matters which involve
moral feeling, is almost essential to the proper formation of character.
On the other hand, constant restraint and excessive discipline, in the
natural exuberance of youthful impulses and activities, is unwise and
unfair to human nature. A mother who puts a healthy, normal boy in a
pretty suit of clothes, and then would talk punishment, because he plays
in the mud, or climbs a tree, doesn't deserve to have a healthy, normal
boy. His impulse to play in the mud and climb trees is infinitely more
vital and admirable than the vanity and sentimentality which attaches to
spotless clothes. Sturdy vitality is a splendid foundation for sturdy
character. Almost any kind of activity which does not endanger his life
or health is good for him. Lots of love and a little helpful guidance,
in essential things, is all that he usually needs--and very, very little
repression, of any kind--the less the better.

In a child's nature the faculty of imagination and the force of example
are important considerations in the development of the spiritual
feelings and the formation of fine ideals. The world of make-believe,
of purest fantasy, is just as interesting and just as significant as the
every day actualities of life. It makes not the slightest difference to
a little boy, or girl, whether the stories you read them, or the acts of
hero and heroine, are reasonable or not. (And if, in the preceding
pages, I have referred to the child as being a boy, that is only for
convenience in writing and not to imply that the observations would
differ in the case of a girl.) The child's imagination is ready and
eager to follow you anywhere and the main thing is the exercise of the
feelings occasioned by fictitious events.

This is one of the earliest ways for the tender soul nature to find
nourishment and growth. The more rhymes and jingles it can hear, the
more fairy tales, stories of adventure, thrilling deeds of heroism, the
better it is for the forming traits of character. In nearly all the
stories a mother may find to read or tell to her children, there are
examples and side-lights of courage, devotion, honor, loyalty,
cheerfulness, patience, and other exhilarating qualities. There is no
necessity of picking and choosing too carefully, or of attempting to
confine the exercise to a certain sort of fiction whose tendency is
obviously moral. The biggest part of it is to give the imagination and
feelings plenty of food to grow on, t