The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1885-05-08
FAMILY DISCIPLINE.
Theory VS.. Practice in the Matter Of
Maintaining Parental Authority.

Theory VS.. Practice in the Matter Of
Maintaining Parental Authority.
have Just brought to the surface s
brief essay, written by myself at the age
of nineteen, and which shows that [ was
a good deal smarter then than 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 ct all times.
The essay goes on to say that '.iust as
the twig is bent the trees Inclined" I
do not remember whether this is origi-
nal or not. 1 am inclined to think it is
not. Several other startling theories
are enunciated in this paper, among
others that the child is father to tho
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,motbcr
to the man or even mother to the
woman.
When the right kindeof a man wakes
up to find himself parent, all his daz-
zHng smartneSS goes away and he stands
there in the presence of that extremely
fOrid chunk of squirm, abashed and
anxious, sohcitous and ratified. He
finds that he knows less about this
genesis business than he supposed. He
can not conceal the fact that heis green.
AL the Family Physicians" 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 q
L.
Later on the work of discipline comes
in. He looks forward anxioUsly 10 tho
day when the child will 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 go and
drown himself somewhere. All day
long he knows that his wife viii 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 tho
baby's breast, that they seem to clutch
his own heart-strings and resi- cold and
heavy or his heart.
If the baby is dead when he gets home
he viii be 4 murderer. People will
point him out as he goes along the
street and say: "Thcre IS the man who
spanked his little child into an early
grave"
He goes home early from his bootlcss
days work, trembling to know thu
worst His wife tells him that the baby
has poured a gallon of kerosene into the
sugar barrel and sailed tho hens. and
the poor man SAYS: Thank God" and
his wife says: George, have you lost
that cunning little mind that YOU used
to amuse yourself with?"
Her sarcasm falls harmLeSsly on his
happy heart. He then resolves that
discipline may 90 to grass; he VIII not
have the sightIess eyes Of his dead baby
haunting him during business hours; he
prefers a live Apache savage to a pale,
silent and welI-behaved ghost looking
over his shoulder while he IS trying to
think of hard word.
And as. for one cause and another.
the proud and defiant young mUGwumP
of nineteen at last becomes the quiet.
gentle. loyal scrf with the pink and
chubby foot of baby across his neck.
There is still discipline in the family
but it Is not the kind he had advertised
to make q feature i'm his home life.
IN old friend said to me not long
ago: = thought when YOU became
parent YOU intended 10 have discipline
in your family. Instead OF that YOU
have 20 play horse or make a iacEass Of
yourself every time YOUR children want
yOu to. Seems TO me if / had announced
for years that was going to have DIS
cipline in my family I'd have ii now or
bust"
James," said | 10 him. in musical