and what is the measure of her contribution to building the home, society, and the nation?
I asked an American mother: "What is your first responsibility toward your children?" She answered: "To nourish in them the spirit of self-reliance and the love of work."
These two qualities appear clearly in the conduct of the American girl and the ordering of her personality. Her confidence in herself is great, and her view of the future is filled with hope and ease of mind. She holds that so long as she is able to earn her living for herself, she is mistress and commander in her own affairs, and no one has the right to interfere in her business. And she finds a deficiency in her upbringing if she reaches twenty and her family still press their opinions upon her, or if she goes on relying on them to decide her future.
The American girl takes an early lesson in self-reliance. From the age of three, her mother accustoms
her to bathing and dressing herself alone. When she reaches five, her mother has her join in choosing her clothes and buying them; and many a time, in shops selling children's clothes, I have seen a mother standing to one side while her small daughter busied herself turning over the kinds of dresses there, to choose for herself what pleased her.
Nor shall I forget the day I heard an American friend grumbling about her daughter's long hair, and then asking me to persuade the little one to cut it. And she was no more than five years old!
The American child is surrounded from his earliest years with all the kinds of books and magazines made for him, and the radio and television stations are filled with programs to delight him. There are cinema houses set aside for children's films, and the orchestras give special concerts at which they present classical pieces that children can easily enjoy.
The American mother never leaves out a museum or a zoological garden without taking her children to visit it. And there is no doubt that the absence of servants in the homes helps
Two "servants" serving tea at a party — both of them students at the University of Michigan.
Three boys roasting corn in preparation for selling it...