HOME TRUTHS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 47, 20 March 1909, Page 3

HOME TRUTHS.

: HOW TO HE HAPPY TUOL'UII A ) PARENT. Uaclieiorß and spinsters know how to, bring up Miildren much bettor tliiin father., and mothers. Xo, parent will 'believe that. (True, bachelors and spinster, have-, tfekloui or never tried to bring „p a, large family in a sina.ll house on an, infinitesimal income. Tliev laek the practical experience of, sav.'.\lrs. Humphreys, of West Ham, who, with her, husband, is the join'ti parent of t'wcntvfive children, and has just liec-ome the motlier of twins. ■ But they have ideas 'which, M untried a.re mare feromitsiirg than the practical methods we .see in force everywhere. AVhat indumru of success iis usually attained by parent ia upbringing their .offspring* " H is common to sec families of children as uild *a unbroken colts. \\'e find father* daify walloping their boys as the only way of making th'em obedient and of Caching them sen.* ft is quite unuiil to -see a mother worn but, by the earns of her family. Jjv her licipetual 'folding and 'smacking We perceive that' she has allowed livr children to break her temper. This, say* th„ idealist., 'bachelor or. spinster, is all wrong. , CHILDREN MUSTN'T liE REPRESSED. The mother, says he or she, who pun-, ishcs her child confesses that lier aysti'in -of teaching the child the dillereinee, betwee-,i right and wrong is a failure. The mother who -ays conthiuallv to her child, "Sit slfill," "lie ouiet," shows, tliait .she doiis nou understand the vital, importance of movement to children.. -Movement ia .essen'tial if body ami mind, are to, lie edtfcatedj properly. Movemtmt, ia fiuct, is education! Nature; this very well, and so 'has anadc children to be always moving, except, Nvheh, asleep.

The mother who for ever says "Don't .touch" to (the baby makes ft grand mistake-. Touching is education. Impressions bbgim with the senses.

Tlio mother who says, ''Don't bother, me with questions," iputa a stopper into the natural fountain of learning. The mother who lavishes ready-made, toys on iher children' acts foolishly.. Children delight in making their own, toys; this stirs their creative powers;, it is education.

• The mother who Scolds Mr boy be-. causei lie draws on her parlor wail is, unwise. Better that the. parlor wall-, paper should he spoilt thtui that the, child should never be allowed to give, ami and hand Ohe excellent, free, sweep-. ing, brain-exercising movements entailed by 'wall-drawing.'

i Thei mother whoi is cross with the little girl 'who takes h'er knife in her left hand is probably ignorant of the, fact that the 'bruin cannot be fully and, evenly devcfoi>ed unless thei left hand, • is tnuncd as thoroughly as thfe right. The .mother who says, "Don't do this, or I'll smack you," is attempting the, impossible; islre' IB trying to bring forth ] good front evil, 'the evil in this case. being fear. Children ought to be trained to avoid that ■which is wrong through love, of that which is right—not through fciar of punishbnent.,

AVOID SAYIXG "DOXT." , Mother's should make it a golden rule, to 'avoid saying "Don't" to a child, to fur las is kuinanjy possible. So, say the idealists, the bachelors,, or spinsters with beautiful theories, "It 'is all very iiae," salystthe. mother of, ten, "but any (system is much quicker.' "Atadani," says the idealist, "you should Ibe "prepared to. lavish infinite patience vn your children." "Xot on washingday," says the mother, and shows the. idealist to the, door. The truth of the wlrole matter is that, the task of uprcsiring 'the human babyis Che most difficult task 'that wet mortals tan undertake. The cow has no. .difficulty 'in upbringing her calf, not ,the cat her kittens; but the calf and tub kitten come under no other influence! Thou the mother's, and this makes, all the difference.

i When you, consider the number of {ieople who influence the human baby, until the age of iivci— the father, the doctors, nurses, brothers, sisters, auuts, unties, cooks, housemaids, schoolmates, iheldinateH, streetiiiabes, governesses, wasters, and mistresses, the chief wonder .is that children ever turn out anything but badly. One cannot expect such a Vast num-| Iber of people to practise the ideals—to carry out, for example, iu beautiful theory as that a child must, never be made unhappy for a moment, and, at the same time, 'must never be, ejpoilt. ~ • Yet there are many ways in iwhich. hoines full oi icbftdKn might We made happier than wei find them. It 'woufld 'be a great thing if all crying, babies were kept safely out of the sight .and hearing of the family in general. It would be a inert-)- to 'millions if all tired workers could expect perfect peace from children on returning home. It would Ibe 'something if proper pre; cautions were, taken to, ensure that Iboys fuH of animal spirits worked off itheir energy anywhere but in the house. The solitary hoy at home during holidays, who is fatherless, or whose father it engaged in business all day, is a, problem too deep by far for most jnqthers. It is a great thing to see, ihaTevery moment, of the boy's Himc is iTviscly filled. ' ■ Tf at home, he should be em'ployeitiin gardening, wood-chopping, brass-ctean-Sng, reading, painting, or studying. jWhen out and about—and he should go ,ouJt and tfbout every day—the great. ittfing is to see that he is well-coin-' jpanioned, and takes rational and proper lexercise. i KdWfflg is better to this end than jthat he becomes one, of General BadenjPoweH's Boy Scouts.—Peafson's.