Study Age, Disposition, and Temperament
155
selfish gratification; it follows only in the wake of duty. At the same
time the mother should seek to make her children happy
Mental Needs Are as Important As Physical—Some parents
attend carefully to the temporal wants of their children; they kindly
and faithfully nurse them in sickness, and then think their duty done.
Here they mistake. Their work has but just begun. The wants of the
mind should be cared for. It requires skill to apply the proper remedies
to cure a wounded mind.
Children have trials just as hard to bear, just as grievous in char-
acter, as those of older persons. Parents themselves do not feel the
same at all times. Their minds are often perplexed. They labor under
mistaken views, and feelings. Satan buffets them, and they yield to
his temptations. They speak irritably and in a manner to excite wrath
in their children, and are sometimes exacting and fretful. The poor
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children partake of the same spirit, and the parents are not prepared
to help them, for they were the cause of the trouble. Sometimes ev-
erything seems to go wrong. There is fretfulness all around, and all
have a miserable, unhappy time. The parents lay the blame upon
their poor children and think them very disobedient and unruly, the
worst children in the world, when the cause of the disturbance is in
themselves
Encourage Amiability—The ill-balanced mind, the hasty temper,
the fretfulness, envy, or jealousy, bear witness to parental neglect.
These evil traits of character bring great unhappiness to their posses-
sors. How many fail to receive from companions and friends the love
which they might have, if they were more amiable. How many create
trouble wherever they go, and in whatever they are engaged
Varied Temperaments Need Varied Discipline—Children have
varied temperaments, and parents cannot always give the same manner
of discipline to each. There are different qualities of mind, and they
should be made a prayerful study that they may be molded so as to
accomplish the purpose God designed
8
The Signs of the Times, February 9, 1882
.
9
Testimonies For The Church 1:384
.
10
Fundamentals of Christian Education, 67
.
11
Good Health, July, 1880, par. 1
.