The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1913-11-14
points
FOR
Mothers
The Child Beautiful.

~ oVO0SbtOs 40.
No matter what a fond mother de.
clares she wishes the fairy godmother
to bestow on her child at Its birth, in
her heart Of hearts she wishes her
child to be beautiful. No amount Of
wishing seems to have any power in
the matter. and what the fates decree
has to be submitted to. No matter
whether the beauty be much or little.
It is impossible to add to it, but with
rare 1t can be preserved, for. sad to
relate, many people spoil their good
looks in early childhood through being
allowed to form undesirable habits Of
those funny little ways which are
peculiar to the early stages Of life.
Who In there who has not reveled
in the delight Of the pastime which
grownups call "gargoyling" 1t con-
sists in making the face fascinatingly
ugly BY stretching the mouth to its
fullest extent. pushing the nose up and
pulling the ears forward. 1t is dis
astrous to the very young, who by this
means obtain very premature wrinkles
and find their ears permanently out
standing. 1t should be severely dis
couraged in young children. and on no
account should such antics be reward
ed by a smile. no matter how comical
the child may look.
Similarly the frowns Of bad temper
should be avoided, and this can only
be done by removing the cause. TEN
per. whether of the passionate or the
sulky variety. ID largely a matter Of
habit. and a very undesirable one. too.
but a child must be taken in hand at q
very early age II it is to be taught to
control its temper. A child's feelings
are all on the surface. and It is easily
possible to divert the mind to some
other subject than that which caused
the outburst Of temper. sulkiness gen
orally arises from resentment on the
part Of an elder. It IL extremely in
fictitious. and the parent who sulks
with a child need not be astonished II
the child shows symptoms Of the same
complaint.
Another trick Of childhood which 10
also associated with bad temper is the
dangerous habit Of biting the nails.
The III result. which IL apparent to all.
is short and ugly finger nails. which
can never be made beautiful again.
ven by the most skillful m~anicurists.
The real danger Of the habit. however.
lies in the sharpness Of the small par.
ticles swallowed, which are quite capa-
bic Of giving rise to an attack Of ap-
pendicitis.
Connected with the fingers also 10
the habit Of thumb sucking. which
commences when the gums are swollen
and painful at the time Of cutting the
teeth. At the earliest signs Of thumb
sucking the thumb should be taken
out and a rubber ring given as a sub
stitute. or. better still. the child should
be given a little drop of cold water to
drink. It seems hard to check a
habit which may soothe and comfort
= young child. but there is the future
to be considered. and q continuance Of
the habit leaves its mark in an ugly.
pointed thumb and deformed mouth. In
which the upper lip and the top teeth
are unduly projecting. while the lower
parts Of the mouth are receding.
The evils arising from sucking d
dummy" resemble those Of thumb
sucking as far ~ deformity of the
mouth is concerned. and with both
there Is the evil Of overexcited salivary
glands through the constant sucking.
Il would be a good thing II the sale Of
this injurious article wer illegal. as
In France.