Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Dickens on Motherhood

From A Tale of Two Cities:

"The spies . . . would have found it hard to discover among the angels of that sphere one solitary wife, who, in her manners and appearance, owned to being a Mother.  Indeed, except for the mere act of bringing a troublesome creature in to this world--which does not go far towards the realization o the name of mother--there was no such thing known to the fashion.  Peasant women kept the unfashionable baby close, and brought them up, and charming grand-mammas of sixty dressed and supped as at twenty."  (Book 2, Chapter VII)

Lucie directed the home "with such a wise and elegant thrift that it was more abundant than any waste," and her husband asked her, "'What is the magic secret, my darling, of your being everything to all of us, as if there were only one of us, yet never seeming to be hurried, or to have too much to do?'"  (Book 2, Chapter XXI)

Ah, to have my husband ask that of me!  :)

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