Train the Little Ones to be Helpful by Olive Jensen

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 2, 1916

Train the Little Ones to be Helpful

By Olive Jensen

MRS. OLIVE JENSEN

“WHEN May was only two years old, she would bring in all the wood I needed for the kitchen fire, one stick or sometimes two at a time,” said a young mother to a neighbor. “And this summer, since the baby came, she spreads all the flat pieces on the grass, and brings them in when they are dry.”

“Yes, I know children can help,” was the reply. “My boys can do many little things around the house to save steps; but they get tired of helping, and I’d rather do the work myself than bother with them.”

In this argument, so often heard, is found the reason that many mothers, especially where there are several little ones in a family, have no time to devote to the Morning Watch, to the daily study of the Sabbath school lesson, or to reading the Bible through by course. The mother who is teaching her wee daughter to help about the little errands and tasks suited to her strength, finds time for all these things in addition to her daily housework and other cares.

Mothers, teach your children first of all to help themselves, and then to help others. When the little one comes asking for a drink, and there is no water in the house, say, “You may take this small pail to the well, fill it full of water once, empty that out on the bush by the pump, then fill the pail half full, and bring it in. Then we will all have a nice, fresh drink.” Thus the child is taught not only a lesson in self-reliance, but also to do, and to enjoy doing, something for the pleasure of others.

It is one of the easiest things in the world to train a child in habits of helplessness, and even of selfishness. Just as long as mothers feel that they would rather wait on a child than teach it to be helpful, just so long they will be certain to have the work to do. The wise mother will teach her children, beginning when they are very small, to use their brains and their eyes, their hands and their feet, to help themselves and to minister to others. Thus she will not only gain for herself time for needed study and rest, but train them in habits that will be a blessing to them as long as they live.

Blackberry, Minn.