The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1921-12-11

my Nine. schnmann-Heink who n
TO appear IN concert here Dec zs.)
II has been my good fortune 70 tSa-
verse my beloved adopted Land in
nnmerabie times from coast TO coast
and I have mot eountieas American
children n ArierieHn mothers. AZ
1 think OF heir bright aud ieppy
faces. their American enEerness to do
the best In all things It seems .
ittie presumptuous upon my part to
affect an attitude of giving advice.
True. 1 am pretty much OF u mother.
u the size Of my family IA considered.
with all the h~ardahips that come
with motherhood I Still feel strongly
hat there IN a reward which the
large family brings 20 the right Kind
OF mother that nothing else can pos-
sbiy give.
the position OF the busy concert
singer Is often unfortunate, az there
~ very little time 10 give 20 h
details of tho home. Strange 20 say,
some OF my children showed no great
musical inclination. In such cases 1
did not force them 10 study. Now,
regard this a. a mistake, IA II seems
to me that many children will not
Inducements. IL the Inducements can
be made delightful. and II the pupil
shows the least possible chance OF
musical ability and fails 70 respond
to favorable conditions. tho trouble
Is probably downright laziness and
this demands eopious doses OF the
ld-fashioned household remedy that
does not come in bottles.
am sure that many American
mothers win agree with mo that what
some term c OF musical ability or
lack OF musical inclination. fs moth
Ing hut pure Incidence mixed with
juvenile ''cusscdness." Oh, the Mac
hiavelli9n diplomacy that some chill
dren VIII resort to In order TO avoid
a few Minutes practical 1'h average
child VIII think OF more Reuse for
avoiding practice than all tho poll
ticinns OF Europe have trumped up
for the starting OF the European war
when Il il perfectly plain 70 everybody
thar the real reason was the fight to
maintain miiitRrism.
In my own experience. the great
blunder ome when the mother
makes the first concession to tho
child. Children have an uncanny
sense OF reading the mothers mind.
The mother does not have 10 speak;
the bond Is so close between the child
and the mother that u has often
seemed TO me that all h mother
has to do IN TO thhink and the child
gets the meaning.
II the little one has the least idea
h a there II a chance to evade prac-
tlce, then II Is ''nll up" The child
will use that chance as n lever until
h practice period Is over. The ideal
Is. OF course, 10 make the practice
period so pleasant that the child viii
want TO practice. That Is the ideal.
with some children II works and
with others II Is "A flat failure. OF
h brightest children. many are OFT
en- the most indolent. Gain the
child's enthusiasm-his love interest
II you possibly can-but II you can
not, severe discipline may be neees-
sary. Never mind what people write
In books. I would not give one hour
Of practical experience that | have
had with my children all about me
for a whole library OF books upon
bringing up children. To reason with
a boy, nj some stages OF his moral
and spiritual upbringing, is about as
useful as to reason with n machine
u In h hands OF an enemy. The
only thing TO do Is to administer n
good spankinR. one OF tho reasons
why some musicians have a good