The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-03-02
ERYOUR CHILDREN
By Olive Roberts Barton
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Love is the driving influence of the world in all its forms.
 Since we have become so ana lytical as a nation every one knows that parental love can be of two kinds. the possessive type that holds selfishly, and its oppo- site, the love than considers only it's subjest, the child and puts self in the background
 This latter love has been ex- plotted so much by level-headed students of human nature that l fear the reaction has done more harm than good. For all about me l see young mothers who seem to be afraid of showing an inor- dinate amount of affection for their young.
 They assume a detachment that seems absurd to me and yet l am sorry for them. They are not to blame. They have read so much about mother fixations, the Oedi- pus theory, the evils of coddling and the dangers of reliance that is it small wonder they are afraid to snuggle their babies to their hearts, croon over them and play piggy with their toe. with a love message in each tiny jerk.
 Mothers Misled
 I admire the modern mother more than those of yesterday. Perhaps she doesn't deserve all the credit, because her new knowledge has been put within easy reach; but I do admire her seriousness, the real thought she puts on her job, and the resultant healthy sturdy children she pro- duces, who are much freer from kinks and fearful obsessions than the children of twenty or thirty years ago.
 But do believe in some things she has been misled, either that or she has misunderstood the point, and the most important to my mind is this matter of love.
 She represses her emotion lest her child be upset by it. She goes about with a frozen face for fear her baby will learn to care too much for her. She sees that he is cared for to the letter. Dear pity the person or circumstance that interferes with his meal time, nap time, or airing.
 So conscientious and self-ef- facing Is she that she does not even permit her own heart to love too much or have its little holi- day. No-her child is to be a perfectly independent being. un- hampered by either his love for his mother or her love for him.
 Child Needs Love
 She is to be his friend, his ad- visor, and his caretaker until he is old enough to look after him. self. After that she hopes still to be his friend. There is to be no cottonwood in her boys or her girls life to strangle or smother them.
 There is just one thing she has left out. And that is the ane thing that cannot be put into print because it is so fine that ink and paper could never translate it. The human heart is hungry for lose. Cut that out of life and what does existence amount to? As a result of that divine contentment we are spiritually and mentally more perfect blend of what man was intended to be.
 A little child needs love and he needs some demonstration of 1t. Every faculty is sharpened, his eyes gleam with contented light when he knows he is loved dearly.
 Do we want to do like the Rus sians, bring up young machines, entirely divorced from all emo- tion? I do not think that even approaches our ideal. Parents can show their love for their children intimately if they are wise enough to know it's dangers if overdones Too many children are starved today for the real thing.