Evening star., 1937-11-22
Have You Tried Making
Let a Child
Serve His
Elders
This Teaches Them
The Royal Way
To Happiness.
BY ANGELO PATRI.

ny HN0LAo Ih WI
WOULD like to reach the private
ear of all the loving mothers in
the world and beg them to give their
children a chance to do some loving
on their own account. You see, chill
dren love their mothers and they long
to show their love in acts of service
and the mothers do their utmost to
prevent that serving.
mo, no, daughter You let me do
that. You'll ruin your hands" Daugh-
ter reluctantly gives way to mother
What the loving mother has over
looked is the affectionate daughters
desire to serve her, to save her, to
make life just little happier for her
who is dearer to her than pair of
painted hands. 1t does not enter
mothers head that her daughter
would gladly spoil a manicured hand
gladly weary herself if need be, in her
mothers service. But the fact remains
Children should be taught in their
&Vol llAllS yOdlo W WdiU upOll lIIClI
mothers, to help them in every pos
sible way. Not so much that mother
be saved work-often it Is harder to
be served than to serve oneself-but
that theechild may experience the joy
of service and learn the royal way to
happiness that work, and work alone
affords. Children's first great need,
q ftnr A 1f
shelter have been met, is usefulness
Too often mothers deprive them Of
this satisfaction and its beneficient
rewards by doing all the work
themselves.
And there is another point here
that must be earnestly regarded by all
mothers and teachers who have to
deal with handicapped children. Let
the handicapped child do to the
utmost what other children do with
out trying to stop them. If boy has
a spinal curvature, or limp, or some
other equally crippling affliction,
stand out OF his way if you love him
Don't pity him. He hates it. Don't
baby him. He hates that worse. Let
him go as far as he can 70 and cheer
for him. BY that means he will 70
much farther and be that much
happier
A boy with a weak back hates to
have his mother make him take the
one seat in the bus while she stands.
He may try to smile, but his heart
is bursting. He feels the eyes Of all
those people upon him, feels their pity
or their criticism, and wishes for an
invisible cloak and magic wings, any,
thing for delightful oblivion. He
suffers more from his mothers loving
kindness than from the ache in his
back
like to teach sightless children
with the others. I like to have the
handicapped child working by the
side Of the free-limbed, healthy one
They need the stimulus each supplies
the other. The weaker one needs spe-
cial and private instruction to help
him carry on, but he needs far more
the contact with healthy, active peo-
pie of his own period. Don't make
things harder for such children by
accenting their weakness. Accent,
instead, their strength. They will get
tired; they will ache with fatigue, but
they can bear their pain better if
their hearts are aglow with the Joy
Of doing as other folk do.
know they must be watched and
tended. mores the pity. But can't
we hide little of that harsh truth
from them and let them 60 as far as
they can? At least we can refrain
from showing them our pity. And
We can refrain from petting and baby
ing them until they rebel. Just
remember that q shorn lamb can kick.
Mr.. Patri has prepared q leafiet
entitled, Annoying Habits" in which
he tells parents how to cope with
some Of the common infantile faults.
Send for it, addressing your request
to Mr. Angelo Patri, child psychology
department Of this paper, and inclose
a self-addressed, stamped (3-cent)
envelope. e.
(Copyright. 1872