Norwich bulletin., 1920-11-10
CHILD TRAINING AT HOME
Discipline
By Margaret Steele Hard

Not long ago was startled to hear a small neighbor remark to my equally small daughter, T don't think father and mother are very good parents. Fathers to severe and Mothers too easy"
 The whole matter of discipline seems to have been put in a nut shell by this youthful judge; for as one observes par ents, he discovers that they are gen. srally of one of these types.
 The severe parent is perhaps less pre- ralent. His severity is born either of fundamental misconceptions regarding children and their needs, of selfish desire to restrain and curb, so that his own freedom may suffer no annoyance or in convenience; or most deplorable of all, it is the result of his own iil-temper.
 Let us illustrate these types of se- verity. First, the child who is denied some harmless pleasure, for example.
 Mary, don't get water in that tea pot I can't have you dripping water all over the house. What? Well, pre- tend there's water in tits just as good" But it isn't, as any little girl with a teapot can tell you.
 Contrast this severity which is caused oy lack of imagination and sympathy on lhe part of the parent with the severity of the second variety, that which is EedIlSn III It's Of1Rln.
 Ellen, stop rompfng, and behave like lady p But Ellen is ten and should not be asked to be "a lady. In fact no one would be more distressed then her mother, should the suddenly arrive at that stage of maturity. It is simply that her mother is disturbed by her activity.
 And lasssly, consider the exhibition of infuriated parenthood. from which we turn our eyes as from unspeakable shame
 Come here this instant, or I'll give you such a whipping you'll never forget it Stop that yelling, do you hear? Stop that yeliingi'' and the adrnonishing voice of the irritable parents reaches a scream as he slaps and jerks about the frighten- ed child
 The opposite extreme of the deplorably uncontrolled parent is the easy parent who is generally the mother. She suf- fers from shortsightedness. She seems to forget that in a very short time her boy | or girl must live in a world that will not so readily excuse and cajole as she; that Sarahs whims and Richards petulance will not be looked upon by the general public as odd, little outshoots of human nature but as weeds. pure and simple | Nor does she seem to realize that fanlts 1 in a little child, steadily nurtured. G7- stead of being outgrown become ingroA 1 ing
 Sarah, what can mother get for you \ don't you like your dinner, dear?" and Mother, weary after preparing the fam l fly meal, snatches bit here and there between trips to and from the pantry as she brings such food as Sarafl's whinls demand; while Sarah watches with sly | eye fully aware of her power.
 What conclusion does one gain iron I observing parents with their childreni That the indispensable qualities for par enthood are understanding sympathy
 coupled with firnness. Not uncontrolled l demands for obedience, net. s,1ddel
 spasnas of discipline, but steadfast reas | onableness which creates confidence ana
 love when 1t goes hand in hand with aT
 eager desire to live understandingly 1T l the child's world
 For after all, discipline is very mucf like salad it's perfection depends upol | the proper combination of ingredients given in right proportion. There mus be sufficient oil to assist in soothing to'
 severe a tang of vinegar, but not enoug to neutralize, just a dash of pepper ant \ must; and finally the hand which mike Il it with tender greeh-that is the toucl of personality which peffects it