Food, Dress and Toys

Parent and Child, Volume III
by Mosiah Hall

(Page 7 of 10)

"The Body Is More Than Raiment; and Life, More Than Meat."

The normal child is born in a state of naturalness with respect to his tastes and appetites and the endeavor should be to keep him in this natural state. But too often his senses are stimulated to excess and an artificial appetite is begun which usually leads to some form of intemperance. Much of the excess in drinking is due, not to inheritance, but to vicious feeding. A false appetite leads to physical unrest and uneasiness and this naturally lends itself to the pleasure and excitement of drink.

"Why do you not eat the pickles, my son?" said one father; "they are very nice." "No," said the boy, "I don't see any use in eating spiced pickles, it doesn't help to make me strong; my teacher says so." Would that every child were thus trained to prefer wholesome to unwholesome food. Our schools are doing good work along these lines of personal hygiene; parents should reinforce the efforts of the teacher by bringing the home hygiene up to the right standards.

The clothing of children also deserves some attention. Probably in nothing else is vanity and selfishness more easily displayed than in dress. How rare a thing it is to find a beautiful child, simply or even plainly dressed, who is neither vain of her good looks nor of her rich apparel. The sweetest object in the world is a beautiful child, tastily dressed, free from vanity, and perfectly natural and unspoiled. The mother who praises her child's curls or rosy cheeks rather than the child's actions or inner motives, is developing vanity of the worst kind - placing beauty of appearance above beauty of conduct.

"Fashionable parties for children are abominations upon the face of the earth." Soon enough the child will come in contact with that which is unnatural and deceitful without having artificial conduct forced upon him.

Lesson XIV

Questions for Discussion

1. What may result from developing an artificial appetite in children?

2. What should the young mother avoid in feeding her child?

3. What evils result from over-indulgence in candy, nick-nacks, soda water, etc.?

4. In the dress of children how is vanity often developed?

5. What may result from constant praise of the good looks of the child?

6. Discuss proper dress in children.

For further help on these points read Mrs. Harrison's "Study of Child Nature," pages 47 to 54.

Cultivating the Emotions

It Is a Serious Mistake to Begin Educating the Intellect Before Training the Emotions

In the history of the race, art develops before science, just as in nature the blossom comes before the fruit; so in the child emotions come before reason, and he is attracted and his sympathies aroused by nearly any appeal to his senses long before his understanding tells him why. Notwithstanding this fact, nearly every educative effort is confined to the intellect and the feelings are allowed to shift for themselves. The result is that many a child grows up cold, hard, and matter-of-fact, with little of color, poetry or sympathy to enrich his life. The common mistake is to starve the emotions in order to overfeed the understanding. The education of the heart must keep pace with that of the head if a well-balanced character is to be developed. Even in school the teacher too often proceeds to stuff the child with information before first awakening interest in the subject. Once arouse the interest of a child in any subject and he will pursue it to success.

Toys are of much value to children not only as promoters of play but because they appeal to their sympathies and give exercise to the emotions. The two great obstacles to the exercise of the right emotions are fear and pity. Toys are great aids in overcoming these tendencies. Through dramatic play with toys, children exercise their own imaginations and put action into their own lives; and gradually fear and pity are overcome through the confidence the child develops in himself.

"We find the instincts of the race renewed in each new-born infant. Each individual child desires to master his surroundings. He cannot yet drive a real horse and wagon, but his very soul delights in the three-inch horse and the gaily-painted wagon; he cannot tame real tigers and lions, but his eyes dance with pleasure as he places and replaces the animals of his toy menagerie. He cannot at present run engines or direct railways, but he can control for a whole half-hour the movements of his miniature train. He is not yet ready for real fatherhood, but he can pet and play with, and rock to sleep and tenderly guard the doll baby." Through toys the child practises in miniature most of the activities of the adult and thus gradually bridges the chasm between his small capacity and the great realities and possibilities of life.

The heart should be trained as carefully as the head. Our emotions even more than our reason govern us. Train the child to feel rightly, to admire the good, the true and the beautiful, and you need not fear. He will develop a love of home, of country and of God that will carry him safely throughout all his life. This does not mean that we shall neglect the training of his intellect; both heart and head should be trained together, but the heart must not be neglected; for out of it, says the Good Book, come the issues of life.

Lesson XV

Questions for Discussion

1. What may result from cultivating the intellect in children before stimulating the emotions?

2. Which governs us most, our feelings or our reason?

3. How can we develop best the right emotions in childhood, such as kindness and unselfishness?

4. In what ways may toys help to develop the child? Discuss here proper and improper toys; which are preferable, dolls or Teddy Bears, in developing motherly instincts? What about soldiers, firearms, etc., in their effect on boys?

For further reading on this point, Mrs. Harrison's "Study on Child Nature" will be found helpful. Let some member report from the book, if it be available, dealing particularly with pages 66 to 70.

Child Study and Training
1916