prompts a mother to do the thing which is best for her child, even htough it costs her a pang to do so. I have heard mothers say they could not punish their daughters, because they love them so, nor deny them any pleasure, even though they know it is harmful to them Mothers owe their daughters a heart full of sympathy. It is only by sympathizing with young people that a mother can come into close touch with her daughter. Unless a mother does come into close touch with her girl, she cannot know enough of her inner life to give that kind of counsel or advice which will be helpful to her. Either a mother must sympathize with her daughter, so thatshe may become her confidential friend, or she must be so indiffe or she must be so indifferent to her little pains and pleasure as to repel any attempts at confidence that her daughter may make. No one can estimate the gret injury to a girl , when her mother forces her fro her. Many a girl is disgraced, simply because her mother was so unsympathetic that she did not have the courage to confide in her, and thus she has made first one mistake and then another, until her ruin has been accomplished. Driven from their mothers girls often go to thei young companinos for advice , who are neither competent to counsel them nor worthy of their friendship in many cases. Mothers owe their daughters a happy home. I do not mean that a happy home is necessarily a home filled with all the comforts and luxuries which wealth can buy. Some of the saddest homes in the country to day are those of the wealthy. A happy home is one in whic it is a pleasure to live, because peace and harmony reign there.Where there is as little friction as possible. Parents who cannot agree should try to hide their differences from their children. Constant quarreling in the home embitters the life of a child, makes him pessimistic, causes him to despise one or the other of his parents. Mothers owe it to their daughters to provide pleasure for them at home, so that they will not feel that they must leave it, in order to have a good time. It is the nature of all young creatures to want to enjoy themselves, and even if we could repress this joyous ness which is natural to youth, it would be cruel to do so. One is young only once duri ng a life time, and that period should be as free from care and as full of pleasure as the circumstances of the parents o children will permit. When girls can have no pleasure at h ome, they are sure to find it some where else. There is such a thing as being too strict on children. Parents who deprive their children, especially their girls,, of pleasure at home or who refuse to engage in innocent games and sports of all kinds make as fatal a mistake as do those mothers who allow their children to run wild. Home should be made so attractive to young people that they prefer to stay there rather than go anywhere else. Mothers owe their daughters a knowledge of themselves. It is a mistake to withhold from young girls information concerning themselves which they should have. Mothers should never indulge in obscene jokes ,tell vulgar stories, gossip about their neighbors, rehash scandals, read the awful crimes in the newspapers in the presence of their children. Bad jokes poison children's minds and incline them to think of the impurerather than the pure things of life. It is the duty of parents to clothe their daughters decentlyand in accordance with the laws of health. It is a mistake to make girls wear old and faded garments, when it is possible to give them better. It is almost as injurious to girls to force them to wear faded and ill fitting garments as it is ti make them feel that fine dressing is the chief end of existence. It is as injurious to the girl to be compelle to wear dresses which she knows are unbecoming to her as it is to load her down with finery which is unbecoming to her age or station in life. Children who go about looking dowdy and dirty lose all self respect. Mothers owe ot to their daughtes and tothemselves to go about the house looking neat and tidy themselves. Such an object lesson in neatness will impress girls more than all the lectures of all the lecturers in the world. Women also owe it to theor husbands to look as we as possible. It is an old saying that it is easy enough to catch but very hard to hold a husband. While the catching process is going on, women look as sweet and as pretty as they can, but after marriage, when so many duties engross their minds and consume their time, it is hard to think of appearance sometimes.But however great the sacrifice, a woman should make it a part ofher religion to look as ndat and as tidy around the house as she possibly can. M Transcribed and reviewed by contributors participating in the By The People project at crowd.loc.gov.