Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-10-29
SARAH y. LOWRLE,S
SATURDAY EVENING TALK
On the Effect That Parents Good Bad Example Has Upor
The Child Who ReLeres in Il EnithfllNN
1 VERY indulEent mother OF lot

A VERY indulgent mother of LOT
"A Of gay, obstreperous children ono"
told me that there was one thing she
would never permit them to do, and
that was beat her in any game dt skill q.
She Just ceased to play with them as
the point arrived when 1t became ap-
parent that in the next game one or
another Of them was likely 70 get the
best of her.
She said il was not good for chill
dren to feel mentally superior - their
mother. On tn, other hand, in mat
ters of conduct and morals she not only
admitted her impCrfections, she an
nounced them candidly and with grave
seriousness,
your mother ls very faulty
being" she would remark with a sad
shake Of her head and an air ol ~
hope and pray YOU won't tax" nft'r
mel"
Her children often sercnely agree
with her estimate " Her spiritual
status. They perceived that She had
indeed failed pCrcopthly 70 come up t.
the ideal which she had taught them u
regard as her goal and theirs, but theE
never felt superior to her, being well
aware that their own falling short was
yet more lamPntublo than hers.
They had every belief that sh" meant
to arrive, that is, that th" goal vas
4 reality to Ter For themselves they
were not 50 sure either Nf II" posi-
bility Of their own attainment or their
determination being 80 heart whoIN
matter OF faith
EVENTUALLY when She dl"I they
II -. I.t . -. ;vs
mother was much nearer h"r own i.,cal
of sheer goodness than either She or they
had imagined. And always after that
when they thought Of III" g"odness"S
that she used 70 admire aud follow hard
after. they thought OF her. 50 that
Der influence over her tamil! vas ac-
Lnslly greater, not less.
For if She, who. as she had always
told them, was Il very faulty being and
had yet stcadfastly pressed on and
quite palpably succeeded in making q
lovely person out Of herself, II was pos
sible that they too might make prog
ress along Il road to goodness not unlike
hers.
Seeing the pructirubility Of her ideal
made it become moro than ever theirs.
T DO not think that parents can ever
l. influence their children for good in
any other way than this. They nave
got TO have an Ideal, and candidly try
70 live up 70 It, and let their children
draw the logical conclusions. Ii they
try to DO that absurd and stultityinG
thing-be their children's s ideal-they
are "dlShcd :" because II you are
hero in your own eyes, you certainly
cannot count on much OF a following
among your nearest OF kin.
II, on the other hand, parents preach
an ideal to which they make no honest
motion Of approach. they might just
as well attempt 70 revive dead leaves as
swake their children TO any enthu-
siasm. Their own lives act rs q drag
to any progress toward thing Of words
and phrases.
For even if you ar" unaware OF chill
dren's thoughts about YOU, they have
them.
Going through the forest one is
amusedly conscious that many a pair
of eyes Of the little wild creatures, birds
and beasts, are watching one out of sight
without so much AS the hutter of a leaf
or the motion Of sharp pointed ears
being perCeptiblc TO ones clumsy human
senses. And certainly children are like
that in their curously impressionable
minds that are continuously storing up
memories for future reference and with
the direct logic of youth drawing con-
illusions that no future experiences can
quite dispel. and yet they appear 70 be
little creatures of the hour. intent only
on their play and their small needs.