St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1891-12-24
A MOTHERS QUESTION.

/ spread the letter before the Wise
woman and she smiled little as she
read:
wish some of these good people who
discourse so eloquentlv upon the neces-
sity of little children attending church
regularly would suggest some means of
holding in check a nervous, active, wide
awake boy of FIVE years so that he will
not distract the attention of everybody
within five or SIX pews OF hun: have
such a boy who is never still unless
asleep; how, then. can he be managed
through a sermon? l know one mother
who takes box of beads to church for
her little girl to string. l have not come
to that vet, but | am ready for Sugges-
lions.
You can see" said the wise wom-
an, folding the letter, 1.-THE mother is
not convinced that it is necessity for
little children to attend church regu-
larly, and | should be inclined myself
to begin irregularly, making it a spe-
cial privilege, a great step towards
being a man and only to be earned
by very good behavior. | should
talk about it for a good many weeks
before l tried it and discuss with the
child the probability that he was old
enough to behave like a gentle, and
make my trial at least two years be-
fore he was five-yeaT-Old. | should
take pains that he should have a
cheerful, happy morning at home
and not start out irr1tated and fret
full, and l would not CRAFTY my van
ity at the expense OF his comfort by
arraying him in picturesque hnery or
squeezing his tender feet and binding
his plump ankles in tight shoes.
MANY a child is restless IN church be-
cause heis scratched and pinched and
irritated by his clothing and because
his physical needs have not been
properly attended to. Once in
church and comfortably seated
would let him alone. The attempts
of father and mother to keep the
child in order are usually far more
distracting to the people in neighbour
ing pews than the child himself.
There is no reason why he should
not look behind him if he wishes, but
he need not have fan or book or
a pencil to amuse himself with; you
should not suggest to him that he
needs amusing. He will be satisfied
to rise or sit or kneel with the rest
until the sermon begins, and by that
time, if YOU have wisely accustomed
him from babyhOOd to an eleven
O'Clock nap, he will be ready to go to
sleep. When he gets home he should
have a generous need of praise and
some very choice Sunday treat as a
reward of good behavior. What
good is he getting? For the main
thing he is getting the habit of
church-going, just as he will by and
by get the habit of going to school,
and be held to it regularly by his
parents wisdom and authority,
whether he sees the use of it or not.
What he gets from the service will
depend almost wholly upon the wis
dom and tact of the mother in max
ing him see in it petitions to gener-
Gus Father, thanksgiving to loving
Father, teaching about wise and
wonderful Father and obedience to
his commands.
As the child grows older the diff
Guilty undoubtedly increases. The
novelty wears off, he chafes more I'M
der restraint. but the average sermon
is not over forty minutes long and
he will soon be compelled to sit still
in school for fully that length of time.
Put a hassock at the end of the pew
and keep under the cushion an illus
trated book of Bible stories Let the
boy sit there quietly and study the
pictures-if you have made him famil-
lar with the stories he will see the
whole drama. Make quiet attention
during a certain part of the service
the condition of having the book
later on, and continually impress the
idea of reverence for the house of God.
but l believe we are all of us inclined
to be too stiff and formal in church
and attach too much merit to sol
emnity / don't think | should in
troduce the box OF beads or anything
distinctively a plaything, but l
would not interfere too far with the