Taking for granted, then, that you have a full
sense of your own responsibility, and are keenly alive to
the sacredness of the burden which the Almighty Father
lays upon every parent, I shall try to condense for your use
some of the experience ot those who have made the educa-
tion of children, in the family and in the school, the study
of their lives.
I have already said that, in order to train children
properly, you must, first of all, have their confidence, and
you will naturally ask how the confidence of these little
thoughtless, unreasoning beings is to be won. In reply*
I should say, in brief, by letting them see that what you
demand of them you yourselves fulfil; that is, tvhen
you ask them to be truthful, be sure that their quick ears
ON HABITS AND MANNERS. 1 35.
do not find you oat in falsehood ; when you tell them of
the danger and sinfulness of anger, jealousy and hatred, do
not let them see in you daily proof of uncontrolled passions \
when you command them to be honest, temperate and
industrious, do not let them find that in your own life you
cling to deceit, self-indulgence and laziness. " Practice
what you preach," is a homely text, which has served
for many a sermon, but can never be more forcibly applied
than in regard to the relations between parents and
children ; for in all the world you will not find more severe
or acute critics than those little ones, whose sharp eyes and
ears are constantly measuring your life by the rules which
you give to them. You must show your children by your
daily life that you have real anl practical faith in the
virtues of whose value and beauty you talk to them, and
although you may frequently fail to reach the standard
which you have set up, yet if you endeavor to be honest,
your children, aye, even your little children, will quickly
and surely receive impressions from your character which
will be deep and permanent for good. Take, as an example
of this, the exhibitions of fretfulness and ill-temper which
are unfortunately not uncommon in family life, and to
which children in their intercourse with each other are
especially liable. You want to teach your children to be
patient, gentle, kindly in deed and word, and these are
I36 ON HABITS AND MANNERS.
things which you cannot enforce by mere authority ; you
must, in your own person, show them how much good temper
has to do with the happiness of life; you must be gentle
and kind to them, and then must demand from them gentle-
ness and kindness in return. Example, in short, is of the
first importance in the education of children, for they
instinctively admire and desire to imitate those older than
themselves with whom they associate, and are directly and
strongly influenced by what they see and hear in their every
day life.
Page 61
Presented as published in 1888. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Taking for granted, then, that you have a full sense of your own responsibility, and are keenly alive to the sacredness of the burden which the Almighty Father lays upon every parent, I shall try to condense for your use some of the experience ot those who have made the education of children, in the family and in the school, the study of their lives.
I have already said that, in order to train children properly, you must, first of all, have their confidence, and you will naturally ask how the confidence of these little thoughtless, unreasoning beings is to be won. In reply, I should say, in brief, by letting them see that what you demand of them you yourselves fulfil; that is, tvhen you ask them to be truthful, be sure that their quick ears
do not find you oat in falsehood ; when you tell them of the danger and sinfulness of anger, jealousy and hatred, do not let them see in you daily proof of uncontrolled passions; when you command them to be honest, temperate and industrious, do not let them find that in your own life you cling to deceit, self-indulgence and laziness. " Practice what you preach," is a homely text, which has served for many a sermon, but can never be more forcibly applied than in regard to the relations between parents and children ; for in all the world you will not find more severe or acute critics than those little ones, whose sharp eyes and ears are constantly measuring your life by the rules which you give to them. You must show your children by your daily life that you have real and practical faith in the virtues of whose value and beauty you talk to them, and although you may frequently fail to reach the standard which you have set up, yet if you endeavor to be honest, your children, aye, even your little children, will quickly and surely receive impressions from your character which will be deep and permanent for good. Take, as an example of this, the exhibitions of fretfulness and ill-temper which are unfortunately not uncommon in family life, and to which children in their intercourse with each other are especially liable. You want to teach your children to be patient, gentle, kindly in deed and word, and these are
things which you cannot enforce by mere authority ; you must, in your own person, show them how much good temper has to do with the happiness of life; you must be gentle and kind to them, and then must demand from them gentleness and kindness in return. Example, in short, is of the first importance in the education of children, for they instinctively admire and desire to imitate those older than themselves with whom they associate, and are directly and strongly influenced by what they see and hear in their every day life.