In this Department will be found articles of various kinds that give helpful suggestions to mothers.-Editors. TRAINING AND MANAGEMENT By Dr. E. The period in a child's life from birth to the end of the eighth year, judged by the influence which the experience of these years exercises on all future life, is the most important period of child training. The first years of life demand separate consideration, and most mothers manage well during this time. From the time the child enters school responsibility is divided between the home and the school. We consider here the neglected part of this period, that is, from the end of the first, to the end of the sixth year. There are two fundamentals to be kept constantly in mind by all who essay to train children: (a) One must be, not just seem to be, that which he expects the child to become. (b) Wise training and efficient management of a child of any age demand sympathetic understanding of the child's mind and his point of view. The first of the fundamentals must be insisted upon because we influence children by what we are and not so much by what we say; and the second because otherwise there is a tendency to manage a child primarily with reference to the effect he produces on adults. Very often we class a child as "good" if he does not annoy the adult members of the household and as "bad" if he does. As a matter of wise training we should constantly ask ourselves: "What is he experiencing?" "What OF THE PRESCHOOL CHILD is he thinking about?" "What is he If it could be generally understood that during these fateful years every child develops a personality, determines temperamental traits and forms habits of thinking, feeling, and acting which are permanent and therefore of vast importance, more thought, more care, more attention would be devoted to this period of life. As one of a number of important habits which should be established during this period consider that of obedience. This habit should be firmly established by the end of the third year at the latest, and in many cases can be fixed by the end of the second year. Assuming that our first fundamental is cared for let us inquire into the nature of a child of this age to the end that our understanding of him shall be sympathetic. Aside from his physical characteristic of great activity he is curious about persons and things, he has a veritable passion for touching things with his hands, feeling them, tasting them, and looking at those within the range of his vision. This intense desire for information leads to his running away to explore new places, and the asking of innumerable questions. He shows a crude interest in collecting things. His beginning sense of self leads to occasional vigorous self assertion, and his ability to amuse himself points clearly to one means of satisfying his needs. His play is His play is made up largely of mimicing the acts of adults and adapting those acts to his own ideas. He is interested in stories, makes crude drawings, is attracted by bright colors, and shows some sense of rythm and tune. Imitation is active, and he now shows a definite desire for approval. This latter if wisely utilized becomes the basis for the development of conscience. Imagination is active and he has difficulty in distinguishing between an imagined experience and a past real experience. Now in the light of these facts what can be done to establish the habit of obedience? Prof. O'Shea sums up a number of important points in the following paragraph: "Experience and psychology alike indorse the proposition that for the welfare of the child in his learning cheerful compliance with the demands of lawful authority, orders should always be given under conditions which will insure that the child thoroughly comprehends them and realizes their meaning and importance. That is to say a command must be made to dislodge everything from the focus of con sciousness at the moment it is given. A wise parent or teacher then, will be cautious about giving directions to a child when he is dominated by some strong idea or feeling. Under such circumstances the behest should be deferred or else the child's attention should be completely gained, and the verbal statement should be reinforced by appropriate facial expression, bodily attitudes and vocal timbre. In brief, the command should be made to take effect in the child's consciousness; then if he does not execute it he will be disobedient; but otherwise he will be simply uninfluenced by it." It is first necessary to distinguish between things a child may do and those he must do. Because of his curiosity and passion for finding out things he should have large freedom, that is, there should be many things he may do in the field of touching, feeling, tasting, seeing, exploring, etc. The things he must do and must not do should be few and simple, but the parent should see to it that those few things are carried out. It may be tenfold more easy to do a thing one's self than to see to it that the child does it, but such a course means complete failure. the mother allows at one time a thing It is important to be consistent. If which is forbidden at another, the child is confused, not knowing to which of the two conditions to adjust himself. The observance of a set of desirable health habits such as regularity in sleeping, eating, washing the hands before eating, and mands obedience and can be made properly using a handkerchief, dea very important factor in establishing the habit. In the beginning the child's obedience must be implicit and unquesticning because of the parental obligation to properly safeguard him from danger. personal authority and training must This obedience to not rest here, because obedience to another is but a preliminary to obedience to one's self. "Obedience," says Kirkpatrick, is a temporary and immature virtue which becomes a mature and lasting one when it grows into free self control, by appropriating outer laws and making them inner standards of conduct." In other words training in obedience is not complete until the source of authority is transferred from the outside to the inside of the person being trained. He must be trained to be obedient to his own better self and to high ideals. This means wise opportunities to choose a line of conduct for himself and a realization of the necessity of submitting to the consequences of his choice. The following simple summary if kept in mind will be found very helpful. Make the child desire to form the habit. In this particular case this can be done by taking advantage of his suggestibility and his desire for approval. Praise him for being obedient. Tell some one else in his presence how obedient he is. He will then desire to be obedient. Next, apply the law of repetition, and apply it with a vigor that does not permit of the possibility of a single exception. Develop a feeling of confidence in the child's ability to finally achieve success, and praise the achievement. Give very few commands but see that they are carried out. In all else allow large freedom. Before deciding that the child has been disobedient, make sure that he had a clear comprehension of the order, and try to find out what he is experiencing. Parental wrath, must not be the it be an expression of a desire to mere feeling of the moment, and if retaliate "It is nothing else than diabolic." Finally, the parent must have some sense of humor, be physically well enough to be under good control, and must be consistent. Praying Does Help Lewis Telle Cannon Captain John T. Axton, chief chaplain of the U. S. Army, recently paid a brief visit to Salt Lake City, his home town. While here, he was much sought after as a speaker and delivered many interesting talks, among which, one in the L. D. S. 20th Ward chapel, Sunday evening, Jan. 29th. The writer was privileged to be present on this occasion where a packed house of his friends and neighbors had assembled to do honor to the Captain-he formerly having resided in the Ward, though never a member of the Church. His talk was very impressive both as to its content and delivery. One incident which he related, however, stood out above all else and made a deep impression on the congregation. It related to Prayer. At the suggestion of a high military authority the Captain has written up the incident and it will later become a part of the official history of the late war. In substance the incident was as follows: 99 Some time during the war there came into New York Harbor a dirty little tramp steamer having on board fourteen miserable waifs-survivors of the Transport "Ticonderoga,' which had been torpedoed and sunk by a German Submarine far out at sea; the Tramp Steamer had picked them up while adrift in their lifeboat. The Military officer into whose care they came said to Captain Axton, "Chaplain, for military reasons I can't for the present turn these poor fellows over to the Red Cross or other relief organizations; I wish you would give them first aid and comfort." The Chaplain immediately went over to where they were huddled together on deck, and, placing himself at their service, asked what he turn. might do to alleviate their distress. soldier-like, to pray-each in his The men indicated their leader who came forward and said in effect, "It isn't that we want anything in particular; but we would like to have some one listen to what we have to They then began to take stock of themselves and their critical situation and ended up by adopting the only plan which in their desperate condition offered a hope of salvation. The plan contemplated: First, the appointment of a leader -one who would take charge and direct all their action and to whom they would yield implicit obedience; Second, a most careful rationing of the small stock of food and water which they found under the seats of the life-boat so as to make it last as lorg as possible; And third, that they would pray constantly for help from above. In arriving at the plan, they decided that they were in the hands of the Infinite and reasoned that, their situation being so desperate, only through Divire help could they hope to be saved. Every one of them professed solemnly his belief in God and that He does answer prayer. But it developed that there was no one among them who had had special training in prayer, so it was decided, The first turn came to a rough giant; he rose to pray but the others all shouted for him to sit down-he might rock the boat. He said, "Boys, the only prayer I can think to say is," and he extended his hands while saying it, "God help us." Then, amid a reverent silence, he sat down. The next was a young lad of seventeen; he said, "Boys, the only prayer I know is the one my mother taught me.' Then with bowed head he repeated, "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take." And so on down to the last, a little Jewish lad; the Chaplain, however, failed to tell the details of his prayer or the prayers of the eleven others. But the praying was kept up and on the sixth day they were sighted and rescued by the Tramp Steamer which brought them to New York. The leader, continuing his story, said that from the very moment when they began to pray it seemed as though an unseen tow line was attached to the boat which kept pulling them steadily in one direction, and that an unseen power surrounded them till they were finally rescued. Every one of them felt it; and he concluded, "If you should ever tell one of these men that there was no God to answer prayer, that man would certainly feel to choke off your utterance a most terrible blasphemy." as Making Good on the Job By Dr. Caroline Hedger An address delivered in the Assembly Hall, Salt Lake City, August 12, 1921. Women have come into a new situation with regard to jobs. They are under the necessity of holding two jcbs. Circumstances over which we have little control have brought us into the world of work. We have to carn our own living-many of us— and that is all right, so long as we do it right. We must keep in the background of our minds the fact that we are by inheritance, if things are right and equal, elected to a much bigger job than earning our living. While we are thinking about the possibility of making our living, we have to keep definitely in mind that we canIot afford to miss this bigger job, and to get the two to run together is sometimes difficult, but I believe that if we go at it right, calmly and sanely, we can do both things. I want you to think about the things that we have to think about to earn our living. You know that our mothers had very little chance to do anything but the big job. They could teach or sew by the day or get married, and they got married. Notice the difference between that situation and the situation of young women today. In the last United States census there were three hundred six separate occupations open to women. There are many more since the war. As a result, today we have the choice of almost any job under the sun. That means a very great deal in relation to the bigger job. When women had no work they had to marry most anyone that asked them. They could not wait for the kind of man they wanted for the father of their children. But we can wait now. Doing the big job right means selecting the proper mate, and, thank heaven, we have got ways of earning our living until we can select the proper mate, and I think it is going to be a great thing for us and for our children. In this matter of earning a living, I do not believe any of us should earn a living in such a way when we are young that it spoils us for the bigger job. About 1840-46 the industrial situation in England was In those days very, very terrible. women would be used for work in the mines, which were sometimes so low that they could not stand and they would go on all fours, and up chairs were fastened around their waists. That work absolutely ruined the women for the bigger job. They lost all their attributes of womanhood. Their job was so hard that it used up all the nutrition in their bodies that might have been used in creating a new life. That kind of work for women is absolutely wrong, the kind of work that destroys nervous balance is all wrong. I do not think that we should subject women to the kind of labor that makes them so nervous that they can not nurse their own children. When these women were so terribly overworked in England that it was affecting the health and death rate, of children, Ruskin wrote "Shame upon the nation that makes its young girls weary." That slogan is just as good for us today, perhaps not industrially, to the same extent, but in other ways. We have to think about the job that does not make the girl so weary that she is robbed of her chance for |