Evening star., 1936-06-10
Encourage
Self-Help at
Early Age
Train Children to
axe Pride in
Independence.
BY ANGELO PATRI.

IMoTHERs delight in attending
their babies, especially the frst
baby. 1t is delightful to bathe and
dress and feed him, play with him
and enjoy him generally. But that
may not be good for the kE5y, and
it may be downright bad for the
mother and the rest of the family
| by and by. 1t Is one thing TO feed
| helpless infant, care for him in al
1 his needs, but quite another to look
after a husky adolescent the same
way. And that has happened be-
cause the mother delayed the day Of
self-help too long.
As soon as baby can hold a wash
rag let him do so. When he tries
( to make the first wild efforts with
/ it don't stop him. but let him see you
are pleased with his attempts to help
himself He thinks he is succeeding
| so be careful to let him go on think
ing so Praise him. When he can
/ hold the soap. let him do that. And
when he can make the last few wipes
over his face with the towel, encour-
I age again.
Begin feeding the baby with a
spoon as soon as you can. Let him
have sips of water and orange juice
off the spoon, and when he grasps it
don't shake his hand of Let hing
hold on even if he spills the fluid.
Try again until you succeed, but let
him feel he is helping himself. Learn
ing to use spoon helps when the
time comes to wean him.
Don't feed him once he learns to
feed himself. Don't rush this, but
keep hoping for it, planning for it,
until the time comes Begin by let
ting him have the last spoonful his
own way. He will spill it at first.
but with encouragement he will learn
to land it. Work backward in teach
ing this lesson. The last spoonful
first, gradually allowing him more.
Making a privilege of the process
helps Giving him the right tools
helps still more. The right kind of
spoon, knife and fork mean a great
deal TO the success of self-feeding.
Teach child to take pride In help
ing himself Did you do it all your
self?" said with admiration and pride
in your voice will make him want all
the more to be truly independent.
Dressing himself is hard work for
child Just about the time for this
work the baby becomes a child, and
his mother is likely to feel less in
clined to be sweetly helpful and pa
tient. She begins to feel that this
Is big boy" now and he ought to
do more for himself. Dressing is
the thing she feels he ought to begin
with, and dressing is a complicated
process for little child.
Too many movements have TO be
learned and co-ordinated Putting a
button into buttonhole is an intricate
action and child has to work hard
to manage it The first trial is not a
success. Practice with success is
needed. 1t is best to start with
clothes that have zippers. Then it
is easier for the child. Even then his
clothes should be laid out for him so
that he has chance to get them on
in the right order with the back and
the front in their respective places.
The idea Of teaching child to help
himself from the beginning is one
that ought to be foremost in all
mothers minds as they set about
training baby. Babies have a way
of growing up and carrying all our
mistakes of training along with them
to put us out of countenance some
sad day.
(Copyright 1880