HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



HOME MAKING 



IS THIS YOUR CHILD? 



Fussy ! Finicky ! Hard to Feed 1 



Who is at fault — child or parent? The 

 parent is responsible for child's training 

 in food and health habits. 



The properhj trained child will eat 

 what is put before him. Begin early to 

 train in habit formation. Start the 

 right food habits in infancy, and insist 

 upon them throughout the life of the 

 child, so that he will cultivate a normal, 

 healthy appetite. 



Be definite and positive in demands. 

 Children soon discover that it is possible 

 to make you change your mind. Guard 

 against this. 



Parenta should net (in example. A 

 young child is very suggestible, and it is 

 important that he hears the right sug- 

 gestions. Finicky food habits on the part 

 of the parent are quickly imitated by the 

 child. Set a good example and pretend 

 to "like all foods." 



Choose simple, ivholesome foods. Se- 

 lect plain, nourishing, easily digested 

 foods and cook them well. 



Avoid stimulants, such as tea, coffee, 

 an excess of .sweets, and highly-seasoned 

 foods. 



A child does not naturally crave rich 

 foods. He acquires or is allowed to ac- 

 (]uire, a taste for them. 



Varii the diet. A child should not be 

 permitted to confine his diet to one or 

 two foods for which he has a particular 

 liking. 



Tlie "Tasting" Habit. Don't encourage 

 a child's taste for a too wide variety of 

 food by permitting him to sample every- 

 thing that the older meinbers of the 

 household eat. Such a habit gets him a- 

 way from simple tastes and burdens his 

 digestion. 



Refusal of a Meal. A child who, with- 

 out reason, will not eat a meal is proba- 

 bly a sick child and .should be put to bed 

 until health is restored. Missing a ineal 

 at .such a time will not hurt him. 



In serving neiv foods do not suggest 

 that they are new, or might not be liked. 

 Serve a small portion and say nothing. 

 He may be discouraged by having too 

 large a portion of new food set before 

 him. Don't let the child feel that you 

 doubt whether or not he will eat a food. 



Pnnishment Through Deprivation. A 

 child must learn that the refusal of un- 

 wanted food will not be rewarded by food 

 that he prefers. Deprive him of desert 

 or some food that he likes very much if 

 he does not eat the rest of his meal. Do 

 not frighten a child into eating. 



The Spiteful Child. If he .spitefully 

 refuses to keep down a certain food, give 

 him more until he finds that his trick will 

 not work. 



Mid-Meal Lmiches .should be given only 

 when they do not interfere with his ap- 

 petite at meal time. Constant nibbling of 

 food upsets his digestion and overworks 

 his stomach. 



Rcfiularitji of Meals is important. 

 Breakfast, dinner and supper should be 

 served at the same hours each day. 



Time Spent at Table. A reasonable 

 length of time should be spent in eating 

 a meal. Often a child doesn't take time 

 to chew properly. It will soon be no fun 

 to gulp down his food in the first five 

 minutes of the meal time, if he knows 

 he must remain at table as long as the 

 rest of the family. 



Happiness is a splendid appetizer. 

 Table talk should be cheerful. Scolding 

 about previous misbehavior is unprofita- 

 ble at mealtime. A child who is angry 

 or afraid or worried cannot digest his 

 food properly. 



The Important Child — A child is quick 

 to sense his importance. He enjoys being 

 different and the center of attention at 

 meal time. The less he is noticed and 

 Iretted over at meal time, the better will 

 be his behavior. Do not talk about his 

 eating habits in his presence. 



Praise generously the deserving child. 



WHAT KIND OF A HOME 

 MANAGER ARE YOU? 



In looking ahead for another year's 

 work, let us do some real thinking about 

 the project we intend to work on. Are 

 you taking a project because you think it 

 will help you or do you know that parti- 

 cular work is what you need? Read the 

 following paragraphs and find out what 

 one of our leading Home Management 

 Specialists says about Extension pro- 

 grams and how they fit into the life of 

 the average homemaker. 



A program of production is easier to 

 get across than a program of balanced 

 living. Manual work is easier to teach, 

 easier to delegate, and surer of welcome 

 than mental work. It offers a concrete 

 justification for a woman's "running" to 

 meetings. Women would rather make, 

 buy, or swallow something to cure their 

 troubles than overcome them by clearei' 

 thinking, saner working practices, and 

 better health habits. There is always the i 

 search for a magic cure which will ob- 

 viate the need of mental effort. 



If a hat proves to be a disappoint- 

 ment, it is less trouble to make another 

 hat than to face the cause of the unbe- ! 

 comingness. The remedy for a sallow 

 skin is sought in a new color scheme in- 

 stead of in sensible diet, fresh air and ^ 

 rest. It is easier to accept the corset- 

 iere's statement that "poor posture" al- 

 ways means a poor corset than to correct 



the health habits, work habits, and work- 

 ing conditions that are responsible. Ex- 

 cellent posture is possible without artifi- 

 cial support. Poor posture is possible in 

 the best and most carefully fitted corset, 

 , and is responsible for many a disappoint- 

 ment as to wearing qualities. "Correct- 

 ive" shoes are easier to sell than correct 

 shoes. Arch supports are easier to sell 

 than arch-strengthening exercises. 



But the easier program is not the best 

 one. A real home-management program 

 should concern itself less with making 

 things and more with making the best of 

 all our re.sources. 



1. We need to make a better use of 

 time, by developing our time sense. Few 

 women can estimate correctly the time 

 needed for the most familiar jobs. Few 

 women take into consideration whether 

 their natural speed rate is fast or slow. 

 This results in their constantly attempt- 

 ing more than they can accomplish and 

 being always hurried and worried. What 

 does this cost in woman power? 



2. We need a better sense of propor- 

 tion. A shining stove assumes such pro- 

 portions that the children are forbidden 

 the joys of a candy pull. So much wo- 



I man power is spent on the stove that 

 there is not enough left for mothering. 



3. We need a better sense of values. 

 A labor-saving device costs the cash that 

 we paid for it, plus the cash and woman 

 power that are wasted when it is used 

 unintelligently or not at all. The money 

 spent for a pressure cooker which stands 

 unused on a shelf might better have been 

 thrown out of the window, since at least 

 the storage space it occupies would have 

 been saved. The sink carefully installed 

 at the proper height, loses fifty per cent 

 of its value if the worker stands before 

 it in a strained, tense posture. 



4. We need a sense of physical fitness 

 as the biggest of all resources. Work is 

 planned wisely and accomplished easily 

 in proportion as the worker is able to 

 use her body to the best advantage. Cor- 

 rectly done, housework brings into play 

 every muscle in the body. "Daily dozens" 

 are bought, practiced, and discarded, but 

 household equipment and household rou- 

 tine furnish daily free opportunities for 

 physical development. 



Too many women are woiking under 

 the slogan, "What difference does it make 

 how I do it, so long as I get it done?" It 

 makes the difference of cost, — in woman 

 power. The question, "How many hats 

 have I made?" should be changed, to 

 "How many hats can I make and still 

 leave time, strength and money for more 

 important things?" 



.lust as farm management has taught 

 us to a.sk, not "How many crops?" but 

 "Which crops?" so home management 

 must learn, in answer to the question, 

 "Which are the vital duties of home mak- 



