Advantage of the Early Years
145
The mother must be mind for her child. The first three years is the
time in which to bend the tiny twig. Mothers should understand the
importance attaching to this period. It is then that the foundation is
laid.
If these first lessons have been defective, as they very often are, for
Christ’s sake, for the sake of your children’s future and eternal good,
seek to repair the wrong you have done. If you have waited until your
children were three years old to begin to teach them self-control and
obedience, seek to do it now, even though it will be much harder
Not So Difficult As Generally Supposed—Much parental anxi-
ety and grief might be saved if children were taught from their cradles
that their wills were not to be made law, and their whims continually
indulged. It is not so difficult as is generally supposed to teach the
little child to stifle its outburst of temper and subdue its fits of passion
Do Not Postpone This Work—Many neglect their duty during
the first years of their children’s lives, thinking that when they get
older, they will then be very careful to repress wrong and educate them
in the right. But the very time for them to do this work is when the
children are babes in their arms. It is not right for parents to pet and
humor their children; neither is it right for them to abuse them. A firm,
[195]
decided, straightforward course of action will be productive of the best
results
When I have called attention of parents to the wrong habits which
they were encouraging in their very young children, some parents have
appeared entirely indifferent; others have said with a smile, “Little
darlings! I cannot bear to cross them in any way. They will do better
when they get older. They will then be ashamed of these passionate
outbursts. It is not best to be too particular and strict with the little
ones. They will outgrow these habits of telling lies and deceiving and
being indolent and selfish.” A very easy way indeed for mothers to
dispose of the matter, but this does not meet the will of God
6
Manuscript 64, 1899
.
7
Pacific Health Journal, April, 1890
.
8
Testimonies For The Church 4:313
.
9
Manuscript 43, 1900
.