The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-05-13
Copyright, 1851

tCopyrSht, lslo.)
What an unhappy world we have made
for ourselves in the past by Furnishing
everybody We could every time We caught
him doing what we thought was wrong,
Spare the rod and spoil the child" is
the adage which probably had most &c
do with our own bringing up. That. too
Is a survival of an age when men eX-
acted IAN eye for an eye and a tooth
for a tooth in their dealings with each
other Happily there are ever-increasins
numbers of mothers who realize that the
development of the child's individuality
is what we are striving for today: who
see that that development is retarded by
severe punishment for trivial faults.
Many of us, I am afraid. have not yet
received the vision. With a lack of I'M
Outstanding and of self-control unforgiv-
able in those who have undertaken the
responsibility of motherhood, we deal in
most unmerciful justice with our little
ones. or. worse still, punish them in inn
patience and anger. AS if by such gar
dening we could force the tender. bud
ding souls to flower into perfect blossoms
for the Kingdom of Heaven,
We mothers must first train ourselves;
must learn why we punish. and then
with wise self-restraint fit the pun
ishment to the misdeed. That is one
thing our Mothers Club is to help us to
learn.
Let me tell you of a lesson / learned
from that same thoughtful neiGhbor
who had given me hint about train
ing an imaginative child. I went to
her house one afternoon and the door
was opened for me by her little girl
The child had her right hand tied up in
a white handkerchief. Naturally. I ex-
IL OF
why. Clara. how did you hurt your
hand?"
Clara hung her head and replied in a
low tone:
IT didn't hurt it,
"Claras hand is being taught to re-
member" said her mother, who entered
at that moment. You may run out
again, Clara she admonished the child,
but keep the handkerchief on for an
other hour"
After Clara had gone the mother ex-
planned to me.
Clara is very thoughtless Like all
children. she has to be taught to take
care Of the furniture, but in her play
she doesn't always remember. Today
she had a pencil and wrote on the dining
room table, leaving marks on the pol
ished surface. When she does things of
that kind / tie q handkerchief over her
hand like q mitten, knotting it at the
wrist so that she cannot get 1t of her
self. II 1t Is the foot which scratches
the chairs, or II she kicks some one, as
she does occasionally when she is angry,
I tie a white cloth over her shoe. I
don't restrict her liberty-she can run
about and play as she chooses-but the
cloth must stay on for one or two hours.
according to the gravity Of the offense.
I find 1t IL a very good way to punish
her. She is helping me. you see, to teach
the hand or the foot not to do naughty
things, and In this way she really Is
self-control herself"
But what do you do when II is not
hands or feet that oftend?'' I asked.
'well. / try to devise something an
propriate to the occasion. The time
honored method of washing out the
mouth with soap Is a good remedy for
naughty words. you know" she smiling
" suggested. Il do not whip her IL I
can help 1t. II 1 think that necessary. I
wait until am perfectly cool and COL
lected myself. and then have a talk
with her before giving her the whipping.
And I never fail to punish her after
have once told her she must expect it."
1T seems to me-" said. that you
IRE trainig yourself n much rs you are !
Clara"
II am" she replied quickly. "And
more. sometimes think mothers get
more. acknowledgment II they are con-
scientious than the children do
went home In q thoughtful mood and
I put the handkerchief method into use
With my own children. am never