June, 1912 
duced by mothers who honestly thought they were acting 
for their boy’s best good. They had nerves, these mothers, 
but I think they were entirely responsible for their con- 
dition. One told me, “I just can’t bear to let Billy do 
the stunts these boys are doing. It makes me nervous just 
to have him swimming around.” And, then, discovering 
that her precious Billy was out of hearing with some of 
the other boys and girls, she went into the cottage and had 
a fit of hysterics. The father whose first thought was for 
his nervouse wife, gave Billy a scolding, and the air was 
not charged with 
happiness for this family. 
Here was Billy, a stal- 
wart six-footer, constantly 
handicapped by a nervous 
mother. I felt terribly 
sorry for the boy, and 
tried to show this mother 
how she was making her 
boy very unhappy. Billy 
had the build for athletics, 
and, of course, it made 
him cross and irritable to 
be held back in this way, 
as though he were a puny 
six-year-old. It was no 
use, for Billy’s mother 
had that most awful, with 
men (and Billy’s father 
was no exception), that 
most potent argument 
always ready—tears! 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
TWO CHERRY DESSERTS 
By Mary H. Northend 
Cherry Cakes—Bake any good plain cake mixture in gem pans and 
cut a thick slice from the bottom of each one while hot. 
227 
that my boy could deceive me so!”’ I am afraid I was not 
as full of sympathy as I should have been, for I told her 
point-blank that she had brought it on herself by treating her 
boy of man’s stature as though he were three years old. I 
confess my sympathies were with that boy. 
When a woman is permitted to be a mother of boys, she 
must try to look at things from the boy’s point of view. It 
is only in this way that she can cultivate a spirit of regard 
for her wishes. If a mother allows herself to be unreason- 
able and exacting, so that her boy, fearful of a scene—and 
boys do so hate scenes— 
simply does not tell her of 
what he is doing, does she 
not invite deception? And 
is this a good thing? A 
mother loses a great deal 
‘| who is not_a comrade to 
her boy. 
I think that the women 
of to-day, whether they 
gain the vote they are 
clamoring for or not, have 
a great responsibility on 
their shoulders. It be- 
longs to them to develop a 
higher regard for truth. 
Where is this to be done? 
In the home, of course. 
Woman must be wise in 
her restrictions when she 
is handling boys. She must 
not restrain them to the 
Have ready 
How I hate them! 
The crisis came one 
day, as it was bound to 
some preserved or ripe sweet cherries halved and pitted, decorate the 
cakes with these and serve immediately with vanilla sauce. If more 
cherries are desired they may be cut up and added to the sauce just 
before serving. 
point of losing their con- 
fidence, or she invites evils 
far greater than those she 
come. There was great ex- 
citement, for the time had 
come when, the water 
being warm enough and 
all in good practice, it was 
decided that two girls who 
had been begging for the 
privilege of swimming 
across the lake should be 
allowed to do so. It was 
a strong mile. Of course, 
Billy was wild to do it, 
too, for some of the boys 
were to swim with the 
girls; other were to be in 
the boats and canoes. Of 
course, it was a great 
event for us all. 
Do you suppose Billy’s 
mother roused herself to 
say yes? Well, she didn’t. 
She began to cry and “‘take 
a thin sugar syrup. 
through a jelly bag. 
unmold, fill the 
center 
on,” as only a nervous 
woman knows how to do, 
and poor Billy in self-defence took to his canoe. He fairly 
writhed under this lashing of his pride. A girl to swim 
across the lake, and he refused permission to do it! I can’t 
think of anything more humiliating to a boy of strength 
and power, for Billy was a good swimmer, and was natu- 
rally tired of swimming parallel to the shore. 
He had reached the limit of his patience, and the next 
day he went to a neighboring cottage, where he was out of 
sight and hearing of his mother, and swam across the lake! 
When I was called upon later to reason with Billy’s mother, 
who had heard about it, she was moaning and wailing, ‘‘Oh, 
Cherry Jelly—Stone a quart of cherries and boil them for an hour in 
Flavor the syrup with lemon juice, and strain 
Then add one ounce of dissolved gelatine, 
turn into a mold and set away to harden. 
with whipped cream, 
whole cherries. 
denounces. 
Here is another case of 
a foolish mother, and an 
equally foolish father, for, 
in his care of the mother 
he requires too much of 
the boy. Hal is in a pre- 
paratory school, and this 
school has a very fine foot- 
ball team. Hal is well set 
up, large and tall, just the 
very one you would pick 
out for football. His com- 
rades think so, too. His 
fond parents donot. They 
have allowed him to play 
with the boys at home un- 
til he is a good player. 
But at the preparatory 
school he is forbidden to 
take a place on the team. 
Here is injustice to the 
boy which he recognizes. 
He has reached man’s 
stature, but his parents do not see anything but their little 
boy. He has claims to an exercise of judgment for himself 
which his parents do not see. He is commanded not to do 
a thing in one place which he has been allowed to do in 
another. Is not deception bound to follow? In this case 
it did, and the boy will be on the “‘team”’ another year. Is 
not this deception worse than a broken nose.? 
Mothers must allow their sons to grow up. They must 
help them to be clean and pure and strong. If the boys 
yearn for baseball and football, and, mother-like, they must 
feel anxious, bear the suffering and be ready to bind up 
When ready to serve, 
and garnish with 
