Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-14
Your Baby and Mine
BY MYRTLE MEYER ELDRED.

Mrs. w. o. r. writes: please help
| me to learn to control my little 3-year-
| old boy, who is healthy, sleeps and
| eats well, but is the most stubborn
child / have ever seen. We try to
gain his obedience and / have read
books on management of children, but
it hasn't helped with him. He is not
mean-just stubborn. He does not
want to be dressed or bathed or
| dozen other things during the day.
and / have to do these things by
| force. We do not like to whip him,
but what will become of him If we do
not gain control of him now?'
Answer-There are far fewer occa-
SionS than most parents think there
are when O. child has to be forced to
| do things he prefers not to do. some
way parents have "a feeling that they
are being weak if they approach a
situation with tact instead of meeting
! il bluntly No employer who wanted
| the best out of his help would think
| of issuing such an order as the fol
| lowing to a person for whom he had
any respect: II want this done and
done immediately, and no talk about
| it, either" But parents think this Is
being ''parently." They know no re
spect for a child or his likes or dls-
| likes, and then they wonder what TO
1
, and refuses to comply. And when he
finds how often they are helpless be-
| fore his refuSalS, he simply continues
to use his power.
Why not try and realize that most
! children are compelled all day long
| to do things which they dislike do
| ing? They are made to go shopping,
! they are taken to the home of friends;
they are pushed, protesting, into tubs
4 pI chiunT-1y and
! comfortable while a hard-handed
mother treats them like so much
! china to be washed. While 1t is i'm
| posssible to make life always a bed OF
| roses, even for children, there Is no
reason why the ordinary duties of lie
need not be made as pleasant as IS
| possible. We all know we have TO
! eat, but who doesn't know that 1T Is
easier to eat with pleasant compan-
| ions than alone? And yet often chl-
| dren are put into high chairs alone
| and their food put before them, and
! they are supposed to- eat it and relish
every bite. Being bright and enter
| tanning to the child will help the
meal to be eaten without any SenSa-
| ton that it is being eaten.
| Bathing need not be an unpleasant
| duty which seems of no pleasure TO
the small boy. Let him play with d
| small boat Wnlie the SHGuDDl1S 10 So
ing on. He'll enjoy the bath. ana
| he'll be just as clean, and his mother
| will be spared an annoying scene.
| Why command him? You can't make
him understand the joys of cleanll-
ness at this age, but you can make
him have such q good time in his
bath that he'll go to it without
trouble.
If he doesn't dress, let him discover
soon enough that he Is denied the FUN
1 of being outdoors or playing with ms
companions This Is a duty which
has to be done quickly, otherwise one
is not ready for the day.
| Don't make an issue OF anything
| which can be accomplished with tact.
We have long outgroWn the idea That
| children are our slaves to obey with
out bubble our royal commands. Just
this morning there were bundles OF
letters to be mailed. and l hadn't the
| heart to burden the mailman by put
ting them in the mailbox. My small
son preferred playing to carrying
them to the post office. But when
they were tied in a big box with a
strong cord that went over his shout
der, he took them and went off, imag-
lining himself a real postman all the
way to the post office. After all, |
got the letters mailed cheerfully, and
he had a good time doing it. This is
modern discipline and hasn't the crack
| Of a whip anywhere in 1t.