The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1885-04-04
FAMILY DISCIPLINE.
Theory VS.. Practice in the Matter Of
Maintaining Parental Authority.

Theory vs.. Practice in the Matter Of
Maintaining Parental Authority.
Ihave just brought to the surface a
brief essay, written by myself at the age
of nineteen, and which shows that was
a good deal smarter then than l am
now. Now, / am a little bothered about
what to do with children, but at that
time valuable information oozed out of
my elastic yet massive skull at all times
The essay goes on to say that lust as
the twig is bent the trees inclined" |
do not remember whether this is origi-
nal or not l am inclined to think it is
not. Several other startling theories
are enunciatcd in this paper, among
others that the child is father to the
man. This may be true generally, and
yet there are exceptions. The child
may be father to the woman, or, in rare
cases perhaps, the child may be mother
to the man or even mother to the
woman.
When the right kind of man wakes
up to find himself parent, all his daz-
ling smartness goes away and he stands
there in the presence of that extremely
| forid chunk of squirm, abashed and
anxious. solicitous and ratified. He
| finds that he knows less about this
genesis business than he supposed. He
| can not conceal the fact that he is green.
All the Family Physician" and Every
Man His Own Doctor" books that he
has been reading lately have not taught
him how to pick up his own child with
out making the most common plug Of a
parent laugh himself to DEATH
Later on the worlof discipline comes
in. He looks forward anXiously TO the
day when the child viii be large enough
so that he can exercise the great prerog-
alive of spanking. Finally the time
comes. He has asserted himself in his
own house, and has spanked his own
flesh and blood. How proud he feels!
How he wishes that he could 90 and
drown himself somewhere. All day
long he knows that his wife will meet
him at the door with the dead child in
her arms. He sees the little fat hands,
resting so still and so white on the
baby's breast, that they seem to clutch
his own heart-strings and rest cold and
heavy on his heart.
If the baby is dead when he gets home
he will be a murderer. People will
point him out as he goes along the
Street and say: "There is the man who
spanked his little child into an early
grave.
He goes home early from his bootlesS
days work, trembling to know the
worst. His wife tells him that the baby
has poured gallon of kerosene into The
sugar barrel and sailed the hens, ant
the poor man says: Thank GOd!' anC
his wife says; George, have you los
that cunning little mind that you useC
to amuse yourself wth?'
Her sarcasm falls harmlessly on hi
happy heart. He then resolves tina
discipline may 90 to grass; he will no
have the sightess eyes of his dead bah!
haunting him during business hours; h
prefers a live Apache savage to a pale
silent and well-behaved ghost looking
over his shoulder while he is trying Il
think Of hard word.
And rs, for one cause and another
: the proud and defiant young mugwum
of nineteen at last becomes the quiet
gentle. loyal serf with the pink an
= chubby foot of a baby across his neck
There is still discipline in the family
, but it is not the kind he had advertise
r to make a feature in his home life.
An old friend said to me not lon.
ago. II thought when YOU became
parent you intended to have disciplin
in your family. Instead of that yo
have to play horse or make a iackaSs 0
yourself every time your children wan
you to. Seems to me if had announce
for years that I was going to have dis
cipline in my family I'd have it now o
bust.
james" said | to him, in a musica
tone, Il don't believe you recogniz
discipline when YOU see it. The fact is
! we have more discipline in our faml
than we know what to do with. | AZ
getting a grown persons dose twenty
seven times per day and thirteen time
( a night, and | feel that it is making m
a better man. We have large amour
of discipline at our house. There it i,
where any of the family can use it, TIL
children do not seem to crave it, so
am using it myself. don't like to Sc
> anything wasted. "-BU Nye, IN Inglc
side.