, every unselfish mother
will acknowledge that were she dying, she would be comforted to know
that her children would find some conscientious, true foster-mother
who would bring them up just as faithfully and tenderly as she knew
how to do.

There is no more forlorn being on this wide earth than a widower with
little children, and with no woman-relative to help him look after
them. Why then this rooted hatred and horror of step-mothers?

You--my step-mother reader--are sadly unfortunate if anyone has been
so cruel to you and your charges as to instil into their minds an
aversion for you with whom they must live for years, perhaps all their
lives. But, perhaps, after all, the case is not so bad as you fear.
You may have a morbid sensitiveness on the subject which makes it look
very dark to you. Even if matters are as you think, if you try
conscientiously to overcome the children's prejudice, and your husband
aids you in your efforts, you are bound to live down their dislike.
Children are tender-hearted and clear-sighted. They will soon judge
for themselves, and the one rule against which they will not rebel is
that of love. The first thing for you to do is to begin with your own
feelings. _Make_ yourself love the little ones. Unless they are
unusually unattractive the task will not be a difficult one. Perhaps
you love them already. If so, half the battle is won. In driving a
restless horse, it is absolutely essential that you should not be at
all nervous yourself. Every horseman will tell you that the animal
knows instinctively the character of the person managing him. If a
thrill of fear touches him who holds the reins, the horse responds to
it as to an electric shock, and becomes almost beside himself with
nervousness. If a firm, steady, yet gentle grasp is on the lines, the
creature obeys in spite of himself. This same principle applies to
children. If you cannot control yourself the children know it, and you
may as well give up all idea of curbing them. The nervous twitching at
the bit and the attempt to govern them by reason of your superior age
or knowledge aggravates the evil. It is a mistake to forget that
children are human beings, with sensitive feelings like our own, only
not as hardened and used to the ways of this unsympathetic world as
we are. Their government must have love at its beginning, continuing
and ending if it would be successful.

You may as well recognize the fact first as last that you are l