Parent and Child Volume III., Child Study and Training by Mosiah Hall
page 64 of 148 (43%)
page 64 of 148 (43%)
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beginning the will must be made strong and unselfish by repeated acts of
loving self-sacrifice. Contrast the selfish, all-absorbing love of Romeo for Juliet, who could not live without the physical presence of the one he loved, with that grandly beautiful love of Hector for Andromache, who, out of the very love he bore her, could place her to one side and answer the stern call of duty that she might never in the future have cause for painful blush. "I knew an ideal home where husband and wife were filled with the most exalted love I have ever known, but the husband died. The wife said: 'All that was beautiful or attractive in my life went out with my husband, and yet I know that I must, for the love I bear him, remain and rear our child as he would have him reared.' As I listened to these words, quietly uttered by the courageous wife, I realized what love, real love, could help the poor, stricken heart to endure." The child must be trained through love to give up his own will to others, and, from the beginning, learn to submit to things which are unpleasant. If this thought is insisted on from the first, obedience will come easily to the child; but woe be to both mother and child if egotism, self-will and selfishness secure a fast hold upon the young heart. A mother should never refuse the help offered by the child. If the work is of such nature that the little one cannot share it, let the mother suggest as a substitute something else which the child can do. Help turned away begets idleness and nourishes selfishness. "No, dear, you cannot help dress baby, but you may hand mama the clothes." "A six-year-old boy, who had been taught true love through service, found |
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