The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1895-05-29
TiresOme Words,


said an irate little maid of to hen
mother the other day, when I was there
calling. | didn't much wonder at hen
small rage eli her The child is bright and
active, one of the kind whose nervous lit
tie feet and hands must be employed all
the time, else the still more active brain
will be at work connecting mischief to be
carried out as soon as the chance offers
Almost every other word my friend said tc
me was interardcd with Don't, Ethel, "
and when Ethel asked why, as child al
ways does the invariallc reply was, "Be
cause" Ethcls mamma said her don't in
a calm, dispassionatc kind of a way, like
water dropping off roof, it being just as
easy to say that as TO say something else.
Her manner of saying Because" was lust
as colorlcss, and when the child cut of
from all sources of amusement, had TO sit
on an uncomfortable chair and hold hci
small hands the unrcasonableness of 1t all
came over her with such force, that afteI
thinking profoundly for moment, she an
nounccd her fell designs on Noah Webster
and The Century with good deal of en-.
| phasis.
"T.cy makes me misublc," she added,
nodding her curly head, and hasn't got
any use for EN-
Poor H,tlc Ethel And there are so
|
| Lar ctclad been shut out from the nursery
| bc"ar e tie baby was i'll, ard she found
| hct sJ"ly mother but Indifferent com.
! fIir She tuvcd pictures, but the books
| 80 o. parlor were much too splendid foI
| lrr ,n handle, and the selfish mother never
on, r'I 1T of getting magazine from
the STA. IN the library. just through the
cur,aincd Itch. 1t was so much easier to
say, Don't, ethel ~ than to get the child
something to interest herself with. Then
Ethel climbed up To- look out of the win
dow, but a beautiful palm occupied most
of the space, and IT was easier to say,
Don't, Ethel, than to move the plant
foot or two to keep il from being broken.
Ethel went to the piano md touched the
keys lightly, playing with one finger the
tune she had been praised SO Unfortunately
for learning by herself. She had every
reason to believe from former experiences
that l would be overjoycd to hear it. But
her mamma had no desire to 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 stereotyped "Be.
cause"
Every mother admits that healthy chill
uTtll SllOUlNl nc ullllStNl. Duu IL Is IL lllUlt
singular that every mother also looks to
somebody else to do the amusing act HUI
man nature is the same, no matter where
you find it, or the age of it after it is
found. The man of affairs has to be
amused and seeks 1t 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 q
baby. Then he sucked his thumb; now his
cane fills his mouth and his requirements
The school girl eats pickles and confides
her small affairs to her seatmate. The
youth dcvours half dime blood and
thunder trash and plays ball, the literary
woman buries herself in the last review,
and the society woman looks up new
victim upon which to practice her wiles,
all this in the way of amusement.
But the poor little weans, who are too
big to lug around under the arm like q
poodle, yet are not big enough to take
pleasure in doing forbidden things, are the
most disconsolate creatures on the face Of
the earth. They are too large for the nurs'
cry and too small to go with the Older
ones. Mamma doesn't want them about
her when she has callers because little
pitchers have large ears. Cook won't have
them around under her feet, wanting to
taste things and scrape the cookie pans,
and nurse can't have them up stairs, be-
cause they will waken baby with THEN
noise, and so it goes. OF course | realize
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. l guess ii
Ethel's mother had been quiet for two
whole minutes, say, when every nerve IL
her body was jumping and clamoring. fOl
something to do and an cnticing book o.
engravings tempted her to look at them
she would have got indignant too, if some
body had said, Don't couch that, anC
9 given "becauec' rs the only reason why.
You often hear mothers of restless littl
ones say that they believe that they ar
possessed. OF what, pray tell? A sim
Pile desire to do something, TO be KEEP
busy, to have hands and brains occupied
n That you have II reason, and presumably
{ good one for refusing your little one cer
i tain things is the best of all reasons VIII
r you should be able to tell the child why
. must be denied. Children get so used t
the don't" and "because" that they &C
: tually get the impression that the tw
A words are only used to thwart Them an,
Y that no real reason lies back of the oft re
q peated words. If mothers would but re
d fleet they mist certainly see that when
- child arrives at the why period it .-Aoos
nizes that there are certain results from
certain causes When it questions your re
fusal, 1t is beginning to reason, and RICH
: there Is where many parents fail to do thei
$ duty. They tyrannize over their small
p subjects, and thus teach their subjects t,
2 do the same thing, in smaller way, anC
j also give inquiring minds backset
! When your little one begins to get med
T. dlesome, requiring "A constant repetition o.
T. the tlresome words, you may be sure that
g like scandal monger, it has got to the
( limit of its occupations, and its energies
are bound to overflow in mischief Their
1t must be amused somehow, either by in.
o teresting it in some new play, with story
r or by putting it TO work.-Senora Sarah
in Washington Star