Salt Lake Telegram | 1931-12-31 | Page 5 | Your Baby and Mine

Your Baby and nd Mine By MEYER ELDRED WHERE DID JOHNNY LEARN I THAT the child bur bursts t forthwith forth orth forthwith with wih a remark of ot extreme cleverness cleverne and apparent originality the parents aze le fairly certain to surprise sur cur rise prise rise Now how do you suppose he ever thought of that Usually the answer answer is th that t the child puts ut to his own uses some of the remarks remark he has heard in lathe Inthe the home If I the remark Is i one of rudeness the parent is certain to disclaim all al responsibility for font it Dick Dik was a quiet child whose ears ear were wide on open en to lo the adults adults' conversation H Hi i mother possessed d a maid whose faults and ond nd mental lacks were freely d discussed dis- dis cussed in Diks presence One day when Dick was left lef alone with the maid and she hc suggested that he take a he answered vered nap perty pertly I dont don't have to mind you you Youre You're a dumbbelL dumbbelL dumb bell belL This remark indignantly repeated by the offended maid was ardently 1 by the mother who said sid with p perfect truth that Dick had never heard her called caled such a name EI ELDERS DERS TO BLAME Children are are little sponges They absorb the thi things gs they hear about them Being less sensitive to words oreb than their elders they repeat what they hear in less Jess elegant language But the thought has been planted b by the elders ciders We are inclined to cringe at the brutality of children We Wc Weare are offended offend ed by their crude ways of expressing themselves themselves It I actually hurts hurt us to to hear children call caU each other and even adults adult nuts nut and dumb dumb bells Yet the habit of speaking of ot others is le learned in the home home It I is far fr easier to convince a achild achild child that it is unkind to use such descriptions o of others if I we wc are not guilty ourselves of expatiating on th the stupidity of various and sundry ac ac- ac PARENTS SHOCKED Children repeat what the they hear hea whether it is gossip or information and ad the color of their interpretation s often shocking to the parent parent She Sheh h hears ars' ars her own remark remarks uttered without without with with- out those niceties of form or i discretion discretion tion ton Which make mae them fall al less bluntly on the ears Not only are w words and Ideas mir mirrored nur mi by the y young ung but also tones and manners as well wel weI We Wc all know the little girl gir who shakes her doll dol in a perfect anger at its it badness We all aU know the embarrassment of embarrassment hearing some come young pitcher converse with devastating fran franl frankness ness nc of the size of the te grocery bill bi or Dr how angry Daddy was wh when n mother bought a a anew new dress CLEVER IMITATORS I If I the parent is in I the habit of raising her oice voice to speak to the child that querulous tone that says S 'S Smore more plainly than words You are such sucha a trouble to me we may be sure that the childs child's voice will exhibit the same caine ame pitch and and emotion Much as we hate to admit it our children are our cleverest imitators they voices oles our expressions our manners manners' and words words and put them em to their own uses ueS The Te child is I no actor acor He does docs what he is l u used d to doing and that is in the main what he h hI sees see done at home It I is I useless for or the parents to blame the neigh 1 Ivors' Ivors hors hors' children or some iome unknown influence in influence fluence for what the child does or says His Hi most permanent and Impressive im impressive Im- Im m standard Is the home home- home an anitis and it itis is that he copies S s expertly expert Tomorrow Holding H Baby's Nose Nole Is 15 1 Not His ls Favorite Sport