The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1921-08-12
Heart Problems

Dear Mrs. Thompson: 'Grandmoth-
er's letter IS so near my own exper-
fence | am led TO ask advice also.
| have an adopted daughter. aged
five years, who is so very unruly.
got her when she was eight months
old and what she, is | realize | have
made her by my own management /
believe it is the fault of my sister and
my husband who always say, "Oh,
DON'T" or Let her have a good time
| want her TO be neat, clean little
girl. They want her TO play in dirt
and do all kinds of things that make
dirty clothes and child. She is a very
high strung child, full of life, but
doesn't want to obey. She will say
i won't do it. I'll tell daddy on YOU"
or "Ill go live with aunty. Daddy
and auntie are on my side" It is just
the word or two they say that lets her
know they don't approve of her being
corrected in any way.
She is small and it doesn't trouble
her so much now, but how will she
be when she is older? | think already
other children don't like her as they
would If she were nice and sweet She
Is loud must have her own way, be
the leader in all things, and she will
say almost any saucy thing to me. /
have punished her severely. Sending
her TO bed seems about the only thing.
Then she shakes and kicks her bed
TO pieces and kicks the wall She
goes from one thing right to another
thing she has been forbidden to do.
! am alone with her all day Sister
lives 10 blocks away. Is it my fault?
What should | do? The child comes
OF nice people. | have tried making a
friend and pal of her. She has very
sweet nature and is loving when
things go her way Otherwise she is
hard as person of 20 years Her little
face gets hard look / think now is
the time TO turn her to sweetness and
kindness and l am found wanting.
ADOPTED MOTHER.
You expect too. much of the little
girl. Let her get dirty and play in a
boisterous way. 1t is only a part of
childhood to do so and as she grows
older she will adopt the more gentle
ways which she sees in you and the
older people around her
/ would suggest that you talk the
matter over together. Tell her that
you have decided to let the morning
be her play time when she can wear
old clothes and get as dirty as she
want her to battle and wear pretty,
clean clothes so that she will look
sweet when her daddy comes home.
Do not make the afternoon period too
long. If she has bath about 2 o'clock,
takes her nap and is then cleaned up,
you can not expect any more If she
gets dirty in the afternoon she should
not be scolded severely, because to get
dirty is not sin for a child
If she is deceitful or saucy she
should be punished by depriving her
of dessert, sending her to her room
for an hour, or forbidding her to play
with other children for the rest of the
day.
believe that your husband and sis
ter understand child nature a little
better than you do. Respect their adj
vice and when they agree with each
other and you alone disagree, let the
majority rule. Love the child and
govern her with love. To be strict in
few matters is much more effective
than to be strict all the time. When
you find 1t necessary to punish. be
very firm, hut punish as rarely as pos
sible so that the child will have
happy. carefree childhood Too much
discipline will not make her a good
girl later.