Věstník (West, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 18, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 30, 1952 Page: 22 of 32
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Strana 22
V Ř B T N f. K — WĚříT, TEXAS
FOR NEW FATHERS ONLY
Weánesdáy, Apríl 0d, 1§B1
And it wculd be just as well if you people who are rushing back and forth
kept your wife from reading it, because from the nursery to the kitchen. On the
it gives you the low-down what every
prospective father should know.
If your vviíe is about to háve a baby,
you are about to beeome a father. This
statement may sound obvicus, but don’t
brusli it aside. In fact, give .it some
thcught. Othenvise, the joys of father-
hood may corne upon you so suddenly
that you will be bewildered and over-
whelmed.
To-get the idea, glance into the future
and assinne that the baby has just ar-
rived. You háve stopped shaking, háve
handed out cigars, wired the relatives
and begím to relax. The wcrst is over,
you think, Right there is where the pa-
tron saint of fathers laughs so hard he
falls cut of his chair.
You, will find out why when you get
back to the hospital. You tiptoe in to
see your poor wife and excliange a few
tender words if she is not to o groggy.
She’s not. In fact a great clarity has
deseended on her mind. She now remem-
bers all the things she forget during
the preeeding nine months. The conver-
satioh scon goes like this.
“Dear, I want you to buy me two nurs-
ing bras, size 34, and try to 'get the kind
with .the trap dooř in the front because
I understand they are better, then go to
the drugstore, better write this down,
and get two páper of rustpreof safety
pins, try to get yellow ones to match
the baby’s crib, and a box of cotton, a
face mask, baby oil, a powder dispenser,
halí a do zen 4-ounce nursing bottles be-
cause the ones mother sent are 8-ounce,
then call up the diaper Service and telí
them to come Mcnday, and when you
come in this evening, bring my slippers
and manicure scissors and donť forget
to buy the announcements and send
one to Aunt Ethel right away or she’ll
never forgive us. . . whaťs the matter,
dear?”
Two days later when you come to see
your wife, ycu. will ask her to move
cver for just a minuté so you can lie
down, tco.
other hand, don’t try to piek up the
baby or warm. its bottle. You are too
clumsy now. That will come later—plenty
cf it. There is a sort of compromise best
deseribed as “hovering”, but it is very
tiring to the average male.
The best thing to do in this transitíon
period is stay out of sight and utilize the
time for practicing. First practice calling
the baby “he” or “she” instead cf “it.”
Then try to memorize its dimensions,
because you are bound to be asked for
them a dezen timés a day. Also practice
looking happy about the baby. Just be-
cause the little thing’s mouth hangs o-
pen and it appears to háve an IQ in the
lovrer thirties is no reason for you to
staré back at it in the same way. You
might also memorize a few handy phra-
ses such as “just wonderful” to use when
your wife asks you whether or not yóu
like the baby, whieh she will do sev-
eral times a day. In čase you háve
thought up any smart cracks such as
“What hath God brought,” suppress
them. .
Now psychologists say that a baby,
even a tiny one, needs both parents.,The
father, they maintain, should participate
in raising the baby for the family’s saké.
If he doesn’t, the wife will monopolize
the job and beccme more and more a
mother, less and less a wife; the hus-s
band will beeome resentful and merose
and také to slamming doors and kieking
the dog. Some husbands under these
conditions háve resorted to going on
long business trips and háve ended by
getting a divoree. So after your mother-
in-law has left and the household has
settled down a bit—that is the time fer
you to get in there and participate.
This is not easy. Your wife knows all
about the baby and you know nothing.
That is not surprising, considering that
she spent nine months getting ready
for it while ycu- were wasting your time
at the Office. Nevertheless, try not to
be resentful, even though ycu appar-
ently háve to be taught how to fold a
,But: ,-won’t things be better when you diaper in the same way that block
get the baby home? Well, no. The first! building is taught in kindergarten. Of
two or three weeks will resemble thejcourse, for 35 cents you could buy a
start of the monsoon in India. In other j copy of Baby and Child Care and learn:
words, conditions will be unsettled. Yourjhow* to fold diapers from the diagrams.!
mother-in-law will be there, for one But if you did any kind of sneaky thing j
thing. And your own role will be difíi- like that, yoiťd regret- it. After all, it'
cult to nail down. You will be expected isn’t often that your wife gets a chance
to help but also to keep out of the way, i to explain something to you.
two things wliich are almost mutually I 5 The French say that when a woman
exclusive. is going to háve a baby, she is in a cer- I
If you sit down to read the páper, j tain condition. You will find that she is
even though there is nothing fer you to also in a certain condition afterward. j
do, you will get dirty glances from the'lt is compounded of urgency, nervous-
ness, a tendency to occasicnal tears, and
constant baby talk. During this period
try to be calm. But doiťt be too calm.
If, at 3 a. m., do ycu feel yourself! being
shaken and hear your wife whispering
urgently, “Did you hic?” don’t laugh icr
shrink away. Say “No” in a natural
voice. If then she eries loudly, “Iťs the
baby. He has hiccups. Call the doetor!”
you had better call him. It may tura.
cut to be unnecessary, but let the doc-
tor explain that.
Here is another tip. Don’t drag your-
self in the front dooř in the eveing and
announc.e that you had a tcugh day at
the Office. That is like ásking a drown-
ing man if he has been in swimming
lately. Better not complain if dinner is a
bit latě, either. Just try to rock along,
taking the bad with the worse. It won’t
last forever.
Pediatriclans say that whenever you
piek up the baby, you should be calm
and relaxed. Any tension will transmit
itself, upset him and perhaps cause co-
lic, which is to be avoided like the
plague. Mcthers understand this, and it
is the justification for baby talk. So if,
by any chance, you happen to be the one
selected to get up for the two o’clock
feeding, try to get out of bed in a pleased
mood. Hum a bit as you warm the bot-
tle. Smile at the baby as you c.hange
him. Say something nice in a baby talk.
The baby will appreciate it, and later in
the day maybe you can find someone at
the Office to bawl out.
Making formula in the home is some-
thing that has never been duplicated
industrially, even by the du Ponts. First,
éverything has to be sterilized, and woe
betide any lout who happens to piek
up a measuring spoon or pair of kitchen
tongs during this process. After your
wife has made the formula, however, it
is all right for you to offer to clean up
the kitchen.
Eventually, there will come an even-
ing when the little mother will announce
witn an edge in her voice that if she
doesn’t get out of this house, ■ she will
seream. When this happens, don’t re-
mind her that just the day before you
suggested going out and she did seream
Just find a sitter. Your wife will want
someone who is a fellow in the Ameri-
can Society of Pediatricians as well as
a registered pharmacist, but maybe she
will settle for something less. If so, and
you do go out for an evening, let there
be no skimping. Shoot the werks — or-
chids, theater, steaks, or, any way, some
kind of meat if you can afford it. And
(Continued on page 23.)
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Valcik, Stephen. Věstník (West, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 18, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 30, 1952, newspaper, April 30, 1952; West, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth626112/m1/22/?q=%22~1%22~1: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Slovanska Podporujici Jednota Statu Texas.