xxxM
“I am sadly concerned that thousands of mothers
are so over-burdened that the actual demands of life from day to day
consume all their time and strength. But of two evils, choose the
lesser: which would you call the lesser–an unpolished stove or an
untaught boy? Dirty windows, or a child whose confidence you have failed
to gain? Cobwebs in the corner, or a son over whose soul a crust has
formed, so strong that you despair of melting it with your hot tears and
fervent prayers?
I have seen a woman who was absolutely ignorant of her children’s
habits of thought, who never felt that she could spare a half-hour to
read or talk with them–I have seen this woman spend ten minutes in
ironing a sheet, or forty minutes icing a cake for tea, because company
was expected.
“Where are the boys and girls I gave thee?”
“Lord, I was busy keeping my house clean and in order, and my children wandered away.”
“Where wert thou while thy sons and thy daughters were learning lessons of dishonesty, malice and impurity?”
“Lord, I was polishing furniture and making beautiful rugs.”
“What hast thou to show for thy life’s work?”
“The tidiest house, Lord, and the best starching and ironing in all our neighborhood!”
Oh these children, these children! The restless eager boys and girls whom we love more than our lives! Shall we devote our time and strength to that which perishes while the rich garden of our child’s soul lies neglected, with foul weeds choking out all worthy and beautiful growths? Fleeting indeed, O mother, are the days of childhood, and speckless windows, snowy linen, the consciousness that everything about the house is faultlessly bright and clean will be poor comfort in that day wherein we shall discover that our poor boy’s feet have chosen the path that shall take him out of the way to all eternity.”
–Author Unknown
