Show I DOROTHY DIX DX By Dr DIC the Ih orl Worlds highest st raid Woman t I I DONT DON'T OVERDO THE MOTHER BUSINESS IT ISA ISA IS ISA A PARENTS PARENT'S DUTY TO PREPARE CHILDREN ISI FORTHE FORTHE FOR FORTHE I THE BATTLE OF LIFE NOT TO PROTECT THEM BY STIFLING SELF-RELIANCE SELF AND INITIATIVE I AMONG A MONG my friends I Is a woman who has given gIven her life to her children ss as s she th phrases It Is nothing tile the U matter nick the children THERL who also are a D tine line sturdy turdy husky lot lot that calls for I Inn l la nn any p l sacrifice but the mother mOlher has con I ll r Bred ered It bet hel duty to br hp a special l providence to them theme I e and hatch natch over and direct their every ery movement mo And 7 d that takes lakes time and work and worry J From Front the time they were ere born mother has breathed and eaten and slept and played ed for or these tIlee thc youngsters rs as far as n a It was nag possible for or one human being to substitute for another She ha hai net lIe et let them do one thing thine of o theli 0 own onn n volition or e a particle of ot In Initiative th e or judgment or taste She hit s picked out their friends friend for or them thorn their lr f schools their amusements and their beau beaux beaus She has hao ha decided on their careers and whom they should mar mar 4 r i and site she he looks vOth nith pride upon the automatons autom she be he has produced who ho cannot mo move mote e unless mother pulls I L Ul the strings NOW JOW 1 this woman considers herself a II wonder mother and li It would shock thock her to deth If It she could be made to see ee c that children can call be and that It la III I worse for them to have too much mother than not to have any mother at all For mother cannot always keep her brood under her wing Pretty soon toon life forces force them th m out on their own where they must use Ule the their own brains and fight their own battles battle and how can they do this if mother has ha always done their thInking for them and stood between them and all danger yOU cannot Ie te sett ch a n child to walk unless ou le let It stan stand on Its own YOU Y feet fet You cannot teach It to be free ind nd Independent If K you vou ou al always alwa ways was lead it around by the hand You ou cannot develop muscle In It by keeping It tilting sitting on a D silk cushion You lou cannot ghe gise It courage and If it you vou au keep it Il from e ever eter er getting geWn any bumps E successful me men and women are not those who have THE OHE TH been I I through h their Infancy and youth by overanxious mothers who kent kelt them tied to their apron strings and forced a sort tort of perpetual babyhood upon them It Is a signIficant fact that more foundlings than mothers mother's pets pet are aro sItting fitting in the high places In the world OF F the mothers mother's plea is that thal they wint nl to protect theIr their their- children from hardships as long as the can enD and save them from mistakes But they fill hll to 10 that the time I 1 Is bound to conic come when hen mothers can no longer loneer be a bumper bel between beleen een their precious darlings and fat fate and then If K their heir children have not learned hon ho hoto honto to protect es they are bound to be bv by lire he VOU YOU can atrophy a child s brain by not letting it think for H itself lust Just as a you could the muscles of Its arms if you never permitted It to use them And you can develop self self- self reliance reliance and quickness of perception by throwing tho the child on its own resources You can see tee a vivid Illustration of this In the difference there is between the nimble witted little newsboys who dodge safely safety in and out between the traffic of the street stroet and the tho stricken panic little rich boys who ding frantically to their parents hands ONE NE of tile the he tragedies of recent times Is the tile story of or the little son on of a multi multimillionaire who rho had been watched over mar from his birth by an ml army of nurses and got gO governesses and tutors tutor and sers sen ants and who ho escaped from rom them litem one day ay and was nas killed by II a a pee ding car ear lu luthe luthe the Ibe first Irit fh rite five e minutes minute he was nas as ever r alone In his life because he dIdn't knon kno bow how to take taho care of himself t tIT IT TT IS the duty of or parents to prepare their theor children for life not to try to protect them from life and this can only be bedone bedone done by teaching them to stand on their own feet They must learn to depend on themselves alone They must be taught to strike out and do things on their own They must learn how to make decisions and to trust their own judg ludo judgment ment Why half the th failures in the world are the result of cow cow- cowardice cowardice cowardice ardice In men and women who are afraid to tackle a big job or use the lent God has given them And most of or these were made that way by parents whO killed all II their Initiative when they y were children by never letting them exercise any indi individual vidual freedom of thought or action R IOTHER n and father were so afraid that their young oung on ones would MOTH get hurt or that they 1 he would waste money money mone or that thit they would make ml mistakes tl kes that hat th they y kept them from doing anything an thine at Hi all e ex except except what that hat they were ere told tod to do by some tome ono one older and wiser than Ihan es so so 0 they learned to distrust their own judgment and when I they had to depend on themselves they the leaned loaned upon a broken reed red I Far far biter tot toi them It i they had h d made a thousand mistakes ml and andI learned from them than to have been kept in cotton wool pool and to I ue Cr have nave done or learned an am tiling thing at all aU TT T IS a great thing to be a good mother but dont don't overdo the thi mother Have at least as much Intelligence as a II sparrow that pushes her young out of the nest and forces them to use us their own wings DOROTHY DIX COP Copyright light by Public Ledger Company |