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Show Wise Parent Will Get j Child's Point of Vj; i By MARY STARCK KERR, National Kindergarten Association, New York. The family was getting ready for an auto ride. Little George was in the back seat of the machine, where he usually rode. But there was company com-pany today, and one of the guests was to sit in his accustomed place. George objected, and as he could not express his objection in words, since he could not yet talk, he began to squirm and fret. "Never mind," said the visitor who was to sit in his place, as she saw the worried look on the face of his mother, who was going to lift him over onto the front seat. "George will be all right; he will sit on my lap ; he is just anxious not to be left out." "All right, you can try it; perhaps he will," said his mother. The visitor seated herself, took George on her 'lap, and peace reigned. Never was a child more content than little George all during the ride. When the visitors left, they were commenting on the good behavior of the little fellow, and one said, "I suppose the trouble we have with children often comes because we don't understand what they are thinking, and they are too young to tell us." "Yes," said the one who had held George. "If we can just take their point of view, our problems will be much simplified; and after all, it is not hard to see what is in a child's mind, if we just consider how we would feel if we were in his place. It' becomes second nature when we are with children much, to understand under-stand their thoughts and feelings." As her companion agreed to this statement, she asked, "Do you remember re-member little Charles, and how the nurse accused him of crying because of temper when he was only a few weeks old? The real cause was that they had waited too long to give him his bottle. "When the nurse left, and his mother had to prepare his bottle, the baby cried while she was preparing it; he did not know she was at work getting ready to satisfy his hunger. I carried him into the kitchen, where he could see her preparing the bottle, and at once his cries ceased. "Just imagine how you would feel, if you were hungry, and unable to move a step to get iood, and the person per-son in charge of you had left you. apparently ignoring your need." "I suppose we should cry just as hard as the baby did, if not harder," said her companion. "We are always expecting children chil-dren to understand us," said the other oth-er woman, "but we should remember that it is our place to understand j them, and to take their point of view, for then we can do the , ' will lead them to have cj. us, to love us, and obey j |
