are a wee bit cross, I know it by a tiny frown that mars the beauty of your face. But, of course, that does not happen very often, because, you know, as we grow older, our faces do not change their expressions as easily as they do when we are young. And would it not be dreadful, if when you grew up, you always had a frown on your face and were not nice looking at all? You know the frown wrinkles try to stay, and every time we let them come out they leave a tiny mark.

When the flower took in the fresh air it made green coloring matter, but when you take in the fresh air it makes red coloring matter. So if you want to have red cheeks and red lips you must have plenty of fresh air. I know you get a great deal in the daytime when you are playing, but you must be sure to get it at night, too, or you will lose all your pretty color. Be sure that your window is open every night.

You remember, the leaves not only had to breathe but they had to digest the food for the plant, too, but the bird had a stomach to perform that work.

In this way you are like the birds, for you have a stomach which takes care of the food you eat. If you wish to grow strong and well so as to be able to run and play and also to help your mother with her work, you must eat plenty of good, nourishing food. You know some food makes muscles, but other things are not very good for people to eat. Plenty of bread and milk and cereals, also meat, potatoes and fruit, are very good things to make girls grow. You must take care of your stomach, too, and give it time to rest, for it works very hard and might get tired out. Then what would you do?

You have seen, Violet, that in a great many ways you are like the birds and flowers, but now I am going to tell you something that perhaps you did not know. Girls have ovaries just the same as flowers and birds, and inside each ovary are a great many little ovules that after a while will ripen as the seeds did, only instead of growing into flowers or birds they will grow into babies. Is that not lovely, and are you not glad that perhaps some day you will be able to have a baby all your own? But of course that will not be for a great many years yet, for you must wait until you have grown into a strong woman and have a home of your own and a husband to help take care of the baby.

When the little ovules are ripe there must be a nest prepared for them, just the same as there was one prepared for the flowers and birds. But now I shall tell you another wonderful secret. Mothers do not have to build nests, for they are already prepared for them right inside their bodies close to their hearts. The nest is called the womb. Although we do not have to build the nest, we have to take good care of it so it may grow strong.

This nest and the tiny ovules are growing constantly from the time the girls are babies, but they grow so very slowly that none of the ovules are ripe until the girl is about twelve years old. After that one ripens every month and passes to the nest or womb. At the same time an extra amount of blood is sent to the womb to provide nourishing material for the ovule to use in its growth. But the womb, or nest, is not strong enough yet to hold a healthy baby, so this extra amount of blood with the ovule is sent out of the body through the vagina, which is a muscular tube leading from the womb to the external parts (private parts). We call this flow the menstrual flow. This occurs every month and each time the womb becomes a little stronger and better able to hold a growing babe. But the womb is not fully developed until the rest of the body is matured.

Menstruation is the sign of the possibility of motherhood. Realizing this fact, one cannot fail to have a high idea of this function. Most girls, naturally, desire children. Little girls love their doll babies, and spend much time in caring for them, but as girls grow into womanhood they desire real babies. A woman who does not desire children has had her mind perverted by false ideas or fear.

CHAPTER V

THE BABY'S NEST

You remember, Violet, I told you that although mothers do not have to build nests, yet they have to take good care of them so they will grow strong.

As the natural desire of every girl is to become a mother some time, she must begin very early to prepare for it. By exercise, fresh air, and good, nourishing food, she should make her body grow strong and well. By studying she will develop her mind so as to be fitted to care for and to teach her child. Shall I tell you some ways you can make the nest grow strong?

First, I shall tell you more things about this mother nest. Although it and the tiny ovules are growing all the time, yet there are greater changes in them when the girl is from twelve to fourteen years old. About this time they grow faster than at any other time. As these organs grow, the pelvis, or the part of the body that contains them, also must grow to make room for them. So the hips begin to grow broader. Other parts of the body grow faster at this time, too, and often some parts grow so much faster than others that they are out of proportion, and the child becomes clumsy and feels awkward. But that will not last long, for after a while the parts that are growing slowly will catch up to the ones that grew fast, and then the body will be graceful again. Have you ever watched a young puppy? You know how clumsy and awkward it is while it is growing, but after a while, when it is fully grown, it will be very graceful.

We know it is not wise to run or play or work hard right after eating a large meal, for then the stomach is working very hard and needs a great deal of extra energy, so the other muscles must rest a while, in order to let it have it.

You remember, I told you, Violet, that every month, or every twenty-eight days, there was an extra amount of blood carried to the womb which it had to send out of the body. Of course that requires the womb to work very hard for a few days, so, in order to help it, we must be careful not to take any severe exercise at this time or overexert ourselves in any way, for, if we did, the womb would not be able to do its extra work properly.

You remember, I told you this flow, which we call the menstrual flow, was the sign of the possibility of motherhood, so every girl should be glad of the fact that she menstruates and should take good care of herself at that time. She should pay especial attention to cleanliness during this period. She should be provided with a circular girdle of some strong material cut upon the bias, so it may be elastic, and provided with tabs to which to pin the folded cloth. She also should have a supply of sanitary cloths made of absorbent cotton fabric, or pads made of absorbent-cotton enclosed in gauze. The latter are especially convenient for the girl who is obliged to room away from home, for they may be burned, and the cost of new ones is no greater than the laundry of cloths. These pads or cloths should be changed at least twice a day. It also is necessary that one should bathe the parts in warm water with each change, as unpleasant odors can thereby be avoided. At the close of each period she should take a bath and change all clothing. One cannot be too careful about these matters, so essential to cleanliness and health.

During this period, girls naturally have a feeling of lassitude or disinclination to do any great mental or physical work, accompanied, perhaps, by a slight feeling of uneasiness in the pelvic region (the part of the body that contains the womb and ovaries). Because so many do suffer at