"I Simply CANT Let Him Outgrow Me
SHE LIVES IX A LITTLE HOUSE IN A
suburb of New York and makes that bouse a
home.
He too lives in the little house for a part of his life.
but the rest of it is spent in an office in the city.
All sorts of men ride with him on the suburban
trains, or visit him in his office, or meet him for
luncheon at his club.
His life is full of stimulating- contacts. Every day
brings him new experiences that mean larger growth
and more assurance. He is a far bigger man to-day
than he was last year, and ten times bigger than when
thev were married ten vears aeo.
"Somehow I must find a way to keep my thought
and interest constantly fresh, constantly expanding,
.-tep by step with hi-. / simply cant let him out?
grow me."
How many million women in America have been
troubled by that thought? Mow man)' of them have
t'elt a vague resentment ?at the conditions of modern
lite, which make menta! growth so easy for men and
so frequently difficult for women ?
Mow many couples have sel forth into lite with
every thought ami interest in common, only to find
themselves at the end of ten or twenty year- living in
wholly different mental worlds?
If the talk veers to the lighter side of life?the
best ni the season's plays and operas; the inspiring
gem- of modern verse; the best and most talked about
hook-?they are equally at home. In fact, these
far-seeing women have a well-rounded knowledge
of the great developments of life the world over.
They keep up with the times !
Men lind their conversation stimulating: their
children turn t<* them confidently, knowing that on
the subject which has that day been discust in
school ? perhaps some current problem of great
importance?mother can he of help.
j#?. And she?
Her life, too, is filled full; but the experiences that
come to her are neither so various nor so stimulating'.
There are the older children who must be hurried
oft to school each morning. There is the baby to be
bathed and put to sleep. There arc meals to be
planned, and bills to be paid.
So, day after day slips by with hardly a spare
moment. Happy days?she would not change them
if she could'. Only a single cloud crosses the horizon
of her.happiness.
In the evening sometimes when they sit on their
little front porch, and he tells her of the experiences o?
the day. of the men he has met and the topics he has
discust, of the problems he has solved?problems that
a few years ago would have been far too large for
him?at such moments the cloud is there.
Xg such experiences have come to lier that day.
The problem- that lie and his friends discuss are
strange and far away. She had meant to know more
about them, but there was no time.
"Suppose he should outgrow me," she says to
herself. "Suppose that ten years from now should find
him bigger, broader, abler because oi his experience-,
and me, no longer his mental companion, merely the
mother of his children."
The thought cause
inore tisrhtlv.
her lips to- close a little
No one can know the answer to this question.
But this one thing is sure?ai least a million Amer?
ican women have faced this difficulty frankly and
have conquered it.
The}- have put definitely behind them any fear
that their husbands or their children will outgrow
them.
Other women frequently wonder at their breadth
i -i in formati? ?n.
Does the conversation turn to the industrial
unrest that permeates every par; oi our eountrv?
["hese alert women have a dear knowledge of its
causes and eftects. They arc familiar with unique
and sensible plan- to reduce the c? ?st < >f living.
The League oJ Nations, with its manv-sided
possibilities, is not a closed book to then?.
They arc quite ai case in their knowledge ol
international affairs. They ha\ e a clear understanding
of our relation- with (?real Britain, with Japan, and
the other great ration- ol the earth. They sec
Ireland'.- struggle for freedom in its true light.
The a know how and win Bolshevism is seeking
a footln ?hi here in .America.
The latest developments in the fields o i i n ve n ti on
and science arc not unknown to these modern women,
while the great personalities who are doing the big
things in the world arc something more than mere
llc-h and hone- to 1 hem.
kor school children these days are coming more
and more into contact with the world about them.
Two hundred and fifty thousand boys and girls in ten
thousand high schools arc studying current events
with the Literary digest as a text.
"Who are these extraordinary women?" you ask.
""liow can they, with the multitude of personal
responsibilities, find time to be so well informed?'"
The answer is very simple. They have learned
this secret of the Hindern world?that the highest
achievement is possible only to those who empl?v
i rained help to do for them the thing- they can
not accomplish for themselves.
And so, they let our organization of specialists
labor constantly for their benefit. Every week 4,000
newspapers, and magazines, and books, representing
every laud and language, are read by this organization
and then by direct translation, or reprint, or in digest
form all phases of the important, news of the world
contained in them arc presented bv striking articles in
PHE LITERARY DIGEST. Through the magic
o! its pace- the world, with all its throbbing interests
and personalities, is carried to men and women in a
inilli? m home-. And a c< ?tiple of In ?uiV readine weekly
is all the time required to absorb this feast!
I here is room lor another million women in this
chosen company and admittance i- ea.-v. Commence
reading THE DIGEST this week!
FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY (Publishers ol the Famous. NEW Standard Dictionary) NEW YORK