The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1914-12-24
ey Nora Archibald Smith in Mothers
MAGAZINE.

ey Nora Archibald Smith in Mothers
Magazine.
When 1 ~propounded this question TO
Cynthia her eyes flashed, the color rose
70 her cheeks and she cried, If there
ISN'T room for Santa Claus in the present
chimney, AXE 1t down and build q big
ger and O. more hospitable G II that
liant be done, burn the house down;
what Is 1t good for, anyway, II 1t can
lot give shelter to the joys of child
hood? Burn 1t down; a dry, dusty,
hard shelled building 1t must be, any
way, and take your child to the far
aorth where the Santa Claus myth
sane from. You can find some Ice
covered hut there for q shelter and
Santa Claus can creep down the little
opening at the top where the smoke
,teals out. 1t is an easier entrance
han to crawl through the long, dark
tunnel OF snow to the door. 1t VIII be
sold in the hut, but not so cold as a
aome without Santa Claus. Your child
nay freeze his fingers and toes, but
hats better tina freezing his heart.
His growth may be stunted in the ley
Gir, but at least he will have a full
died fancy"
Cynthia" I exclaimed, regarding her
With admiration. how do you know all
1hese things?"
Il don't know them" she flashed
sack; II feel them! What's the good
IF being a woman and n mother If you
Aave no instincts, no intuitions and no
saart wisdom2"
you're always right without trying,
Cynthia, l said, admiringly, Just as
NE lily Is white, and it shall be my
aak to prove you So"
Obviously the parent who refuses to
Introduce Santa Claus to his household
does SO from conscientious motives, but
hose who are conscientious should also
DO consistent and should follow q rec
bgnized and reasonable procedure from
the outset. Little Dry-as-Dust must
have no fanciful toe or finger plays in
his infancy; he must hear nothing
about little pigs going to market where
no pigs could possibly be; Thumbkin
must not dance nor Ring Finger wear
must not dare to tell him of the lord
mayor that sits on his forehead, nor
the two men hat keep watch below.
Mother Goose must be tabooed, Of
course, when he has reached the age
of rhyme n Jingle, for who can prove
that there ever was a real Jack Horner
or a Bobby Shafter, and might not the
fact that their careers cannot be
traced In history lead him, when he
Grows up inc finds 1t out. into a cyni-
cal n unbelieving habit of mind? Not
only Mother Goose verse, but real
poetry of a serious and more elevated
kind must be shut off from him, for
the poets have a perverse fashion of
thinking of the moon as O. golden boat
sbr baby, OF the stars as guardian an
gels. or of the frost as a triclkey sprite
who etches pictures for him on the win
nowpane, and more of these airy ideas
can well be substantiated.
Nor can poor little Dry-as-Dust even
30 much as cross the threshold of the
FAIRY world, nor enter into mythland. II
he Is to be brought up in this manner.
So many factors, in short, in his men,
tai development must p%erforce be elm
mated that it is difficult to Gee what
his parents car make of him when he
is a full grown member OF the house
Of Dry-as-Dust. Clearly he cannot be
= poet, a novelist, q painter, a sclptor,
n musician, an architect, or an actor.
Nor q he succeed as q minister, a
lawyer, q doctor, or, indeed, a scientist
of shy kind, for all these professions
need a highly developed imagination.
Never let him attempt to map out on
the stars. to build ships. or bridges, or
construct railways, and do not hope
that he may become a successful bus
mess man. How may he be any of
these things IL the wings of his fancy
have been clipped? He might perhaps
do some service as a ~hodcarrier. though
even the monotonous tasks OF this
humble labor would be rendered more
still, If he could not use his
imagination as he climbed his ladder.
and picture to himself the beautiful
he is helping to erect.
OF cours when the reductio ad
nbsurdum Is completed In this wise and
Ia looked upon as a whole, it seems
obvious that no sane parent would ever
attempt to shut away baby plays, nur-
rhymes, poems, fairy tales and
from his children, nor that he
would knowingly desire to turn them