The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1908-02-14
TRAINING Of PARENTS.
Mr.. Abbott Advises Them 20 cultl.
vate Persistence and elf-Restralnt.


MIR. Abbott Advises Them 20 cutl.
vate Persistence and Restraint.
The only alternative know to gov
eminent by collision is government by
habit says Earnest Hamlin Abbott
in THE Outlook, in the opening pa
per of series "On the Training OF Par
ents." The paper is about the bringing
up Of children, but the briefest perusal
will show that the final word in the
title Is quite correct. Every collision
with child is a confession OF weak
ness, says Mr.. Abbott. For while It
may sometimes be better to let child
collide with you than with the COM
munity, it is never anything but a dis
aster, and proof that government Dy
habit is not fully established.
The process Of training children is
the process of forming habits, and the
time to begin is when the child is
babe. That is the time for the parents
to- learn self-restraint The mothers
impulse is to rush to her baby the mo-
ment he cries, take him up, fondle MN.
A little care, says Mr. Abbott, Will en-
able that mother to distinguish be-
tween the cry of pain, the cry OF ner-
vous irritability and the plain cry.
II 1t is cry of pain she looks Tor the
cause. If it is a cry Of irritability sne
"blames herself for having rocked the
child few moments before, and steels
herself against repeating the indul-
gence." 1t is a plain cry she exer-
cises her self-restraint and let's him cry
on. She knows that, sad as 1T may
seem to hear baby cry, he has got
to cry to exercise his lungs until ne IS
old enuogh to go out and play with
the other children.
When the baby has had all the 1000
that is good for him, she gently Win
draws the food supply. Thus she es-
tablishes in herself the good habit OF
not INDUCING him foolishly. And the
child learns to go to sleep without
the whole family dancing attendance
on him, to stop eating when ne mas
had enough-learns, in short dignity
and self command and sweet reason
ableness.
OF course, Mr.. Abbott points out the
spirit of adventure leads normal chill
dren sometimes to sample things not
good for them, and explore places
where they ought not to be. But
this" he says, is a tribute to regular
life, and is denied to those children
whose whole life consists in series
of parental experiments"
Mrs Ewing, in her STORY OF a Short
Life" pictures the bewilderment OF q
little lad under the caprices Of fond
father whose government was gov
eminent of moods Sometimes, by
some curious and fortunate alchemy
beautiful characters are evolved under
such conditions, but not often. BAD
habits are easily acquired, and likely to
cling, but happily, Mr.. Abbott says,
good habits are as hard to break up
as bad ones are. People who consider
pertness in a child 80 cunning" and
who enjoy encountering the child as
an adversary and breaking down MS
opposition" will have no trouble IN de-
veloping in the malleable little beings
in their care habitual pertness and dis
obedience. But those who desire their
children to grow up with "contented
acquiescence in a regular life" can do
it; it requires no qualities on the part
Of the parents but persistence and self
restraint; and it means for the child,
when he grows up, all the difference
between being blessing or a nuisance
to himself and others.