The Washington herald., 1915-12-31

We usually speak with a touch of
contempt of the child who is in lead
ing strings" but. let me tell yoL.
dear mothers, that those of you who
have not provided yourselves with
set of these guiding lines for your
children are without something which
is necessary in your business.
Children can be trained only in-one
of two ways-by leading strings or
by the whip. Which method do you
choose? II you still direct your ways
by the old precept, spare the rod
and spoil the child" you will not
need to provide yourself with an out
fit of leading strings. OF course. you
run the risk of driving your children
into sullen obstinacy or into open re-
bellion by your recourse to brute force
in forming their characters. but you
probably have never weighed the pos
sibilities of any other mode of treat
ment. You were reared in that way
yourself, and what was good enough
for my father and mother is good
enough for me-" Is that the way you
reason about il?
The mother who is making an earn
est study of the business of child
training wants to avail herself Of
all the modern inventions for her job
She will keep in touch with the best
thought of the day. for she knows that
progress cannot be made in one de-
partment of life alone-each must
keep pace with all the others. or. on
the theory that the chain Is no strong
er than its weakest link. the web OF
life will split or tear at its unde-
veloped point. And SO we mothers
must do our share in bringing our
part of the process to its highest
point of efficiency IL We ourselves are
fit to be counted in with the roll of
Gods workmen. The rod theory should
be definitely discarded. relegated to
the scrap heap. along with the rest
of the worn-out machinery that has
served its turn in the weaving Of our
social fabric.
Many OF our members have begun to
realize this truth and almost every mail
brings me letters asking for help In Sc
Iecting the right leading strings" This
one Is typical:
Dear Aunt Chatty:'
Il am at my wits end to know how to
control my little boy. He Is only five
years old, but he is the most headstrong,
obstinate child ever saw. / simply can
not do anything with him unless I whip
him. but though that subdues him and
makes him mind, he Is 80 sullen and
cross for hours afterward that am be-
ginning to think that Is not the right
thing to do He loves to have stories told
to him and will sit quiet for hours II
any one will do that, but I have other
things to do besides telling him stories
all the time. don't like to trouble you
when I know so many write about much
more important things. but I do wish you
would give one of your club talks for
my benefit"
To this mother, and to every one who
Is a reader of the Mothers Club. want
to say that is just what the club is for.
No problem is too unimportant for our
consideration. for often the seemingly
trivial incident leads to weighty develop
ments. That is the case with this very
letter. for II brought to a focus several
things I have been wanting to say to
you for SONG time. One of them Is this
very suggestion Of leading strings"
II you watch the tastes and tendencies
Of your children you will discover some
one or more which can be used as lead
ing strings to guide them in the ways of
discipline It must be something In
which they are strongly interested. for
interest" has been found to be the key
note in educational methods. In the case
Of this child the leading string can be
made from his foundness for stories. OF
course no mother can spend all the time
telling stories to her children. 1t would
not be good for the children II she did.
But the stories might be applied to the
doing Of the daily tasks in a way that
was actually done by a clever father of
my acquaintance.
This father had told his son all tho
old Bible stories, and one that especially
interested little Hugh was the tale OF
the Israelites in Egypt and their escape
from slavery under the leadership Of