Wichita eagle., 1889-10-02
POSSIBILITIES OF BABYHoop.
A Few Of the Things the Little One May
Do, but We're Fond of 1t All the Same.

A Few Of the Things the Little One May
Do, but We're Fond of 1t All the Same.
Wordsworth remarks that Heaven lies
about US in our infancy" to which some one
has waggishly added, ''and our neighbors lie
about US after we are grown up.r II the
baby is only week or two old we are not 50
sure about the Heaven" for the supposed
angelic smile may simply be the result of
twinge of collie. The boy baby is most sub
ject TO collie, and SO, by fair inference more
Heaven lies about him. Probably Eliza Cook
properly sized up the subject when she wrote:
And Heaven was round rs when we fed
On rich, arnbrosial gingerbread
1t is neither kind nor wise TO vote baby
an uumitigated nuisance In doing so we shut
our eyes against its wonderful possibilities
Babies may be like weeds, and weeds SAYS
Emerson, are plants whose virtues have not
yet been discovered. Ruskin saws that a
childs education begins when it is six months
old-at the time when it ''can answer smile
with smile" However, the smile NAV not be
essential; and vet if the baby is boy, it will
be better for him TO do his smiling then
than after he's grown up. He can exhibit his
developing intelligence without the answer
ing smile. To pull ont handful of papa's
over her face and to fauten out the kitten
like pancake with the rolling pin, is a de-
velopment sufficiently ample. By its yells,
vigorous and prolonged, it shows compass of
lungs and tenacity of purpose. Such various
aptitudes are fair indication Of its possibili-
ties.
Another writer, as smart as Ruskin, says
"a child should be educated twenty years be-
fay ,tc Lf,ri, l, -,
to the last generation; it is enough to edu-
cate the babies of this one. We are not writ
ing book on the subject, and so we'll file
away the opinion with the trite old Spanish
proverb that IAN ounce of mother is better
than pound of clergy"
A babys accomplishments are as varied as
they are numerous. 1t can keep a household
in turmoil all day and in CONSERVATION all
night, with a provoking self consciousness
that it didn't half try. 1t has wonderful
faculty for sleeping in the day time when it
ought to be awake, and of being awake at
night when it ought to be asleep. II can
wear out pair of shoes in twenty-four hours
and its mothers patience in one. 1t can beat
the hired girl breaking dishes By two or
three laps and needn't get out of its mothers
lap to do it. 1t is large enough to occupy
the whole Of the bed at once and yet small
enough to creep into the kitchen drain, Sc
lectlng the time for the feat just when its
mother has put O. it white, newly laun-
dered dress.
1t will yell like Comanche Indian if pin
merely touches its anatomy, and yet it will
fall down flight of stairs and not mind it
any more than book agent would. 1t can
be sweet, patient, serene, when alone yet,
when trotted out for exhibition, will show
much of its mothers temper and all of its
fathers depravity. 1t can tighten its moth
er's burdens by adding to them, a paradox
that does not need diagram.
When there are two of him the mothers
care increases; SO does his fathers desire to
be profane. Sometimes there are triple
plated editions of him, but the instances are
rare, which is fortunate, as it keeps suicide
among distracted fathers below the average
There is a possibility of his having the
mumps, chickenpox, scarlet fever and measles,
of his being good, dying young and becoming
an angel, or of living long enough to become
bald headed and useless. There isa possibility
of his becoming president, or something else
more likely the latter. If girl, she may
marry an Italian count, who'll count her out
in his various schemes for squandering her
fortune. She may get into the ballet if she |
lives long enough. The boy baby may make
a fortune as an inventor and then lose it by /
starting a newspaper. He may be nothing
but a half starved clergyman at 5000 year. |
or rise to the enviable distinction of a base |
ball pitcher at $4,000. 1t will depend on the
want of brains, the preponderance of muscle, /
and the innate propensity to kick.-Frank II. |
Stauffer in Detroit Free Press.