when she is in pressing material need, so as to help her husband in earning a livelihood. In this case she cannot escape sacrificing a large part of her household duties as wife and mother. Either she provides for most of them by employing a servant or a governess, or she sends the children to one of the schools set apart for the care of children during the hours of work. And here arises the question of the government's and the women's associations' concern for kindergartens and their multiplication. A woman may also be left without support, alone with her children, and be compelled to take up work to earn her living and the living of her family; and to her applies what applies to the woman compelled to help her husband in earning a livelihood. If, on the other hand, the wife is deprived of children, then even if she is a woman of means she may wish to take up some work outside her home, because she has ample time which she does not want to spend to no purpose, and because she hates idleness and sitting at home to receive callers; for many of this class prefer to do useful, productive work rather than be lazy and kill time without profit.
From what has gone before it appears that the most important work to which a wife should devote her effort is household management and attention to the upbringing of her children — an attention which, however far she carries it, is to be commended; for the first and most important wealth of the nation is a rising generation sound in body and in upbringing, and the first foundation of the nation's happiness is family happiness. The West has grasped this truth well, and its various governments have begun to show special care for this side of things, enacting the laws and regulations needed to preserve the family's existence and to raise its standard in every respect. And we, in this dear, rising homeland, now that we have won our full independence and sovereignty and taken the place we sought among the rest of the free nations, are bound to serious and continuous work in all the fields of vital activity — and in particular to work for raising the standard of woman, that she may be man's partner in very fact, and perform what she is fitted for in the best way possible, whether that work be domestic and familial or of the kinds that man usually performs.
And in my view it is you alone, Madam, who are able to decide the kind of work you wish to do — there is no one more competent in this than yourself — provided that you have received your due share of home, school, and social culture. And remember that the highest work you can perform, whatever your social station, is to be a wise mistress in your home, and a tender, understanding mother to your children, who are a precious trust of the nation placed in your hands.
In women's affairs much is said about elegance, beauty, charm, and the rest — matters of the home, the etiquette of company, and good marital policy. These are essential matters whose value may on no account be neglected. Yet we have rarely heard of household duties extending beyond the walls of the house, as though the lady or the girl were hostage to modesty alone, or as though she could accomplish nothing without the witness of those cold walls, or as though she had contented herself with rivaling the darkness in gloom and idleness.
And since our country stands on the threshold of a momentous development in social life, thanks to the knowledge woman has acquired and the directions that acquisition has given her, we prefer that this development be natural, not a sudden leap followed by regret. We therefore advise woman to widen her domestic circle and to give attention to what lies around the house, in addition to the furnishings, furniture, and vessels within it.
God has blessed our country, over and above the enchantment of its scenery, with regions rich in soil fit for planting — so much so that part of it was given in history the name of the Fertile Crescent. You may apply the name "valley" to most of the Arab lands: here the valleys of the Orontes, the Barada, and the Jordan; there the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates; and yonder the valley of the Nile — not to mention the greenery the other lands enjoy in countryside, oases, and desert shores. It is not our concern to expand upon this sketch, lest the discussion turn into agricultural economics, which is not what is meant here.
We aim rather to call attention to the necessity of woman doing some work in the garden, for many reasons that touch her being as a personality of great radiance in her surroundings — over and above the honor nature has bestowed on her of gentle, mighty motherhood. We shall mention the abundant benefits that result from this after we set out for her the kind of work in question. What we mean is the simplest sort of cultivation on a narrow scale:
1 - So long as you have a plot of land beside your house, it must not remain fallow.
2 - However pressed your time may be, you can set aside just one hour each day to care for that land, planting it with flowers and sweet herbs... and some useful vegetables such as lettuce, kale, turnips, cabbage, and others that are
rich in the essential vitamins.
3 - If you have a gardener, or if your husband himself is the one who does