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Talking Before Children

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 30, 1909

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 86, No. 52.

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Talking Before Children

By Max Hill

MAX HILL
WHY will mothers talk so much before their children? Why will they repeat the sayings of gossiping neighbors before them? Why will they repeat the “smart” sayings of the children themselves to others before them?
All unconsciously, the little one makes a remark which is funny, or wise, or “cute.” The very first one who comes in is told the story, and mother and listener laugh at it. The next one who comes hears the story, too, with all the amusing details; and the child, standing by with eyes and ears open, realizes that he is the cause of the interest and amusement.
Watch him and you will note that very soon he is trying hard to live up to the reputation the fond, though foolish, mother has given him—he is being funny.
And O how pitiful it is to see a self-conscious child! Better never noticed at all than made too much of. He lingers near when callers come, to make sure that his sayings are being repeated in proper form and detail. We have known of a child thus afflicted who, coming into the room where company was being regaled with some recent happening, inquired, “Have you told her what I said, mama?” And that, too, was “so funny” to the mother!
A little boy of three heard some workmen swearing, and naturally he picked up the very words his mother most desired that he should never know. What was her confusion to hear him use the words in his conversation! A visiting uncle, who was not any too careful of his own language, noticed it immediately, and laughed heartily. But the mother was a wise one. With a firm glance and a few quick words she commanded the uncle not to notice the child’s speech at all. All the other members of the family were firmly admonished in the matter. In a few days the boy had forgotten his new words. He never knew that any one heard him use them; and not hearing them repeated or laughed at, they soon slipped from his mind. And that wise mother was the victor in a peaceable warfare in which there was no long-remembered battle.
Mountain View, Cal.