7. Little girls are one of the nicest things that happen to people. They are born with a little bit of angel-shine about them; & though it wears thin sometimes, there is always enough left to lasso your heart,even when they're sitting in the mud, or crying temperamental tears, or parading the street in mother's bestclothes.8. Socrates said, "Could I climb to the highest place in Athens, I would lift my voice & proclaim--fellow-citizens, why do ye turn & scrape every stone to gather wealth, & take so little care of your chill, towhom one day you most relinquish it all?"9. Dr. James Dobson, a child development specialist, says that children are sometimes permanentlyharmed by people's attitudes towards their looks. Even at age 3 or 4, children can tell if they are beautiful or ugly. One of his patients was a 36-year-old man who told him: "I was 5 years old when I realized I wasugly, & I've never been the same since."Unhappily, most people treat children as they were beauty contest contestants, giving warmth & praise to the good-looking & ridiculing or neglecting the fat, skinny, or whatever child. The result for thelatter is lifelong self-doubt & feelings of worthlessness. Nicknames like "Bucky Beaver", "Pee Wee" or "Birdlegs" can cause harm for life. Instead of exalting beauty, brains or accomplishment, the specialisturges adults to teach children to emphasize virtues such as diligence, patience & honesty."It's tough to buck the values of society as it is now." Dr. Dobson admitted, "but teaching a childspiritual values is at least a good place to start."10. Newspaper columnist Abigail Van Buren has composed a "Parent's Prayer" in which shestresses the practical side of raising children. Says "Dear Abby":"Oh, heavenly Father, make me a better parent. Teach me to understand my children, to listen patiently to what they have to say, & to answer all their questions kindly. Keep me from interrupting themor contradicting them. Make me as courteous to them as I would have them be to me. Forbid that I shouldever laugh at their mistakes, or resort to shame or ridicule when they displease me. May I never punishthem for my own selfish satisfaction or to show my power."Let me not tempt my child to lie or steal. And guide me hour by hour that I may demonstrate byall I say & do that honesty produces happiness."Reduce, I pray, the meanness in me. And when I am out of sorts, help me, O Lord, to hold mytongue."May I ever be mindful that my children are children & I should not expect of them the judgmentof adults."Let me not rob them of the opportunity to wait on themselves & to make decisions."Bless me with the bigness to grant them all their reasonable requests, & the courage to deny them privileges I know will do them harm."Make me fair & just & kind. And fit me, Oh Lord, to be loved & respected & imitated by mychildren. Amen."11. A little girl can be sweeter (& badder) oftener than anyone else in the World. She can jitter around, & stomp, & make funny noises that frazzle your nerves. Yet just when you are about to scold, shestands there demure with that special look in her eyes.12. A girls is innocence playing the the mud, beauty standing on its head, & motherhood dragginga doll by the foot.13. Juvenile delinquency is a situation that results when parents do not get to the seat of the problem.14. The Rev. Sam Harney, pastor of Grace Brethren Church of Toppenish, Washington, gavemothers in his congregation large wooden paddles & warned them about sparing the rod & spoiling thechild. He warned, "The time is come to leave the Dr. Spock philosophy of child raising & return to theBiblical principle of 'train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart fromit."
Leave a Comment