Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1895-08-16
TIRESOME WORDS.
THE "DON'T" AND "BECAUSE" THAT
SOME MOTHERS USE.
Among tho PAAaful infections OF Child.
hood Little Ones Are u Bother. but
They Are Not Always to Blame-Keep
the Little Hands and Brains Occupied.

the Little Hands and Brains Occupied.
"When 1 make my dishunary, it amt
goin to have because or don't In il, Z"
said an iratc little maid of To heI
mother the other day, when was there
calling. l didn't much wonder mt lei
small rage either. The child Is bright and
active, one of the kind whose nervous lit
tic feet and hands must be employed al
the time, else the still moro active brain
will be ut work connecting mischief, 10 be
carried out as soon as the chance offers
Almost every other word my friend said &c
me was intcrlarded with Don't, Ethel, :"
and when Ethel asked why, ms "A child al
ways does, the invariablc reply was, BE
cause" Ethel's mamma said her don't in
a calm, dispassionatc kind of way, like
water dropping off a roof, it being just as
easy TO say that as To say something else
Her manner of saying Because" was just
as colorlcss, and when the child, cut of
from all sources Of amusement, had to sit
on an uncomfortable chair and hold her
small hands the unrcasonabcncss of it all
came over her with such force, that, after
thinking profoundly for moment, she an.
nounccd her fell designs on Noah Webster
and The Century with good deal of en-
phasis
"Thcy makes me misuble, " she added,
nodding her curly head, land 1 hasn't got
any Use for ZEN"
Poor little Ethel And there are SO
many Ethcls in the world. This particu-
lar one had been shut out from the nursery
because the baby was i'll, and she found
her stately mother but indifferent com.
pany. She loved pictures, but the books
in the parlOr were much too splendid for
her To handle, and the selfish mother never
once thought OF getting magazine from
the stack in the library, just through the
curtancd arch. II was so much easier to
say Don't, Ethel, 3" than to get the child
something 10 interest herself with. Then
Ethel climbed up 10 look out Of the win
dow, but beautiful palm occupied most
Of the space, and it was easier to say,
Don't, Ethel, than To move the plant a
foot or two to keep il from being broken
Ethel went TO the piano and touched the
keys lightly, playing with one finger TN,
tune she had been praised so inordinatcly
for learning by herself She had every
reason TO believe from former experiences
that would be ovcrjoycd TO hear it. But
her mamma had no desire 10 show off the
accomplishments of her small daughter
that day, so again she heard that odious
Don't Ethel" And each time the child,
feeling the injustice of her treatment,
asked, why" and each time had to con-
tent herself with the stercotypcd BE
cause.
Every mother admits that healthy chill
drcn should be amused, but it is little
singular that every mother also looks 10
somebody else To do the amusing act. HUI
man nature is the same no matter where
you find il, or the age Of it after it is
found. The man of affairs has to be
amused and seeks IL at the club or where
he will be most apt TO see his friends. The
swell young sprout requires just about the
same amusement now that he did when a
baby. Then he sucked his thumb: now his
cane fills his mouth and his requirements
The school girl eats pickles and con1dcs
her small affairs to her scatmatc. The
youth dcvours half dime blood and
thunder trash and plays ball, the literary
woman burics herself in the last review,
and the society woman looks up new
victim upon which to practice her wilcs, |
all this in the way Of amusement
But the poor little wcans, who are too
big to lug around under the arm like
poodle, yet are not big enough TO take
pleasure in doing forbidden things are the |
-
the earth. They are too large for the nurs.
cry and too small 10 go with the Older |
ones. Mamma doesn't want them about
her when sho has callers, because little |
pitchers have large ears. Cook won't have |
them around under her feet wanting 70
taste things and scrapc the cookie pans |
and nurse can't have them up stairs, be. |
cause they will wakcn baby with their
I iyaI
the logic Of all this, but there ought to be |
some common sense mixed up with the
logic, or it isn't worth the title | guess II |
Ethcl's mother had been quiet fot two
whole minutes, say, when every nerve in |
her body was jumping and clamoring for |
something To do, and an enticing book Of |
engravings tempted her - look at them,
she would have got indignant, too, if some
body had said, Don't touch that, " and |
given "bccause" rs tho only reason why. |
You often hear mothers Of restless little
ones say that they believe that they are
possessed. OF what pray tcllY \ sim
pie desire to do something, TO be kept |
busy, To have hands and brains occupied
That you have reason, and presumably "a |
good one, for refusing your little one Ger
tain things is the best of all reasons Wly |
you should ho ablo 20 tell tho ohIid why it
must be denied. Children get so used TO
the don't" and "bccausc" that they nc
tually get the impression that the two
words arc only used To thwart them and
that no real reason lies back OF the Of. 10
peatcd words. II mothors would but re-
fleet, they must certainly see that when "a
child arrives at the "why" period it rccog-
pizcs that there are certain results from
certain causes, When il questions your 30
fusal, IL Is beginning 20 reason, ana right
there Is where many parents fail TO do their
duty They tyranniZe over their small
subjects, and thus teach their subjects TO
do the same thing in n smaller way, and
also give inquiring minds a baohsct.
Whom your lttlo one begins TO get med
dlesomc, requiring a constant repetition of
the tircsomc words, you may be sure that,
like a scandal mongor IL has got 20 the
limit of its occupations, and its energies
arc bound to overflow i'm mischief. Then
II must be amused somehow, either by in
tercsting it in some new play, with astory,
or by putting it to work.-Scnora Sarah
IN Washington star,
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Gal