The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1891-02-13
PUTTING CHILDREN TO BED.

The mother who puts the timid child to
bed, and takes away the light, and goes
down stairs and leaves him to his coniur-
ing, careless and Indifferent and disbelieving.
or bent on overcoming the mischief forci-
bly,, is destroying something that one
would think of small worth to her-not
only his nervous fibre, but his love Of
herself; and the day will come when fate
will have its revenge on her in his own in
difference to her, and she will recognize
1T even if he behave in all outward respects
like a dutifui son. 1t is her part to exam
inc the matter, to reason with the child.
10 comfort him, to see how far it is posi-
bic with him to subdue the fear. If she
cannot stay with him herself, she can at
least leave the door open SO thai he may
hear the cheerful down stairs voices. the
hum of life, not to lie shut into his tomb.
as the unformulated thought of his little
mint makes it; she can leave a lamp ON
the hearth, and so let there be some light
to dispel his ~faneies and to keep back the
1890 ~ ohotAapNd tioiblih. Sic NAV
regard isas trifing, but to him it is tremen.
dous; and II she is rise either ia mother
love or human kindness she will not let
the imaginative and sensitive child suffer
more than i5Hnust, remembering that that
temperament, if it has more to enjoy
through life than others, has also much.
much more to suffer.
When a few nights have failed to bring
calm TO the little being out of the expert
ence, and the last going to bed alone is as
bad as the first, aid all thrs ats have only
made the matter worse. and all reasoning
has produced no good result; when he
has tried TO conquer, aud the effort has
left him trembling as violently as If he had
an ague-then it is something not to be
overcome by harsh or rough or peremp-
tory measures. and the mother should see
that this child has some active physical
exercise just before going to bed that will
make his little body glad Of rest. and she
would best lie doun beside bin. or find
work that She can 90 upstairs till he
falls asleep, in order t. afford him the
comfort OF eomrauionship and the sense of
her embracing love, and soothe his irrita.
bic nerves to repose instead of rousinp
them to action. These nerves wonld never
have been irritable If size had not insisted
on her own way too long in the beginning.
If she bad given them no chance to get on
IRE, and then to go on exciting themselves
Ii she had put the child TO bed alone from
the very outset of his career. so that If
was the natural order of things to him, and
he bad had the habit e, tablisI.ed of ouiet
sleep and absence Of fear from the first. in
ninety-nine eases ont of a hundred there
would never have been any trouble of the
sort. But if through any idiosyncrasy of
the child, or any remissness of her owl
the fear has come upon him, she W i'll never
in all the years remaining have greater
love outpoured npon her than that child
will give her who sees her lowering over
his pillow. moving about his room. or feels
her pressure on the bed beside him till the
drewsy warmth steals over and wraps
senses and imagination and all together,
and lets her off again to the duties that
are less imperative than care of that
clild's nerves, to the pleasures that are
less pleasant thar the love be gives her In
return-Hsrper's Bazqr.