The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1919-06-19

tie son, sturdy boy Of five, stumbled
and fell repeatedly during a short
ramble in a meadow. Poor Patsey,
One would think to look at him that
he had nice bright eyes, but they are
just beads"
The next day. running impetuously
to meet me this same little fellow
stumbled over stone, fell, and got
up saying good-humoredly: IF Daddy
was here he'd tell me had beads for
eyes" His heedlesSness was soon
corrested by this jest
The flowers are asking why Pat
sey doesn't take his feet off and leave
them at home when he comes TO see
u.s." l suggested one day when he
trampled my snowdrops.
What do the flowers say now?" he
whispered as he quickly removed the
offending members from the bulb bed
and looked wistfully into my face.
They say. Thank you, Patsey -
replied. "'If you keep your feet on
the paths you may bring them with
you when you come TO the garden. -
Sometimes it happens that children
lose the sense of discrimination be-
tween fact and fancy. Then we should
clarity their ideas without implanting
a sense of guilt
IL was discovered that hitherto
truthful child was beginning TO make
misstatements, evidently not for the
purpose of deception, but entirely
through confusion of thought. had
read him an account in a newspaper
Of a dog that put his paws on the
steering wheel of an automobile. while
his master sitting beside him changed
the gears and saw 10 the essentials of
running the car. He made no COM
ment at the time but his imagination
seized upon the idea. A couple of
months later he told me that he had
seen dog running a car on Fifth
avenue.
His master was with him. re-
sponded.
NO, not that one; this dog was
alone He changed the gears himself"
Shortly afterward he wanted to
know what a cocoon is. | began the /
allegory of the caterpillar and the but ]
terfy. Don't tell it that way-don't
say 1T said and he said'-just tell !
me- he broke in. SO | told him the |
facts of the development of the chrys-
als as briefly and definitely as posi- |
BILE When | had finished, thinking |
this a fitting opportunity, | explained |
the difference between fact and fiction, |
telling him that we should let people ,
know whether what we told was real |
ly so, or just a story or joke.
The following incident shows his
manner of applying my careful defin-
ition. He told his aunt that he had |
seen two squirrels running toward |
each other on a branch of a tree. |
They had their mouths filled with /
nuts, and they ran so fast that they |
bumped heads and knocked the nuts i
put After an effective pause ne add
ed: That's joke | made it up! |
Now this is real" and he repeated .
1 simple incident of squirrel car
wing away the walnuts that he had
aid on the ground to dry
Some children naturally make the
distinction between fact and fancy |
without assistance. One of my child |
usually explained his rep
where they might not be
obvious, so that we lived in a world
# pretend without any feeling of de-
.eption-"I can't come to see you, |
hall be too busy taking care of my
Iorse (you know, my toy horse), and
ny automobile (you know, my bi-
ycle)."
Ride over on your horse"
"Oh, he is too wild"
Then come in your car
1T costs too much for gas and
7ater"