Abby Morton Diaz

A Domestic Problem Abby Morton Diaz

Book Excerpt: ...constituted pretty nearly alike, so that the treatment which is best for one is best for all?""By no means. Even those in the same family are often extremely unlike. They have different temperaments, dispositions, propensities. Some require urging, others checking. Some do better with praise, others without; the same of blame. It requires thought and discernment to know what words to speak, how many to speak, and when to speak them. In fact, a child's nature is a piece of delicate, complex machinery, and each one requires a separate study; for, as its springs of action are concealed, the operator is liable at any time to touch the wrong one.""And mistakes here will affect a child through its whole lifetime?""They will affect it through all eternity." "But who among you dare make these early impressions which are to be so enduring? Who are the operators on these delicate and complex pieces of mental machinery?""Oh! the mothers always have the care of the children. This is their...