MODERN UPBRINGING

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 294, 7 September 1932, Page 4

MODERN UPBRINGING

Namby-Pamby Element ATTACK BY MOTHER It is time that we mothers took a firm stand against the namby-pamby element in modern upbringing, writes a modern mother in an English paper. “I want my children to look on me as a confidant,” says a modern young man in a recent article in the same journal. Me.n .always were incurably romantic. As a member of the more practical sex I want to see my children self-reliant. The confiding child so often becomes the tale-bearing child. Ko few parents seem able to understand that usually when a child refuses to ‘‘confess’.’ or explain it is because he does not want to implicate others. Independence is a very precious characteristic, and the child who is accustomed to think for himself, decide for himself, and 'not talk too much about himself is well on the way to acquiring this valuable quality. Lest there should be any risk of my children growing too self-contained, however, I should encourage them to listen readily and generously to all Who sought their sympathy. Never would I turn a deaf ear to their advances. But I would most de-

liberately teach them that decisions must be made by them and, once made, carried into effect. I want my children to go out in the world able to take knocks without whining and success, without boasting. No human being has a right to live more than one life.' I am resolved that I will never be one of those parents who demand a large share in that of their children. Mutual admiration and respect are, in my opinion, a better foundation for the relations between parent and child than any amount-of embarrassing confidences. “Stand alone,” I would try to say. Are -there any other Spartan mothers who will agree with me?