To this she invites as many of his men friends as she can accommodate, and provides a good, substantial meal, without any “frills.”  It need not be elaborate if everything is good of its kind, well cooked and served hot.  The menu may include oysters, roast fowl, two vegetables, several relishes, and an entree, with some simple dessert and good coffee.  She will also see to it that the cigars are of the proper excellence.  It is optional whether she sits at the table till the coffee and cigars are served, or stays in the kitchen to superintend the serving.  Red is the most appropriate color for decorations, since a man’s ideas of color are usually rather crude.  Men always enjoy a dinner of this kind.  The evening may conclude with cards.

A stag card-party sometimes takes the place of a dinner; it is followed by a substantial supper.

THE MUSICAL AND INFORMAL TEA.

At a musical, guests are seated, the hostess remaining near the door to welcome late arrivals.  If these arrive while a selection is in progress, they stand till it is finished, then find seats.  Guests do not leave their seats during the intermission, but converse with those in the vicinity.  Refreshments are always served.  Hats are removed.

For a very informal tea the hostess sends her card with the date and hour written across the lower corner.  If a friend is staying with her, she may write “to meet Mrs. A.” at the top.  She will offer a cup of tea and cakes or wafers to each comer, or may ask some friend to do so for her, leaving her free to mingle with her visitors.  Simplicity and informality characterize this form of receiving friends.

[726 Mothers’ remedies]

Etiquette for children.

“The future destiny of the child is always the work of the mother.”  —­Bonaparte.

Children reflect the manners of their homes.  As they learn to talk after the fashion of their parents’ speech, so they learn to be polite by example, aided by training, and in both cases the habit of youth persists in greater or less degree all through life.

To train children properly requires patience and persistence, but to have polite children, and to feel that they know what to do and how to do it when they begin to go out, is certainly a great source of satisfaction to a mother, on whom the burden of training falls.

The secret of success is beginning early.  Before the baby is three years old he should be in process of training.  When he comes into the use of spoon, knife and fork, he should be taught how to hold these properly, and how to feed himself.  He should never be permitted to play with his food; out of that baby habit comes the later playing with crumbs, holding the fork in the hand when not eating, drinking tea from a spoon, and other little gaucheries resorted to in embarrassment or preoccupation.  It is not necessary to wait until a child is ten or twelve years old before teaching him not to interrupt a conversation, and to make his wants known quietly and without iteration, nor yet that your yea means yea, and your nay, nay.