FOURTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VIII. 58' 



HOW TO MAKE HOME PLEASANT AND ATTRACTIVE. 



Mrs. C. 0. Ford, before Green County Farmers' Institute. 



A single bitter word may disquiet an entire family for a whole day. 

 One surly glance casts a gloom over the household, while a smile, like 

 a gleam of sunshine, may light up the darkest and weariest hours. Like 

 unexpected flowers which spring up along our path, full of freshness, 

 fragrance and beauty, do kind words, gentle acts and sweet disposi- 

 tions, make glad the home where peace and blessing dwell. 



No matter how humble the abode, if it be garnished with grace and 

 sweetened with kindness and smiles, the heart will turn lovingly toward 

 it from all the tumult of the world, and it will be the dearest spot be- 

 neath the circuit of the sun. 



The influences of home perpetuate themselves. The gentle grace of 

 the mother lives in the daughter long after her head is pillowed in the 

 dust of death; and the fatherly kindness feels its echo in the nobility 

 and courtesy of sons, who come to wear his mantle and to fill his 

 place. While on the other hand from an unhappy, misgoverned and dis- 

 ordered home go forth persons who shall make other homes miserable 

 and perpetuate the sourness and sadness, the contentions and strife 

 which made their own early lives so wretched and distorted. 



To sum this all up in a few words, make your homes pleasant and 

 attractive by kind words, gentle acts, sweet dispositions and cleanliness. 

 Towards this kind of a home children gather "as clouds, and as doves 

 to their windows," while from the home, which is the abode of discon- 

 tent, strife and trouble, they fly forth as vultures to rend their prey. 



To make a home pleasant and attractive it must first have a govern- 

 ment, but love must be the dictator. All the members should unite to make 

 home happy. We should have light in our homes. Heaven's own pure 

 transparent light. It matters not whether home is clothed in blue and 

 purple, if it is only brimful of love, smiles and gladness, and in order 

 to have our homes such we must have our Sabbaths and family altars. 

 Around these observances cling many of the sweetest and most sacred 

 memories of our lives. Our boards should be spread with everything 

 geod ana enjoyable. We should have birds, flowers, pets and everything 

 suggestive of sociability. Flowers are as indispensable to the perfec- 

 tion of a home as to the perfection of a plant. But do not give them 

 all the sunniest windows and pleasantest corners, crowding out the 

 children. 



Then, again, in our homes we must have industry and sympathy. In 

 choosing amusements for the children the latter element must be brought 

 in. To fully understand, the little ones you must sympathize wth them. 

 Wlhen a child asks questions don't meet it with. "Oh. don't bother me." 

 Tell it all it wants to know. 



Never let your angry passions rise, no matter how hired you may be. 

 Always answer the little ones with kind and gentle wovds. 



For full and intelligent happiness in the home circle, a library of 

 the best works is necessary. Do not introduce the milk and water fiction 

 of the present day, but books of character. 



