n never be enough of it--either for the
child's good, or the mother's. And before the child is really old enough
to think, let it have a radiant, deep-rooted feeling that mother's love
is a mainstay of life, which will never waver or desert it, under any
possible contingency, and which it, in turn, will never, never desert.
And let a mother never trifle with that feeling, or prove fickle to it,
at any stage, but treasure it as the holiest of holies, the very essence
of the character she hopes to see formed.

In the early stages of development, when a child's mind is unable to
reason or understand, little habits of second nature are formed. The
moral questions do not come to the fore until the age of reason and the
first awakening of the spiritual feelings. And they bring with them
unavoidably, the problem of obedience and discipline.

Suppose your son disobeys you, what then? Or suppose he has disobeyed
the nurse, and she comes and tells you? Something has to be done about
that, surely. What must you do?

Well, first of all, there is one thing you must be very careful _not_ to
do. Don't scold--don't speak harshly--don't look cross--don't get angry.
Look at your child with sympathy and understanding, and when he meets
your eye, with a cunning little look of shame and defiance, smile back
at him reassuringly, and hold out your hand to him. Then, after the
nurse has had her say, thank her for telling you about it and ask her to
leave you, because in the tender confidences between mother and son it
is not proper that an outside and possibly antagonistic influence should
intrude.

When she has gone, take him on your knee, put your arms about him and
hug him tight. Don't let him forget for an instant that he is your very
own and you are his very own mother. Whatever may be going to come of
it, keep that point clear--that you are his partner and help-mate and he
is never going to be left out in the cold. Nothing will help more toward
a fair-minded understanding of the situation. Ask him to tell you all
about it, just how and why it all happened and help him with your
sympathy and patience to express himself fully.

Let us imagine that this is what has occurred:

When he was out walking, he saw a dead bird lying under the bushes on
the other side of a ditch. The nurse, Delia, told him not to, but he did
climb across the ditch and picked it up. It was an awfully pretty bird
and he just wanted to look at it. When she told h