Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1880-02-26
Amusing Children.

We find in arecent periodical some
excellent hints about the rearing OF
children. and the providing of amuse.
ments for them:
No indication of the spirit of an
age is so reliable as that which ia
supplied by its SO called pleasures.
This rule holds good with children,
they having received no other no.
ions of enjoyment than those i'm
bibed by force of example. If they
see father, after a days work seek
ing relaxation in gardening, reading,
music, or any other intellectual en-.
joyment, they naturally regard the
especial employment IS pleasure.
Hearing the subject enthusiastically
commented on, and marking the int
crest with which it is perused, they
cannot conceive that there is any la
Dor in it. But if mother, we will
say,is always engrossed with the fuse
of dress, If she is excited and anxious
to be off to some crowded place of
amusement, to see sight, or par
take of a feast, little boys and girls
cannot but think that the latest new
fashion is the most important matter
in lite, and figuring at fetes and ex-
hibitions the most enviable of world.
ly pleasures.
The most lasting joys we can con-
fer on children are those which, under
most circumstances, they are able to
provide for themselves. These must
obviously spring from a cultivated
from cultivated mind and practised
ingenuity. A pantomime, Punch and
Judy, fireworks, and similar shows,
are all very well for the entertain-
ment of crowds; but the sight Of
such performances does not supply
the want of resources which shall
be within reach at all times. / am
certain that child's sense of pleas
ure is vastly increased by the knowl-
edge and in the hope that whatever
he is employed upon ia subservient to
some good end. Give boy hand
full OF tools, and tell him tc 90 and
amuse himself with them, and he will
not know what to be about. But tell
the same boy that you, bis mother,
aae sadly Inconvenience for the
want of little box to keep some ar
ticle in; describe infinitely the shape
it is to be, and tell HIM that you
would really be pleased if he could
manage to make such a thing for
you, and he will set TO work In earn.
est to carry out your wishes. TIE
result may possibly be such pro.
duction as was never seen before ,un-
fit for any imaginable purpose, but
still it must be accepted as the best
executed piece workmanship From
such awkward beginnings, and un.
der the influence of such encourage.
ment as an intelligent mother would
bestow, the bungler might develope
into an amateur mechanic of the
the highest order. Again, with lit
tie girls. Send them to fetch and
carry, to do this and that about a
mouse, anu tney VIII regard their en-
ployment as irksome : but ask them
to help their mama in household af.
fairs, tell them that there is no one
else to whom she can trust her keys
and confide the care Of pets and
flowers, and instantly monotonous
drudgery becomes invested with
responsibility which is truly eDjoya-
Bile. The whole sum of a woman's
duties may be learned in childhood,
and made pleasurable if only rightly
implanted. The love of being use.
fol, and the craving for something to
foster, is an active principle in their
breasts, which the best dressed doll,
the incest food, the smartest clothes,
do not call forth. Directed in this
channel, the amusements of children
may not only render themselves, but
all around them, hereafter happy.