The Mother and Her Child

W >> William S. Sadler >> The Mother and Her Child

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35

These protein ashes and clinkers are further acted upon--split up and
sifted--by the liver, and are finally eliminated by the kidneys in the
form of urea, uric acid, etc. The body being unable to store up
protein, is often greatly embarrassed when one eats more of this
substance than is daily required to replenish the waste of the body,
for it must all be immediately split up in the system, and the
over-abundant and irritating ashes must be carried off by the
eliminating organs. Now, the overeating of sugars, starches, or fats,
is not such a serious matter, as they may be stored in the liver and
subsequently used; and even if they are eaten in excess of what the
liver can care for they accumulate as fat or add extra fuel to the
fires of the body, their ashes being carried off in the form of such
harmless substances as water and carbon dioxide (CO_{2}); but the
overeating of protein substances is always a strain on the body and
should be avoided.

ELEMENTS OF NUTRITION

There are seven distinct elements entering into the composition of
human foods--protein, starch, sugar, fat, salts, cellulose, and water,
not to mention enzymes, vitamines, and other little-known chemical
principles. These elements are all variously concerned in the
nourishment, energizing, and warming of the body.

PROTEINS

The proteins are the structure builders of the body. While starches,
fats, and sugars may be compared to the coal that feeds the
locomotive, the proteins represent the iron and steel that are used
from time to time to repair the engine and replace its worn parts. The
essential chemical difference between starch and protein is that the
latter contains nitrogen and a small amount of sulphur and phosphorus.
The most common forms in which protein is used for food are the
glutens of the grains, the legumes, nuts, cheese, the white of egg,
and lean meat.

STARCHES

The starches are by far the most abundant of all elements in human
food. They enter largely into the composition of nearly all plants and
seeds. Under the influence of the sunlight, the green-colored plants
gather up the CO_{2} of the air and, with the water absorbed from the
ground, build up starch. The plant takes all the carbon from which
starch is made from the air, but while the atmosphere contains almost
eighty per cent of nitrogen, the plant is unable to use it; it must
secure its nitrogen from the decaying refuse of the soil. Thus the
plant utilizes the waste products found in air and earth in the
building of its food substances.

Starch exists in the form of small granules. Since each little starch
granule is surrounded by a woody envelope of cellulose, it becomes
necessary to cook all starches thoroughly in order to burst this
cellulose envelope and thus enable the saliva to begin, and other
secretions to continue, the work of digestion.

FRUIT SUGARS

The sugar of fruits represents a form of food requiring practically no
digestion; while the sugar found in beets, the cane plant, and the
maple tree, must be acted upon by the digestive juices of the
intestine before their absorption can take place. During the winter,
the maple tree stores its carbohydrates in its roots in the form of
starch. With the advent of spring Mother Nature begins the digestion
of this starch--actually turns it into sugar--and in the form of the
sweet sap it finds its way up into the tree trunk to be deposited in
the leaves and bark in the form of cellulose, a process very similar
to that performed by digestion in the human body, where starch by
digestion is first turned into sugar, and afterwards deposited in
another form in the liver and muscles.

Dextrine is a form of sugar resulting from thoroughly cooking or
partially digesting starch. There are about twenty-five stages or
forms of dextrine between raw starch and digested starch or fruit
sugar. Dextrine is found in the brown-colored portions of well-toasted
bread.

FATS

Fat is a combination of glycerine and certain fatty acids. As a food,
it is derived from both the animal and the vegetable kingdom. Animal
fat consists of lard, suet, fat meat, etc., while fat of animal origin
is represented by cream, butter, and the yolks of eggs. The vegetable
fats are found in nuts, especially the pecan, cocoanut, Brazil, and
pine nuts; also in the grains, particularly oats and corn. The peanut
also contains a considerable amount of fat. Of the fruits, the banana
and strawberry contain a trace of fat, while the olive is the only
fruit rich in fat.

As a food, fat is used in three forms. The emulsified form is
represented by cream, olive oil, and nuts. When the tiny globules of
fat, which are each surrounded by a little film of casein, are
crushed--united into a solid mass--we have a free fat. This form is
represented by butter and other animal fats. Another form is fried
fat--fat which has been chemically changed by heat with the
development of certain irritating acids.

MINERAL SALTS

The mineral elements comprise but a small part of human food as
regards weight, but they are extremely important to the health of the
child as well as the adult. As found in the food, they are not in the
form of mineral salts, like common table salt. The salts of food are
living salts, organic or organized salts, such as are found in the
growing plant. These salts are of great value to the various fluids
of the body, and also as stimulants to nerve action, but more
particularly in the work of building up the bones.

Salts are found largely in the cereals. A small amount is also found
in vegetables, particularly the potato, as well as in most fruits.

CELLULOSE

Cellulose represents the great bulk of all vegetables and fruits. It
is digested by most animals, but in man it is digested only to the
extent of about thirty per cent. The presence of a large amount of
cellulose in the food enables us often to satisfy the appetite without
injury from overeating. It serves to give bulk to the food, and
thereby possibly acts as a preventive to constipation.

WATER

Water fills an important place in the nutrition of the body. The food
changes in connection with digestion, assimilation, and elimination,
can take place only in the presence of water. Water constitutes from
fifteen to ninety-five per cent of the various foods. The watery
juices of vegetables and fruits consist largely of pure, distilled
water, in which fruit sugar is dissolved, with added flavoring
substances. Water is absolutely essential to the performance of every
vital function connected with human metabolism.

ANIMAL HEAT

The source of heat in the animal body was the subject of much
superstitious speculation on the part of ancient scientists. It is now
known that animal heat is derived from the food we eat by means of a
peculiar process of vital oxidation--effected in the presence of
oxygen--by the action of water and enzymes upon the food elements
absorbed by the living cell. This process of oxidation liberates the
heat and energy stored by the sun in the food, and thus the body is
kept warm by this constant combustion of the digested foodstuffs. The
starches and sugars, together with the fats, represent food elements
which serve as the body's fuel. By this means we are able to maintain
a constant body temperature of almost one hundred degrees.

The average human body produces enough heat every hour to raise two
and one-half pounds of water from the freezing point to the boiling
point. This is equivalent to boiling about seven gallons of ice-water
every twenty-four hours. Differently expressed, the body gives off
each hour the same amount of heat as a foot and a half of two-inch
steam coil. This is the same amount of heat which would be produced by
burning about two-thirds of a pound of coal.

FUEL VALUE OF FOODS

Expressed in terms of English weight, the fuel value of the three
different food elements would be:

1 ounce of carbohydrates 127.5 calories
1 ounce of proteins 127.5 "
1 ounce of fat 289.2 "

It will be observed that fat contains more than twice as much heat as
the carbohydrates. This is due to the fact that fat contains more
carbon than either starch or sugar. Next to fats, starches and sugars
are the most important fuel elements. Protein is a very extravagant
form of food for fuel purposes. Proteins are the most expensive
elements of human food; they are incompletely burned in the body, and
inasmuch as they leave behind distressing and disease-producing ashes,
it is clearly evident that only sufficient amount of proteins should
be eaten each day to supply the demand of the body for repairs. We
should depend more largely upon the carbohydrates and fats for heat
and energy.

A large part of our food is required to furnish heat to take the place
of that lost by radiation from the skin, and this is why children
require more food than adults--they have a larger skin surface in
proportion to their weight, and therefore lose more heat by radiation,
and it is for this reason that the food for the growing child must be
wisely and carefully selected.

DIET FOR CHILD TWO TO THREE YEARS OLD

_Breakfast_, 7-8 A. M.: Fruit; cooked or toasted cereal served with
thin cream; a soft boiled or coddled egg; bread (two or more days old)
and butter; plenty of milk.

_Dinner_, 12-1: Soups; creamed vegetables--tomato, corn, peas, and
celery; any two of potatoes--creamed, mashed, or baked--carrots,
beets, spinach, peas, cornlet, squash, cauliflower, asparagus tips,
string beans; protein dish--the puree of dried beans, peas, or
lentils; macaroni or carefully selected meats; dessert--apples, baked
or sauce--or other fruits, junket, custard, milk.

_Supper_, 5-6 P. M.: Fruit, bread (bran bread if constipated); milk;
porridge, with rich milk or milk toast; sweetened graham crackers.

FOODS ALLOWED CHILDREN OF FOUR YEARS AND OLDER

_Protein Dishes_: Purees of dried peas; lentils; beans; macaroni;
eggs--soft boiled, poached, scrambled, or omelette; meats--steak,
chops, chicken, turkey, broiled fish.

_Cereals_: All the toasted-flake foods; toasted and not too fresh
bread, including both graham and bran; hominy; corn meal; oatmeal;
farina; rice; barley; tapioca; sago, etc.

_Soups_: Creamed vegetable soups of all kinds and broths.

_Vegetables_: Potatoes; all the small green vegetables; lettuce;
stewed celery; beets; squash; cauliflower, etc.

_Fruits_: All, if stewed or baked. Raw fruits--pears, peaches, ripe
apples, berries, oranges, persimmons, grape-pulp without seeds, etc.

_Desserts_: Custard; jellos; junkets; home-made ice cream; sponge
cake; baked fruits with whipped cream, etc.

FOODS TO BE AVOIDED BY YOUNG CHILDREN

1. _Doughy breads_, griddle cakes, insides of muffins, hot biscuits,
etc.

2. _Fried meats_, such as sausage, oysters, pork, ham, veal, salt
fish, corned beef, dried beef, etc.

3. _Foods that are hot when they are cold_--such as catsup, horse
radish, mustard, highly spiced pickles, sauces, etc.

4. _Rich pastries_, puddings, unripe fruit, salted peanuts, and highly
concocted dishes.

5. _Certain salads_, containing coarse but easily swallowed foods,
with highly seasoned sauces.

6. _Tea, coffee, and all alcoholic beverages._

7. _Soft candies_, chocolate creams, bon-bons, patties, etc.

Average normal children crave sweets, and since their normal food is
about seven per cent sugar it is not to be wondered at. There are many
forms of pure, hard candies which may be taken by the three-year-old
child. They are stick candy, fruit tablets, sunshine candies, and
other varieties which may be sucked.

All soft candies, such as chocolate creams, bon-bons, patties, etc.,
are to be avoided. Hard candies, taken along with the desserts at meal
time, in no wise injure the normal stomach of the healthy child.

The other members of the family should set a correct example by
sucking the hard candies rather than chewing them; for if the hard
candies are allowed to dissolve slowly in the mouth they produce a
weak solution of sugar, which does not interfere with digestion as do
the strong and concentrated sugar solutions which result from chewing
chocolate creams, bon-bons, etc.

Candy, cookies, sandwiches, or bits of cake should never be allowed
between the meals.

EATING BETWEEN MEALS

Children who do not eat well at the breakfast table, if given a
"piece" at 10 A. M., will not be ready for the 12 o'clock meal; and
then another "piece" at 2 P. M. interferes with the normal appetite at
6 P. M. Digestion is disturbed, the nervous system irritated, and a
"puny child" is often the result.

Bring the three-or-four-year-old to a well-selected breakfast some
time between 7 and 8 A. M. Then nothing--absolutely nothing--but water
must pass the lips between that breakfast hour and the 12 o'clock
meal, which should be a good one. Then the interval until 5 or 6 P. M.
is passed in the same manner. At the evening meal the appetite is
again whetted: and a good appetite always means good gastric juice to
digest the meal. And so, good mother, guard carefully the interval
between meals if you would have good digestion and good health for the
little folks.

DAILY FOOD REQUIREMENT

The following table, taken from _The Science of Living_,[B] shows the
minimum of calories or food units required by boys from five to
fourteen years of age and girls from five to twelve:

BOYS

Skin Daily
Age Height in Weight in Surface in Calories or
Years Inches Pounds Sq. Ft. Food Units

5 41.57 41.09 7.9 816.2
6 43.75 45.17 8.3 855.9
7 45.74 49.07 8.8 912.4
8 47.76 53.92 9.4 981.1
9 49.69 59.23 9.9 1043.7
10 51.58 65.30 10.5 1117.5
11 53.33 70.18 11.0 1178.2
12 55.11 76.92 11.6 1254.8
13 57.21 84.85 12.4 1352.6
14 59.88 94.91 13.4 1471.3

GIRLS

Skin Daily
Age Height in Weight in Surface in Calories or
Years Inches Pounds Sq. Ft. Food Units

5 41.29 39.66 7.7 784.5
6 43.35 43.28 8.1 831.9
7 45.52 47.46 8.5 881.7
8 47.58 52.04 9.2 957.1
9 49.37 57.07 9.7 1018.5
10 51.34 62.35 10.2 1081.0
11 53.42 68.84 10.7 1148.5
12 55.88 78.31 11.8 1276.8

[B] Sadler, William S., _The Science of Living; or, The Art of Keeping
Well_. A. C. McClurg & Co.

CHAPTER XXXVI

CARETAKERS AND GOVERNESSES

Because of her versatile adaptability to the management of details,
woman, all through the ages, has willingly and happily sacrificed
herself upon the altar of service. It is not in the province of this
chapter to go into the details of the tribal life of the early hordes
and clans that came from the north and from the east to establish
civilization in the cities of Rome and Britain--space forbids. In this
chapter we wish to hold up a picture to the mother, a picture which
may speak volumes to her soul; one which perhaps she may ruthlessly
throw away--nevertheless, we propose to exhibit it.

HOMEMAKING VS. HOUSEKEEPING

A newspaper woman in my office recently told me a story of a mother
who finished her high-school education, took some work in a
university, and who yielded to the earnest pleas of her
lover-classmate through grammar school, high school and college--and
married him. To this happy family there came a number of beautiful
children. The mother willingly, lovingly, cared for them during their
helpless infancy--made their clothes, managed their meals, opened the
door for them as they came home from school, met them with a cheery
story, listened to their problems, helped them with their lessons--but
all through it, first, last and all the time, she also managed the
entire home. She dusted the furniture, changed the curtains, looked
after the linen, mended the clothes, and even pressed the trousers of
her "rapidly rising" husband that he might go out into his "club life"
and enjoy the evenings with his associates. The duties of the day so
wearied her, and the night vigils with the sick child,--looking after
the little coughs, the uncovered shoulders, getting the drinks of
water and performing a dozen other details--that she was too weary to
accompany her husband to the dance, to the theater, to the social
gathering or to ladies' night at the club; and so, in the course of a
dozen years, the mother had grown old, and quite naturally she had
grown "home centered." Her world's horizon was the walls of her home.
She was happy and quite contented in her children's smiles, in the
cheery "how do you do" of her husband, in the fact that that gravy was
good or that steak was fried to the king's taste.

She was happy and contented until one day when the awakening blow
came. In the attic she and her thirteen-year-old son, who was just
entering high school, were looking through an old chest when she drew
forth some examination reports and some old school cards--holding them
up side by side. One set of the cards bore the father's name and the
other set the mother's maiden name. In great surprise the boy
exclaimed, "Why, mother, I never knew you studied algebra and Latin;
why, mother, I never knew you were educated." Her eyes were
immediately opened, the scales fell off, she was awakened to the fact
that her own son was coming to regard his mother as somewhat inferior,
in intellectual attainments, to the father--that she was considered in
that home as a mere domestic. True, the steak had been broiled well,
the pudding was exquisite, the children's clothes were always in
order, the husband's trousers were always beautifully pressed, his
ties were cleaned as well as a cleaner could clean them; but where did
she stand in her boy's mind and where was she in her husband's mind?

"Do you notice how trim and nice Mrs. Smith always looks? Her clothes
are always in the latest style, and she combs her hair so becomingly."
Such remarks as this from the well-meaning husband cut keenly, and it
is well that they do, for often it is only such remarks that wake up
our "home mother."

Dear reader, I want you to ponder this story. I wish to say to the
mother who has started out upon a career in life, who has prepared
herself for teaching school, for a business career, for story writing,
for millinery, for lecturing, or has perhaps graduated in a domestic
science course, that she makes the mistake of her life in settling
down, just because she has taken another's name, to be perfectly
satisfied with becoming the household domestic, the household mender,
the household cook.

MOTHERS IN THE PROFESSIONS

I have in my acquaintance scores of mothers in the professions,
newspaper women, women who have carved out brilliant careers for
themselves, women who have taught school for twenty years while their
children have been growing up, women physicians who have risen in the
esteem of all their professional brothers and sisters, women who have
conducted cooking schools, who have occupied positions of trust in
hospitals and in every walk of life, and who have successfully reared
children at the same time.

You will pardon me for being personal when I say that since our own
little fellow was six weeks old his clothes have been washed and
mended and his food has been prepared by earnest and honest women who
had not fitted themselves for the career which this boy's mother had
chosen. His mother went to her office, cared for her patients, kept up
by the side of her husband in the battle of life. All the time there
was a woman at home just devoted to that little fellow.

A newspaper woman recently told me her story--a story which should
impress everyone of my readers as it did myself, and she, like many
other mothers in the professions, leaves her home as the little fellow
goes to school. His hands have been washed, his bowels have moved, his
hair has been combed, his breakfast has been eaten by the side of his
mother--she has directed it all. He goes forth to the schoolroom and
she goes forth to her profession. All through the day she lovingly
keeps in mind these children that are growing up. She works the
harder, real love entering into everything she does, because she is
not merely earning the bread that goes into their mouths, but is
forming a character not only for herself but, because of her broadened
horizon, is instilling into their little minds the possibilities of
their own career, their own opportunity to enter into the world's work
as real world workers.

I contend that the mother in a profession has many blessings that the
mother who remains at home never has. The mother who remains at home
has a viewpoint that is often quite likely, wholly unconsciously, of
course, to become small, to become narrow, to become focused upon
small details; on the other hand, the mother whose mind and whose
heart are so full of the affairs of the office, of the newspaper
article she has just written, or the lecture she has just given or is
about to give, or the meeting that she is to preside over, is quite
likely to become somewhat irritated sometimes if the little fellow
doesn't stand quietly to have his hair combed, she is quite likely to
"feel rushed;" but under all circumstances, dear reader, whether this
mother be a home mother or in a profession, never, never must she
allow mental panic to seize her. Ever must we keep in mind that these
little ones are just children--children that are still in the
developmental stage.

WORK OUTSIDE THE HOME

And now for the home mother. I believe it is necessary and of
paramount importance that she get away from her children (if possible)
several hours each day; that she provide for them a caretaker who can
relieve the children of her or relieve her of the children, whichever
way you may look at it, for we are inclined to think that the children
often tire of the mother just about as often as the mother tires of
the children. I would have the woman who remains at home, whose
husband is able to provide outside help for the heavy work of the
house, enter into some uplifting neighborhood work, social settlement
work, church work, wholesome club work--anything but bridge and whist
and gambling games. I would have them bring into the nursery a woman
who is cheery, who is capable of teaching games, of entertaining and
amusing these little folks under their own roof.

The woman who has graduated from high school, who has a diploma to
teach, I would have take a school or, at least, do substitute work.
She will be happier--far happier--continuing along the lines for which
she has prepared herself, even if all the money she earns be used to
pay the help. Some women are especially fitted for the important work
of mother and homemaker, and such wives will find for themselves a
worthy career in the home and its neighborhood activities. Each woman
must find a field of action suited to her own temperament, education,
experience, talents, and opportunities.

SELECTING A CARETAKER

For a caretaker, the professional or business woman should not select
an ignorant servant girl; that would be a great mistake--a crime--a
violation of the law that should govern the training of these little
people who have come to us to be reared and cared for and fitted to
occupy their place among the world's workers. As a rule, one soul does
not possess the qualifications for scrubbing and laundry work and also
the firm but gentle ministering qualifications necessary for a
successful caretaker. They do not combine as a rule. It has been my
experience, as a mother with a profession, and that of many others of
my acquaintances, that an art student or a music student makes a
splendid caretaker. There are hundreds and hundreds of genteel women,
with winning manners and beautiful dispositions, who may be obtained
to sew on the buttons, wash the faces, and change the clothes of our
darlings while we are carrying forward in the world the great work for
which we have fitted ourselves during the long struggles of our teens
and early twenties.

The young woman who is brought in to care for the child should be
above the usual "servant" class. She must eat in our dining-room, she
should be welcome in the living-room or sun parlor, and be treated as
a respected member of the family. Her salary is usually not large for
she realizes that she is given something in that home--something that
money cannot buy.

THE UP-TO-DATE MOTHER

Now this young woman (the caretaker) wants to hold her position, and
so she is very anxious to carry out in detail the laws and rules that
are laid down by the mother. Mother can keep abreast with the world,
mother has time to read periodicals that keep her in touch with the
great, wide, pulsating affairs of life. She is able to meet more
women worth while, and with her husband attend lectures, musicals,
theaters, and other places for intellectual culture.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35