Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1905-03-25
What Parents Owe to Their Children.

W hear and read so much of what the
child owes the parents, that it is well TO
keep in mind the fact that parents owe
much to the child Their duty is not
done when the child has been fed. clothed
and sent to school, although many
parents think they have done all that
sod or man demands when this is ac-
| complisEad
II IS right to exact obedience from a
child, and show him why it is best to do
certain things. The pert and precocious
child IS never obedient. He thinks him
self above the law of obedience, and
grows into disagreeable young person
who makes no friends.
Parents owe it to the children to make
Of them men and women whom all will
delight to honor. This must he done by
both precept and example 1t is useless
to tell a boy it is wrong to gamble, and
then play cards for stakes in his pres
ence. The precocious child will always
see a chance of making money in an
| easy way, and before he is old enough to
gamble in cards he will use his marbles
and playthings as a source of revenue
/ He learned the fundamental principle
from his parents. and they have only
themselves to blame.
The parents owe it to the child to teach
! him honesty, not because it is the hest
policy. but because it is right The child
should be taught to respect the belong
ngs OF every member of the family
Honesty begins there. These belongings
are nor common property, and he should
be made to understand this: nor should
| ne be permitted TO impose upon his play
mates, and rob them of their toys Their
marbles and other playthings must not be
obtained fraudulently, unless the parents
are willing to see him grow up without
honor and principle. The precocous boy
can usually get on in the world but
he does not always accomplish it fairly.
III parents indulge in liquors in the
| presence of the child, they can scarcely
expect him TO grow into a sober man. Ii
he does, it is by sheer force of his own
good sense and principle. Precept and
example must be the motto of the par
ents. They cannot follow The primrose
pain of dalliance," and expect the child
TO clImb the steep and thorny way TO
heaven, Shakespeare taught rs more
wisely than that
Inc life of the parents must be one of
seif-denlal, and renunciation of every
thing that makes life pleasant. ii that
be necessary to the proper training of
the child. He who is so brought IN
| surely VIII never go astray. 1t is usually
the pert boy, who feels that he Is just
Httle wiser than his parents who be-
comes the Dragging. irresponsible man.
lie child viii often place the blame of
| some personal shortcoming on the par
ents as an excuse for himself Said
to a boy, one day:
why do you smoke? Your father
did not use tobacco"
No he replied, Il inherit my taste
from my grandfather"
That was not manly nor n kind thing
( 10 say. but lie was one of the irreSpon-
SlbleS who put upon the shoulders of
others his own shortcomings He was a
precociouS boy who reasoned for himself
After all. the highest ambition of par
ents for the child should not be to make
of him the most brilliant and successful
man, hut the best and kindest. Kindness
il one of the things to be prayed for ev-
cry day Madame