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Counsels for the Church
The character also of the child is more or less affected by the nature
of the nourishment received from the mother. How important then that
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the mother, while nursing her infant, should preserve a happy state of
mind, having the perfect control of her own spirit. By thus doing, the
food of the child is not injured, and the calm, self-possessed course the
mother pursues in the treatment of her child has very much to do in
molding the mind of the infant. If it is nervous and easily agitated, the
mother’s careful, unhurried manner will have a soothing and correcting
influence, and the health of the infant can be very much improved.
Regularity in Tender, Loving Care
Children are committed to their parents as a precious trust, which
God will one day require at their hands. We should give to their
training more time, more care, and more prayer. They need more of
the right kind of instruction.
In many cases the sickness of children can be traced to errors
in management. Irregularities in eating, insufficient clothing in the
chilly evening, lack of vigorous exercise to keep the blood in healthy
circulation, or lack of abundance of air for its purification, may be the
cause of the trouble. Let the parents study to find the causes of the
sickness and then remedy the wrong conditions as soon as possible.
Children are generally brought up from the cradle to indulge the
appetite and are taught that they live to eat. The mother does much
toward the formation of the character of her children in their childhood.
She can teach them to control the appetite, or she can teach them to
indulge the appetite and become gluttons. The mother often arranges
her plans to accomplish a certain amount through the day; and when
the children trouble her, instead of taking time to soothe their little
sorrows and divert them, something is given them to eat to keep them
still, which answers the purpose for a short time but eventually makes
things worse. The children’s stomachs have been pressed with food,
when they had not the least want of it. All that was required was a
little of the mother’s time and attention. But she regarded her time as
altogether too precious to devote to the amusement of her children.
Perhaps the arrangement of her house in a tasteful manner for visitors
to praise, and to have her food cooked in a fashionable style, are with
her higher considerations than the happiness and health of her children.