Chapter 2
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with some amusement, or light, happy employment. The mother will
be amply repaid for her efforts in taking time to invent amusement for
her children.
Young children love society. They cannot, as a general thing, enjoy
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themselves alone, and the mother should feel that, in most cases, the
place for her children, when they are in the house, is in the room
she occupies. She can then have a general oversight of them, and be
prepared to set little differences right, when appealed to by them, and
correct wrong habits, or the manifestation of selfishness or passion, and
can give their minds a turn in the right direction. That which children
enjoy, they think mother can be pleased with, and it is perfectly natural
for them to consult mother in little matters of perplexity. And the
mother should not wound the heart of her sensitive child by treating
the matter with indifference, or by refusing to be troubled with such
small matters. That which may be small to the mother is large to them.
And a word of direction, or caution, at the right time, will often prove
of great value. An approving glance, a word of encouragement and
praise from the mother, will often cast a sunbeam into their young
hearts for a whole day.
The first education children should receive from the mother in
infancy, should be in regard to their physical health. They should be
allowed only plain food, of that quality that would preserve to them the
best condition of health, and that should be partaken of only at regular
periods, not oftener than three times a day, and two meals would be
better than three. If children are disciplined aright, they will soon
learn that they can receive nothing by crying or fretting. A judicious
mother will act in training her children, not merely in regard to her
own present comfort, but for their future good. And to this end, she
will teach her children the important lesson of controlling the appetite,
and of self-denial, that they should eat, drink, and dress in reference to
health.
A well-disciplined family, who love and obey God, will be cheerful
and happy. The father, when he returns from his daily labor, will not
bring his perplexities to his home. He will feel that home, and the
family circle, are too sacred to be marred with unhappy perplexities.
When he left his home, he did not leave his Saviour and his religion
behind. Both were his companions. The sweet influence of his home,
the blessing of his wife, and love of his children, make his burdens