The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1898-03-30

wrung to find that the child has gone
to playmate or servant to talk over
things which should be given to mother
alone? Do you not realize that your
child has lost, or is fast losing, its con.
fidence in you? That it has given it to
some one perhaps not so worthy Of it,
or too ignorant to appreciate it? How
may the child's confidence be kept? is
the question l would try to answer in
this article.
First, foremost and always, 1 would
emphasize the necessity Of telling the
child the truth upon all occasions, and
telling it frankly and without hesita-
tion. Truth is the foundation of char
acter- building. Without it you can
never hope to see your boys and girls
grow up into men and women OF integ-
rity. Let nothing pass, no matter how
trivial, without proper explanation if
the child seems to expect it. Give the
reason for things demanded or forbid
den. If the child is old enough to be
corrected it is old enough to be told
why. II your child comes to you with
the question, us baby sister grip or
"how do we know she is girl?" explain
simply and frankly why, and give the
necessary object lesson and show the
difference between brother and sister.
difference between baby sister and
brother. This may be done with prop
er explanations and in such a natural
way that the childs curiosity is salts
fidence kept
In few days or weeks later, when the
child asks, Where did brother come
from, mamma" don't evade the question
by saying, you are not old enough to
talk about such things" or "The doctor
brought him." but say, "He came from
mammals body in the same way the
eggs come from the mamma bird, or the
seeds from the mamma-plant."
BY taking flowers and animals as
examples, the mysteries of life may be
beautifully and reverently taught in
such way that the child will grow up
to respect life and consider the functions
of motherhood too sacred a thing to ever
be jested over or talked coarsely about.
But" you say, won't the child talk
about it to other children?" Yes prob
ably, but if it does, then all the more
reason for your child to be properly
taught SO that no impure thoughts may
be presented to it. l would call atten-
tion especially to the Importance of be-
ing the first to tell the child these things,
and to instruct it concerning it's own
body in order that bad thoughts and
bad habits may not be fixed before you
think your child doesn't think about
such things" you little know what
child thinks, or that it thinks many
things about which it says nothing.
would cite many instances of ruined
lives, shattered brains, and tortured
bodies, caused through ignorance of Ma
ture's laws, from infants Of a year or
less up to imbecile old people who
burned with fire which was never
quenched. If we would not have one
of our precious ones become such, let
us hasten to inform ourselves and
others how to prevent it.
Keep your child's confidence. If you
want to know whether you still have it,
take pains to ask some questions and see
If your child talks to you with uplifted
face and his or her eyes looking into
your own? and asks or answers ques-
tions freely. Ask if anyone has ever
told him or her anything that was not
to be told to mamma You will soon
find out about the state of your child's
mind and body unless he or she has be-
come an adept in the practice of de-
ceit.
If you find you have lost the con-
fidence seek to regain it at the first op-
portunity by answering the childs next
question truthfully, without the least
evasion, even if you find it nee
essary to confess that you have told un-
truths before, or half truths-which are
as bad as lies. 1t may put you in an
embarrassing or humiliating position,
but your discontinue will be nothing
compared to your sorrow if your child
goes wrong because of your neglect.
Not only to mothers are these words
addressed, but to sisters, aunts and
neighbors, anyone in fact who comes in
contact with the children (and who does
not?) and their busy, eager little brains.
To teachers, either in a day or Sunday
school, 1 would especially urge frank
treatment Of the subject. L would sug-
gest, if you fear the subject may be
treated lightly, that when the children
are in a sympathetic mood, you embody
. your thoughts in a prayer suited to their
understanding and in that way teach
them reverence for a subject which
is nothing if not holy. Do not consider
it an evidence of depravity that the child
asks questions concerning it's own body
and it's relations to humanity; it asks
questions about the stars as we'll as