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Testimonies for the Church Volume 1
Has the stomach power to make sour bread sweet? heavy bread light?
moldy bread fresh?
Mothers neglect this branch in the education of their daughters.
They take the burden of care and labor, and are fast wearing out, while
the daughter is excused, to visit, to crochet, or study her own pleasure.
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This is mistaken love, mistaken kindness. The mother is doing an
injury to her child, which frequently lasts her lifetime. At the age
when she should be capable of bearing some of life’s burdens, she
is unqualified to do so. Such will not take care and burdens. They
go light-loaded, excusing themselves from responsibilities, while the
mother is pressed down under her burden of care, as a cart beneath
sheaves. The daughter does not mean to be unkind; but she is care-
less and heedless, or she would notice the tired look and mark the
expression of pain upon the countenance of the mother, and would
seek to do her part to bear the heavier part of the burden and relieve
the mother, who must have freedom from care or be brought upon a
bed of suffering and, it may be, of death.
Why will mothers be so blind and negligent in the education of their
daughters? I have been distressed, as I have visited different families,
to see the mother bearing the heavy burden, while the daughter, who
manifested buoyancy of spirit and had a good degree of health and
vigor, felt no care, no burden. When there are large gatherings, and
families are burdened with company, I have seen the mother bearing
the burden, with the care of everything upon her, while the daughters
are sitting down chatting with young friends, having a social visit.
These things seem so wrong to me that I can hardly forbear speaking
to the thoughtless youth and telling them to go to work. Release your
tired mother. Lead her to a seat in the parlor and urge her to rest and
enjoy the society of her friends.
But the daughters are not the ones to be blamed wholly in this
matter. The mother is at fault. She has not patiently taught her daugh-
ters how to cook. She knows that they lack knowledge in the cooking
department, and therefore feels no release from the labor. She must
attend to everything that requires care, thought, and attention. Young
ladies should be thoroughly instructed in cooking. Whatever be their
circumstances in life, here is knowledge which may be put to a practi-
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cal use. It is a branch of education which has the most direct influence
upon human life, especially the lives of those held most dear. Many a