Radio-TV mirror (July-Dec 1954)

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TS-ll,Malden48,Mass. 70 to notice that, because she is a tall child, she was beginning to shy away from youngsters of her own age, and was trying to identify herself with the five and six-year-olds, for whom she was still too babyish. Now, at nursery school, she is thrown into daily association with many children, tall and short ones, alert and shy ones, all in her same age group. She has her special friends and she gets along well with all. In fact, she hardly wanted to leave them when we took her on vacation during the summer, for a few weeks of romping freely in the woods and swimming and building sand castles. By the time winter weather sets in, I think she will want to stay at her school to have lunch with some of the other children, instead of coming home for the afternoon with Nellie, or with my mother, who devotes a day a week to her — personally, I am against the idea of expecting grandparents to be baby sitters, but this one-daya-week plan is something both my mother and my daughter enjoy, and they have a fine, satisfying relationship as a result." Teri and John were each an "only child," so both faced the problem of having nothing to refer to in bringing up a child. They had little experience with young children, and could only depend on their memories of their own reactions. "Fortunately, we have agreed with each other's ideas about what is right for our daughter," Teri stressed. "When we don't, we talk it over, but not in front of her. It is the mother, however, who must learn how to handle the problems that come up every day in a child's development." There has been the problem of Teri's work, for instance, a problem that other working mothers will recognize. "Sometimes, Sharon hasn't liked having me go to work and leave her, which I am told is a perfectly normal reaction for a child of her age. I don't try to fool her, and I never lie to her. I do try to explain, and most of the time she seems content with that. Evading the issue would be one of those short cuts we mothers sometimes try to take and then find that we have chosen the longest and hardest way. "Sharon knows there are compensations for my leaving her. She understands that I keep my promises to take her on little special expeditions on my free days, and on the weekends when I carefully guard all the time I can possibly give to her. We go to the zoo, we plan shopping expeditions, we have little tea parties and walks and talks that are our very own. As she gets older, there will be museums to see, and matinees occasionally. When I have to make any change in plans that involve her, I am very careful to explain why and to make up for it in extra measure as fast as I can, and I am rewarded by her faith in me. I believe she is beginning to understand that Mommies and Daddies cannot always be right there at home." When the program, Life Can Be Beautiful, went off the air a while back, Teri found out how much her companionship is cherished by her little girl. The telephone call that said the show was really going off came to Teri when she was at home, with Sharon nearby. "It was a shock, after six happy years of playing in it, six years of pleasant relationships with the rest of the cast and everyone connected with the show. I began to cry a little, thinking that now all this would be over. I felt a little lost. "Sharon watched a moment, came over to put her cheek against mine, and asked why I was crying. I told her I was sad because a show I had worked on for a long time, even before she was born, would now be over. When I dried my eyes and started to laugh with her, I thought she had forgotten, but after a while she went upstairs to her room and I heard her singing gaily. The tune was the nursery rhyme, 'This is the way we wash our clothes,' but the v/ords were strictly hers. She used the initials by which I had always called the show — L-C-B-B, for Life Can Be Beautiful — and this is what she was singing: 'L-C-B-B is going off, going off, going off,' shouting it joyously. "I began then to get the proper perspective on what was happening. To my child, it meant more time for us to be together, and I accepted it that way. Then, a few days later, I of course explained that, while programs might come and go, I would always be doing some work and that being an actress made me happy and I hoped it helped to make some other people happy when they listened to our shows. I told her that people had worries and problems that we could make them forget while they listened to their radios." Teri has always been quick to tell Sharon the reasons for any sadness or any anger, rather than have her believe that she herself might be responsible for it. "Children see grownups getting upset and often think it might be their fault — the children's fault, that is. I try to make it clear that it is some grown-up problem which I am trying to solve, and, if possible, to let Sharon know a little bit about it, just enough to keep her from speculating too much. I think a child worries much more about these things than we realize, and that a certain amount of frankness allays fear. It is difficult to strike the happy medium of preparing a child for the rough places of life and still teach the loveliness of the world and the wonderful things that lie ahead, and all we mothers can do is try hard not An open letter to: OUR READERS OUR ADVERTISERS TV RADIO MIRROR Magazine is proud to be a member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations which, this month, is celebrating its -fortieth year of service to our readers and to our advertisers. The Audit Bureau of Circulations contributes to your enjoyment of TV RADIO MIRROR. By studying ABC figures, we have a guide for the type of material you prefer — thus IV RADIO MIRROR can bring you what you want to read, when you want to read it. Too, the Audit Bureau of Circulations makes it possible for us to measure our circulation growth, bringing a clear picture of TV RADIO MIRROR's tremendous audience to our advertisers. 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