p. 10 | INFLUENCE AND RESPONSIBILITY OF MOTHERS

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Jul 11, 1906

INFLUENCE AND RESPONSIBILITY OF MOTHERS.

By Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle

V. TRAINING TO HABITS OF NEATNESS AND ORDER.

“Now, see here,” sighs Mrs. Sanctimonious, “you’d far better let this subject alone. If I bring my children up in the fear of the Lord,” she continues, wiping her eyes on a corner of her soiled apron, “it’s all that ought to be expected of me. There isn’t a single thing said about order nor neatness in the Lord’s Prayer, nor in the Ten Commandments; and you must not forget that it was pride that cast Lucifer out of heaven.” Then Mrs. Sanctimonious sighed softly and looked very virtuous.

But we must not forget that God’s law is exceeding broad; and I suppose the apostle was inspired when he exhorted, “Let everything be done decently and in order.”

“O well, but that refers to work that is done especially for the Lord; I don’t believe it refers to common family affairs.”

Don’t you? but it says “everything;” and if the bringing up of the children is not work done for the Lord, I am sure it ought to be; at least parents are commanded to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Did you ever think how particular the divine Leader of ancient Israel was with His chosen people? He even told them how to make their clothes, and how to clean house. I tell you if the housewives of to-day were obliged to clean their houses as thoroughly as the ancient Israelites were instructed to do, they would think it a great hardship. O, the fight against the deadly microbe was carried on more remorselessly then than it is now.

“But how are we to train our young children to be neat and particular?” asks some conscientious, tired little woman. “Now, I’m not like Mrs. Sanctimonious. I believe we ought to teach them these things, but I don’t know just how. Johnny will insist on making mud pies, and he just covers himself all over with dirt. He enjoys it so well I hate to stop him, but if it is—”

Why, bless the child! let him make mud pies if he wants to, there are a lot of things he might do which are much worse, and indeed, mud pies are less harmful than some other kinds. But there are times when Johnny ought to be clean. When the high chair is placed at the table, and the little owner is seated therein, do you not agree with me that every suggestion of mud pie ought to have been removed from face, hands, and apron? But if Mary is allowed to come to the table with a dirty face, and Jimmie is placed in his high chair unwashed and uncombed, are you not setting them an example of untidiness, the bad effects of which it will take a long time to overcome? I have seen little ones at table whose appearance ought to bring a blush to the mother’s cheek; and I have seen those mothers hurry with a broom and dust-pan to remove the remnants of food from the floor, which the heedless child has scattered about his chair. Now I am of the opinion that it is easier to teach children to be careful and neat, than it is to follow them about with broom and dust-pan.

Then there is the matter of washing the hands. The children will be particular in this respect if they see that mother is. I think this thing should be made a matter of conscience.

“What makes you wash your hands so many times every day, mama? they don’t look dirty,” questioned little Edna, to whom the wash-bowl and towel were an offense.

“No, dear, I suppose they do not,” replies the mother, “but I know they should be washed, just as tho the dirt were quite visible to everybody.” The little one thought for a moment.

“Mama, do you s’pose God would know,—and would He care?”

“I am sure He would, my child.”

This may seem to be a small matter; but that mother had taught her child a most important lesson in conscientious neatness, and had illustrated it by her own example. Would you like to eat a meal prepared by another, whose hands were unclean? Then you can not afford to smother the voice of conscience in this respect, and do the same thing yourself. The children must be taught to realize that the eye of God is always upon them, and that even in the humblest affairs of life He requires a conscientious application of the Golden Rule; that He sees whether the rugs are well shaken, or whether the dirt is hidden away in some dark corner; whether Mary hangs her jacket up carefully upon its own peg, or throws it carelessly in a heap on the floor; whether Jane mends her stockings neatly, or whether she puckers the holes together in the easiest way, because the shoes will hide them; He knows whether Susie combs her hair smoothly and neatly, or whether she hides the tangles under a big bow until mama gets time to straighten them.

If John notices that his father brushes old Brindle carefully before sitting down to milk, so that the milk will be clean and sweet, he will be very apt to do the same when he gets large enough to attend to the milking himself. If James sees that his father and his older brothers brush and fold their own clothes, he will naturally imitate them, instead of leaving the work for his tired mother to do; and if father takes the trouble carefully to wipe the mud from his boots before entering the house, it will be an easy matter to teach James to do the same.

And so, my friends, it is all a matter of example. We can not teach order and neatness to a child, and be untidy and slovenly ourselves. MRS. L. D. AVERY-STUTTLE.