DEVELOPING HABITS IN THE CHILD 
By Elizabeth Atwood 
pag | LIERE are many ideas as to when one 
ee dil| should begin training the small child. I am 
convinced that the work should begin at 
once. The nurse who cuddles the little mite 
every time it cries, lays the foundation for 
=J trouble. ‘The mother, when she gets up and 
has the care of the baby, finds a battle on her hands, for 
baby has already learned his first lesson and knows that 
crying will bring the attention he longs for. 
Here is where life-time habits are to be started, for that 
wee four-week’s-old mite already has an intelligence greater 
than the young mother realizes. Here is where the lesson 
ot self-control is in its A, B, C’s, but as surely will this very 
early habit merge into a real understanding of self-control, 
as that the knowledge of letters lead to spelling. Therefore, 
training should begin at once, if the child is to be trained 
at all. 
There is the theory, unfortunately lived up to by some, 
that training the young child will kill spontaneity. I have 
seen children brought up by mothers who had this idea. 
What was the result? Just this: No conversation with 
the mother was possible, because the spontaneity of the 
child led him to climb into her lap, pull down her hair, or 
kiss her on the lips while she vainly tried to talk. When he 
was forcibly placed down from her lap, he would lie on 
his back upon the floor, and kick his heels and sing or Cy 
whichever way he happened to feel—making so much noise 
that conversation had to stop. 
Outside friends do not care for that kind of spontaneity, 
and it is a gross injustice to the child. We all desire that 
our children may be loved, not for their looks but for what 
they are, and what they promise to be. Every year has 
strengthened the self-will in the child who has no control, 
and no theories will make such a one an agreeable comrade 
while he is in the making. 
Another idea is, according to my belief, equally unjust 
to the child. This is: “That when the child is old enough 
to understand, then will be the proper time to control him, 
or rather teach him to control himself. Then it will be too 
late, for the habits are already formed which will influence 
him all his life. Through habits of regular feeding and 
sleeping, which are not always easily formed, the baby gets 
his first idea of self-control and being controlled. 
The baby who is fed by the clock from the time it is 
three days’ old until it is grown up, is learning wisdom and 
temperance in his appetite. “The small boy who has a tiny 
piece of sponge cake, his little cup of custard, fruit juice, 
or even a peppermint, is learning that a higher law than 
personal liking governs the universe. He does not rea- 
son out the details, but he does learn that some foods are 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
Ole amma Oem 
HEEPS [OnE 
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TABLE AND HOUSEHOLD SUGGESTIONS OF INTER- 
EST TO EVERY HOUSEKEEPER AND HOUSEWIFE 
October, 1912 
not good for him; therefore he cannot have them. There 
can be no denying that the worst thing for a human being 
is self-indulgence, and the sooner the child learns this fact 
the better for the child. From the time he is born he 
should be trained to govern his habits and his desires. If 
the stroke of twelve invariably means a nap, and six means 
bed for the night, the child is unconsciously becoming 
methodical and learning the value of habit. 
Some mothers will say, ‘‘But my baby won’t do that.” 
He will, if you stick to it. It is just a question of your own 
determination in the matter. It will be a matching of wills, 
but you, knowing the course to be a right one, must be 
firm. You must expect howls at first, if the beginning has 
been wrong, but when you see your boy of six, well and 
strong, obedient and easily controlled you will be thankful 
that you braved the battles which made such results pos- 
sible. That grounding of self-control leads to an orderly, 
systematic life, to say nothing of the peace and comfort it 
means to the mother—and her friends. 
The extreme of the modern system is not so bad as the 
extreme of the old one, although it is better for a child 
to be taught to be a Spartan than for it to be a pampered 
pet. I do not care for either. I prefer to have my children 
normal, healthy, mischievous “imps’’; but at the same time, 
with a groundwork of absolute rules of living, obedient and 
amenable to discipline. This control of the small child 
helps over many a hard place when he is a big one, and 
self-indulgence is reduced to its lowest terms. 
When a child of two years, more or less, begins to be 
fussy and restless, how many times one hears: ‘Oh, I 
wish you were old enough to amuse yourself!’ This is 
the beginning of the never-ending search for knowledge 
on the part of that developing mind. Even at that early 
age, you may so direct its attention through its play that 
much may be taught which can influence that child all 
through its life. 
The child is always happier doing something which it 
has seen its mother do. If you pile up the blocks in a 
certain way the child will work—and it is work for the lit- 
tle one—to pile the blocks in the same way. But, always 
encourage the small one to finish the work he undertakes, 
even at this early age, for, in the completion of his little 
task, is the beginning of one of the greatest factors of self- 
help—determination to succeed. 
It is not nerve-wearing to the child to put square blocks 
together in such a way that H, L and T are formed, and it 
is very interesting. ‘Take the letter H for instance. Four 
blocks placed in a row, with two blocks above each end and 
two blocks placed below and H is formed. When you point 
out the resemblance to the letter H on a block the little 
one will see it too. 
I have done this and know just how it works. I always 
helped the child to make the lines of the blocks true, and 
