A ROOM OF OUR OWN
Follette, Isabel B. La
A Room Of Our Own By Isabel B. La Follette A FRIEND commented recently, "I wonder if you appreciate how close you and the children have grown during Phil's absence." I assented, pointing out that...
...When asked the same question, Bob's answer was illuminating in the light of the values we have been speaking of...
...Each man is an impersonalized cog in the vast war machine and must subordinate his individuality, his dislikes and preferences, his life itself on behalf of society...
...With New England under-statement Bob remarked, "This experiment is what the books would call a 'qualified success.' " "Weren't you frightened to death...
...Not only did Thunder feel disinclined to return at the moment, but spent the night and the next day perched in a near-by elm...
...One of Bob's projects is the training of a pet owl...
...I have observed constant illustrations of the educational truth that example speaks louder than words as I have watched them handle their own problems...
...But like all work with growing things, it is the day to day care that counts...
...Judy, Sherry, and I self-constituted the Ground Force and silently maneuvred the ladder...
...This time Thunder felt moved to try the ridge .pole on the garage...
...And as I pass the hand-holding soldiers and their girls, read their letters, and hear them quoted, it has seemed to me that it is not "love" alone they are seeking but also the sense of personal significance...
...On battle and home front the standard is specific productivity rather than the well-rounded individual sought for in peacetime...
...Sure, but you have to take risks to do the things you want to do...
...And the time is so short...
...Most of us are aware of the shortcomings of ourselves and those we love, but for better or for worse we love them just the same and would not trade them for perfection...
...Having given up their personal life and been absorbed into a vast machine over which they have no control and in which they are merely a number, they yearn passionately for the environment in which they as individuals count, where their feelings are taken into consideration, where each is unique and paramount...
...Retrieving Thunder, The Owl The other evening as an "experiment" he let the owl go on the theory that it would return at his call...
...In time of total war when everything is geared to the one end of "victory," those of us who are struggling to maintain our cherished values have a particularly arduous task...
...that it was fortunate for their sakes that my other responsibilities kept me from becoming too much the mother hen...
...asked a friend, but I replied that Bob seemed to have the situation under control...
...I was thinking of this as I lay awake the other evening waiting for Bob to come home from a dance...
...The next morning I observed that I thought he had stayed out pretty late...
...When he objected to my worrying about him I admitted that it was merely the normal mother reaction which he must bear with because mentally at least I recognize that in a few months he will be in the Army and on his own and that if I haven't laid any groundwork during the past 17 years it is too late to begin now...
...As I remarked to Bob when he sniffed, "What in the world does he [a friend] see in herl" that, "Fortunately all the boys in West High are not smitten on the same girl and vice versa, or what would the world come to...
...Out of the mouths of babes," as the saying goes...
...Bob stripped off his shirt, donned his climbing spikes, and proceeded yard after yard up a huge oak after Thunder...
...Down Bob came, and started up the second big oak, his arm and shoulder muscles rippling as he clasped and unclasped the great trunk...
...Meanwhile the family is trying to meet its responsibilities and at the same time have as full an experience as wartime conditions permit...
...At the same time he must learn consideration for his fellows and the moral values espoused by our civilization...
...It is not what We claim to believe, but what we do with each decision that counts with young people...
...The Thing That Counts As I pass rows of homes, each expressing the taste of the dwellers in many small ways, I always think of the premium Americans put on all sorts of self-expression...
...I assented, pointing out that time and energy that used to go into my companionship with him was now concentrated on the children, and' that in fact I tried to guard against being too immersed in them...
...This time the owl made no objection when Bob reached for him, and we all heaved a sigh of relief when he was safe in hand...
...The thoughtful parent, as I see it, strives toward two general aims, first to encourage and develop the potentialities of the child and to cultivate independence and the resources to take his place in the world...
...At supper-time I protested but was told politely and firmly, "Mother, I really know more about this than you do," After supper, however...
...It is a "tall order" at which none of us fully succeeds...
...The owl observed his approach calmly but while he was figuring on how to get him down, Thunder flapped away to a neighboring oak...
...Thunder would have none of it, however, and this time sought a low limb which fortunately Bob could reach from the ground...
...I had been abysmally ignorant of the joys of falconry, which if a whole story in itself, but the family has followed With keen interest Bob's enthusiasm...
...However, as is usually the case, the trials and tribulations of the past two years during Phil's absence have had assets in so far as developing the children's character, sympathy, and sense of responsibility as they have shared with me the problems of this period...
...Before we know it, our opportunity is gone, especially in wartime when the home-leaving is cut clean...
Vol. 8 • June 1944 • No. 24
