Woman's chronicle. (Little Rock, Ark.) 1888-1???, 1889-10-26
Living With Children.
Emma NJ. Edwards, in Inter ocean,

LiVlllE WILL SihlSi
Emma M. Edwards, in Inter ocean,
''Let us live with our children, - said Froebel ;
that is, if the sturdy little boy, just becoming con-
scious of his strength, wants to help father In his
evening tasks, encourage him to do so, trouble
some though he may be- Let him carry half
filled pail or an armful of light wood it makes him
feel so proud but do not turn him off with 'You
are too little," or "You are always in the way"
You grieve him and check him in his best and
kindest impulses. If you enter closely into sym
pathy with him, you will not judge him by the re-
suits of his first and clumsy efforts, but will ap-
precate the motive.
The little GIRL almost before she can walk, wants
to help her mother sew and sweep. Of course the
tiny hands are often hnderance. The needle
and thread in baby fingers do much mischief, or
the broom in baby hands scatters the dust so care
fully collected. But if you study her closely, you
will see the germ of the future housewife in her
busy ways, and will prize them accordingly.
If YOU punish her as if she were naughty you
grieve and anger her. You have misunderstood
her, and while she has meant only good you have
treated her as if she meant evil She should no
more be punished than the kitten for its first
laughable and vain attempt to catch mouse.
Many children at six or seven are lazy and unwil-
ing to help their elders. 1t is strange when at tive
wears old those same children were so tireless in
running errands. 1t is because the impulse in the
little one to be helpful, since it is at that time
troublesome, is checked, whereas, if it had been
encouraged and strengthened by use we should see
fewer specimens of the type "lazy boy" We all
live for our children; that is, work and plan for
do Of live with tham do not ctndy,
their rights and grievances, the needs OF their ma
lures, their ways of thinking snd feeling.
Sunday, above all other times, should be chill
dren's day. Don't make Sunday the most tire
some day in the week for them, and then tell them
that heaven is one long Sabbath; but devote your
selves to them on that day, and show the love in
your hearts for them. This does not mean that
YOU should read the papers and magazines in the
morning and take walk with your friends after
dinner, but that you should read to and with the
little folks, should talk to them from your own
wider experience, answer the numerous questions
childhood alone knows how to ask Take them
with you in your walk, as if your pleasure we're
incomplete without them. No subject which in
terest them is too trivial for your attention. The
little girl, scarcely taller than the grasses through
which she walks, finds blossom hidden from your
careless glance. Tell her how the white flower
through long sunny days changes into the red
berry so sweet to baby's palate. The children
gain in mind and the parent gains in the affection
of the child. Many children are warped, their
best impulses checked, their highest nature unde-
veloped because no parent or friend has under
stood them Froebel says the educator himself
not infrequently makes the boy bad by attributing
evil motives to all that the boy does.
For instance, the boy who killed his neibghbor's
pigeon did not do it malciously. He simply tried
to see If he could hit it, not thinking that to ac-
complish his end would kill the bird. When it
fell dead, and pair of pigeons were separated
and number of young ones left motherless, the
bow is stricken with grief. "Some birds of i'll
omen" the writer adds, "are the first to bring
guilt upon such child who, though not wholly