PSYCHOLOGY THE MOTHER INSTINCT

Evening Star, Issue 21992, 30 March 1935, Page 22

PSYCHOLOGY THE MOTHER INSTINCT

A recent correspondent to the Sydney ‘ Morning Herald ' writes an interesting letter in which she stresses the psychological effect of ugly toys, especially dolls, on little girls. Dolls, she says, should not bo battered, they should not bo badly dressed, soiled, untidy, or otherwise in a mangled state, but should bo beautiful to look at and the child should bo encouraged to keep them clean and tidy and in a perpetually beautiful state. The reason given was that the psychological effect of an ugly or battered toy was to accustom the cliild mentally to dirt and disorder, whereas the love of cleanliness, order, and beauty is best inculcated in the young mind and the young, maternal instinct best developed if surrounded, only by beautiful things. While the logic of this may be sou nil, the writer overlooks the fact that the fundamental instinct of all mother things is to love and cherish all her children, and particularly is her overflowing love given to the poor little maimed thing. Watch any child with her dolls. She may receive a brand-new doll, beautifully dressed, charmingly modelled. She will admire it, of course, and for a time be content to play with it. But watch her an hour or two later —see her turn back to the poor, battered, 'ragged, and probably dirty thing that was her first child—see with what tenderness she will gather it into her arms and love it, giving it pride of place in the dolly’s bed, or maybe the coveted distinction of sleeping in “ mummy’s ” bed. All primitive instincts are fierce when roused, and perhaps the maternal instinct is the fiercest, and, at the same time, most protective of all. In a family of strong, healthy, and beautiful cihldrcn,. let there be but one that is delicate, maimed, or disfigured, and the mother’s heart will turn first in its direction, seeing not its disfigurements, but only its appeal. Just the fact that a child's toys arc kept in perfect order and repair deprives that child of the sympathetic feeling of ownership, and niav even result in retarding the development of the deeper and less selfish instinct of motherhood.