BE INTERESTED IN YOUR CHILDREN.
THE greatest care should be exercised by the mother that the training includes the physical as well as the intellectual side of life. Girls and boys require very much the same treatment in this matter; they both need plenty of fresh air and outdoor exercise; let the girls run, climb the hills, ride, and skate with their brothers. We see so many white faces and stooping figures among our growing girls, while the mind is urged on to do its very best. Very few of our growing girls have a graceful carriage. Many mothers pay too little attention to the laws of health; they allow their children to do things with impunity that will wreck a sound constitution, and the future holds for them a sad harvest. Don't shut out all the air and crowd all the children into one bed. Be careful in the manner you handle and play with your children. It is very painful to witness the way in which many parents throw their children up, or let them hang, head down. Take time to answer your child's questions; the development of the mental powers demands that the things that are should be explained. Never give a child an incorrect answer because you don't know, but look it up and find out. A child should be taught to notice his surroundings—the sky, grass, flowers, and trees. A child can be taught early the cause of day and night and of the different seasons. A keen observation should be encouraged. Voluntary obedience, not compulsion, is what is wanted, and the parents that are even tempered, not harsh or unjust, are teaching the lesson most successfully. A mother and father that have not learned self-control are not capable of controlling children. It is a burdensome thing to lead the child the way it should go; for such a training it is necessary for the parents to follow the same path. Your child has a body, mind, and heart, all in your keeping; if you do your work well, when life's fitful fever shall have passed for you, the memory of your children will go back to you with gratitude that they were sent out into the world with a sound body, cultivated mind, and a pure heart.—Word and Works.