The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-11-08

OF all the childish faults sulking is
the hardest to bear and often the
! hardest to correct. In fact. a sulky
member of the family. be he child or
| grown-Up, creates an atmosphere in
the home which makes 1t anything but
a happy place for the rest of the in
mates.
How shall teach my children to
! be good tempered? How can l train
them not to sulk when things don't
go to please them are the questions
l am asked so often by anxious moth
ers that l have at last decided to make
1t the subject OF one Of our CLUB
talks.
Here. again, the mother has almost
everything in her own hands. l have
said that so often that ! think l hear
you say: There is no need to read
further. She'll just tell US to correct
ourselves and that will correct the
fault in our children"
Well. yes, that is partly true. A
sulky child is often made so by lack
of understanding on the part Of his
parents. His innocent and obvious de-
sires are made the subject of Jest ana
ridicuIe, perhaps. He is leased by his
unthinking elders for his very nat
ural ignorance OF the things OF this
world. Can you blame him II he stops
expressing u, a
| silence rather than risk fresh teasing,
or ridicule that hurts his susceptible
soul far worse than fire would scorch
his tender body? l wonder If we
mothers realize how easy II Is to hurt
these tender little ones? We seem
strangely blind to the fact that they
can have thoughts and feelings Just
as we have. We have forgotten how
we felt when we were children and
n
sitiveness as II they were so many
blocks of wood.
II you have a sulky child. dear
mother. take some time when you
! have nothing else to do and give
yourself a rigid determination. ASK
yourself canGidly IL you have been in
Iconsiderate of your child's feelings: II
| YOU have thoughtlessly wounded his
| innocent vanity; II you have failed to
treat him as the reasonable oeing ne
! is in spite of his tender years. II you
are honest with yourself. you will
probably find that your child's sulki-
ness is very likely your own fault
Then you must set yourself TO apply
the remedy. Learn to be open and hon
est with him. Do not behave rudely l.
| him any more than you would 10 Tn
neishbor who comes to your house I
call The sooner we learn to be pc
we find it to correct their faults ar
rear them into the wholesome. gr
cious manhood and womanhood ths
are the goal of our training
But IL your honest self-eXaminatio |
does not show you that you are
fault, then you must seek anoth'
reason for your childs sulky dispos |
ton, another means of correcting
for unless you do strive to CORE
n. H.,
seriously handicapped in his int
course with other people.
| 4 shrewd old lady in New EnglaI
once said in one of the mothers clu
| when they were discussing this que
ton:
| "Oh- half the time the children a
a mite to blame for their sulky t.
pers. Some of 'em are downhea'
from the start& Why, l knew o
baby down in aardscrabble that
discouraged when 1t want but
days old"
j n sulkiness was congenital y
your child. then again you may h
been to blame, but in this case "
task will be far more difficult THAI
liz is owing to your wrong treatm
when he is growing up. Then you "
have to seek to surround him alwd
with cheerful influences, compar
him, study his inclinattons. give
something absorbing to do to X
his mind off of himself and his o
woes. Fortunate for you IL with 8
n tendency he has some decided Il
or talent which you can cultivate.
real interest in doing something,
lin producing something with to
paint brush or pen, anything to
sorb the attention and engage
mind, is the best antidote 1 can
lscribe for the poison Of sulkiness.