Mother's Remedies Part 203

IMPLEMENTS.--The tools required are a pair of manicure scissors, which have small curved blades; get a good pair of steel scissors, the silver are not so good; a package of emery boards, an orange-wood stick, a flexible nail file, a small bottle of peroxide of hydrogen for bleaching, a bit of pumice stone, a cake of polis.h.i.+ng powder, a chamois covered "buffer" and a box of rosaline or other paste.

THE PROCESS.--The nails are to be shortened by filing, as cutting thickens them. The orange-wood stick is then dipped in peroxide and run under the nail to bleach, then the pumice stone, powdered, is used in the same way to cleanse. During this the left hand is soaking in tepid, soapy water. Of course, if you do your own manicuring you will go on with the right hand, waiting while the cuticle at the base of the nail softens. This is then anointed with a little cold cream or vaselin; the cuticle is loosened and trimmed if necessary,--do not trim if you can avoid it, as cutting thickens it. When both hands have been thus treated, they are again soaked a few minutes, then a little of the rosaline paste--a very little--is put on each nail, the buffer dipped in the polis.h.i.+ng powder and the nails polished. The hands are then washed, rubbed dry, and the fingers gone over a second time in search of roughness of nail or cuticle; they are then polished again with a clean buffer, and may be sprayed with perfume from an atomizer.

MOUTH AND TEETH.--Many young people owe their homely mouths to infantile habits. Sucking the thumb, and these horrible "pacificators" or "baby comforters" are responsible for some ill-shaped mouths. A large mouth, if not malformed, is not ugly unless filled with bad teeth or set in a disagreeable expression. Thus, in a way, we mould this feature ourselves, to a considerable degree.

[798 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]

CLEANSING THE TEETH.--A good brus.h.i.+ng twice a day, using cold water and some pleasant antiseptic wash, like listerine, does much to keep the mouth and teeth clean. Particles of food lodged between the teeth should be removed with a bit of dental floss.

VISITS TO THE DENTIST.--Pain and expense are saved by consulting the dentist in good season. The smallest cavity should be filled as soon as discovered. At least once a year the teeth should be carefully examined by one's dentist; it would be better to go every six months. Let the dentist clean them and remove the tartar, if any, as commercial preparations often injure. Most dentists will save a tooth wherever possible. There is little excuse for bad teeth these days, since modern dentistry can work marvels.

CHILDREN'S TEETH.--On no account let a child's second teeth come in crowded, irregular or projecting. A good dentist can remedy all these malformations and though it may be troublesome at the time, the child, when grown, will blame you for not having relieved him of them. From babyhood, the child should be taught that cleansing the teeth is as important a part of the toilet as was.h.i.+ng the hands.

THE EYES.--No gift is more precious than sight. Therefore take care of your eyes. Don't overstrain them, don't put anything in them, don't follow any casual prescription, nor use belladonna to brighten them. Consult an oculist, not an optician, if there is anything the matter with them. Bathe them in hot water when they feel tired and drawn. Eyesight is too precious to be tampered with. If a child is cross-eyed, a simple operation will straighten them, and it is a crime not to have it done.

EYELASHES AND EYEBROWS.--The best application for these is the simplest.

Just a little yellow vaselin, which encourages growth. Don't clip, either.

Frequent brus.h.i.+ng will generally train the brows into a shapely line. A heavy, coa.r.s.e hair may be pulled out with the fingers.

THE FEET.--The three most frequent evils to which the feet are heir are corns, bunions or enlarged joints, and chilblains. Ingrowing nails are much less common, but make up in painfulness.

CORNS.--Corns are of three kinds: callous spots, soft corns, and corns.

Callous spots may be rubbed or pared down and rubbed with cocoa b.u.t.ter.

Soft corns come between the toes and are very painful. Soak absorbent cotton in a little turpentine and put between the toes; or sprinkle the cotton with powdered alum. These corns are supposed to be due to moisture between the toes and are sometimes cured and often prevented by keeping absorbent cotton between the toes. Prevention saves a lot of suffering.

"Just corns" are calloused spots with hard center; pressure on this causes pain. Soaking in hot water, and shaving off as much of the hardened skin as can be removed with safety, affords relief. The little hard core should be taken out.

Precautions.--Be sure that your knife, razor, or whatever implement is used is perfectly clean (sterilized) and avoid drawing blood. If this happens, use some antiseptic. Cases of blood-poisoning that have resulted fatally have been caused by such wounds. If you wear colored hose, have them washed before wearing, as the dye may be injurious.

[BEAUTY AND THE TOILET 799]

BUNIONS.--These painful enlargements are due to a too short shoe, or one that does not fit well. Better discard such footwear; it will be cheaper in the end. Paint the sore joint with a mixture of equal parts of glycerin, tincture of iodine and carbolic acid; using a camel's hair brush. Stockings that are too short may produce the same affliction.

CHILBLAINS.--People who have, or do not want chilblains should avoid woolen stockings. Neither should they "toast their toes" at the fire, wear bed-socks, or take a hot water-bottle to bed with them. Warm the feet by exercise, or vigorous rubbing. If very painful, try ice-cold applications, tincture of iodine, camphor, and tincture of chloride of iron are healing.

INGROWING NAILS.--A bad case should be taken to the chiropodist. Shaving the nail thin on the top, or cutting a V-shaped piece out of it, tend to relieve. Raise up the nail and put a bit of absorbent cotton under it. The best way is to avoid foot troubles by wearing well fitting shoes which are sufficiently large.

[800 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]

NURSERY HINTS AND FIRESIDE GEMS

For Mother and Her Little Family

TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR RAISING CHILDREN.

1. Thou shalt not frighten thy child by threats of punishment.

2. Thou shalt not visit thine own disappointments upon thy child, nor speak to him sharply without just cause.

3. Thou shalt not administer any rebuke while feeling anger toward thy child.

4. Thou shalt not require more of thy child than of thyself.

5. Thou shalt not speak discourteously to thy child.

6. Thou shalt not lie to thy child, neither break thy promise, nor deceive.

7. Thou shalt not waste thyself upon the effort to destroy evil tendencies and wrong activities in thy child, but shall remove temptation from him and cultivate his virtues and his righteous activities.

8. Thou shalt not curtail thy child's liberty but shall insist he respect the liberty of all others, even as his is respected.

9. Many hours shalt thou labor with thy child and do all thy work, dressing him, feeding him, teaching him, amusing him, but for one hour out of every seven waking hours shalt thou let him alone, and bother him not, neither thou, nor thy husband, nor thy nursemaid, nor thy friends, nor thy relatives nor any that are in thy house. For in that hour shall the Lord come unto him.

10. Thou shalt not force thy child in any respect, neither physically, mentally or morally. Thou shalt not force obedience, for forced obedience is not righteous; but thou shalt gently lead thy child along the way that he should go, having first pa.s.sed over the road thyself.

THE PRAYING OF A CHILD.

Pray, little child for me tonight, That from thy lips like petals white, Thy words may fall and at His feet Bloom for His path with fragrance sweet!

Pray, little child, that I may be Childlike in innocence like thee, And simple in my faith and trust Through all the battle's heat and dust!

Pray, little child, in thy white gown, Beside thy wee bed kneeling down; Pray, pray for me, for I do know Thy white words on soft wings will go Unto His heart, and on His breast Light as blown doves that seek for rest Up the pale twilight path that gleams Under the spell of starry dreams!

Pray, little child, for me, and say: "Please, Father, keep him firm today Against the shadow and the care, For Christ's sake!" Ask it in thy prayer, For well I know that thy pure word 'Gainst louder tongues will have been heard, When the great moment comes that He Shall listen through His love for me!

Oh, little child, if I could feel One atom of thy faith so real, Then might I bow and be as one In whose heart many currents run Of joyful confidence and cheer, Making each earthly moment dear With suns.h.i.+ne and the sound of bells On the green hills and in the dells!

Pray, little child, for me tonight, That from thy lips in sunward flight, One word may fall with all its sweet Upon the velvet at His feet, That He may lift it to His ear Its tender plea of love to hear, And lay it, granted, on the pile Signed with the signet of His smile!

[NURSERY HINTS AND FIRESIDE GEMS 801]

Motherhood.--Motherhood is a profession that is overworked. The hours are long and holidays and vacations are few and far between. Mother gets a great deal of maudlin sympathy and not enough tangible aid, says a writer in the Housekeeper. Our poetic conception of the true mother is that her whole life is bound up in the welfare of her children and her family. At what age are her children not, for her, a matter of serious concern? She has ever had plenty of material which she can manufacture into worry and heartaches. Many mothers consume too much of their own nervous energy and jeopardize their health in what they think their bounden maternal duties.

There is a judicious limit of all things even though they are virtues.

Mother.--The babe at first feeds upon the mother's bosom, but is always on her heart.--H. W. Beecher.

Baby's Layette.--The princ.i.p.al thing to be borne in mind regarding the baby's layette is that all the clothing should be light, soft, in both surface and texture, and porous also in order that the evaporation of perspiration and a certain ventilation of the skin may take place. Perfect simplicity, not only in material and tr.i.m.m.i.n.g, but in the whole plan of the little garments will testify to good taste and common sense, and at the same time tend to eliminate much fretfulness and wailing.