During the months of beautiful expectancy you dreamed many a noble dream for your child. In its infancy you saw your vision even -more clearly, and added glowing details day by day till the child—in your dreams—became the most. wonderful man or woman the world was yet to see. Has your dream come trac? Is it showing veasonnble hopes of fulfilment so that you are content to wait? Or are you beginning to doubt the reality of the castle you created? If so, whose fault is in? Was the dream impossible of accomplishment? Perhaps the difficulty lay in some strain in the child's heredity which you little suspected. Again, there may have been some untoward circumstances in the environment of the child which stunted its growth. To be honest with yourself, was it simply your fault that the air castle could not be entered and possessed?
If the dream for your child is worthy and possible of attainment it must have one central thought which runs through it like the motif in music. This golden thread, this guiding principle is harmony. As in the old story of the duck, it was a vain mother indeed who expected to hatch a niatatorial expert from a hen's egg. The egg was all right—the mother was all right—but the wrong castle was in the air. It couldn't be done.
Devetopent or. Personarity.
You will hear many a mother say, "T am glad Chisrlie has gone away to school this year. His father was too busy, and somehow or other I could not manage him as I used to when he was a child. Under the excellent discipline of the schoo] he wil] learn obedience and settle down." Ang! again, these words of a father will strike a familiar ear, "Never mind if Betty did seem a bit spoiled. She has the makings of a splendid woman, and college will set her right." In both cases something is wrong—something has been wrong. The youthful child) may improve; and again he, or she, may not. We have seen both eventualities. Only if the child finds fertile ground for the development of innate personality will humanity be rewarded.
I am a fatalist; but while I agree with Omar Khayyam that finished. It is like an endless ladder. As each rung is mounted, ten others are built at the top. Each day brings new possibilities for education—new opportunities for seeking, finding, and furthering the personality of your child.
The father's task is not finished when he has "seen the boy through college." The mother's duty does not end with the "coming out"? of her daughter, To say that the youth or maiden must learn by experience is but to beg the ques" tion. Of course they will get ex-Periences—some bad—some good. But to what account will- those experiences be turned? The identical experience may affect two people in totally different ways.
In fine, within reasonable limits it is possible to make what you will of your child; but if you wish your finest dreams to come krue, they must unfailingly take into account the child's unique-personality, Nor must you expect the dreams to unfold while you sit comfortably by and watch. Having found the key, you must unlock the door, and the child will then enter into and possess the castle.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.