Evening star., 1936-01-03
Dorothy Dix Says
Being Mother Is a Hard Job-But
It Is Also a Great One.

neglect. They were killed with kind
ness. They needed to rough it bit,
to roll in the dirt and get themselves
mussed up, to eat what they wanted
without regard to what vitamines 1t
contained. Maybe that explains why
mammals pampered darling is so often
pale and anemic, while the little
O'Gradys and Spennelis across the
tracks, who have to shift for them
selves, are so hale and hearty.
Start molding your child's character
while he or she is still in the cradle.
Psychologists tell us that the pattern
of a child's life is set by the time it is
years old, so you will have to do some
pretty fast work. But if you do it will
save you lot of trouble later on. Most
mothers cherish the belief that they
can bring a child up to be spoiled
brat and that after it Is grown it will
develop into an angel.
But this miracle never happens.
Unless you teach your children to re-
spect you when they are babes they
will never do it. If you let them walk
roughshod over you when they are
little they will trample you into the
dust when they are older. If you teach
them to be selfish they will take the
very bread out of your mouth to crafty
their own desires. If you do all the
work while they play you will bring
up sons and daughters who will be fall
ures in life and whom you will have to
support as long as you live.
X y n
TEACH your child obedience, which
is nothing but respect for the law.
Half Of the men and women who are
failures in the world are those who
cannot hold a job because they have
never learned to take orders. Half OF
the hoodlum boys and girls were made
that way by parents who never forced
them to respect authority, or to obey
any law except their own sweet wills.
Teach your child good manners.
Teach it good table manners. Teach
it the usages of good society. Teach it
what to say and what to do when
meeting strangers. Give it good ap-
proach. Good manners will do more
than any other one thing to secure a
child's success in life.
Teach your child to stand on its
own feet. Teach him to rely on him
self and make his own decisions and
do his own thinking. You can't go
through life holding him by the hand,
and when fate forces you to withdraw
your support he will stand or fall ac-
cording to whether you have made a
man of him or kept him q perpetual
baby.
TEACH your child courage. Breed
grit into him. Develop his back
bone. Life is full Of knocks and unless
he can take them on the chin he will
be sunk. When child falls and hurts
itself it will wall to high heaven if you
pity 1t, but If you say Johnny is a
brave boy and he doesn't mind
bump, Johnny will bite back his
sobs and grin at you. And that set
ties Johnny's whole conduct through
life and tells whether he will be
gutter or a fighter, whether he will sit
down and whine when things 60
wrong, or carry on until he forces luck
to smile on him. It even settles
whether he will be divorced or not.
And finally, mother, don't be a pos
sessive mother. Don't love your child
so well you make your love curse to
it. Don't think you have right to
monopolize him or to regulate his life
for him. Just love him and leave him
to work out his own fate. Being
mother Is . hard Job. But it is great
one, -~.- BORoTHYD DIX. =
tcopyyisnt, 1850