ences and parental training whether the helpless baby shall grow to
be a king or a slave in mind and disposition. If your child inherits
from you a hasty temper, you can cure that by exhibiting your own
self-control and discipline of word and deed. If your child is selfish
and greedy, it is in your power to make it thoughtful and considerate
of others. The selfish child can be so infused with higher reason as
not only to give but to give willingly and gladly to another in more
need what it would gladly keep itself If its natural disposition be
to recklessness and prodigality, it is the father who can infuse pru-
dence, which is a Christian virtue, and instil habits of forethought,
discernment, carefulness and moderation.
But if Baby comes into the school of Home as a learner whom the
parents must teach the alphabet of life, it is also a teacher sent from
God. You may learn from your little one more than you can teach
it, for it comes to you unspotted by the world, and the simplicity of
childhood is often wiser than the shrewdness of old age. Well has
the poet said :
" O dearest, dearest child ! My heart
For better love would seldom yearn
Could I but teach the hundredth part
Of what from thee I learn."
The chief lessons that Baby teaches in the home are love, sym-
pathy, patience, faith, trust, and self-denial. It draws you out of your-
self and brings out tlie noblest part of you. How the first baby has
humanized and softened many a harsh and selfish father ! The stern
face relaxes into smiles at the sight of its little ■ image free from its
v/rinkles and its blemishes. It is a great thing for the father when
he has to make sacrifices and give up selfish indulgences for the sake
of his child. He becomes as a little child, and is himself born again
and renovated in this humanizing and refining process. His little son
becomes his " alter-cgo^' his other and better self His little daughter
is a delight to his eyes and a new warmth to his heart. Each week
arid month he lives more in his child and less in himself The power
of parental sympathy steals over his heart like gentle dew from
THE BABY IN THE HOME. 7 1
heaven, freshening the ground it falls upon. It is sometimes trying
to his nerves after a hard day's work to be kept awake by Baby's
crying, but it will refresh him more than sleep if he bethinks him
how soon pain and prayer begin in this life, and that all the members
of the human family, however wise and strong they think themselves,
are but as
" Children crying in the night,
And with no language but a cry."
Page 40
Presented as published in 1883. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
ences and parental training whether the helpless baby shall grow to be a king or a slave in mind and disposition. If your child inherits from you a hasty temper, you can cure that by exhibiting your own self-control and discipline of word and deed. If your child is selfish and greedy, it is in your power to make it thoughtful and considerate of others. The selfish child can be so infused with higher reason as not only to give but to give willingly and gladly to another in more need what it would gladly keep itself If its natural disposition be to recklessness and prodigality, it is the father who can infuse prudence, which is a Christian virtue, and instil habits of forethought, discernment, carefulness and moderation.
But if Baby comes into the school of Home as a learner whom the parents must teach the alphabet of life, it is also a teacher sent from God. You may learn from your little one more than you can teach it, for it comes to you unspotted by the world, and the simplicity of childhood is often wiser than the shrewdness of old age. Well has the poet said :
" O dearest, dearest child ! My heart For better love would seldom yearn Could I but teach the hundredth part Of what from thee I learn."
The chief lessons that Baby teaches in the home are love, sympathy, patience, faith, trust, and self-denial. It draws you out of yourself and brings out the noblest part of you. How the first baby has humanized and softened many a harsh and selfish father ! The stern face relaxes into smiles at the sight of its little image free from its wrinkles and its blemishes. It is a great thing for the father when he has to make sacrifices and give up selfish indulgences for the sake of his child. He becomes as a little child, and is himself born again and renovated in this humanizing and refining process. His little son becomes his " alter-cgo^' his other and better self His little daughter is a delight to his eyes and a new warmth to his heart. Each week arid month he lives more in his child and less in himself The power of parental sympathy steals over his heart like gentle dew from
heaven, freshening the ground it falls upon. It is sometimes trying to his nerves after a hard day's work to be kept awake by Baby's crying, but it will refresh him more than sleep if he bethinks him how soon pain and prayer begin in this life, and that all the members of the human family, however wise and strong they think themselves, are but as
" Children crying in the night, And with no language but a cry."