The girl tried faithfully. Her love and admiration for the teacher
furnished a strong motive, and the week showed a real gain. One day her
mother called at the school. She said that her daughter had made a
strange request of her. "She asked me," said the mother, "to compel her
to do everything she promised to do, or said she was going to do and to
punish her if she failed. I asked her to explain her strange request and
learned of the struggle she has been making. It seems to me she is too
young to assume responsibility to the extent of actually doing
everything she just casually says she is willing to do or intends to do.
We all fail to carry out our intentions."

The teacher helped that mother to see that a girl of fourteen is old
enough to begin the struggle to establish the habit of _doing_ what one
_means_ to do, and she realized her mistake. Together they decided to
encourage the girl to refrain for the time being from making promises.
Meanwhile they made requests for such services as seemed perfectly
possible for her to render, being careful that but little time need
elapse between the request and its required fulfilment, in order that
action might follow rapidly the resolution to act. In the months that
followed, the girl's effort to do what she said she would do, furnished
many a scene of both tragedy and comedy, but slowly she gained and in
two years the result was marvelous. A girl who because of her
dependableness will be of great value in home, school and community is
being made by the sane, wise sympathy of mother and teacher.

The girl who drifts because she "means to" and fails, is easy to love
and easy to pardon for things left undone. But those interested in her
welfare will spare neither time nor thought in the effort to help her
gain the power to make connection between the intention to do and the
actual doing.