Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume II — Page 140
140 over two meals and they include children in the housework. This conserves a great deal of effort. A few days ago, I came across a joke published in a well - known American magazine and i t particular ly sheds light on their character. A father says, “I have never understood how can it be that my children sometimes forget that they have to go to school that day; sometimes they forget that they have to wash their own dishes; sometimes they even forget that they have to go to sleep at a certain time. But if I have ever even jokingly promised them something, they will not forg et it. E ven five years later ! ” This example portrays their character. They have taught their children all these things , to go to bed on time, go to school on time, chang e clothes on t ime, and wash their dishes. These are all included in their duties. By adopting this system, a great deal of time is saved. There is m uch to be change d in the way children are brought up here. Women in Europe place their children in cots. They prepare their bottles and put them next to them, lock the door , and go to work. When the child is hungry, he picks up the bottle and feeds himself. B ut in our country, if a mother leaves her child for even two minutes, the child creates a great commotion. This happens because the mother never leaves the child. S he goes about with him clinging to her the whole time. As soon as the child is born, she p uts him in her lap a nd then proceeds to carry him a bout constantly for three or four years. I n fact, in our country, they carry their darling children up to five years. All these traditions are worthy of being changed. When you make the requisite effort to change these customs, other women will eventually w ish to follow in your footsteps. I have related that first and foremost it is necessary to change the method of making bread. The Arabs are also in the habit of using store - bought bread , but there they have the k hamiri [ yeast - raised ] bread from the clay oven. Khamiri bread is consumed in all the countries which routinely use s tore - bought bread. Fatiri [ non - fermented or non - raised ] bread must always be made and eaten fresh. Anyhow, women here cannot find any spare time until the question of bread is resolved; they cannot have time without changes to the way children are brought up. As long as the chil d remain s in his mother’s lap, the mother or her daughter is forced to remain unproductive. She can only be free to work if the child is put in a cot as soon as it i s born and then nursed at fixe d times, and not constantly held in her lap. Thus, until this question is resolved, the mother’s life will