The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-11-22

So natural is the desire for approval
of our actions that we all feel, think
We must regard il as a fundamental in
stinct of human nature. 1t is funda-
mental in the sense that 1t is one of
the controlling factors Of action-one,
therefore, of the laws we can make use
OF in training our children We have
few enough, goodness knows, that we
have already discovered. and when we
are sure of one, we may consider our
selves lucky.
Every mother, 1 know. has seen the
hurt look on the little face of her
child when he mas run in gleeeto show
her something he has made or to tell
her something he has done and she has
failed to take any interest in it, or,
worse yet, has met his enthusiasm with
a cold or angry reproach. One of the
greatest SORROWS a mother can have
is the remembrance of the hurt she has
given when the little eyes are closeo
forever and the childish voice has been
stilled by death.
oh, Aunt Chattyr' a member of our
Mothers Club said to me once just aft
er the death of her little son, Il could
take comfort in the thought that Harry
is safe from harm If 1 did not have to
reproach myself for the many, many
times clouded his bright spirit by my
heartless failure to show approval of
what he had done. 1 am a busy wom-
an. and when he ran to tell me about
his play l often pushed him aside i'm
patiently / did not notice at the time,
but now the memory OF his dear little
hurt face torments me. l cannot close
my eyes at night without seeing 1t be-
fore me-
Can you think of a greater sorrow,
mothers, than this? 1t is difficult.
admit in the stress and strain of daily
living. to be ready always with SYM
pathy. even to have the time to listen,
but, as 1 have told you many times.
that is what motherhood means. II we
undertake the great task of bearing a
child. our first duty and our chief re-
sponsibility are to that child; we are
"Quitters" If We do not make the
child's interests first. Housekeeping
and homemaking. great and important
as they are, stand second until the child
has outgrown the need of mothers
constant sympathy and help.
know a poor Irishwoman, the wom-
an who does my family washing, and
] am proud to call her my friend. be-
cause / think she fulfills her duty to
her children more completely than
most of the mothers of better fortune
that have met. This woman has six
children and in all the families where
she is employed the good manners, the
bright cheerful dispositions and the
true politeness of those children are
the subjects of frequent comment One
day / discovered her secret. / wanted
some extra work done and went to
her home to see her about It
As entered her dooryard her young
est child. boy of eight, ran before me
into the house. The tears were run
ming down his cheeks. When I reached
the door she was sitting down on q
chair. wiping the suds from the arms
she had just taken from a tubful of
clothes. Holding her hands out to the
sobbing child. she said tenderly: sit
on mothers lap a bit. darlin', and tell
me what's the matter"
Unseen myself, I watched while the
child told how he had missed in his
spelling lesson at school and had been
passed" by the boy below him She