Milford chronicle., 1938-03-25
THAT CONFUSING WORD
VIOLA E. HoLLEY

We seldom stop to think how con-
fusing a misunderstood word may be
to a child. 1t is only when we hear
Of some incident that reveals the fear.
the disappointment or the unhappi-
ness that has come into a child's
thought because he did not under
stand, that we realize this is true.
A young woman told recently how.
as a child, she had spent many un-
happy hours because she had misun-
derstOOd one often-heard word and
had found in II a meaning that was
not there at all. She had grown up
in a part of the country where the
whippOorwill could be heard fire.
quently. Once when the bird had
been heard TO utter its strange call a
visitor had said, Listen; hear him?
lie insists we should whip poor
Win" 1t happened that this little
girl had a cousin named Will. He
was her favorite playmate, and IL
was only natural that she should
think first of him when she heard
the name Will. But how did the bird
know about him, she wondered.
Why did the bird think he should be
whipped? Would he be whipped just
because the bird said he should be?
These thoughts troubled her so much
that she could not keep from crying
whenever she heard the bird, but she
would tell no one why she cried.
There are many children who find
il quite impossible, as did this little
girl, to explain what is troubling
them. 1t is not easy for them to ex-
press their feelings. in words. Be-
sides, grOwnups often are so blum
dering. They may even laugh or re-
peat thOughtlessly what is told in
confidence. II they were more Wise
they would speak gently and encour-
age the child to talk freely at such
times so that they could help him, for
thus encouraged, he often will give
some clue that will reveal his dihi- |
Guilty. His problem, then, can be !
solved more easily.
Quite often we find a child mani /
Testing fear of some object or some ]
situation because he has misinter-
preted what he has overheard. J
Grown persons often speak in fgur- I
ative language OF in loosely con- /
structed sentences. and although |
they may understand each other. a
listening child may easily draw an
entirely wrong conclusion.
This was true in the case OF little |
boy Of six who developed the habit /
OF crying or screaming if he saw
moth flying about the room. His
- 80, him falling !
him stories about moths and their
habits, and explaining that they
would not hurt him. Her efforts were
Of no avail, until one evening he him
self revealed the difficulty, by sob
bling out, "He will come and eat my
nightie when I'm asleep" The mo-
ther realized then. that he had over
heard someone talking about clothes
moths and the damage they do. What
he had heard had led the child to
conclude that the moths he saw fly
ing about the room would eat his
clothing. Naturally he did not want
to go to sleep with any of them in the
room.
In this case the matter was ex-
planned easily. When he knew some
hing Of the life history OF the moIh,
and understood that the little crea-
lures he saw flying about did not
sat holes in clothing. he was no lon
ger afraid. The mistaken notion that
lad led to the fear had been correct
ID, and, as a result. he was freed
rom it,
Words and phrases that seem per-
ectly simple TO us because we have
them under q variety OF
may convey little to a
.hild or bear a meaning very differ
mt from that intended. Greater care,
hen. should be taken in our speech
,efOre children. And IL We add to
hat precaution an alertness to recog-
Iize any wrong impressions the child
nay have gained from either the writ
en- or the spoken word, he is likely
o be saved many perplexities and
erhaps some unhappiness.