HABITS MAY MAKE OR MAR A CHILD

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 910, 1 March 1930, Page 23

HABITS MAY MAKE OR MAR A CHILD

SANE COUNSEL FOR MOTHERS We are all creatures of habit, though many people go through life without realising the fact. If it were more generally grasped, the world would be a distinctly pleasanter place to live in, because much more attention would be paid to the formation of "good” habits. For the first few weeks of life, Nature provides the instinct which causes the infant automatically to seek food, sleep, etc. But almost immediately the normal healthy child conforms to the routine laid down by nurse or mother; therefore this routine should be wisely planned with an eye to the future. Good habits are just as easily learned as bad ones, and the mother who remembers this saves herself a great deal of work, besides giving her child a much better chance of health and consequent happiness. As children grow older sometimes objectionable habits are formed, and these habits may be directly attributable to physical defects. Take two of the most common, nail biting and eye blinking. These are sure signs that something is out of gear in the nervous system, therefore the cause should be sought and dealt with before much is attempted in the way of checking the habits themselves. Again, a child may be constantly “sniffing,” yet show no actual sign of cold. In nine cases out of ten, if he is examined by a doctor, it will be found that there is some chronic catarrhal condition which sets up a certain amount of irritation. “Sniffing” momentarily relieves this discomfort, and so the child performs the action perpetually until it becomes an unconscious habit. On the other hand, the foundations of many good habits can be laid in early childhood, to become later on an automatic and unconscious part of daily life. The care of the teeth, the geueral hygiene of the body, attention to the little details which make or mar the personal appearance, the care of clothes and general possessions—all these are everyday examples of “good” habits which help to oil the wheels of

existence for the “herd” as well as for the individual. Remember also that there are mental as well as physical habits which are learned in childhood. Truthfulness and lying are much more often I 1 matters of habit than of ethics. A bright outlook oil the world is | usually the outcome of early environj ment and teaching. Traiii the child to be cheerful and adaptable, to take knocks in the same spirit as rewards. And when he reaches years of understanding he will thank you for these habits of mind which hare become part of himself. Up-to-date smartness is made up of clothes devoid of ornamentation and furbelows, modern elegance being an j expression of line, colour and detail.