exceedingly hard for two people of diametrically opposite temperaments
to live in close association without clashes. One of the most pitiful
things in home life today is seen where mother and daughter have
opposite interests and sympathies and lack self-control. The constant
criticism and judging of one another, the quick-tempered commands and
demands on the part of one and the sullen yielding on the part of the
other make one heart-sick.

I am reading over a letter from a girl who says, "I honestly love my
mother. I am proud of the things she can do and I admire her beauty.... I
am twenty-two years old, very ordinary looking and not a social success.
I am a constant disappointment to mother. Our opinions about everything
differ. We cannot agree upon the most trivial things. When father was
living he laughed at us and his genial spirit made things easier but the
last two years have been dreadful. What can we do? Mother does not need
me. When I am away on a visit everything goes smoothly at home and her
letters to me are affectionate. I love them and have kept them to read
when it does not seem as if she _could_ care for me. My uncle has asked
me to come to their home in D---- to be a companion for his
seventeen-year-old daughter who is lame. I love her and we get on well
together. Ought I leave my mother and go? She says I may do just as I
wish and does not seem to mind the thought of my going...."

Here is a clear case of clash of temperaments. Both are to blame, each
is misunderstood. In this particular case it seems wise that the
daughter should, for a time at least, accept her uncle's offer. She may
learn from a distance to understand her mother better and her mother may
more fully appreciate her daughter. Often it is far better that two
people who constantly clash should learn apart to respect and honor one
another than to live in a quarrelsome, fretful atmosphere which is bound