The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-04-16
FAVOUR
 CHILDREN
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By Olive Roberts Bsrtoe

When dealing with children
 with symptoms of illness,
 leave out emotion and cODyer-
 satiOn as much as possible.
 This is Olive Roberts Bar
 toms advice to mothers in
 this article in her series on
 modern Child Training.
 Preparedness is not only sensi- ble but necessary in every house. hold where there are children. TO have thermometer at hand. and bandages, antiseptics, lotions and prescribed physics is sane and sem sible. Home nursing consists of a great deal of common sense and promptness.
 It is not always necessary to send for the doctor in case of small upsets or bumps. But it never is wise to guess. The "up- set" may seem small to the par ents but it may be the beginning of something serious.
 The only way to tell If the child has fever is by the thermometer. 1 think it is correct to say here, that in every case of rise in tenn. perature the doctor should be con suited, particularly so if it lasts more than few hours. A fever ish" cold should have professional attention at once. Or rash. Or a "chill."
 Transfer of Worries
 A recurring pain should never be taken for granted, either. There should never be any guessing where a child's life is concerned, or jumping at conclusions, or home diagnosis.
 However, there is one. thing that should be mentioned in con- nection with the illness of children that not only connects up with health, but behavior.
 It is this. All mothers worry if their children show signs of indis- position. It is natural to feel a fear, a> foreboding, and think the worst when the usually bright eyes get dull, the appetite lam guishes, and there is a cough, a headache, or any symptom thdt in- dicates an interlude in health.
 But as a result of this fear and the feeling of responsibility. it is quite common to imagine symp- toms that do not actually exist. The next thing is to say to the child himself, ''I'm afraid you're sick, darling. Are you sure you feel all right? Come and let me feel your head. Yes, it does feel hot. And you haven't eaten your beans."
 Power of Suggestion
 In a way it is relief to our worry to pass iton to the child. Of course we may De justified and there may be real trouble. By few questions we may discover some facts we should know. But dozens of times we go through this rigmarole need1essly. It be- comes habit and we count 1t q lost day unless we have managed to tell Mary she Is pale, Jean that she looks tired. and Jimmy that we're afraid he's studying too hard.
 And by the very power of sug- gestion we can cause loss of appe- tite, real lassitude and heaven knows what else. We cant think" sickness on them, but by repeated suggestion we can and do produce a state of mind that fixes itself on their own feelings and event. ually ends in self pity and self protection.
 A child will absorb a certain idea that he isn't very strong. So he won't be strong. He follows the line of least resistance and takes life easy.
 Mary will look as pale as she can when it's time to do dishes, Jean will be as tired as possible, and probably actually be so, and Jimmy is sure he's studying much too much, if the thermometer Is always in evidence and sympathet- ic words are poured into their ears day after day.
 Get at Reasons
 The way to treat suspected ill., \ ness is by brisk and business like getting at reasons and trying to correct them, leaving emotion and conversation out of it as much as possible. The more worried We are the less we should pass on our thoughts and fears to the small patient. Some of uss are in a per- petual "blue funk" but the extra attention and sympathy centered on them becomes sweet to the soul. In time they will find plenty of symptoms to satisfy us.
 The alert eye, the quiet tongue and action when the occasion callG for it is best. A mother does no. need to go to extremes and think that every symptom out of the or. dinary is imaginary on her part. There can be extremes both ways. But to fuss too much in either case does not help with cure.