The Topeka state journal., 1914-01-21
'Euenine Chat

By RUTH CAMERON.

How to Make Children Mind.
we olten wonder why one mother
can control e big brood Of children
with apparent ease, while another il
always arguing. scolding, protesting
ana punishing until It seems as if life
must be burden to both her and the
youngsters. \ 1s.s
OF course. there are innumerable
factors which enter into each case..
anu yet I'm going to be bold enough
to offer one small but Ito my mind)
valuable suggestion today.
"A friend OF mine who has q large
my attention. She il extremely fond
OF children and sometimes has several
| IN her house at one time, as boarding
houses where children are welcome
are very scarce.
We were talking about a very OBJ
streperous little boy whom she had
finally been Obliged to refuse to keep,
and asked her why his mother had
SO little control over him.
wen. III tell you what think the
woman's voice. You know I've had q
chance to watch q good many parents
with their children. and I have come
to believe that the one thing more i'm
portant than any other In dealing with
children is control OF the voice and
manner In speaking to: them. Now
this boy is a child with q good deal of
that rare quality called common sense
He could easily havesbeen trained into
q delightful little boy by anyone who
cared to study his disposition. hui. his
mothet co1htiupal1y p1ctH6 Oh ia
q voice that often rose almost to q
scream. ] have sometimes seen the
child shrink back and his face harden
when that rasping voice came ringing
through the house. And there were
frequent scenes Of downright rebel
lion when my sympathies were all
with the child. felt that that voice
Vzy y - a.
the very thing was asked not to do.
Then. again, I had staying with me
for several months one Of the butter
lily sort OF young married women. She
has boy Of six for whose training she
has little time to spare from her So
cial engagements. When she corrects
him she does 1t in q casual, preoc-
cupied way with her voice pitched high
and q nervous note In it. The boy
pays no attention whatever to her
scoldings, merely keeps ON his way.
He knows fntuftively that his mother
does not really care what he does un-
less he interferes in some way with
her pleasure. Her hurried and mean
ingless seedlings only make him won-
der why mothers are always fusstng
about something.
-The one woman at my house who
really knows how to control children
IL = very finely bred woman between
forty-five and fifty who has two chill
SAe9e~
IL abroad. She governs them abso-
lutely by merely looking them square,
ly In the face and speaking in q low.
controlled. leisurely voice. She not
only Influences the children under
her charge. but also all the others in
the house. It 10 never the actual
words she speaks which give her such
q powerful influence, for there Is moth
ing wonderful in what she says. Nor
is 1t very different from what we all
say to children. It II simply her man
ner Of speaking and the pitch Of her
voice."
Az my friend says, she had q good
deal of OPPORTUNITY to watch the
struggle between parents and children,
10 thought her contribution well
worth passing on.
Tho animal trainer controls the ami
NAL almost entirely by his voice. Now
children are thinking creatures, 80 we
must try to appeal to their, rea-
soning power. But they also have the
primitive nature Of the animal more
than the fully developed adult, and
that II why We should pay more at
tention to our voice and manner in our
intercourse with children.