CHILDREN LIVE UP TO OUR EXPECTATIONS.
By C. M. G.
[C. M. G., in Ladies’ Home Journal.] I had heard much about a certain little girl who every one said was so naughty and disobedient. I saw her first when she was six years old. After a few days of observation, my only wonder was that she behaved as well as she did. Her mother expected her to be naughty, and would say in the child’s hearing, “I suppose I shall have to take Ruth, but I know she will act like fury.” Of course Ruth did that very thing; but when away from her mother, she seemed to me a very lovable, docile child. One day she sprang to hand a crutch to an invalid. Her mother spoke out suddenly, “Well, I am surprised. It would have been more like you to run and hide that.” A sudden cloud overshadowed the bright little face, and my heart ached for the poor child, who only needed encouragement to make her a good girl. Children usually live up to the expectations of their elders. If it is taken for granted that they will do right, they will not often disappoint. But if one expects them to do wrong, they seldom fail in doing so.