THE STRAIN OF THE MODERN LIFE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3369, 8 November 1911, Page 8

THE STRAIN OF THE MODERN LIFE.

HOLIDAYS FOR THE MARRIED

It may be that the strain of modern life is responsible for the fact that increasing numbers of people are realising tiie necessity for something of a selfish holiday nowadays. Wives especially are lamenting the fact that the conven- ( tional holiday r for Avomen is not really a holiday at all. A fortnight or a month by the sea, gives a housewife a change of scene and fresh air, it is true —but very little else. Tho right sort of holiday ought to -be something different from tho routine of everyday life, especially for tho people Avho have a good deal of responsibility and strain to meet. It may be a sign of original sin Avhen the desire to get away from our responsibilities for a time enters our minds. But it is a- very natural feeling, a very human impulse, and there is a great deal to be said for the idea that husbands and Avives should have their holidays UAY-ay from each other and aivay from their families. Take the case of the housewife, in the first place, because somehoAv or other husbands have ahvays found it easier to get the sort of holiday they like. The greatest draAvback of the conventional holiday is that it does not alloAv a aa-o-man to get out of her groove. When she goes away with her family to the country or tho sea she has the same duties and responsibilities as at home, handicapped by all the difficulties of over-croAA-ding in a smaller house, and house-keeping Avorries in a strange place. The family meals, the family clothing, the family grumbles—she is in the midst of them all. Every Avorker has a right to a holiday, and most workers have holidays some time-—ex-cept the domesticated woman, avlio never gets aAvay from home. Now, she is the very person Avhose life has not, as a rule, much variety or recreation. She is ahvays in the same groove, much more so than her husband, Avho has business and professional duties and wider interests in most instances. The result is that, as the years go on, the wife gets more groovy, more self-cen-tred domestically, less interested, and therefore less interesting. .. HEN WOMEN OUGHT TO BE SELFISH. So Avhenever it can be managed let the wife be selfish in the sense that she takes one Aveek out of fifty-two to herself, and her husband and children Avill benefit as much as she. Continual housekeeping, petty economies, and the constant calls Avhicli the mother and housewife have to meet are depressing co the nerves and spirit. FeAv people realise that nagging is in nine cases out of ten a sign of nerve strain. A complete holiday is the only cure. Many married couples AA-ould get on much better for an occasional change from each other’s society. There are husbands and AA-ives avlio pride themselves on never being away from one another for one day in ten years. But they are not always the happiest couples, the people Avho are really and truly in love with each other. HOW CAN IT BE DONE. The wife might spend half the holiday with the children by the sea Avliilst tho husband goes golfing, Avalking, or cycling together. During the latter part of the holiday the plan can be reversed. The husband is with the children, and the Avife Las eight or ten days .ibsolutely her own. It is always a good plan for husbands and wives to keep up mo friendships of their youth, and there are many wives who could have a delightful few days with her old. schoolfriends if this plan were folloAved out. Most of the objections which are generally urged against the plan of separate holidays are imaginary. There are very few people avlio cannot be done without for a week, and the wife aa-lio says that she Avould be Avorrying all the time she is away will probably find that within twenty-four hours her household cares and family worries had receded to the back of her mind. She will return at the end of her holiday 100 per cent, fitter, healthier, and happier. She will take up her Avork with new enthusiasm and AA'ith tho determination to, repeat the plan at the next opportunity. And that means that her holiday has been a complete success.—Elizabeth Sloan Chesser, M. 8., in the London “Leader.”