p. 15 | Wise Words to Parents

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 18, 1912

Wise Words to Parents

BE courteous to your children. A kind manner and gentle tone usually have the desired effect, however obdurate the case, and the children are born imitators. As in water “face answereth face,” so the reflection of our own lives is in those of our children. Make home the most attractive place in the world to them; give them space to play, even if carpets and furniture suffer a little. Certainly order and cleanliness should be a law in every household, but take heed lest your children fear a stain upon clothes or carpet more than one upon their conscience.

Keep near to your children. Do not let them grow away from you. Keep them close in your confidence and affection, so they will confide in, and not be afraid of, you. I know a lad who takes pleasure in giving his mother an account of his doings during the day, whether they be pleasant or otherwise. She laughs with him if they are funny, and gently chides where he is wrong, but in a way that does not make him afraid of her. He will not relate a single instance to his father, because before the story is half through he will begin to scold him for doing so and so. It is plainly seen which can have the most influence with him.

Give your commands in the form of requests whenever it is possible. When a commanding tone seems to be necessary, speak without betraying any excitement, in a low voice, but decidedly, and use as few words as possible.— Selected.