med character the need
of self-control, and the avoidance of an act which he knows is unworthy.

There are always certain things in every child's life which mean a lot
to him--dolls, toys, games, skates, baseball, bicycle, automobile rides,
swimming, tennis, golf--or something else--at all ages, up to manhood.

To be deprived of an important pleasure is a sure way of making him stop
and think over the meaning of it. There is only one thing that will
bring it home more surely and more deeply, and that is to see the one he
loves best deprived of her important pleasures, too, as a result of his
misconduct. If mother cannot go out in the automobile; if mother cannot
play the piano; if mother cannot read to him, or tell him stories; if
mother cannot come to the table for her meals;--the sight of this and
the knowledge that he is the cause of it, will put a terrible tug on the
heart-strings and the conscience. And in extreme cases, if father has
to be included in the punishment, and deprived of his pleasures, too,
that makes the boy's feeling of guilty responsibility even more
pronounced.

Yet, with it all, there is no chance for a sense of personal resentment
and injustice to obscure the meaning. The unfairness and severity--if
there be any--applies most to mother and is inflicted by the boy's own
act. And if mother sets the example of accepting it bravely and
smilingly, with no complaint and no scolding, and clings fast to her
love and sympathy, in this trial of love, such experiences may be
counted on to prove entirely helpful to the growth of moral feeling and
self-discipline.

And once a punishment has been determined and agreed upon in advance, it
should never be deviated from in the slightest degree. If a child were
allowed to evade it, or modify it, by cajolery or cunning appeal, that
would tend to destroy the spirit of fairness and faith in mother's word.

If a child will not respond to this kind of treatment and this kind of
punishment, it is fairly safe to assume that he would respond even less,
as far as the development of character is concerned, to ill-temper,
harsh language, and the whip.

So much for the question of discipline, about which many
well-intentioned mothers of the present day are so perplexed and
confused. In this connection, however, there remains to be made a
general observation and warning, upon which too much stress can hardly
be laid.

A certain amount of discipline, in a few important